Who pays for utilities in a mobile home park?
Every buyer asks it during due diligence and every new owner asks it in month one: who pays for what? The answer follows the meters. Here's the typical arrangement in a small US park, the four ways owners recover water costs, and what to check before you buy.
The typical split
Electric and gas: the tenant, directly. In most parks each home has its own utility-company meter and its own account. You never touch that money, which is exactly how you want it.
Water and sewer: it depends on the meters. Many parks are master-metered — one utility meter for the whole park, one bill in the owner's name. That bill is real money (for a mid-sized park it's commonly thousands of dollars a month), and how you recover it is the biggest utility decision you'll make. The four options are below.
Trash: usually the park. One hauler contract for the whole community, recovered in rent or as a flat line item. Simple, and tenants generally prefer it.
The four ways parks recover water costs
| Method | How it works | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| In the rent | Rent is set high enough to cover the average water bill. | Heavy users are subsidized by careful ones, and you eat every rate increase until the next rent increase. |
| Flat fee | A fixed monthly water charge on every lot. | More visible than burying it in rent, but still usage-blind — and some states restrict flat utility fees that don't track cost. |
| RUBS | The master bill is split by a formula (per lot, per occupant, or square footage). | A formula isn't usage: nobody's bill goes down when they fix a leak. States are tightening the rules on it. |
| Submeters | Each lot has a meter; each tenant pays for their own gallons, at cost. | Upfront hardware cost and a monthly reading routine — the fairest option, and where the industry is heading. |
Submetering also changes behavior: industry and utility-sponsored studies consistently find metered residents use meaningfully less water — commonly cited reductions run from roughly 15% to 30% or more. Tenants who see their own gallons fix their own leaks. Our free RUBS calculator does the formula split cleanly while you're master-metered, and the water submeter calculator handles the per-lot bill once meters are in.
The rule under all of it: pass through, don't profit
Wherever you land, most states expect utilities to be passed through at cost — some require it outright (North Carolina and Massachusetts are strict at-cost states), others cap billing-service markups tightly (Arizona caps third-party billing charges at 10%). The details are state-by-state: see submetered water billing rules by state for the five biggest park states. And whatever method you use, write it into the lease — the method, the formula if it's RUBS, and what happens when it changes.
Buying a park? Check the utility setup first
- Who owns the lines. Park-owned water and sewer lines are your repair bill. Ask when they were last replaced; on a park from the 60s or 70s, camera-inspect before you close.
- Municipal service or private systems. A private well or a lagoon system isn't a dealbreaker, but it adds regulatory and maintenance risk that belongs in your price.
- Where the master meter sits. Everything on the park side of it leaks on your dime.
- Submeter age. Old mechanical meters drift (usually under-counting). If the park is "submetered" with 25-year-old meters, budget for replacements.
More on the buy-side in the due-diligence checklist and your first 30 days after closing. If you inherit a master-metered park and want out, here's how to switch your park to submeters.
Sources
- North Carolina Utilities Commission, water resale: https://www.ncuc.gov/Industries/water/waterresale.html
- Massachusetts General Laws ch. 186 §22 (utility submetering): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter186/Section22
- Arizona Revised Statutes §33-2107: https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/02107.htm
General information, not legal advice. Utility pass-through rules vary by state and city — confirm yours before you set a billing method.
Lot Sidekick runs the billing side end to end (rent, submetered water, and who's-late) on a live map of your park. Send your spreadsheet and I'll set up your park, or see the live demo, or call (425) 405-0734.