Instagram story viewer> @banrubs> Posts

Ban RUBS utility junk fees!

@banrubs

254

followers

37

following

RUBS is a landlord utility billing scam. We’re fighting to ban RUBS in Los Angeles & beyond!

POSTS STORIES REELS

This month, our campaign to ban RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing Systems) in Los Angeles reached a crucial milestone.

Late last year, the LA Housing Department published a report recommending that RUBS be banned in all rent-stabilized apartments to protect tenants from unlawful rent increases hidden in opaque utility fees. To urge LA City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee to take action towards banning RUBS city-wide, we convened tenants and Debt Collective members for a rally and press conference at City Hall on August 10.

Thanks to the brave tenants who made their voices heard, this event led to greater awareness of RUBS and press coverage in @latimes, @guardian_us, @lapublicpress, @yahoonews, and @capitalandmainnews! The fight against RUBS is a national one, and we are proud to join tenants organizing in New Jersey, San Diego, Chicago, and cities across the country to Ban RUBS, once and for all.

The Virgil Square Tenants Association (@vsta140) has been on RUBS strike for over a year, and will continue to strike until they receive transparency from their landlord (Equity Residential, now Vivmark) for how their utilities bills are calculated.

Learn more about our campaign to ban RUBS ➡️ banrubs.org by @banrubs

RUBS is a devious landlord trick used to shift building utility costs onto tenants with NO transparency!
Two tenants associations organizing with @latenants and @thedebtcollective are fighting RUBS…. stay tuned! by @banrubs

Look ma we made it to the NYT! Thanks @tmmcmillan for your reporting!
If you’re in LA, join us this Wednesday October 21 when we’ll give public comment at the Housing Committee meeting at 2pm. We’re not on the agenda which is the problem! We’ve been waiting long enough! DM us for more info if you can make it! by @banrubs

One of the many reasons RUBS is unfair is that tenants often have to pay extra for the fact that landlords are keeping units vacant. If common area utility costs are high, then it makes a big difference if they are divided among 70 apartments or 200 apartments. The landlord may also be using utilities to do renovation work on the empty apartments and billing that to tenants. In one building where @latu_ktown organized, tenants saw their RUBS bills drop by more than $100/month once renovation work was done and apartments were filled.
Whenever tenants ask question about vacancies and common area usage and how those are factored into the bills, landlords refuse to answer. Ban RUBS!
////

Una de las muchas razones por las que el sistema RUBS es injusto es que los inquilinos deben pagar un extra debido a que los propietarios mantienen unidades vacías. Si los costos de los servicios públicos de las áreas comunes son elevados, marca una gran diferencia que se dividan entre 70 apartamentos o entre 200. Es posible también que el propietario utilice dichos servicios para realizar obras de renovación en los apartamentos desocupados y cargue ese costo a los inquilinos. En un edificio donde se organizó el grupo @latu_ktown, los inquilinos vieron cómo sus facturas de RUBS se reducían en más de 100 dólares al mes una vez que finalizaron las obras y se ocuparon los apartamentos.
Siempre que los inquilinos preguntan sobre las unidades vacías, el uso de las áreas comunes y cómo se calculan estos factores en las facturas, los propietarios se niegan a responder. ¡Basta con RUBS! by @banrubs

New story about RUBS by @tmmcmillan! Link in bio! by @banrubs

Solidarity with tenants in Chicago at Oglesby Towers who are fighting RUBS with @southsidetogether! Residents have seen increases as high as $500!

New RUBS acronym:

Rob
U
Blind
Suckers

#banrubs by @banrubs

Grace lives in Hollywood under Mosser Living. Her total RUBS utilities charges have TRIPLED in the past few years. Last year her RUBS water charges went from $20-30/month to $80/month with no explanation. Her lease says only that she pays “proportionate charges” for utilities with no further information. When Grace asked for answers, she got boilerplate from YES Energy Management.
BAN RUBS!!
————————————
Grace vive en Hollywood bajo el dueño Mosser Living. Sus cargos totales por servicios públicos (RUBS) se han TRIPLICADO en los últimos años. El año pasado, sus cargos RUBS por agua pasaron de $20 a $30 al mes a $80 al mes sin ninguna explicación. Su contrato de arrendamiento solo indica que debe pagar «cargos proporcionales» por los servicios públicos, sin más detalles. Cuando Grace pidió explicaciones, recibió una respuesta estándar de YES Energy Management.
¡BASTA con RUBS! by @banrubs

