Water Bill Responsibility

[Neal Booker]

Hi, we recently terminated our property management relationship with Propertywize after an eviction and poor turnaround experience. We found another company the made some updates and found us a tenant. Long story short I look at the water bill and realize there is a balance of $3500. It seems the water bill had been increasing every month and they did nothing to figure out the problem from July to October when the tenant was evicted. They decided that they would only pay $50-$100 for those $900 bill months but never let us know that there was a balance that needed to be paid or that there was an issue with the water. 

Is the water bill something that the property management team should manage? And is it the tenant’s responsibility to pay the water bill if there is a water issue that the property manager didn’t fix or notify the owner about? 

[Joe Norman]

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Neal Booker:

What does your lease say? If the lease says the Tenant is responsible for utility bills, then pass that charge on to them.

If the Property Manager was responsible for monitoring the water bill to ensure it was paid, then you can also demand that they compensate you and then let them go after the Tenant for compensation. If it was their responsibility but they refuse to take responsibility, then file a claim with the Maryland Real Estate Commission: https://www.dllr.state.md.us/l...

 Unfortunately Property Managers are not required to me licensed in Maryland, and so the Maryland Real Estate Commission doesn't regulate them.

The one exception is if the PM happens to also be a licensed real estate sales person/broker. Most are not, but some are. I would go back through your emails and write down the names of EVERYONE you communicated with at PropertWize and then look them up on Real Estate Commission Public Query website to see if they hold a license. If one of the individuals at the PMC happens to have a real estate license then you can file a complaint with the commission against them.