No Tenant Sign Up
At the July 21, 2022, Board of Commissioner’s meeting, the Board approved the no tenant proposal. Starting September 5, 2022, Lakewood Water District will no longer be signing up tenants for water service and accounts will remain in the property owner’s name. If your tenant has been signed up prior to September 5, 2022, the account will remain in their name until the account is closed out. After that, the account will remain in the housing provider’s name indefinitely. Please know that the District has taken this proposal very seriously and considered all perspectives on the matter. We are here to make this transition as easy as possible. Please see below for frequently asked questions on the change in policy and the answers to each. If you have further questions or concerns, please contact our office directly at 253-588-4423 or email csweb@lakewoodwater.org.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions listed below are some of the more typical ones we are asked. If none of these answers helps you, then contact us, and we will answer you as quickly as possible.
A. Tenants that are currently signed up will continue to remain on the account until they end water service. Owners will have the option to have their new tenant receive a copy of the bill and reminder notice if applicable, but the owner will remain the responsible party. Per RCW 57.08.081 property owners are ultimately responsible for any unpaid balances on accounts attached to their property. Any arrangements for the tenant to pay the water bill will be between the tenant and housing provider. A duplicate billing can be provided to the tenant; however, the owner will be required to fill out a duplicate billing request.
A. You can either submit it via our website or in the office. An electronic version can be accessed here.
A. Only one duplicate per household can be sent out.
A. No, only one request will be sufficient for all your tenants. (Click here to access the form). It is the housing provider’s responsibility to notify LWD if they want the duplicate billing to be terminated, otherwise it will terminate upon closure of the account. The duplicate billing will be addressed to “Resident”.
A. If your tenant currently has an active account, there is nothing either you, or your tenant need to do. You can still sign your tenant up until September 4, 2022. As of September 5th, no tenants will be able to sign up for service.
A. As of September 5, 2022, no tenants will be signed up for service, regardless of their move in date.
A. No. Only tenants who have moved in prior to September 5, 2022, will be signed up for service.
A. Because the property owner is responsible for any unpaid balances, the delinquent process will be no different than how it currently works. The tenant, if signed up to receive a duplicate billing, will receive a reminder letter the same as the property owner, and if not paid by the final pay by date, water will be disconnected and will not be restored until the water bill, including additional charges, is paid in full.
A. Rental property accounts will be billed to the property owner. Payments are accepted from the owner, property management company, tenant, or another third party, regardless of the name appearing on the account. Tenants can submit payments in any of the ways we accept (check, cash, credit or debit or money order). They will want to reference the account number or service address in which they are paying. Tenants can also pay online through our online bill pay platform Xpress Bill Pay (see next question). A payment calculator is available here to calculate the usage when your tenants move out. You can contact the office for a reading on the day your tenant moves out or you can obtain it on the customer portal.
A. Yes! There are two ways for your tenants to pay online. They can either make a guest payment or create their own Xpress Bill Pay account. When a tenant creates a secondary payee account on Xpress Bill Pay, the account holder will be notified.
A. No, the District holds the property owner responsible for any balances on the account. Lakewood Water District will not be involved with settling housing provider and tenant disputes.
A. Utility Management companies such as Conservice or Vervantis can help manage your tenants’ utility billing if you prefer; however, the District has no connections and cannot make any recommendations with these companies.
A. The District has a customer portal that can be used to view water consumption. Click here to view instructions for use and click here to be taken to the portal. Also, the District has a continuous usage program where any high usage over five consecutive days will alert the staff who will then contact the property owner. Please note that this is a courtesy service, and it is not the responsibility of the District to monitor customer’s water usage.
Q. Were Lakewood residents made aware of this proposal before being approved by the Board? Was the public’s opinion taken into consideration?
A. Absolutely! An introduction to the proposal was given to the Board on March 17, 2022. From there, the District was given permission to further explore this option, with a large focus on reaching out to Lakewood property owners for their input on this proposal. It started with sitting one on one with two housing providers and getting their view and insight on the proposal. The District then sent out a postcard to all Lakewood property owners (rental or not) to invite them to an open house on May 25, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. This allowed anyone from the public to come and provide feedback on the proposal. Between the two open houses, approximately 24 people showed up to the meetings. It was shared that a recommendation would be made by District General Manager at the June meeting and action would be taken by the Board of Commissioners at the July meeting. As always, Board meetings are open to the public. It was suggested that anyone with more to contribute, to please attend the next Board of Commissioners Meeting on June 30, 2022. At that meeting, a recommendation was made to the Board on the no tenant proposal and was approved at the July 21. 2022 Board meeting.
Please view our open house Power Point presentation here.
If you have any additional questions, please contact our office at (253) 588-4423.
A. Yes, this applies to all rental properties regardless if they are residential or commercial. The account will remain in the property owner’s name. A “care of” can be placed on the account if you have a property management company you wish to have the bills go to.
