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Sick of being an unpaid Watercare collector!
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Originally posted by north shore View Posthttp://www.watercare.co.nz/common-co...ault.aspx#time
NOTE You can only opt in once a year.
You must opt in by 30 June this year (2016) to be charged the full fixed charge amount for the period July 2016 to June 2017.
We don’t believe it would be in your best interest to opt into this scheme. Our concerns are:
1. It relies on the tenant paying the water bill directly to Watercare Services. Our experience suggests that a large number of tenants don’t.
2. Currently you pay by direct debit, giving you the assurance that the bill is paid on time and in full every month. The direct debit currently setup on this account would need to be stopped unless your intention is to pay the full water bill.
3. Spectrum would lose visibility/control of the water account as this scheme essentially by passes the property manager. It is not possible to stop the tenant from receiving the invoice directly from Watercare. This would make it difficult for us to act on your behalf or to collect any arrears etc.
This is immensely frustrating. I really thought that this scheme would help, but looks like it won't.AAT Accounting Services - Property Specialist - [email protected]
Fixed price fees and quick knowledgeable service for property investors & traders!
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I cant see anywhere that says the account cannot be emailed to your PM who in turn can seek recompense from your tenant as is probably the current situation.
You will still be able to have the account DD'd to protect your credit with Watercare.
Your PM needs to review the abovementioned document and take time to digest/undertand it properly.
I am a little confused re the "fixed wastewater charge" they talk about, isnt that currently based and charged as per the volume of water consumed per month.Last edited by Aced; 17-05-2016, 11:28 PM.
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Originally posted by Aced View PostI cant see anywhere that says the account cannot be emailed to your PM who in turn can seek recompense from your tenant as is probably the current situation.
You will still be able to have the account DD'd to protect your credit with Watercare.
Your PM needs to review the abovementioned document and take time to digest/undertand it properly.
I am a little confused re the "fixed wastewater charge" they talk about, isnt that currently based and charged as per the volume of water consumed per month.AAT Accounting Services - Property Specialist - [email protected]
Fixed price fees and quick knowledgeable service for property investors & traders!
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One-time annual fixed charge billing will make routine monthly invoices simpler to process, so we recommend all rental property owners enrol their properties in this scheme.
If you enrol, your tenants don't have to pay Watercare directly. They can continue to pay to you or the PM.
This way you/your PM can continue to track payments/arrears and handle ingoing/outgoing water readings/partial billing.
I realise if tenants paid directly to Watercare then there would be less receipting and invoicing work for you/your PM.
So it might be a good option for private landlords or if only managing a small number of properties.
Otherwise I feel it may complicate matters compared to the current process.Rentex Limited Property Management - Est. 1988
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Originally posted by Rentex View PostOne-time annual fixed charge billing will make routine monthly invoices simpler to process, so we recommend all rental property owners enrol their properties in this scheme.
If you enrol, your tenants don't have to pay Watercare directly. They can continue to pay to you or the PM.
This way you/your PM can continue to track payments/arrears and handle ingoing/outgoing water readings/partial billing.
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As promised, Watercare's response. Doesn't quite answer the question, I don't think. What do you guys think?
Opting in to pay fixed charges upfront only gives your tenant authority on the account. The way that bills are sent and paid doesn’t need to change.
[PM] can continue to receive monthly invoices and your direct debit can remain on the account. Your current direct debit takes the full payment each month. If you’re happy with this set up, it can remain in place.
A popular alternative is to pay your fixed charges in July, as you’ve requested. You can then send monthly invoices to the tenant and a copy to you, or your property manager. This way, tenants can pay directly, and you also get to see that payments are being made in full.
This set up is designed to help both landlords and tenants. A regular cause of frustration for landlords is calculating their tenant’s volumetric charges each month. Paying these upfront prevents this issue.
Tenants often want to contact us to question their water use or payment history. As they don’t automatically have authority to discuss the account, they must contact their landlord first. This often causes frustration for the tenant, as well as the landlord.AAT Accounting Services - Property Specialist - [email protected]
Fixed price fees and quick knowledgeable service for property investors & traders!
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Up north we only receive water accounts 6 monthly. What we suggest to tenants they do but cannot legally enforce is pay an extra $5-$10 a week or what they can afford. They then generally build up a credit so when the account comes to us most of it is paid - if not they are given a date to have balance paid in full. I would never advise an owner to include water with the rent.
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In essence Watercare are using Landlords as Bill collectors . The only one advantage i see of landlords being responsible & receiving bills for payment of water is that it alerts me to how many people are staying at the property where excess use occurs - then i refer the tenant back to the TA which states the number of occupants allowed. Hard to prove though but still a useful guide.
