- A tenant discovered that while he paid for water services for his unit, these water services were also being supplied to the shared tenant laundry room. Water usage increased when a family of five occupied one of the units in the building. An investigation by EBMUD substantiated this water sharing which the landlord failed to disclose or to correct.
- A tenant leased a room in a single-family home. The master tenant rented out 5 bedrooms in the home, some of which were occupied by couples. The gas and electric bills increased with more occupants but, while utility sharing was disclosed, the actual PG&E invoices were not disclosed and the shared cost was based on the number of bedrooms leased versus the number of occupants.
- A landlord placed PG&E bills in his name and invoiced one tenant for the full bill but failed to disclose that her utility services were shared with an illegal unit behind her. When a new tenant moved into the illegal unit, the electricity costs rose significantly and the tenant being billed complained. The landlord also charged the tenant in the illegal unit for PG&E costs and pocketed the cash; the tenants attempted to reach an agreement between themselves when this landlord practice was discovered.
California law requires landlords to make written disclosures concerning shared gas or electric meters and to enter into a written agreement concerning
how these costs are to be shared. Cal. Civ. Code sec. 1940.9. If the landlord
fails to abide by this law, the tenant may sue the landlord in small claims or
a higher court; potential remedies are detailed in the statute. However, realistically, if the tenant lives in a city without just cause eviction protections, a landlord can just as easily provide the tenant with a no-fault notice
to terminate tenancy. Although the action may be retaliatory and while there is a law against retaliation, some landlords flagrantly violate this law with impunity.
In jurisdictions with just cause protections, there is greater
latitude for tenants to attempt a “mid-course correction.” For instance, in Oakland, various tenants filed petitions with the Oakland Rent Adjustment Board for "Decreased Housing Services" with the following results:
- Case No: T15-0137: Board affirmed hearing decision on appeal which granted restitution related to splitting of utility bills between tenants where there was only one meter.
- Case No: T11-0040: Owner is responsible for utility bill if there cannot be separate meters for each unit. Case remanded to determine if anything is owed to tenant who paid utility bill for both units.
- Case No: T08-0281: Board held that splitting a water bill among tenants is a violation of the Rent Adjustment Program Regulation 10.1.10 which prohibits splitting utility bills among tenants; hearing decision affirmed with modification that future water bills may not be passed onto tenants. (Note: Regulations may have changed since this case was decided in 2008.)
If you believe that you are sharing a PG&E meter with one or more units, contact PG&E to inspect your meter usage. PG&E will be able to determine if your utility meter is shared.
If your utility account is in the landlord's name, you may be considered a "submetered tenant." In this case, you may have special billing rights pursuant to Cal. Public Utilities sec. 739.5. You can contact PG&E to discuss your rights related to utility billing.
So, before you sign a lease agreement, don't rush into it without investigating your utility rights. Sharing isn't necessarily bad, but if you agree to a one-sided arrangement or the wording in your lease agreement is ambiguous, or if your landlord shares utilities without mandated disclosure, sharing could be very bad indeed.
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