Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Can a Landlord in California charge for 3 years worth of back water usage upon moving out? According to him he gets a bill every 4 months and instead of asking for money quarterly he decided to wait until we move out to charge us $600. I think water is part of the tenant responsibility, but I don't think its fair that we didn't get billed as we lived there. Payment at the end was not mentioned in the lease or during signing. Can we claim to only be liable for the last 1-2 billing cycles?


Asked on 5/04/12, 11:41 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

If the lease does not call for you to pay for water usage and the landlord never billed you for it before, you have a strong case that he waived his rights to collect it. Many landlords pay for water. He can't be silent for three years and then spring it on you that he expects you to pay.

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Answered on 5/04/12, 11:47 am


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