Splitting utilities: what to check first
Roomline divides the bills tenants split evenly between them. That is arithmetic. Whether, and how, you can bill tenants for utilities depends on your lease and on where the house is.
On this page
How Roomline works out a share
A bill set to Tenants split it is divided evenly between the tenants living in the house that month. Roomline uses the amount you logged for the month, or the bill’s usual amount where you haven’t logged one.
Utilities shows each share beside Tenants pay, marked split evenly. Each tenant’s own page shows their share, the bills behind it and how it was divided. Roomline doesn’t weigh shares by room size, occupants or use, and it doesn’t send or collect them.
Check the lease says how bills are shared
A tenant should be able to read, before they sign, how their share is worked out. Check that each agreement says:
- Which utilities are in the rent and which tenants pay separately.
- How a shared bill is divided: evenly, by occupant, by room size, or another way.
- When shares are sent and when they are due.
- What happens with an empty room, a part month, or a bill well above usual.
Check the rules where the house is
Rules on billing tenants for utilities differ by state and city, and sometimes by the kind of building. Some places require the method to be written in the lease. Some restrict dividing one meter’s bill by a formula, often called ratio utility billing or RUBS. Some require a separate meter, or submeter, before tenants can be charged for what they use. Some limit a charge to what the company billed, with no markup or fee.
Your state or city housing agency, a local landlord association, or a landlord–tenant attorney can tell you what applies to your property.
Keep the bills
A share is easier to explain when the bill behind it is to hand. Log what each bill came to under Utilities, or read it from the bill’s PDF, and keep the bills themselves in Files. A tenant who asks can then see the figures their share came from.