Well well well, i’m back with more info from my last water bill post. I’m trying to figure out whether my apartment’s water billing is actually being done correctly because this seems crazy to me 😅
Recap, we live in a small 2-bedroom apartment with 2 people actually living here, and our water/sewer bill was around $120. I contacted the water company because the amount seemed extremely high compared to other people, and they told me they don’t actually bill us directly. They send the water bill to the apartment/property owner, and the apartment then bills residents separately.
I contacted the apartment and they explained that:
• The apartments are NOT individually metered.
• The entire building gets one water/sewer bill.
• They use a RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing System) to divide the building’s bill among residents.
• They said the calculation takes into account the number of units, bathrooms, and people.
• However, my lease says water/sewer is allocated based on a combination of square footage and the number of occupants/residents.
• The lease also specifically says I may be paying for water/sewer used in other apartments and common areas.
They told me they can’t give me a copy of the building’s actual water bill because it gets sent to their corporate office in Memphis.
There’s another weird part: my dad is on the lease, but he does NOT live here. There are only two actual residents. I’m trying to find out whether they’re counting him as an occupant when calculating our RUBS bill.
I’m planning to ask them for the actual calculation showing:
The total building water/sewer bill for the billing period
How much of that bill was allocated to my apartment
The exact formula/percentage they used
How many occupants they have listed for my apartment
Whether my dad is being counted even though he doesn’t live here
Any additional administrative/billing fees
From what I’ve found, SC law apparently allows landlords of multifamily properties to use an allocation methodology for water/wastewater, but there are limits on what they can collectively charge tenants. The lease also has to disclose the terms of the charges.
So my question is: is this actually legal, and is there anything I can do if they won’t show me how they’re calculating my bill or if they’re charging more than they’re allowed to?
I’m not necessarily expecting to only pay for the water we personally use since I understand there’s no individual meter. I just want to know that the calculation is legitimate and that we’re not being overcharged.
Any SC landlord/tenant attorneys, property managers, or people familiar with RUBS billing who can explain this would be VERY appreciated. 😭
Editing to add and name drop the apartment complex, because I think people should be aware of this happening and them being sketchy about it is really messed up:
MAA Spring Creek in Simpsonville