All Forum Posts by: Robert M.

Hello Andrew,

All the pipes and toilets were checked. There isn't anywhere I can find on the property that has a leak and the water company hasn't notified me. 

Thank you,

Robert 

I thought the same thing too but in Pittsburgh you have to run individual sewer lines from the house to the main. It would require digging up and running line 4x. That was the initial assessment but I didn't go further than the water company on that request. It sounds like creating my own usage meter would be the better way to go. 

Hello Chris,

Is sub metering something that plumbers typically will do? 

Thanks,

Robert

Hello Deanna,

There are no leaks and all the external faucets are turned off and are inaccessible by the tenants to turn on. As far as proving that the tenants are running a business for instance it is hard to prove without their admission. To be honest I am only speculating since I do not know which unit is using all the water. For all I know a tenant may be forgetful and could be letting the water run all night after a shower. However, without seeing the usage per unit I am at a loss. Thank you for the advice as it was still useful. 

Thank you, 

Robert 

I found this device which may prove useful and it has an APP:

https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/15/fluid-is-a-smart...

Hello All,

I currently own an apartment building in which has four units. Unfortunately the building has one water meter and line which provides free water to the tenants. I had new tenants move in and I believe they are letting friends stay over night and are preparing food for a business. The reason for this belief is due to my total water expenses jumping from a total of $175 a month to over $400 a month! I looked into having individual meters added to the property to push the expenses to the tenants, but it cost $7,500 per meter ($22,500 total). Because of the cost it doesn't make sense to install individual metered units. 

Does anybody know of other methods I could use to track usage and bill tenants for excessive usage? I was hoping there were devices that I could use to track water usage and include the charges in their rent. 

Open to suggestions. 

Thank you,

Robert 

@Greg S. - Tenant / Landlord laws in the United States vary from state to state. I would imagine that the Federal Laws in the United States would be dramatically different than the laws in Canada. Unless you are referring to trespassing law in the United States. But I am in agreement with Radley in the above. It would be hard to say they are trespassing if the tenant is allowing them to be there.

@Steve V has a great approach by baking it into his lease. The only problem is still the burden of proof. If the tenant knows their rights they would just ignore that you are trying to charge them, or ignore the charges. To actually prove in the courts that a tenant is living in the unit is difficult. The only tool we really have is come around the renewal period you could refuse to renew.

Thanks all.

Michael, I do have language like that but people tend to ignore it.

Derrick, I am not sure how much I can trust your advice due to your poor decision to like the ravens, but I will forgive you for now. ;-P

How did you perform the investigation? I think the mail is a good indication but isn't it illegal to look through somebody else's mail?

Hello All,

In the past I have had issues with tenants applying to live in the apartments as a single individual. Later to find out that they moved in their boyfriend/girlfriend without written consent. However, this is a situation when they deny that their partner has moved in but it appears like they live in the apartment building.This may happen because of bad credit or because of criminal convictions that they do not want to disclose. How do you prevent this from happening? Can you prevent this from happening?

Thanks,

Robert

Hey All,

Whenever you run criminal background checks what are things we can lawfully exclude. For example, can I eliminate future apartment applicants that may have violent crimes (e.g. Murder), Drug Crimes and/or sexual crimes? Would this be considered discrimination based on HUD guidelines?

Thanks,

Robert