Is the Landlord or the Tenant responsible for the Landscaping?
Question
I recently moved into a new home and plan to rent my old house. I’m wondering who is responsible for the landscaping.
Answer
Most states allow a landlord to make landscape maintenance the tenant’s responsibility for a single-family residence (even multi-unit rentals when units have individual private yard areas). When doing so, the landscaping-related
tasks and the penalties for failing to adequately do the work should be specified in the lease in great detail.
However, there are issues of concern when doing so. Does the tenant have the necessary tools and equipment (e.g., lawnmower)? Will he do the work as often as you wish and to the level of quality you expect?
Being a landlord includes a multitude of potential liabilities and letting a tenant perform work has the potential of adding yet more. In addition to the issues raised in the above paragraph that affect the owner’s property
physically, there are other risks.
For example, if you provide the lawn mower, the tenant allows his 10-year-old kid to do the mowing, and the kid cuts off his/her fingers or toes, you will likely be sued. As another example, if the tenant injures a visitor or
passerby while performing the work even using his own equipment, you will certainly be sued. I could easily think of dozens of different scenarios.
Depending on your lease and your insurance coverage, it may not cost you money, but it will cost you time and stress. If you allow a tenant to work on your property, be sure that your insurance covers you for all possible problems
and include a clause in your lease wherein the tenant indemnifies you.
Because of the uncertain quality of a tenant’s work (if you care) and potential enforcement hassles and the potential liability it is often best to charge more rent and pay a landscape maintenance vendor to do the work, being
sure that the vendor is properly licensed and insured (including providing workers’ compensation insurance for employees), or do it yourself. This usually assures both quality and minimum risk.
All the above being said, many landlords require tenants to maintain the landscaping either because they haven’t thought about the potential problems or are willing to accept the potential problems.