Who Is Responsible for Yard Work and Snow Removal in a Rental?

Your lease decides most yard and snow duties, subject to state and local law. In a single-family house or duplex, a lease can make you responsible for mowing, watering, weeding, and raking, while in an apartment building the landlord generally must keep shared walkways, stairs, and grounds clean and safe. Structural repairs, drainage problems, and dangerous trees generally remain the owner's job under the state laws described below, and cities such as New York and Chicago can hold owners, tenants, and occupants responsible for clearing the public sidewalk.

What the lease decides

Read the lease and any addenda for yard care, snow and ice, gutters, trees, and homeowners association (HOA) rules. California's state tenant guide tells renters of a house or duplex with a yard to ask who will care for it and, if the answer is the tenant, whether the landlord will supply equipment such as a lawn mower and hose. Chicago's transportation department says some landlords make tenants responsible for snow clearing in the lease and others do not, and it tells renters who are unsure to check the lease or ask the landlord.

If the lease says nothing about the yard or snow at a house, ask the landlord in writing before the season starts and get the answer added to the lease. The written term matters at move-out: in Texas, for example, a landlord can deduct from your deposit only damages and charges you are legally liable for under the lease or because you broke it, and never for normal wear and tear.

State law backs the apartment column. Florida requires landlords of buildings other than single-family homes and duplexes to provide for the clean and safe condition of common areas unless the parties agree otherwise in writing. Washington requires shared areas to be kept reasonably clean, sanitary, and safe from defects that increase the risk of fire or accidents. In Massachusetts, the owner of a multi-unit building, including a duplex, must keep exterior stairways, fire escapes, and exit balconies free of snow and ice, and you become responsible for snow on an exit only when it is under your exclusive use and control and a written rental agreement clearly assigns that duty to you.

What stays the landlord's job

• The structure. Florida requires landlords, where no local housing code applies, to keep roofs, exterior walls, foundations, porches, steps, and other structural parts in good repair, and Washington requires structural components to be kept in reasonably good repair. A written lease for a Florida single-family home or duplex can change those duties, so read that kind of lease closely.
• Keeping water out. California requires effective waterproofing and weather protection of the roof and exterior walls, and Washington requires the home to be reasonably weathertight. A lease can assign routine leaf clearing, but a gutter pulling away from the roof, a downspout pouring water against the foundation, or water seeping into the home is a repair to report.
• Dangerous trees. Report a dead, split, or leaning tree over the house, a walkway, a driveway, or power lines in writing. In Texas, once you give notice and are current on rent, the landlord must make a diligent effort to repair a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant.
• The grounds at move-in. California requires the grounds to be clean and free of debris, rubbish, and garbage when your tenancy starts, and areas the landlord controls must stay that way.

City ordinances and HOA rules that can fine you or the owner

New York City and Chicago name owners, tenants, and occupants among those responsible for sidewalk snow removal, so renters can face city fines directly. In Florida, an HOA can also fine you directly:

• New York City: property owners and responsible tenants or occupants must clear a path at least 4 feet wide on their sidewalk within 4 hours if snow stops falling between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., within 14 hours if it stops between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., and by 11 a.m. if it stops between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. The Department of Sanitation can issue fines of up to $250.
• Chicago: sidewalks must be shoveled 7 days a week, by 10 p.m. for snow that falls between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and by 10 a.m. for snow that falls between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., with a path at least 5 feet wide. Fines run from $50 to $500, set case by case by an administrative hearings judge.
• Minneapolis: grass taller than 8 inches breaks city law. An inspector can order the owner to cut it, giving at least three days, and if the owner does not, the city can hire a contractor and bill the owner for the cost plus administrative fees.
• Florida HOAs: tenants must follow the community's rules, and the HOA can fine the owner or the owner's tenant up to $100 per violation, capped at $1,000 for a continuing violation unless the community's governing documents allow more. The HOA must give at least 14 days' written notice of a hearing, and it cannot impose the fine if the violation is fixed before the hearing or as the notice directs.

Who is liable if someone slips or gets hurt

If your lease made the walk yours and someone falls on it, you can face a claim. California's tenant guide explains that every person is generally responsible for harm someone else suffers because of that person's carelessness, and that a tenant can be held responsible for injuries or property damage the tenant negligently causes to the landlord or others. Renters insurance with liability coverage protects against many of those claims; see liability coverage in renters insurance.

Illinois limits liability for snow-removal efforts. An owner, landlord, or occupant of residential property who removes or tries to remove snow or ice from the sidewalk next to it is not liable for injuries caused by snowy or icy conditions resulting from those removal efforts unless the conduct was willful or wanton (745 ILCS 75/2), which the law's policy section describes as clear wrongdoing rather than ordinary carelessness. In Murphy-Hylton v. Lieberman Management Services, the Illinois Supreme Court held that this protection does not cover injuries caused by negligent property maintenance, such as defective drainage.

For shared walkways and parking areas the landlord controls, report ice and other hazards in writing so there is a dated record of when the landlord learned about them.

Steps before mowing season and the first snow

1. Find every clause on yard work, snow and ice, gutters, trees, and HOA rules.
2. If a duty is missing or vague, ask in writing and add the answer to the lease.
3. Ask who supplies the mower, hose, shovel, and ice melt, and who pays if the landlord hires a service.
4. Photograph the yard, walkways, and gutters at move-in so you can contest a deposit charge for a dead lawn or damaged garden bed you did not cause; see normal wear and tear vs. damage.
5. Report hazards in writing using the steps in how to report maintenance issues. For your duties inside the home, see maintenance tasks that are your responsibility.