Should a landlord keep the utilities on in a vacant unit between tenants?
Yes, at least power and water, from move-out until the next tenant starts service. Painters, cleaners and inspectors need light and water, and a unit with the heat off can freeze its pipes. Many utilities offer a landlord agreement that moves service into your name automatically when a tenant stops it. Under Sioux Falls Utilities' agreement the landlord assumes the risk of leaks, frozen pipes and unauthorized use, so set it up on purpose and watch the first bills.
What a turn needs from the utilities
- Electricity: lights for inspection, power tools, a vacuum, and the oven and refrigerator test.
- Water: toilets, faucets and the water heater, which you cannot test with the supply off.
- Heat or air conditioning: paint and flooring adhesive cure properly only within a temperature range, and a winter vacancy needs heat enough to protect pipes.
- Gas, where the unit has it: to test the stove, furnace and water heater.
If the service shuts off the day the tenant leaves, your painter works by flashlight and your plumber cannot test a repair. Call the utility before the move-out date to ask what happens on that day.
How a landlord agreement works
Many utilities offer a form that tells them what to do when a tenant ends service. Sioux Falls Utilities' agreement is one example (other utilities have their own, so read yours). Its terms show the usual shape.
- When a tenant's service is discontinued, the account transfers automatically into the landlord's name for the listed properties. Each property is billed separately unless arranged otherwise.
- The utility notifies the landlord when a tenant's account closes, when service moves into the landlord's name, and when a new tenant starts service.
- If one tenant ends service and another starts it for the same property with no gap, the account moves directly between tenants and the agreement does not apply.
- If a tenant's service is cut for nonpayment, the account does not automatically revert. The landlord may ask for service in their own name after confirming the tenant has left, and the utility may require a deposit.
- The agreement stays in effect until ended in writing with 30 days' notice, and the utility may end it for cause, including nonpayment.
The same agreement says the landlord assumes all risks of continuous service, including frozen pipes, water damage, leaks, broken fixtures and unauthorized use or theft of service. The landlord also pays all charges until the utility has been notified, and unpaid balances may go to collections or be moved to the landlord's other accounts. This is one city utility's terms, not a rule everywhere.
Steps for each turn
- Ask the tenant for their final meter reading date and photos of the meters on move-out day.
- Photograph the meters yourself at the first walk-through, with the date visible.
- Confirm the account is in your name, or request it, before work begins.
- Check the first bill for the vacant period against the meter photos.
- Tell the utility the day the new tenant starts service, so the account leaves your name. The Sioux Falls form asks for notice within two business days of occupancy.
Example a made-up unit sits vacant for 11 days at an average of $4.20 a day for power and water, which is 11 x $4.20 = $46.20. That is small next to a day of rent, which is why many owners keep service on during the whole turn. A frozen pipe in a winter vacancy could cost many times that.
Track vacancy utilities as an owner expense
The utility bills for the vacant days belong to the property's books, not the tenant's. Keep a line for vacancy utilities per unit so you can see what a slow turn costs, as in the cost of a vacant unit per day.
How DoorKeeping handles it
Open a work order for the turn and add the meter photos to it. When the utility bill arrives, your Claude or ChatGPT, connected to DoorKeeping, can read it and code it to the property. Payments wait for your one-tap approval, and the first bill shows how many vacant days you carried.
Sources
Questions
- Can I turn everything off to save money during a short vacancy?
- You can, but then your vendors cannot work and you risk frozen pipes in cold weather. For a turn of a few days, most owners keep service on.
- Who pays the tenant's final bill?
- The tenant owes it. If the account was closed by the tenant, unpaid balances stay with that account. Your state may allow a deposit deduction for an unpaid utility bill with notice, so check your law.
- What if the utility will not put the account in my name?
- Ask for its landlord or vacancy program, or open a new account under the property's name. Some utilities want proof of ownership.