The provider (landlord) and payer (tenant) being two distinct entities is part of the problem, but the other part is that the landlord actively hides that sort

The provider (landlord) and payer (tenant) being two distinct entities is part of the problem, but the other part is that the landlord actively hides that sort of information. If you ask how much water costs, they'll likely not answer, might throw out some fuzzy idea of it being normal, perhaps give you the rate per gallon, and definitely not tell you about the actively leaking pipe whose costs the tenants have to share or about the outdated appliances using 3x too much water. You don't learn about that till you're trapped in a lease, and the amount they're scamming you isn't usually worth the activation energy of taking legal action or moving.