[susan68]

I live in a trailer park. The landlord gets one large water bill for the entire park. He, in turn, makes a bill for each trailer. First of all, none of the trailers has a working water meter and there are no #s on the bill to show how much water was used. It has the date and the amount of the bill. Secondly, he charges a $10 service charge. And third, we used to get a water bill every two months and now its every month.

My roommate is African American and the landlord has told more than one tenant that he "wants the blacks out of here."

He was giving everyone a 5 day grace period. Two months ago, he took the grace period away and now the rent is due on the 1st of the month and the late day is the 1st of the month. I always get paid towards the end of the first week

[AK lawyer]

Do you have a written lease?

[ma0641]

The point is he has a water bill, divides it by the number of trailers and that is what you pay. If I had a water bill I had to pay monthly, I would also make you pay monthly. Unless all of the residents are African American your comment is irrelevant. You owe for water and his "service charge" is for collecting the money, or maybe not getting paid, and he foots the bill. Unless there is something in your lease that the landlord is breaching, you have little rights. He can set whatever time terms he wants as long as the law is not broken. A quick scan of FL tenant laws shows nothing about water billing. The only right you have is the right to move if you don't like how it's handled and the right to negotiate a different method or amount when your lease comes up for renewal.

[ScottGem]

ma0641 is mostly correct. Assuming you don't have an inforce lease, he can change the terms with a month's notice. There is nothing illegal about splitting the water bill, as long as it isn't charging more than the total bill. If he is, then its another fee, not agreed to. But you would probably have to get all the tenants together compare what they pay and take him to court to see if he is charging more.

However, if he is charging you something different and treating you different from other tenants because of your roommate, that is discrimination in housing. And that IS illegal. But again, you have to prove it and then file a complain with the local authorities.

[AK lawyer]

Secondly, he charges a $10 service charge.

... There is nothing illegal about splitting the water bill, as long as it isn't charging more than the total bill. ...

There is no indication that the landlord recently added the service charge. Thus, and assuming no lease, there is nothing prohibiting him from doing so (in effect it is part of the monthly rent). If it is a new charge, the LL couldn't do so without prior notice (In Florida, if rent is payable monthly, the right to occupy can be terminated by the giving of 15 day's notice; so presumably raising the rent would only require such a notice period).

[ScottGem]

There is nothing illegal about splitting the water bill, as long as it isn't charging more than the total bill. If he is, then its another fee,

What I meant by this is if the landlord's bill is $1000 covering 50 lots, that's $20/lot. If he charges each lot $30 plus the service fee, then he is collecting more than his total water bill essentially reselling the water. That may be illegal. Charging a service charge is one thing, making a profit on reselling the water is a different thing.