One bright point is that the Massachusetts legal regulations also apply to wastewater or sewer service charges. the new tenant was NOT relocated involuntarily from another dwelling unit in the same building or building complex; Tenant has signed a written rental with the details of the water submetering and billing arrangement between the landlord and the tenant, billed according to subsection (f). Okay. Female Audience 2: Thats why its [unintelligible 0:11:44]. Anything thats got downstairs, it needs a faucet hooked up to it. Theres things in the law and like I said, I dont want to go into too much of that because Im not an expert on it. Have the plumber pull permits for the work. charging for water cannot be imposed on an existing tenant mid-lease or otherwise, and a tenant may not be forcefully removed from a rental for the purpose of beginning water billing on a new tenant). MassLandlords in November made available to members a customizable rent invoice including a section for water billing for submetered units. For landlords only interested in monitoring and potentially reducing water usagewithout directly charging renters for waterthere is nothing in the state law that restricts installation of water submeters at any time. Our general consensus, I think is if you do have the walls opened, you should do it if no other reason that you get a slow payback for which you avoid that disastrous scenario where someone is running a laundry or theyre running the water bills up. Smart meters that are able to send usage data to your phone or other Wi-Fi device can be a big time saver. My tenants seem to like that concept. I may look into a separate water meter when the mother/son changes but until then it's 50/50. All right, look theres a website, TrueSubmeter.com, which is the first search results, so I think it gets some traffic, but I didnt give me a quote in time for tonight. I go by the area and I see them washing their car. Im going to come up front. If you want to go and spend the money to install the meters so that you can personally know where the usage is, I don't think the law prevents that. My time is valuable so for water I have figured it doesn't pay. Slides are available only for members in good standing who are logged in. I write in my lease that the tenant is paying for water, how I do it, how I submeter. In order to bill accurately by the month, you will need to calculate the equivalent usages between these different measuring units and bill accordingly. Do you have to have a common area submeter? The cities dont want to bill renters for whatever reason, so youre going to have to pay all the water bills, and then youre going to bill the renters for their portion. For $100, if you want to have that outside water, at least you could measure the usage, and if you werent, you know your tenants are, so --. Jim: I bought a whole bunch of them from surplus from a water utility in New Jersey. You have to have it a lease. [0:15:07]. Low-flow showerhead max 2.5 gpm (gallons per minute), Low-flow faucets max 2.2 gpm (gallons per minute), Ultra-low-flush toilet max 1.6 gpf (gallons per flush), Must be in compliance with the standards of accuracy and testing referenced in subsection (b), Submetered units must be in compliance with the board of health. Its a long payback, right, to do water submetering? 
The good news for landlords who would like to submeter but dont have the time or inclination for setting it up is that there are numerous outsourcing options in todays marketcontractors that specialize in submetering and can take care of every aspect of the job, from installation to reading and billing. Youre still going to have to float that bill to your municipality. Cold water is usually supplied to each unit via one vertical supply line. Hang on.
Im including that level of usage in your rent. Peter: Say somebody is already there and they think its a great idea but according to the law, it has to be a new person. You wouldnt even have to put the low-flow fixtures in the apartments. You go under the sink, you turn the shut valve off, you put this on after the shutoff. Thats what the law is designed to do, and it goes through and it specifically says, The previous tenant was not evicted without cause. Member dues support this mission. Rich: [unintelligible 0:10:28]. Female Audience 1: Thats the house I live in and nobody is ever home. But a lot of it comes down to people relations and how you explain things and how you are with people and that really means a lot more than a lot of this other stuff assuming that you are all in compliance with the law anyway. As the rates go up and stuff, it will change, but thats what it is now. 
