Brookfield is in the news for deceptive and hidden common utility fees. Read the News Story → See Brookfield's Utility Fees →
Utilities and Junk Fees
This page exposes the excessive utility charges and junk fees imposed by Brookfield Properties. The data and visualizations underscore the need for transparency and fair billing practices, and by presenting this information publicly, we hope to shed light on the financial impact utilities have on tenants in addition to inflated rent prices.
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Brookfield is in the news for deceptive and hidden common utility fees!
Read the story →
Brookfield Lease Language:
Charging What They Want, When They Want
Brookfield’s lease language gives them broad authority to impose fees at their discretion, allowing them to charge residents whatever they want, whenever they choose. This vague and expansive wording creates an environment where tenants have no control or predictability over their expenses . Particularly concerning is how Brookfield anticipated charging residents for unmetered utilities in the event of equipment failures, like the "broken" meters in the example below, enabling them to shift costs directly onto tenants. This practice places an undue financial burden on residents, highlighting the need for clearer, fairer leasing agreements.
"Landlord reserves the right to change utility billing service providers at any time. If Landlord changes the utility billing service during Resident’s tenancy, Resident will be given notice by Landlord. Landlord reserves the right to modify the method by which the utilities are furnished to the Premises or billed to Resident during the term of this Lease. In the event utility services provided to the Premises are separately metered and Resident’s sub-meter is broken or does not transmit a meter reading, or if Landlord has not received bills from utility providers in time to prepare Resident’s invoices, Landlord may estimate Resident’s consumption."
Navy Yard Utility Comparison
Below is a side-by-side comparison of utility costs, including water, electric and all other chrages, from a one-bedroom apartment at Guild Lofts, a Brookfield Property, versus at Insignia on M apartments, managed by Bozzuto, just four blocks away from the Guild in Navy Yard.
The Brookfield Guild resident has lower consumption costs but pays more due to all the additional fees and community bills put on residents at all the Brookfield buildings, including the Estate, Foundry, Twelve12, and Vela.
Brookfield Residents Pay More Than Double the Fees
$487
VS
estimated yearly fees for Brookfield residents (multiple service charges and community billing)
$228
estimated yearly fees for Insignia on M residents (one service fee and set trash fee)
*yearly fees estimated by multiplying the monthly fees from the table above
Metergy: Excessive Water Billing
From August to December 2023, Brookfield, who owns the water metering company Metergy , claimed that the metering system was broken and started charging tenants usage by square footage. They couldn’t tell us how the rates were determined, but for a 1 bd 1 ba with one occupant at the Guild (the same individual as in the example above) their metered water consumption went from $23-48 per month to $100+ per month in addition to regular metered activity.
= Metered activity, service dates
= Not metered, no service dates on bill
Metergy doubling / tripling residents' water bills
$20-50
per month, metered with service dates
VS
$70-80
per month, bill says "no activity" and has no service dates
Common Area Utility Charges
Brookfield has started implementing a new common area electric fee, charging some residents more than $200 a month to cover electricity for shared spaces in the buildings such as lighting and heating/cooling for the lobby, an expense typically assumed by the landlord and included in the cost of rent. Tenants have no control over these systems or what they're being charged .
Common Area Utility Fees Added for New Tenants/When Leases Renewed
$10-200
per month
=
$120-2400
per year per apartment
for electricity in common areas, including amenity spaces, hallways, and lobbies.
From a Brookfield utilities notice to tenants:
“Common Area Electricity” is a charge for the following services:
• In-unit residential heating, cooling, and ventilation (HVAC)
• Common space HVAC, lighting, and appliances
In accordance with your lease, residents are responsible for their own in-unit HVAC, and a proportionate share of the HVAC, lighting, and appliances of common spaces in the building, including amenity spaces, hallways, and lobbies. Common spaces do NOT include vacant units, adjoining retail, or garages."​
Residents already pay in-unit electric through Pepco. At this time, Brookfield still has not shared meter or activity information the common areas utilities, can't separate the charges for "in-unit" HVAC vs common space charges, or provided transparency into total costs per building, some of which include lobbies that do share spaces (i.e. restrooms) with restaurants or businesses or have open front doors that have been broken for over six months constantly running air conditioning/heating to keep up with outdoor temperatures.
Brookfield has not provided meter data or transparency on how these charges are calculated, nor can they separate in-unit and common space charges.
Hidden Costs, Big Profits:
Brookfield’s Billing Practices Leave Tenants Powerless
Due to Brookfield's lease language and their history of changing utility companies and billing practices without revealing the extent of the cost increases or how utilities are calculated, tenants are left with no control or predictability over their monthly expenses all while Brookfield profits more than a half million dollars on billing fees and common area utilities just at their 5 Navy Yard properties .
Cost Burden for Tenants
$487
estimated yearly fees
(service charges and community billing)
+
$120-2400
per year in common area electric fees
=
$607-2828
a year per apartment in
billing fees and community utilities
(Reminder: Insignia On M residents pay $228)
Profit for Brookfield
$700
a low approximation of fees per apartment per year
+
1222
number of Brookfield units in Navy Yard according to Capitol Riverfront's website
+
90%
occupancy, generously low according to Real Page stats on DC apartment occupancy
=
$769,860
a low estimate of what Brookfield profits a year from just billing fees and common area utilities
in Navy Yard
