A and B are roommates who share all expenses equally. All of the utilites are paid in full directly from B’s checking account. Once a month, A adds up the total rent and the total utilities, divides the sum in two, and tells B to write a check payable to A in that amount. A then writes a rent check to the landlord.
Is B paying:
More than B’s share of the utilities
An amount equal to B’s share of the utilities
Less than B’s share of the utilities.
If the answer is 1 or 3, how should things be done properly?
A and B are roommates who share all expenses equally. All of the utilites are paid in full to the utility companies directly from B’s checking account. Once a month, A adds up the total rent and the total utilities, divides the sum in two, and tells B to write a check payable to A in that amount. A then writes a rent check to the landlord.
Is B paying:
More than B’s share of the utilities
An amount equal to B’s share of the utilities
Less than B’s share of the utilities.
If the answer is 1 or 3, how should things be done properly?
Since B is already paying the utilities, and then A asks for half of the utilities bill amount and gives it to the landlord, then B is overpaying.
A should be deducting 1/2 of the utilities bill from the check B gives to A, so that A is effectively paying for his half of the utilities.
So to make things easy, if total rent is $1000/mo and the utilities are $100/month, and that $100/month is deducted from B’s checking account, then every month B should be writing A a check for $450 for rent.
A should pay B for the utilities before the money is withdrawn from B’s account. A should also give B the money the money owed to B for utilities paid in the past. If A was kind, A would include some sort gift–beer or wine or a cashmere sweater made with wool from blessed goats; y’know, something classy–and a very sincere and humble apology for screwing over his/her roommate.
Whether or not this involves a pair of hedge clippers and A’s toes is entirely at the whims of the participants.
Seriously, Walloon, how long has this been going on?
By “real life”, I assume you mean you know people who are splitting expenses this way.
The answer is 1. If it’s happening in real life I’m amazed that B would fall for it (or tolerate it). B is paying 150% of the utility bill and 50% of the rent.
For A and B to split expenses equally, B should write a check to A every month for half the rent minus half the utilities, and A should write a check to the landlord for the full rent. What should happen is for B to get a backbone and find a new living situation where he (or she) isn’t being cheated. Oh, and maybe try to get A to pay back all that utility money that went into his (or her) pocket.
A should be giving B 1/2 the utility total and 1/2 the rent the B pays the bills. The alternative is to open a household account and each put in their share for all the bill each month. Then either and write the check(s)
A is gaining financially he’s got B paying for all the bills.
B needs to divide the rent in two then minus what he’s paid on the bills and give the balance to A
Rent: 1000
Bills: 100
A pays 550 to rent
B pays 450 to rent
B pays 100 to bills
Depends…I would happily agree considering the utility bill here is huge.
However, the way you describe it, B is paying more than half the rent, based on the utility bill which is just wrong and doesn’t make sense for either of them in the long run. However, it might work out better for B if the utility bills are high…but it is still screwed up.
They should add rent and utility…divide by half…whoever pays BOTH should get half the amount, and one or the other should then pay BOTH accounts.
Oh, and get your kid to pay BOTH and get the money from the other kid…it will be great for his credit rating later in life (as long as roommate doesn’t flake out an leave him in the lurch.)
Goodlord…to make matters worse, you have TWO threads running at the same time, so divide my last answer in two and multiply by four and read the other thread and just stop making my head hurt…
Moderator’s Note: If there are two threads with the same title started by the same poster with nearly identical OP’s, and a train traveling at 55 M.P.H. leaves Poughkeepsie at 4:38 A.M. at the same time a Moderator in Atlanta merges the two threads together, then at what time will a hawk turn into a handsaw?
Why would paying the landlord/utility bill affect his credit? It’s neither a revolving account nor a loan. I’ve never had anything like that on my credit report.
The next time your kid goes looking for an apartment, the utility companies will see he has had an account in the past and paid regularly, on time, and he/she will not have to pay a deposit. Also, most good apartment buildings have credit checks and one of the first things they ask is last residence…when they call and ask the last landlord, who lists your kid as someone who paid the rent on time, it will be a snap to get into the next apartment building.
And should your kid then ever apply for a home loan, one of the first things they will ask is about payments on their last apartment rental.
They check your credit to make sure you’re not a deadbeat, but I’ve never had an apartment manager call my former landlords.
Do the utility companies keep a secret list of their own on customer history? (I don’t know) I just know this information has never appeared on my credit report (nor have I heard of it appearing on anyone else’s)
This I know nothing about. I can believe that they ask about it, but do they follow through and check on it? I can’t imagine any way other than, as you suggested, calling the landlord personally. This information just isn’t reported to the credit bureaus, to the best of my knowledge.
