Re: Tenant & Lawn Care - Landlord Forum thread 227935

Re: Tenant & Lawn Care by Mary on July 7, 2011 @04:39

Well said, thank you. My tenant agreed to water the lawn which I had just rototilled (all of this is in lease)and re-seeded because of the actions of another tenant. I laid everything out BUT the height of the grass. This did not become an issue because the tenant took down the automatic sprinklers and hoses and put them in the shed, without telling me. The lawn was not watered for ten days until I went up there and discovered that they were taken down. She stated "It was raining a lot so I took them down". They also agreed in writing to rake the lawn and help in the reseeding (got a big discount on rent) and they never even removed the straw that was on the lawn. We went up to make sure it was done and the tenant said they were having company and he would do it. Ten days later the straw is still there, the lawn is dry as a bone and the sprinklers are in the shed. She then went away house hunting and wrote me telling me that they had not mowed the lawn and that I would probably get a fine from my association. The reseeding was a total waste of time. We spent a lot of money on timers so they didn't have to do much. I also paid to have it rototilled and seeded, etc.

What do people make of them putting the auto sprinklers in the shed...and then not mowing the hay that grew? Seriously, it is sort of in my face behavior. I felt bad for them because she was 9 months pregnant when they moved in and had a tight budget. Now she wants to know if she will be reimbursed for the watering that she didnt do, and is also complaining about the written clause to steam clean the carpets in exchange for having two dogs there. She says they were never out of their cages. I say it is in the lease and she should have brought it up before. I couldn't have bent over backwards more for these people.
Seriously, was I too nice? I'm kinda thinking I was.

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Re: Tenant & Lawn Care by OK-LL on July 7, 2011 @08:51	[ Reply ]

No good deed goes unpunished. This is real life -- you aren't the first person to extend a helping hand to this person and have the person bite your hand. Don't waste your sympathy on anyone -- if they wanted to be anywhere else in life besides just exactly where they are, they'd be making efforts to get there, not sitting around waiting on the kindness of strangers like you. Nine months pregnant and a tight budget are both things completely within the control of the tenant; it appears they WANT (not need) more than they can afford, and they found a sucker (YOU) to help them get what they haven't earned, a nicer home they can't pay for. The sooner you learn this lesson, the quicker you'll be a good LL turning a profit. Keep your standards high and don't fall for poor-me stories.

Re: Tenant & Lawn Care by Erika (Oregon) on July 30, 2015 @01:45	[ Reply ]

Woah, for a Landlord you really seem to despise your Tenants! People rent for a lot of reasons, not just because they're financially beneath people who own their homes. Relocations to areas people aren't knowledgeable enough about to know where they want to buy straight off, a short term work assignment where it doesn't make sense to buy, living and working in an area that doesn't have promising housing values and where buying would be a poor investment choice... just to name a few off the top of my head. Too busy to water does not mean they're total degenerates. They should pay for the damages if they were responsible, maybe you should just keep it at that.