Bill would let tenants pay their own water bills if desired

LANSING — A state House bill would require property owners to transfer water bills to tenants’ names upon request.

The bill would ensure tenants can pay their water bills if the property owner fails to pay them on time, according to lead sponsor Rep. Jimmie Wilson Jr., D-Detroit.

“Reliable and safe access to water in Michigan homes is essential,” Wilson said.

In past years, tenants in Detroit and other Michigan cities have lost access to water in their homes despite continuing to pay rent, simply because the homeowners failed to pay the water bills, he said.

Wilson noted one instance in which tenants in a Detroit duplex were left without running water for several weeks in 2024 because their property owner hadn’t paid their water bill since 2020.

The latest U.S. Census Bureau data shows that Detroit’s poverty rate in 2024 was 34.5%, an increase from 31.9% a year earlier.

Some property owners and other utility managers have claimed that their systems don’t allow them to transfer water bills over to tenants’ names, according to co-sponsor Rep. Natalie Price, D-Berkley.

In other Midwest states, though, such as Indiana, it is possible for a property owner to legally transfer water bills to tenants’ names, Price noted.

This bill has 16 sponsors, all of whom are Democrats, including Penelope Tsernoglou of East Lansing, Kara Hope of Holt, Carrie Rheingans of Ann Arbor and Dylan Wegelia of Garden City.

It’s part of a larger package of legislation titled the Affordable Water Now Package.

The bill has been referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.