Need someone smarter than me.

So I have been leasing a warehouse and office for my company at this location for the last three years. When I moved in I was told I paid Electric and telephone but the owner paid water. I got an email yesterday that says they made a mistake and the tenant should be paying the water bill and the owner has been by mistake for the last three years. I was given five days to contact some submeter company (not the water district) to set up an account and start paying them. I am not even sure I have a meter for my building alone or if it is connected to others? We are in tilt ups and there is ten units in one building. Granted I only have a toilet and small sink and never use the water but for me it is the principle behind it. Not sure if he is allowed to change his mind years down the road and pretend it was all a mistake? He is doing this to four units in my building.

What do you think? Is he in the right to change his mind?

I have always paid for my own mistakes.

When I moved in I was told I paid Electric and telephone but the owner paid water.

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What does the lease say?

Given that you got it in an email, I would say it's likely just a scam.

I got the email and a text from the landlord. Gonna pull my lease today and read it.

Most landlords in situations like that don’t want to be bothered with the water bill and individual meter and such as the usage is really small and when a tenant moves out they have to transfer yet another bill back to their name. Most of the time they take an average and factor it into everyone’s monthly bill. Unless someone is running something to really use a lot of water that works out easy. I suspect water prices may have really went up and rather than raising rent he is trying this. Does each unit have a meter now or is he going to estimate each person’s usage?

If it is not in writing and you are past the term of the lease he can change or do whatever he wants. If it is in writing, then he is required to have you sign something new with the changes and you can at that time negotiate a deal or simply tell him you will be going someplace else.

I personally wouldn’t get excited on the principal of the thing as I would look at the overall outlay each month including the new water bill and make a business decision is it worth it or not to you. If he came and said I have to raise the rent X% because water has went up and gave you the choice to pay the water bill or pay so much more would have been a better way for him to approach it IMO.

Last year the unit next to me built a commercial kitchen inside their unit and use it for making food that they sell in stores. I'm sure this is where the spike came from that has changed this policy. When they moved in I got an email from the landlord asking if I had a leak in my building.

Sounds like this sub meter company was hired to put a meter on each unit and then break the one bill up and redirect the billing along with adding in their profits for doing it.

I’m not sure but I think malls and such do this also but in the case of a mall they run it themselves maybe even having wells and pumps to maintain.

Chris, what about looking at buying your own warehouse? Rent makes no money. You were looking at investing in something, real estate pays better than most other investments. Just a thought.

We have done sub-metering and its an easy fix. Recently split off an apartment from a main house. Any competent plumber can do the job. You do not need a specialized company.

However, your lease should control the situation. It will specify who is responsible for which utility. No "mistake" here .... should be black & white. If you really use little water, your financial hit will be minimal. The OWNER pays for the new sub-meter, not you. If the lease makes him responsible for the water you are also NOT on the hook for the old water costs. You will need a revision to the lease to incorporate the new costs ....

OK I am at my office now, it already has a meter and has since the building was built some 15 or more years ago. Since new this unit has only used 28,766 gallons. Heck I use that in two months at my house. I don't mind paying the water but now I have to pay a submeter company their fee to come out and read my meter. We probably only use a couple hundred gallons a month if that with one toilet and sink and someone in the office two days out of the week.

Did you look at your lease agreement?

It's filed away somewhere, I have my office lady looking for it.

I called the meter company and they would not talk to me, said the meter is in the owners name and that can not be changed but he can add me as an authorized person to pay on the account.

I talked to my neighbor and he is furious, he has been for a year now trying to get the owner to take care of a roof leak and mold issue he has but the owner refuses to do anything.

I shut my meter down and it also shut down that same neighbor which shows we are on a shared meter. I walked around and it looks like every two units have their own meter. Wonder how they are going to tell who used how much?

I sent them an email stating these facts after they assured me I had my own meter.

Chris said:

I called the meter company and they would not talk to me, said the meter is in the owners name and that can not be changed but he can add me as an authorized person to pay on the account.

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I think that meter is still in his name says something about who is responsible.
Does that mean, he is years behind on his water bills.

Make up a quick agreement for all the neighbors to share the legal fees and talk to a lawyer.

Build a stick frame room on your property.

If you have a shared meter but your owner/landlord wants you to pay for the water you used, I would demand the he give you an itemized invoice for any water your unit used, for whatever time frame he is talking about. I would get it in writing.
Your lease would be the first place I would be looking.

what the old guy said. build your own

what does your lease say, sounds like he is trying to worm out of a deal
if the leases says he pays. screw him.

find your meter, then during lunch hour, look and see if the meter is moving,

if your outside, nothing should be running in your building

but the restaurant, during lunch, ought to be spinning

I did the checking and I do not share a meter with the kitchen, I only share with another contractor who also only has one toilet and sink. Our combined water bill from this month is 23 dollars according to the meter company. That was the only info they were allowed to give me.

I am quite sure they are doing this because of the kitchen, I am sure they are using a couple hundred bucks worth of water every month. They probably just think they need to have all of us pay a bill to make it fair.

I want to build on my property but the problem with building something with a restroom is considered a dwelling and the permits get expensive and it becomes a huge process. Remember this is CA land of backwards.

If there is nothing in the lease, then you can ignore the request indefinitely. Although that would probably not promote good relations with the landlord. At the very least, the new meter should be his expense.

...or at least take the cost of the installation on your rent.