‘It kept adding up’: how add-on utility fees can lead to eviction for tenants

Signs hung by members of Los Angeles' Virgil Square Tenants Association protesting their complex's utility billing practices. A spokesperson for the property manager said its utility practices are ‘fully compliant with California law’. Composite: Courtesy of the Virgil Square Tenants Association

In 2024, Constance Soule got a surprise from her landlord: a “notice of termination” that gave her 10 days to move out of her apartment.

Soule, a disabled Alzheimer’s patient with a housing voucher, had paid her rent at a Larkspur, California, complex managed by Greystar, the country’s largest apartment manager. But she was about to be evicted from her home across from the Golden Gate Bridge solely over utility charges, court documents show.