Utilities Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what North Carolina law says, what's specific to Charlotte - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- § 42-42.1(b) says the lessor "may not disconnect or terminate the lessee's electric service, water or sewer services, or natural gas service", or the benefits of a central system, due to the lessee's nonpayment of the amount due for those services.
- Under § 42-42.1(a), a lessor may, under a written rental agreement, charge for the cost of providing water or sewer, electric or natural gas service under G.S. 62-110. The billing is allowed; the shutoff for nonpayment is not.
- Under § 42-26(b), an arrearage in water, sewer or electric charges "shall not be used as a basis for termination of a lease", and payments go first to rent unless you designate otherwise. § 42-46(d) bars a late fee for unpaid water or sewer charges.
- The remedies in our record are measured by proof. § 42-44(a) makes any right in Chapter 42 enforceable by civil action, and for a removal contrary to Article 2A, § 42-25.9(a) limits damages to actual damages, excluding punitive and treble damages.
- Charlotte's own rule is narrow: § 6-588(d)(2) bars owners in the rental registration program who have been issued a civil penalty, or who missed the mandatory initial meeting, from terminating occupants' utility services. Read the current state text on ncleg.gov before relying on it.
Understanding the Utilities Clause
A utilities clause decides whose name is on the electric, water and gas accounts, and who pays. It does not decide whether a landlord may switch any of them off, and in Charlotte a state statute answers that second question directly.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42.1(b) says the lessor may not disconnect or terminate a tenant's electric service, water or sewer services, or natural gas service due to the tenant's nonpayment of the amount due for them. Under § 42-26(b), unpaid water, sewer or electric charges billed under G.S. 62-110(g) or (h) cannot be the basis for ending a lease, and § 42-46(d) bars a late fee for unpaid water or sewer charges.
What the sections in our record do not carry is a fixed dollar penalty. The remedy is a civil action under § 42-44(a), measured by what you can prove.
The state text was read on archived copies of the General Assembly's own pages, so read the current sections on ncleg.gov before relying on them.
What renters assume
If the lease makes the tenant responsible for utilities and the landlord bills them, falling behind on that bill lets the landlord shut the service off, add a late fee, or treat it as a reason to end the lease.
What is actually true
§ 42-42.1(b) bars the lessor from disconnecting electric, water or sewer, or natural gas service due to the tenant's nonpayment of the amount due for it. Under § 42-26(b) a water, sewer or electric arrearage "shall not be used as a basis for termination of a lease", and § 42-46(d) bars a late fee for unpaid water or sewer charges.
Nine of the 19 rows carry a fixed dollar figure. They run from New York City at $10,000, through Denver at $5,000, Las Vegas at $2,500, Washington at $2,000, Austin at $1,000, Atlanta at $500, Chicago and Boston at $300, to Detroit at $200. Charlotte is one of the ten blank rows.
Its label reads No fixed sum; civil action, close to Columbus at No fixed sum; actual damages. The other blank rows answer in rent multiples, daily amounts with no ceiling, or damages.
Miami's is three months' rent; Phoenix, Philadelphia and Portland carry two months' rent; Los Angeles and Seattle $100 a day; Newark a daily city fine; and Nashville actual plus punitive damages.
A blank bar is not an empty rule. North Carolina's ban in § 42-42.1(b) is there; what the bar cannot show is a fixed sum, because the sections in our record attach none.
Plain English Version
Your lease can put the utility bills in your name, or let the landlord bill you for them. Either way, North Carolina law says the landlord cannot cut off your electricity, water, sewer or gas because you have not paid for it.
Unpaid water, sewer or electric charges billed by your landlord cannot be the reason a lease is ended, and unpaid water or sewer charges cannot bring a late fee. The state sections we read set no fixed fine for a shutoff; the remedy is a civil case, and what you recover depends on what you can prove.
Utilities Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Charlotte, NC
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
[t]enant shall be responsible for all utilities and services incurred in connection with the Premises.
Quoted from the published opinion in Dinh v. Raines, No. S-18262 (Alaska Feb. 23, 2024). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“[t]enant shall”
The duty runs to the tenant, and North Carolina allows the landlord to be the one who sends the bill. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42.1(a) lets a lessor, pursuant to a written rental agreement, charge for the cost of providing water or sewer, electric or natural gas service under G.S. 62-110. Whether your bills come from the utility or from the landlord, the next subsection draws the line the landlord may not cross.
