Owners of short-term rental properties may incur several utility expenses that can be categorized into two groups.

  • Flat Rate utility expenses may include:
    • Cable/entertainment service
    • Wifi
    • HOA fees
    • Trash
    • Gardening service
  • Variable Rate utility expenses may include:
    • Gas and electric services

Water service may be a flat or variable rate depending on what is covered by the specific HOA. Flat rate utility expenses are always the responsibility of the owner and are built into the rental rate. The same applies to variable utility expenses for rental periods less than 30 days. In certain situations, when a rental period exceeds 30 days, additional steps can be taken to protect the owner from excessive utility bills. This is a common consideration on homes equipped with amenities such as A/C, pool, or spa. In such cases, PURE can determine what would be considered excessive utility usage, factoring in historical and seasonal utility costs, in coordination with the property Owner to set a “utilities cap.” If the utilities used by your renter exceed the utilities cap, then a deduction from the security deposit can be used to pay for the difference. Owners must understand, however, that it is their responsibility to quickly send evidence of utility usage (bill or online statement) for the dates of the rental stay if it is to be charged back to the renter. Once a renter vacates your property, we have a very limited amount of time (sometimes as little as 14 days) to process security deposit deductions and provide them with a security refund.