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Can a landlord charge more for water than the city does?
Anonymous3 views2 answers
I live in a mobile home park in Colorado. I own my home. The water is metered so the usage is documented. Each month we are charged for water, sewer, garbage, and lot rent. No matter what the amount of usage of water my charges are always $50.00 for water and sewer. The city charges $2.75 per 1000 gal of water. This month I was charged $11.25 per 1000 gal. for the water I used. Can I do anything?
Not likely. This is likely a matter of contract and your CC&R and related documents can provide that the landlord can bill as they see fit for the whole community. Now, if you were treated differently from other similar owners, that is another matter. If, however, the landlord just bills the amount based on some increase that is applied uniformly and is allowed under the contract and governing documents, it is almost certainly allowable. There is no statute I know of that provides that the landlord can only charge what the city bills.
As always, everything depends on your agreements and the governing documents. Good luck.
I agree with my friend Robert Murillo generally, but it is possible that you would have a complaint to the PUC. Your landlord is not a utility, and that might provide you an avenue for redress of your grieveance. I would talk to the consumer protection people at the PUC. Good luck.
