There have been some queries of late in relation to how the water process works when you are passing this charge on to your tenant and we hope the summary below assists in making this process a little clearer.

Riverina Water issue water accounts on a quarterly basis.  When a tenant is responsible for payment of the water consumption (water efficiency devices have been installed in the property and it is separately metered) the account is forwarded to us, if we are the known listed agent.

Due to legislation we are no longer able to use rental payments to pay outstanding water accounts.

Our Fitzpatricks Real Estate policy once this water account is received is to debit the landlord for the full amount. The tenant is then on billed for the water consumption component only.  Legislation also states that a tenant must be given 21 days plus 4 days postage notice for all water account payments.  We therefore invoice the tenant for payment, and once this payment is received, this is credited to the landlord on the next rental statement.

This procedure is the only way we can monitor and manage water accounts for your tenants effectively.  If you would like to on bill your water consumption to your tenant and your property is water efficient and separately metered, please contact our property management team today.  If you have any queries about water invoicing at your rental property, please feel free to contact us as we are more than happy to guide you on what is best suited for your property.