Utilities Land lording

[Brian Kolb]

Hello,

I'm looking to buy my first rental property in Maryland. It is a duplex with one unit on the top floor and one unit on the bottom floor. I am planing on living in one unit and renting out the other. The units are currently separately metered. My question is, Should I only charge the tenant rent and have them pay there own utility bill or should I charge them Rent + Utilities and me personally pay both the utility bills? My fear is the tenant stop paying there utility bill and when they move out i'm stuck with the financial burden of that. Please feel free to comment and leave suggestions. Thank you in advance!!

[Michael Craig]

@Brian Kolb if there are separate meters then have utilities in their name.  Tenants consume less when they are paying for utilities. Also, when the account is in their name then they are responsible for making payments, not you.