Landlord - Provide Lawnmower?

[RedDawn]

Does a landlord have to provide a lawnmower to their tenants? If they do, where does the line get drawn on deciding what other lawn care equipment (rakes, shovels and hoses) is expected to be provided?

[Chandler_Racing]

We provide a lawn mower.

Other items with left to the tenant.

[revelations]

Usually this is spelt out in the tenant agreement. We've been given a mower typically but I've bought a used 40$ mower once and left it at the house before. Slumlords typically dont care.

Heck, a push mower doesent take that much effort if you have a small lawn (lighter than a lawnmower and cheaper to run). I bought one for the rented house and we took it to our house as it was much less work overall (no winter storage issues, about same effort as a regular non-propelled mower, easier to move around/store).

[raceman6135]

No, the landlord isn't responsible for providing a lawnmower, even if the rental agreement states that the tenant is responsible for cutting the grass.

It's the same as the rental agreement (and provincial landlord tenant law) stating that the tenant must keep the premises reasonably clean and in good condition, but tenants are not given a broom, dust pan, vacuum cleaner, dust cloths, soap, bleach, etc. to do so.

http://www.landlordandtenant.org/responsibilities/

[masoncgy]

I used to provide one at the last rental place, but that was simply because I wanted to be sure the grass would be getting cut... and it worked... haha.

[RedDawn]

Originally posted by raceman6135
No, the landlord isn't responsible for providing a lawnmower, even if the rental agreement states that the tenant is responsible for cutting the grass.

It's the same as the rental agreement (and provincial landlord tenant law) stating that the tenant must keep the premises reasonably clean and in good condition, but tenants are not given a broom, dust pan, vacuum cleaner, dust cloths, soap, bleach, etc. to do so.

http://www.landlordandtenant.org/responsibilities/

Yeah, this is the exact dillema I face. On one hand, I want to provide a lawnmower. However, from a tenants perspective, I could see how it sends a very confusing message since a lawnmower is only a portion of all the tools required to take care of the lawn (Eg. Rakes, hoses sprinklers etc.). If you only give them the one tool, it feels odd that you don't supply them with everything and it also puts you in a position where they can say "You want me to take care of the lawn, but you've only given me a lawnmower, I also need item 1, item 2, item 3......". It's a slippery slope because their argument is vaild. To me, it almost feels like one those all or nothing type of situations. If you go a partial step with just a lawnmower, it opens you up to being asked to foot the bill on any other lawn related item.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

It's not a legal requirement that I know of.

That said, unlike the more commonly owned maintenance materials (brooms, mops, vacuums, etc.) lawn and garden equipment is rather specialized and many (if not most) renters don't own them. If you really want the lawn cared for, it's probably easier to just provide a cheap manual mower rather than try to force them to buy one. Same goes for garden equipment - if you'd like them to maintain it, the path of least resistance is to supply them to means to do it.

[zhao]

This is something you determine in the screening process. you're interviewing your tenant as well as they're deciding if they want the place (but the interview is far more for deciding if you want this person renting from you imo).

IMO you should be asking saying stuff like this is the yard, you will be expected to mow it and take care of it. Do you have XYZ tools to do that? What are your plans to get them?

If the person is surprised, and doesn't have this stuff or plan to get it, well, perhaps they should be looking at renting a condo or a town home, and not a house.

The problem with providing this shit is if they steal it, you need to buy it again. If they break it, you can be required to replace it.