# Can I charge tenants for bin charges paid in apartment service charges?



## tobeornot (15 Mar 2008)

Hi

I have invested in a 2 bed apartment and have it rented out. I've recently paid over €2500 service charges to the Management Agency for 2008. Can I ask the tenants to pay for the bin charges?


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## Howitzer (15 Mar 2008)

Not if it's not already in the lease. You can offset them against your rental income however.


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## FranceRes (16 Mar 2008)

Camry said:


> hi, I've recently rented an apartment.I have now received a bill for electricity. Can I ask the landlord to pay for this?


 Only if the bill refers to a period prior to your tenancy, unless it's in your lease that the electricity is included in the rent?

Other than that, it's 'user pays'.


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## mathepac (16 Mar 2008)

Camry said:


> hi, I've recently rented an apartment.I have now received a bill for electricity. Can I ask the landlord to pay for this?


Did you take a meter reading when you moved in to the apartment?


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## Luternau (19 Mar 2008)

tobeornot said:


> Hi
> 
> I have invested in a 2 bed apartment and have it rented out. I've recently paid over €2500 service charges to the Management Agency for 2008. Can I ask the tenants to pay for the bin charges?



I believe the Tenant should be liable to pay for the disposal of their refuse from their deposit on leaving. If you rented a house you would have to buy bin tags...living in an apt should be no different.
In an ideal rental world the tenant should be responsible for all services they consume while living there-refuse, electricity and landscaping. Sinking fund/ insurance/management cmpany fees  etc would be correct to the landlord should have to pay...I did say ideal world!  ;-)


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## sam h (19 Mar 2008)

the €2500 seems very high....what exactly is included in this?  Is there arrears due?  Normally a tenant pays for services they use (esb, gas, waste disposal etc) and the landlord pays for items such as building insurance, sinking fund, property maintenance etc.....your management fees probably include a mix of all & you will need to refer to the lease as to what (if any) you can pass onto your tenant.  You will need to check your lease, but I can guarentee a tenant will very VERY reluctant to take responsibility for such a bill & it would appear to be unfair to off load it onto them.


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## Staples (19 Mar 2008)

Luternau said:


> I believe the Tenant should be liable to pay for the disposal of their refuse from their deposit on leaving. If you rented a house you would have to buy bin tags...living in an apt should be no different.
> In an ideal rental world the tenant should be responsible for all services they consume while living there-refuse, electricity and landscaping. Sinking fund/ insurance/management cmpany fees etc would be correct to the landlord should have to pay...I did say ideal world! ;-)


 
Are there separate bins for each apartment or are there communal bins for everyone's use.

If it's the former, then it's easy to isolate the charge per apartment and if this is an additional charge (similar to esb, gas, etc) then there's no reason it can't be passed on to the tenants (on the basis that they alone have generated the waste to which the charge directly relates).

On the other hand, if the bins are communal and the cost is provided for in the 2500 annual charge, the rent should be set at a level that refelcts the costs to the owner. 

Setting an arbitrary charge that doesn't necessarily reflect the waste actually generated is unfair.


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## rmelly (20 Mar 2008)

Did you cover charging the tenants bin charges in your lease? If not I don't see why you should expect them to agree to pay.

Next time factor this stuff into the rent total or be more explicit in your lease.


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## regicide (20 Mar 2008)

Also note that if the bin charges are to be be paid by the tenants, you will probably end up having to charge less rent compared to a similar rental property that does not put the charge on the tenants. 
Swings and roundabouts really.


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