It allows landlords to monitor the water usage of individual rental units in order to curtail waste and over-use, and in some casesas the law allowsto charge renters individually for their water usage. I learned about this law that passed in Massachusetts. George: Well, Im always against putting steel cocks on the outside of the house for tenants because you drive by your property -- and I have one property. Basically, this is where Ive learned all the things that I needed to do for --. The citys meter might measure in 100 cubic foot units, for example, while the submeter you purchased may measure in gallons. George, you said you could stick around, too. Male Audience 2: I don't know how long this takes up. (Stainless steel meters are available for less but are not widely recommended by plumbers because they dont typically last as long.). Scott: Its very cool. Rich: They cannot. Anyway, so we have George Chapman here who is kind enough to come and talk to us. When I found out that I could separate each apartment, I jumped on the opportunity. In comparison with most other states, the Massachusetts law (see M.G.L. This is just a ton of different questions and its very informative. Rich: It has the name of the law at the top. George: Well, thats one you have to locate where the main line comes off of and goes up to the first floor, the second floor, and the third floor. Im not a plumber, but I read about it and found out that you can install your own meters to each individual unit in your building and measure the water usage, and so, thats what I did. Scott: Surcharges include, how does it work, blah, blah, blah. I am a licensed plumber in Los Angeles. Manks, I am all for tenants paying their own way. Has anybody opened up the walls specifically to do water submetering? Now, sure the renters can tamper it and take it out, but if they don't know that its there or theyre not malicious, youre going to get a signal from this battery. Doug: Okay. Thanks, Sewer cost is usually dependent upon the amount of water used so it should be easy to figure out.Keep in mind in order to separate out the water you will probably need to run new cold water lines, The water lines to each apartment are easily accessible from the basement parking area. Where did you guys look into to buy your submeters? If they want to wash a pair of socks and a whole load of laundry and run the dishwasher for a couple of forks, thats up to them but they can pay for it. Each time I re-rented a unit, I made the tenant pay me for their water and sewer costs. Male Audience 1: $180 a quarter per unit. Your toilets are going to have to flush less than a certain amount per flush. Scott: I have this on some slides. It depends on where you are and what your tenants are. Well, you know its probably a good idea to try to pick people who are going to pay stuff anyway. I own a duplex and rent out both sides, but there is only one water meter. Thats what you would have a common submeter. Scott: Yeah, so right here. 
You have to have water-conserving devices. Thats why it is. I think it needs a cellphone line. Also, one side of the duplex uses far more water than the other (as evidenced by the condition of the yards and the existence of raised garden beds). With that, were probably going to have some questions at the end. My other duplex I live in I make my tenant pay me directly a set amount each month and pick up the rest. Thats your first cost. Scott: Hi, everybody. Ill also --. Utility submetering laws vary widely from state to state, and more than half of all U.S. states have no laws regulating submetering. Weve actually asked the judge about this and they enforce this stuff if it ever comes up. I see some hands going up. /r/Landlord is a community for landlords to come together to discuss anything landlord related. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. It cant be without cause. Were doing a good job here. News, ideas, blog posts, websites, resources, etc. Such service, of course, comes at a cost somewhere above the DIY route. While installing water submeters can potentially save landlords thousands of dollars, it does require an upfront investment that can be substantial. Modify your rental agreement to contain a submetering clause and a space to write the meter reading into it at lease start. Coachella valley water district. Cheaper nicer safer happier brighter more private, where people want it. So as we move on, lets give everybody a hand who helped us with the water submetering [applause]. I've heard something about a kind of counter that we might install on each line ourselves. Otherwise you also have to get a separate meter for the yard too. If you are looking at three people in the house, $60 a month, $180 a quarter; thats what youre talking about. If you had older fixtures, then probably youre not in compliance and that would mean in order to do the submetering, you have to change out your toilets, faucets, and showerheads. It has become standard practice to install submeters for many newly constructed multi-unit buildings. In this all-too-common scenario, the water bill arrives and for some reason, without warning, you owe thousands of dollars. The typical water submetering thing that people talk about, I think this is a representative to do a three-decker, something I saw recently: $14,000 to open the walls, redo all the plumbing all the way up.
Water submetering began its increase nationally in the mid-1990s when water and wastewater prices started rising. The plumber thats here could tell you this, look at the situation to see if its going to be feasible because depending on how things are run, it could be more feasible than it might not be feasible. Better Lives.
Now, for the --, George: Just keep an eye for them on who is using the most.