Make tenants remove snow or hire a company?

[Steve Balinski]

Hello, here is my scenario.

For those if you in northern states, for smaller multi-unit (2-6) when it snows, do you tell tenants to shovel their own snow, or pay a maintenance company?

Lease says I will take care of snow, BUT 2/4 tenants are on M/M, I'm thinking of buying a snowblower for $300 and offering them $100/MO off rent to take care of it, otherwise its $50/each visit from maintenance crew which can really add up (x2 times today for this blizzard rolling through...Chicagoland). Would cost me about $700 to have tenant do it including cost of snowblower, or $$?? for maintenance company. They are already paying all of their own utilities.

[Michael Jones]

More important question:

Who do they sue if they slip and fall? If the answer is your and your insurance company then you keep the responsibility and continue to hire a company to do it. 

It will be low hanging fruit in the hands of an ambulance chaser to prove there was owner neglect if you decide one day to "tell the tenants they need to go to the shed and fire up the snow blower"

What do you do when the snow blower is out of gas? Which tenant goes to the store?