Lease and Paying Utilities

[Nitanth Vangala]

Hey guys,

Just had a question about paying utilities. I had taken over a property where the lease agreements said that the owner pays for water and trash. My question would be, if it’s been 2 years since the last rental increase, can the lease agreements be adjusted, so that water can be paid for by the tenant. I was thinking about submetering, the water and I was going to do this rather than raising rents.

This area is in San Jacinto, California so there’s no rent control in this area, but I’m not sure what others have done when the original leases have included water and trash paid for by the owner. Thanks for any input!