Need help with rental property

[james32]

We currantly live in a Mobile home Park. We own the home but rent the property. Our landlord recently connected to the city sewerage system. He is charging all 120 homes a fee for the sewerage system. He said all homes have to pay a $40.00 fee per month for the next 20 years. Isn't the landlord the one who is liable to pay this fee. We only rent the property and not own it. Our sewerage bill is about $150.00 every 3 months. We think we are being over charged for this. Can anyone out there help us. ?? Thank You James Orkwis

[dealmaker]

You "may" be getting overcharged @$40/month, it depends on local rates in your area. I'm not sure why he would say "for the next 20 years", unless part of the $40 represents his capital outlay, and only part of it is the part being paid to the city/county.

In most areas water/sewer are charged based upon how much water is used; as example $10/1,000 gallons of water used, $5/1,000 gallons for sewerage. You might want to check with your municipality and see what the charge is, they might also be able to give you some idea of how much $ your landlord paid to get the park connected.

Yes the bill is a liability of the landlord, just as insurance and taxes are. But the liability accrues because of the tenants. If insurance and tax rates increased do you not think those fees should be passed on to the tenants? The landlord is entitled to a profit, and if he had the capital outlay, which could have been in a couple of hundred thousand dollars, then he is entitled to interest on that investment.

$40/month for sewarage doesn't sound real high to me. Although in many municipalities that might be considered very high. Check with your local authorities.

dealmaker

[ThreeRiversREI]

We currantly live in a Mobile home Park. We own the home but rent the property. Our landlord recently connected to the city sewerage system. He is charging all 120 homes a fee for the sewerage system. He said all homes have to pay a $40.00 fee per month for the next 20 years. Isn't the landlord the one who is liable to pay this fee. We only rent the property and not own it. Our sewerage bill is about $150.00 every 3 months. We think we are being over charged for this. Can anyone out there help us. ??

How I would respond depends in part on how he phrased the notice.

Assuming you are not in a rent-control area, if he phrased it as the rent was going up $40/month and gave sufficient notice, then your choices are largely accept it or move.

If he phrased it from the standpoint of charging you for sewerage, when you're already paying the sewer company directly, he may have messed up and giving you a basis to fight the additional charge. (Which is not to say he couldn't simply turn around and issue a notice increasing the rent WITHOUT a reason.)

You say your neighbors are also upset. If you split an hour or two of an attorney's time between all of you, it should be fairly cheap. Find a good real estate attorney to review your leases, the notice, etc. and explain what your options are in your area. the attorney should also be able to advise you what the costs would be to pursue the various options.

Good luck and keep us informed!

PS: There's always the option of trying to buy the park outright.....

[Jim Johnson]

We currantly live in a Mobile home Park. We own the home but rent the property. Our landlord recently connected to the city sewerage system. He is charging all 120 homes a fee for the sewerage system. He said all homes have to pay a $40.00 fee per month for the next 20 years. Isn't the landlord the one who is liable to pay this fee. We only rent the property and not own it. Our sewerage bill is about $150.00 every 3 months. We think we are being over charged for this. Can anyone out there help us. ?? Thank You James Orkwis

You sign a lease for the land, if he wants to charge $40 per month for sewage fees it only needs to be in compliance with the lease. If you do not like it, I would guess you can move the home to another park.

In fairness.... I am on the other side of the street... So I am speaking from the Park Owners side of this issue.

[Aldo]

Just for the record. $40/mo x 120 homes x 240 months (20 years) = $1.152 million dollars. I doubt the owner's cost would be half of that including interest.

Note that this was very likely a requirement by local government rather than a choice made by the owners and you are being charged, not for sewage, but for the owners cost to connect to the local sewage system.

Isn't the landlord the one who is liable to pay this fee.
The answer is both yes and no. Yes, the owners are liable for the improvement to the property and, No, the owners should not, and probably cannot, pay that expense from exsisting operating funds or, more especially, their own pockets. In any kind of for-profit business, the cost of doing business must be passed on to the consumer in order to survive. Yep, part of that two bucks you paid for a McDougal Burger went toward building a new restaurant or complying with the local building code. Income is income whether from sales or rent.

You might want to look into your sewage bills to ensure that $150 per quarter is right. My metro area undertook the provably most expensive sewer project anywhere in the country, yet my quarterly January water bill, including sewer charges, was $88.12. I understand that there are variables, but the difference is too huge to ignore.

I agree with the suggestion to hire an attorney. Just be sure that whomever you hire specializes in this type of issue. If you can only gather 15 others, an hour (probably more than needed) with that attorney would cost less than twenty bucks each.

[james32]

Our water bill was $40.66 for 5500 gals used. Our sewerage bill was $147.79 for a total of $188.45 for a 3 month period.