You used to be able to rent houses with all utilities included.
This practice is rare now.
Why? The high costs of energy are making too much of an unknown for Landlords. In other words, they would never be able to determine how much they are making (or most likely losing) from month-to-month.
Enter the utility cap solution. I don’t know who to credit for this but it is a great concept I’ve used with success.
Here is an example of how it works:
The tenant rents a house for $1,000 inclusive with a $200 cap. The tenant puts a deposit of $1000 when renting the place. This means that the Landlord will pay the monthly utility bills up-to $200. If it goes over $200, the Landlord has the right to keep the overage from the deposit money.
This is a very fair setup as a tenant knows they have to keep the windows closed in the winter and the Landlord knows how much their cashflow is per month.
This can easily be written into a lease or rental agreement.
If you want more information about this or just the clause to add to a lease, email me.
John J. Adams, Rental Sytstem Expert.