“be responsible for”
Responsibility for a bill is not permission to switch the service off when it goes unpaid. § 42-42.1(b) says the lessor “may not disconnect or terminate the lessee's electric service, water or sewer services, or natural gas service”, nor end the benefits of a central system, due to the lessee's nonpayment of the amount due for those services. The ban speaks to the very situation this clause sets up: a tenant who owes the bill.
“all utilities”
All includes the services a home cannot do without, and North Carolina treats two of them as a repair duty as well. § 42-42(a)(8) requires the landlord to repair or remedy an imminently dangerous condition within a reasonable period based on its severity, after actual knowledge or notice. The listed conditions include lack of potable water, and lack of heat capable of reaching 65 degrees Fahrenheit when it is 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside, from November 1 through March 31.
“connection with the Premises”
The money question comes last, and North Carolina answers it without a fixed figure. § 42-44(a) makes any right declared by Chapter 42 “enforceable by civil action”. For a removal contrary to Article 2A, § 42-25.9(a) limits damages to actual damages, excluding punitive damages, treble damages and damages for emotional distress. Detroit's row on this clause, by contrast, reads $200 or actual damages, per occurrence.
The clause survived. The landlord did not. The Alaska Supreme Court held that a “tenant pays all utilities” clause does not let a landlord shift the cost of utilities he diverts. He had housed his restaurant employees in unpermitted garage units and let them draw electricity and heating fuel through the tenants' meter and fuel tank. That was a willful diminution of essential services under AS 34.03.210, which exposes a landlord to exemplary damages of up to one and one-half times actual damages. The court affirmed that finding as to heat, hot water and electricity, and reversed as to internet and cable, which are not “essential services” under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The same utilities clause still carried the day on ordinary contract grounds: the tenants recovered $1,050 under AS 34.03.160 for the internet and cable, once they had given notice. Two things a renter should take from it - a broad “all utilities” clause is normal and enforceable, and it still does not make you the landlord's utility company.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
North Carolina Law on Utilities Clause
- The ban sits beside the billing permission. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42.1(a) allows a lessor, pursuant to a written rental agreement, to charge for the cost of providing water or sewer, electric or natural gas service under G.S. 62-110. Section 42-42.1(b) provides that the lessor may not disconnect or terminate that service, "nor may the landlord terminate the lessee's receipt of the benefits of the use of a central system, due to the lessee's nonpayment of the amount due for electric service, water or sewer services, or natural gas service."
- Unpaid utility charges cannot be turned into an eviction or a late fee. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-26(b), an arrearage in costs owed for water or sewer services under G.S. 62-110(g) or electric service under G.S. 62-110(h) "shall not be used as a basis for termination of a lease under this Chapter", and any payment to the landlord is applied first to rent owed and then to those charges unless the tenant designates otherwise. Section 42-46(d) bars a late fee for failure to pay for water or sewer services provided under G.S. 62-110(g).
- The remedies in our record are measured by proof. Section 42-44(a) provides that "Any right or obligation declared by this Chapter is enforceable by civil action, in addition to other remedies of law and in equity." Section 42-25.6 states the public policy that a residential tenant be evicted, dispossessed or otherwise constructively or actually removed only by the court procedures in Article 3 or Article 7 of Chapter 42, § 42-25.8 voids contrary lease provisions, and for a removal contrary to that Article § 42-25.9(a) lets the tenant recover possession or terminate the lease and limits damages to actual damages as in an action for trespass or conversion.
- Loss of water or heat is also a repair duty. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42(a)(8) requires the landlord, within a reasonable period of time based upon the severity of the condition, to repair or remedy any imminently dangerous condition after acquiring actual knowledge or receiving notice of it. The listed conditions include lack of potable water and lack of operable heating facilities capable of heating living areas to 65 degrees Fahrenheit when it is 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside from November 1 through March 31.
Sources include N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42.1(b); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-44(a); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-25.6; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-25.9(a); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-26(b); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-46(d); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42(a)(8); Charlotte City Code § 6-588(d)(2); Charlotte City Code § 11-45(e) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
North Carolina pairs the billing permission with the shutoff ban. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42.1(a) allows a lessor, pursuant to a written rental agreement, to charge for the cost of providing water or sewer, electric or natural gas service under G.S. 62-110. § 42-42.1(b) then says the lessor "may not disconnect or terminate the lessee's electric service, water or sewer services, or natural gas service".
