Charles Stricklin

I came home Friday evening to find a letter from the apartment management taped to my door and to the doors of my neighbors. The gist of the letter said that beginning January 1, 2007, all residents would be required to pay for water usage separately of their rent payments, based upon the square footage of their apartment.

Saturday morning I spoke to one of the apartment managers to clarify what was meant. Sure enough, I had read the letter correctly: Beginning January 1, 2007, all tenants who had signed an addendum to their lease would begin to pay for their water usage separately from their rent payments. I did not sign an addendum to my lease when I signed for one year in May, so I do not have to begin paying for water until June, 2007 should I decide to remain a resident of this apartment complex and renew my lease.

I asked if residents would have their rent payments reduced, effectively transferring the cost from the management to the individual resident… she said, “No… rent amounts stay the same.”

I said, “Then you’re effectively raising the rent on every single resident here.” She said, “No… because previously the management was paying for the water usage, now the residents will.”

Wa-a?!

Part of our rent checks was going to pay for our water usage! It was a cost of doing business, passed on to the consumer through the rent! That’s like saying apartment residents can’t send their children to public schools because they don’t pay property taxes… management does.

Also, there is no mechanism in place to actually record the amounts of water used, so they’ll instead just charge residents based upon the square footage of their apartment. This also works against me because I live in a two bedroom, one bath apartment. I’m only one man, but I’m going to be charged for the same water usage of two parents and one child?! Also, I frequently spend more nights each week in motel rooms across the Southern states than I do in my own apartment. Should I be charged for water I don’t actually use?!

Adding insult to injury, rent amounts steadily increase over time, which is usually impetus to sign a longer lease: to “lock in” lower rent amounts. Also, with the Super Wal-Mart under construction just blocks from where I live, property values have started to rise and rent amounts rise accordingly.

I had planned to downsize to a one bedroom apartment in May anyway, now I have one more reason to do so. Also, since I’m moving anyway, perhaps I should find a new place to rent… someplace that doesn’t screw over its tenants.