San Antonio's local government is taking steps to address utility conflicts between responsible tenants and negligent landlords. District 7 Councilmember Marina Alderete Gavito and District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez have proposed a measure to prevent water shutoffs in apartment complexes due to unpaid bills, aiming to protect tenants from the consequences of their landlord's irresponsibility, according to a City of San Antonio release.
Their Council Consideration Request (CCR) seeks to prevent the San Antonio Water Systems (SAWS) from shutting off water to tenants because their landlord hasn’t paid the bill. Alderete Gavito stated that she and McKee-Rodriguez aim to ensure San Antonians are not affected by SAWS's collection efforts from negligent landlords. The proposal recognizes that most property managers fulfill their responsibilities but addresses those who don’t, suggesting that landlords who collect rent, meant to cover utility bills, must honor their contracts and pay what they owe.
McKee-Rodriguez emphasized the human impact of this policy, stating that "the threat of water shutoffs places the consequences of bad acting, negligent, and delinquent landlords and management companies on our most vulnerable residents." The proposed solution seeks to penalize landlords for unpaid bills by improving the Proactive Apartment Inspection Program, ensuring that tenants' water supply is not affected by their landlord's negligence, as per the City of San Antonio release.
The Governance Committee has referred the CCR to the Municipal Utilities Committee for further review. McKee-Rodriguez stated, "We are making clear that the means SAWS uses to collect payments from these bad actors do not justify the ends. Our action is a signal to residents that we won’t allow them to be used as a tool for debt collection," in the same news release.