The same subsection adds that the landlord may not "terminate the lessee's receipt of the benefits of the use of a central system". Both bans apply where the reason is "the lessee's nonpayment of the amount due" for those services, which is the situation a clause making the tenant pay for utilities can create.
Two more sections keep an unpaid utility bill from growing into something larger. Under § 42-26(b), an arrearage owed for water or sewer services under G.S. 62-110(g) or electric service under G.S. 62-110(h) "shall not be used as a basis for termination of a lease under this Chapter".
Any payment to the landlord goes first to rent and then to those charges, unless the tenant designates otherwise.
§ 42-46(d) bars a late fee for failure to pay for water or sewer services provided under G.S. 62-110(g).
Remedies measured by proof
The sections in our record attach no fixed sum to a shutoff. § 42-44(a) provides that "Any right or obligation declared by this Chapter is enforceable by civil action, in addition to other remedies of law and in equity."
A second route concerns removal. § 42-25.6 states the public policy that a residential tenant be evicted, dispossessed or otherwise constructively or actually removed "only in accordance with the procedure prescribed in Article 3 or Article 7". § 42-25.8 voids contrary lease provisions.
For a removal contrary to that Article, § 42-25.9(a) lets the tenant recover possession or end the lease, and limits damages to actual damages, excluding punitive damages, treble damages and damages for emotional distress. Our record does not say whether a utility shutoff is a removal under that Article.
Loss of water or heat is also a repair duty. § 42-42(a)(8) requires the landlord, within a reasonable period based on the severity of the condition, to repair or remedy an imminently dangerous condition after actual knowledge or notice. The list includes lack of potable water, and lack of heat capable of reaching 65 degrees Fahrenheit when it is 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside, from November 1 through March 31.
This text was read on archived copies of the General Assembly's own pages. Read each section as it stands on ncleg.gov before relying on it.
North Carolina Tenant Protections
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42.1(a) allows a lessor, pursuant to a written rental agreement, to charge for the cost of providing water or sewer, electric or natural gas service under G.S. 62-110. Section 42-42.1(b) provides that the lessor may not disconnect or terminate the lessee's electric service, water or sewer services, or natural gas service, or the benefits of a central system, due to the lessee's nonpayment of the amount due for those services.
Under § 42-26(b), an arrearage owed for water or sewer services under G.S. 62-110(g) or electric service under G.S. 62-110(h) shall not be used as a basis for termination of a lease. Payments go first to rent unless the tenant designates otherwise.
Section 42-46(d) bars a late fee for failure to pay for water or sewer services under G.S. 62-110(g). Section 42-44(a) makes any right or obligation declared by Chapter 42 enforceable by civil action.
For a removal contrary to Article 2A, § 42-25.9(a) lets the tenant recover possession or terminate the lease and limits damages to actual damages, excluding punitive damages, treble damages and damages for emotional distress. Section 42-42(a)(8) requires the landlord to repair or remedy imminently dangerous conditions, including lack of potable water.
Lack of heat capable of 65 degrees Fahrenheit when it is 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside, from November 1 through March 31, is also on that list.
In Charlotte, City Code § 6-588(d)(2) bars an owner in the rental registration program who has been issued a civil penalty, or who missed the mandatory initial meeting, from terminating occupants' utility services.
What's Specific to Charlotte
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
In our record, Charlotte's own utility shutoff rule is narrow. We read the Code of Ordinances on Municode, Supplement 57, codified through an ordinance enacted June 22, 2026, including Chapter 11, the Housing Code, in full, Chapter 6, Article XII and Chapter 23, Article I.
The rule sits in Chapter 6, Article XII, the Residential Rental Registration and Remedial Action Program. That program reaches properties the city places in it, not every Charlotte rental.
Under § 6-588(d)(2), an owner of rental registration property who has been issued a civil penalty under the article, or who failed to attend the mandatory initial meeting, is the owner it reaches. Such an owner shall not "Terminate the utility services of any occupants or otherwise violate the rights of residential tenants under G.S. Ch. 42, Art. 2A, 5, or 6."
The money in that section points elsewhere. The $50.00 civil penalties listed in § 6-588(a) attach to registration failures, and the text of § 6-588 we read attaches no dollar sum to subsection (d).
§ 2-21(a) sets a general fine not to exceed $50.00 for violating any section of the Code "Unless otherwise provided or prohibited by applicable law". We take no position on whether it reaches § 6-588(d).
