The Santa Monica Rent Control Board has definitively established that landlords can’t exceed rent limits by engaging in Ratio Utility Billing Systems, or “RUBS.” Unlike those who use individual meters or submeters, landlords who use RUBS don’t charge tenants for their actual utility use. Instead, they divide a building’s master-metered water bill by the number of units. These landlords then pass that bill on to their tenants on a pro rata basis—resulting in a charge that may bear no relation at all to the amount of the utility that any individual tenant actually uses.

Action Apartment Association sued the Board, asking the court to rule that landlords may charge tenants as much as they like using RUBS because, the Association argued, a RUBS charge isn’t “rent,” and is therefore not subject to rent limits.

Read More: http://www.smdp.com/court-declares-that-landlords-cant-circumvent-rent-limits-by-charging-extra-for-water/168935