Is this illegal/unethical?

[Joseph Weisenbloom]

I am currently closing on a duplex and I plan to live in one side and and rent the other out. The electric and gas are separately metered and are easy to have these expenses paid by the other renter. The water on the other hand is under one meter which makes it harder to delegate expense. It is typical in my area for the tenant to pay utilities separate from rent

My question is it illegal/unethical to have the water bill put under the tenants name and paid by them even though I will be using the water as well? Has anyone ever done this before?

I guess the alternative would be to increase rent to include water or charge some type of monthly water fee?

Thoughts?

[Jon Holdman]

If you make it very clear to the tenant that they are paying both their water bill and yours and they agree to that, it would be OK, IMHO. I'd put this in the lease. Frankly, though, I think prospective tenants would look at you like you had grown two heads if you proposed this.

Telling they have to get the water in their name and are responsible for the bill without telling them its also the water for your place would be unethical. You're effectively stealing water your tenant is paying for. IDK if it would actually be illegal or not.

If you want them to pay for their water and that's commonly done in your area, I'd pay the bill myself and have a pro-rated charge to them. I do this with one of my rentals where I've had consistent problems with the bill getting paid. Cities here will let you put the water in the tenants name but can lien your property if they don't pay. I charge them a fixed fee each month for water and trash (another problem area.) The fee is a bit less than typical usage. I charge them $100 per month and the typical water bill is $85 and trash is about $28. I have a clause that says if the water bill is over $100 in a month they owe me the excess over $100.