Tenants Not Watering Lawn ~ What can I do?

Question

I have a single family home in San Diego.  I have a property manager managing the place.

I recently went by the property and noticed the lawn is dead.  I seriously doubt the tenant is watering the lawn or the plants.  I want to maintain the property in excellent condition.

What can I do?

• Require maintaining the lawn / plants in lease agreement.
• Pay portion of water bill
• Drought tolerant grass

Dan H. · Answer

My advice is different than all your previous advice.  In my units with decent/nice landscaping I have in the ad listing unit availability as a tenant that wants and is willing to maintain the landscaping as many rentals do not have decent/nice landscaping.   Some tenants want to live in a place with a decent/nice landscaping.

I could evict the tenant for not maintaining the landscaping and would if the tenant was not worth keeping.  But if the tenant is otherwise good I keep them and charge them at move out for new landscaping.  Similar to anything else that they did not adequately maintain.  They are sometimes surprised to lose hundreds of dollars due to killing off grass.  Sod is expensive to purchase and lay.   The property is not being returned in the condition it was rented to them due to their negligence.  So of course they will be charged for returning the landscaping to a similar condition as when they moved in.

If you take the advice of no/minimal landscaping your unit will be like most other units and will not look nice.   My units are all above average for their locale.  I target the upper end of tenants in those locales.  Part of the attraction is the attractiveness of the units which includes the landscaping.  Also having landscaping helps in appraisals for refinance or when it comes time to sell.

I would have property manager talk to tenant so that they are fully aware that maintaining the landscape is the tenant's responsibility.  If they fail to maintain the landscaping they should not be surprised when they get charged for replacing the landscaping if they destroy it.

Good luck

Thomas S. · Answer

Tenant responsibilities regarding a SFH rental can be very difficult. Generally the lawns and gardens should be reduced to a bare minimum and where possible removed entirely. It's a rental after all and tenants generally could care less about upkeep.

Remove all gardens, plant a few drought tolerant shrubs and hope for the best on the grass. Not much more you can do even if you do require tenants to do the maintenance.

This is one of the major reasons to only invest in purpose built rental properties. Landscaping is usually much less of an issue.

Kyle J. · Answer

@Mel Nutter Since it's in your lease agreement, you have a few possible options:

1)  Have your PM talk to the tenants and remind them it's their obligation to water/maintain the lawn

2)  Have your PM serve the tenant with a Notice to Perform Covenant or Quit (the covenant they need to perform is maintaining the lawn)

3)  IF your lease agreement allows for it, hire someone to maintain the lawn and bill the tenant for the cost  (Note: My lease agreement says "Tenant's failure to maintain any item for which Tenant is responsible shall give Landlord the right to hire someone to perform such maintenance and charge Tenant to cover the cost of such maintenance."  You would only be able to charge the tenant if your lease had similar language.)

Kevin Fox · Answer

Hey @Mel Nutter

Does your current lease address the upkeep of landscaping?

If not, there is really no recourse against current tenants. However, you can certainly take steps to avoid this type of behavior by the next tenant.

One easy fix (if the numbers allow for it) is to just pay for a landscaper weekly to maintain the lawn.

Another would be to add a provision in the lease about maintaining lawn quality and not interfering with the sprinkler system. With this approach, offering to pay a portion of the water might help eliminate any unnecessary tensions.

Please feel free to reach out if you'd like any further help with the issue!

Matt K. · Answer

What's the current lease say? If you're having a PM already mange it I'd talk it out with them... maybe they could either enforce what's in the lease or hire a company to take care of the landscaping.

Nicole A. · Answer

Not sure what the rest of the neighborhood is like where your rental is located, but I've noticed you've mentioned twice how you want your property to have excellent curb appeal.

While it's normal to want your properties to be kept in good shape, be sure to check your expectations at the same time.

A rental will almost never show at the same quality as your personal home. Remember, they are separate.

(I see this is an older thread brought back to life.)

Mel Nutter · Answer

@Dan Heuschele I agree.  I want my place to have excellent curb appeal.  I spoke to my property manager and they are looking into the issue.

I am surprised my landscaper didn't say anything to the property manager.

Edward Velez · Answer

Just paint the dead grass green and forget about it. Isn't California in a drought? Are they forbidden from watering the lawn? It seems everyday all I see on the news is another brush fire in Cali.

Dan H. · Answer

I typically use my handyman or laborer for and landscape restoration but I am not that pleased with my current handyman (I used to have a great handyman but now he has units in my market so is a friendly competitor).

I keep wanting to find a new handyman but I keep putting it off (there are infinite things I would prefer to do).

The laborer requires more over site than the handyman is supposed to require but works good for items like laying an entire yard with sod (lots of labor involved).

So I do not have a recommendation for a landscaper.

Ronnie S. · Answer

Everyone has great points!!

I personally and under the philosophy that curb appeal makes all the difference and sets the standard on how you keep and how you want your tenants to keep the property maintained. Disclaimer....as described in previous posts, this doesn't work for all properties or all areas...but if your area is tolerant to this...I think it is a good practice. Of course it has to make sense dollar wise.  Just my thoughts....

Tenants Not Watering Lawn ~ What can I do?

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