Utilities Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what California law says, what's specific to Los Angeles - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- § 789.3 bars a willful shutoff meant to force you out; an accidental or repair outage is not covered.
- It covers water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, elevator and refrigeration service.
- Damages are your actual losses plus up to $100 for each day or part of a day, no ceiling.
- Each separate cause of action carries a $250 minimum, and the court must award attorney's fees to the prevailing party.
- Los Angeles's Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance treats a deliberate shutoff as harassment, with separate city penalties.
Understanding the Utilities Clause
This page is for Los Angeles renters reading the utilities paragraph of a lease, or sitting in a unit where the power, gas or water just went off. The clause decides whose name is on each account and who pays each bill.
It does not decide whether your landlord may cut service. California law answers that, and Los Angeles adds its own layer.
First work out whether the service was cut on purpose or simply failed, because only a willful cut falls under § 789.3.
What renters assume
If I fall behind on rent, or the lease puts the utilities on me, the landlord can have service switched off.
What is actually true
Our record of § 789.3 names no exception for unpaid rent. A landlord who willfully cuts a listed service to end your tenancy breaks it, whatever the lease says about who pays.
California and Seattle sit in the same place: $100 a day with no ceiling, which quietly beats a fixed number the longer a shutoff drags on. Compare Atlanta, where the entire penalty is a $500 criminal fine paid to the state - the tenant gets nothing.
Utilities Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Los Angeles, CA
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.
Upon Tenant’s request, Landlord will provide a copy of the actual utility bill for the property. In addition, Landlord will make available an accounting of the utility bill prorations.
Quoted from the published opinion in Kutscheid v. Emerald Square Properties, Inc., 770 N.W.2d 529 (Minn. Ct. App. 2009). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“Upon Tenant’s request”
Read the trigger. Nothing happens until you ask, which means the information arrives after you have signed, moved in and opened a bill that surprised you. Minnesota's court held that shape of promise insufficient: under Minn. Stat. § 504B.215, subd. 2a(1) a single-metered building that bills utilities separately from rent has to give prospective tenants the whole building's monthly totals for the most recent calendar year, before signing. The California rule on this page is about shutoffs rather than disclosure, so in Los Angeles asking early is a tactic, not a right.
See the example
“will provide a copy”
A copy of the bill is not an audit. It shows the building's total; it does not show how that total became your line item, which is the number actually in dispute. In Kutscheid the tenant had been told her unit would run $60 to $80 a month and then paid $168.18 in December, $171.39 in January and $170.67 in February. A copy of the building's bill would not have warned her.
“the actual utility bill”
“Actual” is doing quiet work - it concedes that the figure on your statement is not the actual bill but a slice of one. Cal. Civ. Code § 789.3 is not aimed at the slice. It is aimed at the service, and narrowly: an interruption is unlawful where the landlord acted willfully and with intent to terminate the occupancy. A genuine repair outage or an accident is outside the section, so the evidence that decides these cases is what the landlord said and did, not the outage itself.
See the example
“for the property”
Three words that quietly change the subject from your unit to the whole building. That is the honest description of a shared-meter bill, and it is why Minnesota's statute asks for the whole building's monthly totals rather than an estimate for one apartment - a leasing agent's per-unit average was precisely what the court rejected. The Los Angeles layer is local: the city's Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance treats deliberately cutting utilities or housing services as harassment, with city penalties on top of the state remedy.
A promise to show you the bill later is not disclosure. The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed. The addendum allocated the building's gas bill by share of rentable square footage and its water and sewer bill equally among the units - that is the court's own description of the formula, not the lease's words - and it promised the actual bill on request. That did not satisfy Minn. Stat. § 504B.215, subd. 2a(1), which requires the landlord of a single-metered residential building that bills utilities separately from rent to give prospective tenants, before they sign, the total utility cost for the whole building for each month of the most recent calendar year. A leasing agent's statement that the tenant's own unit averaged $60 to $80 a month was insufficient, and disclosure after signing was irrelevant. Her actual charges ran $168.18 for December 2007, $171.39 for January 2008 and $170.67 for February 2008. The court also held that the treble-damages remedy in § 504B.221(a) does not reach this violation, and remanded for actual damages - a clean win on the rule, and a much smaller one on the money.
