Newbie Landlord Needs Help With Utility Responsibilities

[Lily Sellers]

Hi everyone! 

I'm getting ready to close on an SF rental property in Washington State & need some help understanding utility responsibilities. I've read that tenants can sign up & pay for their WSG, or the landlord can pay for those utilities, send the tenant a bill, and the tenant pays the landlord for the utilities used. I'd love to hear how everyone handles utilities with their tenants! Any helpful advice is appreciated :)

[Greg M.]

Unless the utility can lien your property for non-payment, always have the tenant put the utilities in their name. Make sure it is scheduled to be in their name on day one of the lease.

See if you can set up a landlord policy that allows the utilities to remain on in between tenants.