Colorado PM's - How are you managing utilities with HB25-1090?
With HB25-1090 taking effect on January 1st, we have been working to incorporate previously separated utility billing into the monthly rent. We are getting ready to inform owners of this change and are worried about pushback from owners since we bill our management fee based on the monthly rent charge. Unfortunately, our software does not allow for charging a management fee for a portion of the rent. While the utility portion of the management fee will likely be under $10 per month for most owners, we are sure that we will get some pushback. Just curious how other are handling this?
Also, we are considering a few options with utilities moving forward and would love feedback on what other companies are doing. Currently, if owners want residents to pay water, we bill based on an average of 12 months of bills and review that annually to update the amounts, OR the owner can ask the residents to be added to their bill since water must stay in the owners name. However, with the latter option, we let the owners know that we cannot help them recoup funds if the residents do not pay since we become the 3rd party in the situation. Outside of that, we currently do not pay utility bills for owners or allow owners to send us actual amounts to bill monthly. Here is what we are considering:
1. Implement a utility billing company like Nutiliti to receive, pay, and bill back utilities like water to residents.
2. Do away with billing water back altogether and just have the residents absorb this cost. With water having to stay in the owners name, it makes this the easiest and most accountable way to manage but doesn't allow the owners the opportunity for extra income.
3. Continue to offer as we have been without changes. The new house bill does require that utilities have to be actual charges and if we want to bill back a set amount, we can average based on the previous 12-24 months.
Appreciate any insight for what has worked for others!