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I have just reread this thread having earlier got off the phone to Watercare and receiving a less than inspiring customer service attitude. Dogmatic and obstructive are words that come easily to mind. Certainly no room for initiative in that organisation it seems.
Upon hearing of the 'requirement', if I opt in to this scheme of having to disclose the name and contact details of my tenants; as the property owner and legally exclusive bill payer, I found this non negotiable demand offensive.
The excuse given as already mentioned by Anthonyacat "Tenants often want to contact us to question their water use or payment history". is totally unacceptable and I consider is a breach of the privacy act. What next? My bank wanting to allow tenants to check their deposit payment history in my account!
Lets get to the nub of this. I didn't realise that flyernzl had been so intimate in the good work of progressing an improvement to the farcical situation landlords have regards water charging by Watercare; I wish to thank him for his efforts.
As it stands though at present I do not plan to opt in.
My reasons are several, but principally as they are my properties, I pay all the bills and I or my appointed managers are the only people who can authorise any work on my side of the meter. Stuffed if I'm going to let tenants interact directly with my various service providers.
I respect the privacy and presumed wish for anonymity of my tenants. I acknowledge my legal obligation to maintain my asset. If the tenant has an issue, they come to me or my property managers to sort the problem out.
I reckon Watercare havn't run this request for information past their legal team.
Thanks to flyernzl, a very good start .....stuffed up by Watercare with a small unnecessary bureaucratic bungle.
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That's right Grundy.
We're surprised that they are making it compulsory to supply tenants details.
Even with owners consent, we won't be able to opt-in our managed properties at this stage.
This is part of many responses and may be helpful for some:
Properties that aren't currently tenanted can still opt-in. We can add an alert saying that tenants are pending. This is an exception to the standard procedure. We won't be able to mark every managed property as information pending.
When the tenants change we'll need to update those details (names and contact information), as the new tenants will also have authority on the account.
If this exception could be made a permanent option...
Will keep watch for any future changes to their policy.
Rentex Limited Property Management - Est. 1988
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Update:
I have been amusing(!) myself by actually reading the Watercare website page detailing the fixed charge opt-in option:
I have come to the conclusion that giving Watercare your tenants email so that they will receive a copy of the water charge invoice is optional, not obligatory:
"Giving your tenant authority is a condition of opting in to this payment option but this does not automatically mean your tenant will receive a copy of the bill. You can choose to sign your tenants up for e-billing when you opt in so they will receive a copy of the bill via email each month."
I have now rung Watercare, who agree that this is the case.
So there are now no privacy concerns over supplying tenants email address to a third party if you elect for this option. The tenants name and address is sufficient.
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SHARED WATER METER IN BLOCK OF 5 UNITS
Can anyone recommend the best way to deal with this situation.
I have bought a unit in a small block. There is one water meter for all 5 units. Currently Watercare Services split bill 5 ways and send each owner out a fifth each of the monthly charge.
I have a tenant moving in shortly and had thought I could pass on a fifth of the water charge (obviously not including Fixed Waste Water).
However a friend has advised you cant do this - it is illegal. Surely Landlords do this as it seems logical. However,
Tenancy Services have told me 'a tenant is responsible for the water they use" there has to be 'exclusive attribibility" which means it has to be provable in Tenancy Court that they, the tenant used x units of water. Which I guess would not be legally provable if a Landlord is just using the - split the one water meter bill 5 ways - method.
So, now I reckon I need to install a 'water check meter' on the water pipe under my unit.
My question is - could I just charge tenant a fifth of water bill each month - then I read my water check meter quarterly of half yearly - if tenant has used under a fifth of the joint water bill each month - I refund them the difference between what they have paid and what they have actually used. If they have used over their fifth share then -they win - in the sense they are paying less than they have consumed - it makes no diff to me as I as landlord have to pay Watercare one fifth of total bill regardless.
Am I missing something ? and is there a better solution?
I posed this question to Tenancy service - who didn't know - the guy just said ' its a grey area'.
Has anyone experience with dealing with this?
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I still struggle to understand why landlords insist that the water charges must be levied separately and on top of the rental to tenants. I am sure that in this situation particularly, the monthly charge will vary little and could easily be incorporated into the rent. The problem of course, is that it looks like the rent is higher but I am sure that could be clearly specified somewhere.
Until the legislation is changed water is an owners responsibility, not the tenant's. Wishing hard wont change that .. Write to your MP! However.. That being said .. the latest amendments to the LGA look like fixing this and other issues. Stay tuned for more updates in another thread.
Russell
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