Founder MeterEase blog
What MeterEase doesn't do, and why
MeterEase was built by Drew Starbuck, an estate planning attorney with Williams Starbuck in Las Vegas, after hearing the same complaint from clients who own rental properties: every month they split utility bills across tenants by hand, and the software they tried wanted them to pay for a whole property-management suite to do it. He tells that story in Why I built MeterEase.
That starting point shaped the product as much by what it leaves out as by what it does. Here is the list, and the reasoning.
What it does
First, the short version of the job. MeterEase reads the master utility bill PDF, applies the split method and vacancy rule the landlord chooses (square footage, occupants, bedrooms, fixed percentages, or a blend on Growth and Portfolio), and emails each tenant their share with the math shown and the source bill attached. The landlord checks the amounts before they go out. Amounts can be exported as a rent-app CSV or a QuickBooks CSV, or pushed to DoorLoop on Growth and Portfolio.
It doesn’t collect rent or tenant payments
Tenants pay landlords the way they already pay rent. MeterEase sends the shares and exports the amounts to the rent app, QuickBooks or DoorLoop.
Why: most landlords already have a way to collect rent. Asking them to move payments into a new tool to fix a billing chore would mean taking on the bigger system the original complaint was about.
It isn’t a property-management system
No tenant screening, no listings, no rent collection, and no full property-management portal.
Why: the problem was paying for a suite to do one job. Building another suite would repeat it. Landlords who want a full property-management system have plenty of choices, and our comparison pages, such as DoorLoop alternative and Buildium utility billing alternatives, say where those tools are the better fit.
It isn’t a utility, and it doesn’t read meters
MeterEase does not sell water or power, read meters, or install hardware. It works from the bill the utility already sends.
Why: landlords with a master meter already have the data they need: the bill. If a building has submeters, that is a different setup with its own trade-offs; see RUBS vs submetering.
It doesn’t choose your method or write your lease
The landlord picks the split method and vacancy rule, and owns the lease terms.
Why: the right method depends on the building, the tenants and local rules, and those are the owner’s decisions. MeterEase applies the method consistently and shows the math. Our posts on square footage vs occupants and adding a RUBS clause to your lease cover the choice.
It isn’t legal advice
MeterEase does not tell you whether a bill-back is allowed where you own, and it makes no compliance claims.
Why: rules on utility billing vary by state, city and utility, and an app cannot know the details of your lease or your property. Our state guides and the Useful links directory point to official sources, and they say plainly where we found no clear statewide rule. For your own situation, the answer comes from a lawyer licensed where the property is.
It doesn’t send without you
There is a send checklist, and by default nothing goes to tenants until the landlord confirms the amounts. A landlord can turn on auto-send for a property’s routine bills; even then, a bill with anything unusual, such as a tenant change or an amount well off the usual range, waits for a person.
Why: the landlord is the one sending the bill, so the landlord decides how much to automate. A quick check before a send catches a wrong move-in date or a missed vacancy before a tenant sees it.
It doesn’t hide the price
Plans are published: Starter is $14 a month for one property with up to four units, Growth is $34, and Portfolio is $69 for up to 50 units plus $1.50 a month for each unit over 50. See pricing.
Why: if the problem was paying too much for a bigger system, the answer should be a price a landlord can see before talking to anyone.
What this means if you’re choosing a tool
If you want one tool that runs your whole rental business, MeterEase is probably not it, and that is fine. If you already have a way to collect rent and want the monthly utility split done well, with the math shown to every tenant, that is the job MeterEase was built for. Our best RUBS software for landlords page compares the options, and the free RUBS calculator lets you test the math first.
Questions or ideas: [email protected].
Split the bill and email every tenant in minutes
MeterEase reads the master bill PDF, applies your method and vacancy rule, and emails each tenant their share with the math shown and the source bill attached, after you check the numbers, unless you turn on auto-send for a property. Plans start at $14/month.