How this state's law treats this clause
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.
California Law on Utilities Clause
- A landlord may not willfully interrupt water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, elevator, or refrigeration service.
- Intent to terminate the occupancy is required - an accidental or repair-related outage is not covered.
- Damages are actual damages plus up to $100 for each day or part of a day the violation continues, with no statutory ceiling.
- The minimum award is $250 per separate cause of action, and the court must award attorney's fees to the prevailing party.
Sources include Cal. Civ. Code § 789.3 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Copy and send: As soon as a service stops and the utility tells you the landlord asked for the cutoff
Ask for your service back
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
California's shutoff rule for renters is Cal. Civ. Code § 789.3:
- Services covered. Water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, elevator and refrigeration service. A dead elevator in a mid-rise counts as much as a dark unit.
- Intent. The landlord must interrupt the service willfully, with intent to end your occupancy. An accidental or repair-related outage is not covered.
- Daily damages. Your actual damages plus up to $100 for each day or part of a day the violation continues, with no statutory ceiling. A 60-day shutoff can reach $6,000 on top of your actual losses.
- Floor and fees. The minimum award is $250 for each separate cause of action, and the court must award attorney's fees to the prevailing party.
Statutes are amended, so read the current text on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov before you rely on it.
What's Specific to Los Angeles
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.
Los Angeles adds a second layer. Its Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance treats deliberately cutting utilities or housing services as harassment, with separate city penalties layered on top of § 789.3.
Before you sign, ask whose name each LADWP and SoCalGas account will be in, since the account holder is the one who can ask the utility to stop service. In an older master-metered building, ask how the shared bill is split.
It should. Water, power, gas and trash listed one by one leave no room for a surprise bill later.
Ask directly. With your LADWP or SoCalGas account in your name, only you can authorize a disconnection.
Red flag. A willful shutoff meant to force you out breaks § 789.3, whatever the lease says.
Question it. The $250 minimum and the fee award come from § 789.3, not from the lease.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Cal. Civ. Code § 789.3 on leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, California's own publication of its statutes.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Shutoff threatened over unpaid rent
Any clause tying service to your rent balance. A willful cut aimed at ending your tenancy breaks § 789.3.
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"Tenant pays all utilities" and nothing else
One vague line for every bill. Without a named list you can end up paying for common-area lighting or laundry power you never used.
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Unexplained shared billing formula
A ratio split that never shows its math. In a master-metered building, ask for a sample bill and the exact formula in writing before you sign.
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Waiver of Section 789.3 remedies
Language asking you to give up utility protections. Ask the landlord to explain it, or strike it, before you sign.
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Silence on repair outages
No promise of notice before planned work. Our record of § 789.3 sets no notice period for repair outages, which leaves the lease you sign to answer it.
Your Rights as a Los Angeles Tenant
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$100 for every day it lasts
Actual damages plus up to $100 for each day or part of a day a willful shutoff continues, with no ceiling.
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A $250 floor, plus fees if you win
Each separate cause of action carries a minimum award of $250, and the court must award attorney's fees to the prevailing party.
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Eight services, not just power
Water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, elevator and refrigeration service are all covered by § 789.3.
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LA harassment penalties on top
The Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance treats a deliberate shutoff as harassment, with separate city penalties beyond the state remedy.
What To Do - Step by Step
Write down when it stopped
Photograph the dead meter, the dark unit or the cold tap, and note the date and time. Damages count by the day, so the start matters.
Ask the utility who requested the cutoff
Call LADWP or SoCalGas. A cutoff the landlord asked for to force you out falls under § 789.3; an accidental or repair outage is not covered.
Ask for service back in writing
Text or email the landlord or property manager, name the service, and ask for it back today. Keep the whole thread.
Keep every receipt
Hotel nights, spoiled groceries, laundromat runs and meals out. These are your actual damages, added to the daily amount.
Report it to the city
Contact the LA Housing Department about the Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance. City enforcement runs separately from your own civil claim.
Talk to a tenant attorney
The court must award attorney's fees to the prevailing party. Read the current text of § 789.3 before you file.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Utilities rules near California
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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