The Housing Code reaches the same ground from another side. § 11-45(e) makes it unlawful for an owner to collect rent on a place of habitation that is imminently dangerous. The list includes no potable water supply under § 11-80(h) and no operable heating equipment under § 11-81(b) during November through March, and § 11-45(i) makes a violation of subsection (e) a misdemeanor.
Text searches of the code for "utility service", "cut off", "shut off" and "tenant" returned no other rule on a landlord cutting a tenant's service. For anyone outside the registration program, the state sections above are the texts our record found on a shutoff.
Two practical points follow for a Charlotte tenant. Date every outage and keep the utility's explanation, because a civil action under § 42-44(a) is measured by what you can prove.
And if your building is in the registration program, tell the city which owner and which unit, since § 6-588(d)(2) names that owner's shutoff directly.
Municipal codes change, and our reading of Charlotte's stops at the supplement above. Read the current code before you quote it to your landlord.
§ 42-42.1(a) lets a lessor charge for utilities under a written rental agreement. Knowing which bills come from the landlord tells you which protections in § 42-26(b) and § 42-46(d) to read.
§ 42-26(b) applies any payment first to rent and then to electric, water or sewer charges, unless the tenant designates otherwise. A clause that repeats that order matches the statute.
§ 42-42.1(b) says the lessor may not disconnect electric, water or sewer, or natural gas service due to the tenant's nonpayment of the amount due for it.
§ 42-46(d) bars a late fee for failure to pay for water or sewer services provided under G.S. 62-110(g).
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A shutoff reserved for unpaid utility bills
§ 42-42.1(b) says the lessor may not disconnect electric, water or sewer, or natural gas service, or the benefits of a central system, due to the tenant's nonpayment of the amount due for it.
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Utility arrears as grounds to end the lease
Under § 42-26(b), an arrearage for water or sewer under G.S. 62-110(g) or electric service under G.S. 62-110(h) "shall not be used as a basis for termination of a lease".
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A late fee on the water bill
§ 42-46(d) bars a late fee for failure to pay for water or sewer services provided under G.S. 62-110(g).
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Payments applied to utilities before rent
§ 42-26(b) applies any payment first to rent and then to utility charges, unless the tenant designates otherwise. A clause reversing that order can make rent look unpaid.
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No heat in winter, and no repair
§ 42-42(a)(8) lists lack of heat capable of 65 degrees Fahrenheit at 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside, from November 1 through March 31, as an imminently dangerous condition. Charlotte's § 11-45(e) separately bars collecting rent on an imminently dangerous home, a list that includes no operable heating equipment during November through March.
Your Rights as a Charlotte Tenant
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Service stays on over unpaid utility charges
§ 42-42.1(b) bars the lessor from disconnecting electric, water or sewer, or natural gas service due to the tenant's nonpayment of the amount due for it.
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Rent first, then utilities
§ 42-26(b) applies any payment to rent before utility charges unless you designate otherwise, and utility arrears cannot be the basis for ending the lease.
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A civil action to enforce it
§ 42-44(a) makes any right or obligation declared by Chapter 42 enforceable by civil action, in addition to other remedies of law and in equity.
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Heat and water as repair duties
§ 42-42(a)(8) requires the landlord to repair or remedy lack of potable water or lack of operable heat within a reasonable period after actual knowledge or notice.
What To Do - Step by Step
Write down when the service stopped
Date and time, with a photograph of the meter or thermostat. A civil action under § 42-44(a) is measured by proof, so every day of the outage needs its own entry.
Ask the utility why it stopped
A cut made over a utility bill you owe the landlord is what § 42-42.1(b) bars. Note who you spoke to, when, and what they said.
Put your position in writing
Cite § 42-42.1(b), ask for the service to be restored, and keep a dated copy. If a notice treats utility arrears as grounds to end the lease, cite § 42-26(b) too.
Report heat or water loss as a repair
§ 42-42(a)(8) covers lack of potable water and lack of heat capable of 65 degrees Fahrenheit at 20 degrees outside, from November 1 through March 31. Written notice gives you proof of when the landlord was told.
Keep every receipt the outage generates
Hotel nights, meals, a space heater, spoiled food. Where Article 2A applies, § 42-25.9(a) limits damages to actual damages, so the receipts are the measure.
Read the current text, then take advice
Read § 42-42.1, § 42-26 and § 42-44 on ncleg.gov as they stand today, and Charlotte's § 6-588 if your building is in the registration program. North Carolina legal aid can review the facts before you act.