Utility billing laws for landlords in California

Rules reviewed September 2026

At a glance

Admin fee

Allowed if disclosed; must reflect actual cost

Lease disclosure

Required. State the utilities billed and the allocation method before the tenant signs.

Billing above the utility's bill

Not permitted. Tenant shares must never total more than the master bill.

Common areas

Excluded. Hallways, laundry and irrigation stay the owner's cost.

What California requires

• Statewide rules cover submetered water (Civ. Code 1954.201 et seq.). Billing fees on submetered water are capped and late fees are limited.
• Several cities restrict or prohibit pass-through billing (for example San Jose and West Hollywood, and rent-controlled units in some cities). Check your city's rules.
• Bills for master-metered gas or electric may not exceed what the utility would charge (Pub. Util. Code 739.5).

How SplitDue handles this

• SplitDue keeps any admin fee on its own line of the tenant bill, so the utility cost and your fee are never conflated.
• Tenant shares are calculated so they add up to the master bill exactly, never more, and rounding remainders are absorbed rather than collected twice.
• Vacant and owner-occupied units still take their share of every bill, but that share is assigned to you rather than pushed onto the remaining tenants.
• Each tenant bill states the method, the service dates, the inputs used, and the utility's total, which is the disclosure most states expect you to be able to produce.