Los Angeles renters are increasingly frustrated by shared utility bills that keep climbing, often without a clear explanation of the math behind the charges. Many tenants are billed for water, sewer, and trash not directly by the city, but by their landlord or a third-party company using a “ratio utility billing system,” or RUBS. This method calculates charges for individual units based on a formula applied to the building’s total usage, rather than what each resident actually uses.
Joe Porter, who moved into a Koreatown studio five years ago, saw his monthly utility bill for trash, sewer, and water more than double from $86 to $182 within three years. Despite the significant jump, which outpaced city utility rate increases, he and his neighbors couldn't get specific breakdowns from the property management or the billing company, Conservice. Porter recalled asking Conservice for proof of the charges, only to be directed back to his property manager.
Similarly, Hanna Yoseph, a hairstylist living in a downtown L.A. two-bedroom unit, has seen her utility bill, which includes charges for shared water, wastewater, hot water, and HVAC, fluctuate by hundreds of dollars. Her bill from Yes Energy Management soared from $332.50 in March to $541 by October in a recent year. Yoseph said she was told by Yes Energy Management that she needed permission from her property manager to view the master bills. After repeated requests by Yoseph and her tenants association, they were offered an in-person viewing, but their request for digital copies to review the math was not answered.
The practice of RUBS often appears in older apartment buildings that lack individual meters. Olivia Wein, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, has noted a rising number of complaints about this system over the past two decades.
It's a widespread issue in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Housing Department estimated in December that 19% of the city’s rent-stabilized homes—roughly 123,000 apartments—likely use master-metered utilities, making them candidates for RUBS. The department also noted that tens of thousands more apartments not subject to rent stabilization probably use this billing method.
Some renters are now pushing for these billing practices, which often include additional fees from third-party companies, to be banned. Landlord representatives, however, argue that such a ban would limit their options for recouping utility costs and hinder conservation efforts.
Transparency, though, is an area of agreement. In 2022, a class-action lawsuit in San Diego against Conservice alleged the company denied California tenants the right to view specific bills or formulas. A settlement last year mandates Conservice to provide such documentation to any tenant disputing their bill. Conservice Senior Counsel Brett Kraus stated that their goal is to provide clear information.
Following these concerns, the Los Angeles Housing Department recommended in December that city officials establish clear tenant rights to review master utility bills and create a process for disputing charges. As Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, put it, “If your customer is paying for it, they should know what they’re paying for.”