Charge tenants for ruined landscaping?

Question

Tom A. · Answer

Losing the shrubs stinks, but you have to look at the big picture.  Overall, they sound like good tenants.  Not worth creating friction over $200 in plants.

When you look at it in black and white financial terms it's easy to see that you shouldn't worry about the shrubs.

However, it's human nature to care more about things that you personally did.  You planted these plants.  You instructed them on maintenance.  You did a nice job with the landscaping.  You cared.

Unfortunately as a landlord you have to insulate yourself from things like this, while still caring about your property and tenant. Tenants rarely treat the property the way you would as the owner.  It's just the way it is in the rental business, but you can get some serious heartburn if you dwell on it.  Try to look at it as a business.

It's a lot harder to look at it that way when you've done the work yourself and you took pride in it.  It's easier when you hired someone to do it for you, you're not as personally invested.  Ask me how I know. :-)

Annette Hibbler · Answer

I think you'll have a difficult time proving the plants died as a direct result of tenants neglect seeing that it is now three years after the fact.  There are many other factors that could have contributed including insects, rodents such as ground hogs, weather, poor soil quality, etc.  For $200 it's just not worth the hassle.

However, you could enforce your existing lease and demand they clean up the yard as per the lease and maintain it on a regular basis.

Jason Miller · Answer

Tamara R.,

Have you considered looking at ways to xeriscape your landscaping?  I know its a southwest thing but there are likely ways to have a minimal upkeep yard in Virginia that still looks nice.  Hiring a local crew to clean up the yard once or twice per year can keep things looking nice.

Curb appeal is part of my rental goal.  It helps with drawing new and better tenants and helps keep the neighbors happy.  Its a cost for sure, but I see the benefits to be greater.

Tamara R. · Answer

@Jeff Bridges my husband has been to the property several times for inspections/maintenance but never mentioned anything amiss in the back yard.  Of course with Townhouses you have to walk around several to get to the backyard and unless the blinds are up in the home you may not actually see it.

Tamara R. · Answer

Thanks all!  This was a property I bought when I began my investing career, and there are lots of things I did with that house (and another I bought at the time) that I would not do today.  The last couple of purchases we did nothing with the landscaping--and the tenants actually fixed it up themselves.  Go figure.

@Mike Franco  yes $200 for the bushes--I actually didn't think that price was too bad.  That did not include the 12 hours I spent working on the yard.

Mike Franco · Answer

I missed the part about $200.

Does that cost include labor or just the bushes themselves? If the latter, that's expensive !!

I would never plant trees of that cost in a rental

Steve Babiak · Answer

IMO it's more your own fault for installing anything for landscaping other than grass.  Most tenants will be just barely able to see to it that the grass is mowed.  And lots of existing posts on BP that pretty much repeat what I just typed here.

If you were to try to collect this upon their move out, you could have to show the receipts for the replacement items in most areas (if the deposit did not cover it and you go before a judge); since you're not replacing (because you've already learned what I stated in the previous paragraph) you won't have those receipts to prove what you did.

Jon K. · Answer

If it's only $200 worth of damage after they've lived there 3 YEARS, consider yourself lucky. Very lucky. Sucks that the work was wasted, but that's typical.

I would leave it alone. It's $200, not $2000, and they've lived there a few years, paid on time, not damaged anything else.

Next time don't cater towards tenant requests for landscaping, renovations, etc. They almost never know how to take care of any of that sort of thing.

Mike Franco · Answer

I hate when tenants ask for landscaping and end up neglecting it.

Almost 100% of my previous tenants never took care of the yard. This is why I don't provide backyard landscaping. It's just dead grass. Only a few prospects have been turned off by it, but most prospects don't mind because they know they won't take care of it. I sell the barren backyard by telling them they're saving a boatload in water bills.

Jeff Bridges · Answer

Seems reasonable to charge them to replace the bushes that died (at current replacement rate), not your entire original cost for landscaping. Had they not made request for landscaping, they would have had light responsibility for light watering and weeding, mowing etc. Since they requested additional landscaping, they also must assume additional maintenance responsibilities that go with the blanket lease requirement in your lease.

I'd consider only trying to charge them at move-out OR asking them if they wish to have the bushes replaced or if they don't want the maintenance headache. You really can only charge them repair/ replacement costs, so if you make them pay now, then don't replace the landscaping, they could be bitter that you are just pocketing the money (in their eyes). My only value-add to this is to write a polite letter noting something along the lines of "per your written request on xx/xx/xx, I added additional landscaping/ plants and shrubs. Per lease paragraph X, tenant is responsible for basic lawn maintenance. x bushes require replacement due to lack of basic lawn care at a cost of x each for a total of x. Please include remittance with the next month's rent payment. Thank you.

it also bears noting that inspections every three years is not best practice:) you should be doing this annually at a bare minimum. The plants could have died the first season during the winter when they were still fragile, which may make you rethink charging altogether...

Charge tenants for ruined landscaping?

Most Popular Reply