Leaders from the Virgil Square Tenants Association @vsta140 in CD1, Hampshire Place Tenants Association in CD10, Park La Brea Residents Association in CD5, and Hope + Flower and Wyvernwood Tenants Associations in CD14 rallied this week to demand that LA City Council BAN RUBS!
Thanks to @angela4congress for showing up to support us, and to members of @thedebtcollective, @latenants, @tenantstogether, @keeplahoused, @therentbrigade, @uniondevecinos, @dsa_la and other tenants who are fed up with Ratio Utility Bull Shit!
🔗 Sign up at the link in our bio to get updates and to get more involved
#banrubs by @banrubs

💥Let’s tell LA City Council it’s time to BAN RUBS!!
RSVP at link in bio!
RUBS is a utility billing scam where landlords add hundreds of dollars on top of your rent for building-wide costs you can’t control. The LA Housing Department has recommended a ban on RUBS in rent-stabilized apartments, but hundreds of thousands of tenants in non-rent-stabilized apartments shouldn’t have to deal with this scam — especially on top of the 8.7% rent increases allowed in their buildings this year!! LAHD has also recommend a *rent increase of up to $250!!* in rent-stabilized apartments to pay landlords for the loss of their scammy RUBS income! We demand protections for ALL tenants!

Monday, August 10 at 10am
LA City Hall
200 N Main Street
Meet at the steps in the little park on 1st between Spring and Main

*******************

💥¡¡BASTA CON RUBS!!
¡Confirma tu asistencia en el enlace en la biografía!
El RUBS es una estafa en la facturación de servicios públicos en la que los propietarios agregan cientos de dólares a tu renta por gastos del edificio que no puedes controlar. El Departamento de Vivienda de Los Ángeles (LAHD) ha recomendado prohibir los «RUBS» en los departamentos con renta estabilizada, pero cientos de miles de inquilinos en departamentos sin renta estabilizada no deberían tener que lidiar con esta estafa —¡especialmente además de los aumentos de renta del 8.7 % permitidos en sus edificios este año!! El LAHD también ha recomendado un *aumento de renta* en los departamentos con renta estabilizada para compensar a los propietarios por la pérdida de sus ingresos fraudulentos por «RUBS». ¡Exigimos protecciones para TODOS los inquilinos!

Lunes, 10 de agosto a las 10:00 a. m.
Ayuntamiento de Los Ángeles
200 N Main Street
Nos reuniremos en las escaleras del pequeño parque en la calle 1ª, entre Spring y Main by @banrubs

The landlord lobbying groups are freaking out about the push to ban RUBS utility junk fees in Los Angeles. This month RUBS made the front page of the Apartment Owners Association magazine. Since landlords can’t lead with “We like RUBS because we can put an extra $300 on a tenant’s ledger with no transparency,” they are pretending they are suddenly environmentalists. 🙄

There is no evidence whatsoever that RUBS has any relation to water or energy conservation! It disincentivizes landlords from investing in more efficient systems.

If you’re a tenant who’s mad about RUBS, submit public comment now! banrubs.org/actnow

#banrubs ! by @banrubs

Update: The 13 tenants who received 3-day eviction notices have taken their signs down to avoid having to fight evictions in court, but many other tenants who did not receive eviction notices have now put signs up in solidarity with their neighbors. 💪🥳✊

The VSTA has been on a RUBS strike, paying their rent but not their utility bills, for over a year. Their landlord Equity Residential has refused to meet with them and has now issued retaliatory eviction notices for the great crime of having 8.5 x 11 flyers on their doors.

#banrubs by @banrubs

📣Today marks one full year of the Virgil Square Tenant Association's RUBS strike in Los Angeles!📣

One year ago, members of the Virgil Square Tenants Association in Koreatown, Los Angeles — supported by the Los Angeles Tenants Union and the Debt Collective — began collectively withholding thousands of dollars in monthly utility payments to Equity Residential, the fifth-largest corporate landlord in the nation.

In their first year on strike, Virgil Square Tenant Association has won back more than $25,000 in refunds to tenants, received local and national press coverage, and encouraged tenants in Seattle to take action against their landlord's use of RUBS. Virgil Square Tenant Association plans to continue striking until they receive transparency from Equity Residential for how their utilities bills are calculated.

RUBS, or Ratio Utility Billing Systems, is a deceptive billing method used by landlords to hide rent hikes and force tenants to pay for a portion of the building's total usage.

RUBS has been outlawed in cities across California including San Jose, West Hollywood, and Santa Monica. Amid growing pressure from tenants, Los Angeles City Council is also considering a city-wide ban on RUBS.

The Virgil Square Tenant Association's RUBS Strike shows the power of collective action in real time. Together, we can organize against our creditors to build a world where housing is a public good, not a profit center! by @banrubs