Is a landlord required to explain how utility is assessed

Question

here is a hypothetical story.

A tenant is renting an apartment in San Francisco CA, and they started noticing that their utility bill keeps climbing every month. They started looking closely and noticed the following trend:

(it would amount $16-$20 per trash bag thrown away)

A hypothetical lease states:

My question to the community is, would the tenant have any right to demand detailed explanation how to the bill is calculated or the lease is pretty solid and the tenant must absorb whatever charges the landlord throws at them.

The concern is that there is not accountability or transparency in how these fees are assessed. What if the landlord decides to send a bill of $500 for trash. That would unreasonable. Does this hypothetical tenant have any legal standing to demand itemized computation. Would such a tenant have a chance of winning a case if they would pursue a case against a landlord in the California Court of Law demanding either reduction of the cost or rendering this porsion of the lease invalid.

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

would the tenant have any right to demand detailed explanation how to the bill is calculated or the lease is pretty solid and the tenant must absorb whatever charges the landlord throws at them.

The clause is valid, but it does not entitle the landlord to arbitrariness or discretion. The method is explicit in that tenants are to be charged "[t]he provider's bills".

Landlord's evasion of tenant's scrutiny causes reasonable suspicion of breach of contract and/or breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. That covenant is implied in every contract.

During court proceedings, the tenant will be entitled to conduct discovery on the defendant landlord, the non-party provider, and other non-parties who might be relevant to the claim(s).

Since the clause is valid, relief in the form of striking that clause from the lease seems unlikely to be granted. In case of overcharge, the relief for breach of contract will be primarily in the form of reimbursements plus interest (see sections 3300 et seq of CA Civil Code), or the corresponding deductions on subsequent bills. Additionally, the tenant may pursue injunctive relief to the effect of securing transparency on landlord's billing practices.

Answer 2

There tenant does not have an enforceable right to demand an explanation of other proof of utilities owed under the lease, unless the lease agreement specifies such a right. With respect to your "what if" question, if you have a reasonable belief that the landlord is fraudulently reporting incorrect utilities charges, you can take legal action, since the lease only allows specific special charges. You would be allowed to provide your evidence that the charges are incorrect, and the landlord would be allowed to provide his evidence that the charges are correct. The courts will treat both parties as equally deserving of being granted their petition, and will base their decision on whichever side's case is more likely true.