L.A. renters are billed for shared utilities. Some won't pay until they can see the math behind the charges
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Set us as preferred Joe Porter toured the squat apartment building in L.A.’s Koreatown five years ago, excited to be leaving his parents’ house in Arkansas.The rent on the studio was cheap — about $1,500 a month — and the leasing agent, he said, told him he’d probably pay only an additional $50 for utilities.But three years after Porter moved in, his monthly bill for trash, sewer and water had more than doubled, to $182 from $86.
He couldn’t figure out why; water rates charged by the city utility had not increased at the same rate.When Porter and his neighbors asked to see the math behind what they owed, the property management sent them a general overview of how the charges are calculated, but did not provide copies of specific bills.Unlike traditional utility bills, Porter wasn’t being billed by the provider but by a third-party company — Conservice, in this case — that uses what’s called a ratio utility billing system.
This means that the landlord does not charge each resident for their individual utility usage but sends them statements based on a formula applied to the building’s total usage.So Porter asked Conservice for a breakdown of his individual bill.“Can I please see the proof that this is money that I actually owe you and see how you got [to] it?” Porter recalled asking the company.
According to an email shared with The Times, a representative directed him back to his property manager.Amid growing national scrutiny of how companies price what they sell and the services they offer, tenants in L.A.have described mounting frustration as their utility bills have climbed and they struggle to see the math behind what they owe.
The Times spoke with renters at six apartment buildings in L.A.whose landlords use a formula to split up shared utilities.Some renters are now demanding that this kind...