Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Our tenant has not been maintaining the yard at our rental property. I have spoken with him several times. Printed a copy of the rental contract where it states he will maintain the yard. I have served him with a 3 day perform or quit twice in the past. The yard is then maintained for a little bit. It is written in his contract that if tenant fails to maintain the yard, then landlord will hire yard service and tenant will be responsible to pay for yard care. Last time I spoke with him, I told him I would not be speaking to him again about the matter. If the yard is not maintained in the future, I would be hiring yard service and rent would be increased to cover the cost of yard service. I informed him recently that I a yard service would be coming by to give him a quote for the yard. I have gotten to quotes for a yard clean up and for the cost of weekly/biweekly service. It will cost somewhere around 400-1,200 to get the yard cleaned up. I got two separate estimates. It will be $180 for monthly service. I want to make sure I am going about it the best legal way possible. Has anyone ever dealt with a similar situation? Should I just have the company bill my tenant directly? I was planning on increasing the rent to cover the cost of the monthly service but not sure the best approach for the clean up costs. TIA! I greatly appreciate your feedback.

For context this has been an oncoming issue/ conversation for 2 years now.

Posted by Jetta P, CA on Monday, November 29, 2021