San Antonio City Council looks to punish landlords who don’t pay their water bills

Two San Antonio City Council members introduced a proposal for broader debate that would hold accountable landlords who don’t pay their utility bills.

The item introduced by District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito and District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez during a Governance Committee meeting Wednesday calls for fining landlords who don’t pay their water bills $100 and adding them to a “Bad Actor Apartment List.”

The proposal also would force landlords behind on their utility bills to notify tenants. The name of apartment complexes with unpaid water bills also could be displayed on the city’s website.

“Our recommendation is straightforward — if you operate as a landlord in San Antonio and collect rent that includes utility payments, you must adhere to the rules and pay those bills,” Alderete Gavito said in a statement. “This is not a controversial idea.”

In June, tenants at four Alamo City apartment complexes — the Roselawn Apartments, the Westwood Plaza Apartments, Serenity Residences and an unnamed eight-plex — had their water cut off by San Antonio Water Systems. However, it wasn’t the tenants who were behind on rent. Rather, the landlords hadn’t paid their water bills, leaving renters to suffer.

In a statement, McKee-Rodriguez said that tenants should never be victims of the negligent behavior of bad landlords.

“We are making it clear that the means SAWS uses to collect payments from these bad actors do not justify the ends,” McKee-Rodriguez said. “Our action is a signal to residents that we won’t allow them to be used as a tool for debt collection.”

The proposal, which was signed by five council members, will next head to the Municipal Utilities Committee for further consideration.

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This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2024.