Tenant's rights advice

[mr-mcfeely.livejournal.com]

Here's the skinny:
We live in an apt in Somerville (upstairs in a two-family). We have a rather large yard and a rather absent landlord. A working lawnmower is present and the "nice guy" in me has been mowing the lawn since we moved in, even though there is no mention of lawn care in the lease. Prior tenants downstairs have helped out, but the new tenants want nothing to do with it. Google searches have turned up little in terms of who's ultimately responsible. I'm debating whether to approach her and request a monthly rent reduction ($100?) for the months in which lawn-care is necessary. Before I have the conversation with the landlord, does anyone have any insight on tenant's rights regarding lawn care/maintenance? I'm looking for a leg to stand on. If not, anyone aware of the going rate for simple mowing? Thanks!

Comments

[masswich.livejournal.com]

My understanding is that if it ain't specifically in the lease, the tenants don't HAVE to do it. But the landlord doesn't have to do much except make sure no tree branches fall down, you can get out of the house, etc. And if it becomes too much of a cost burden to mow and trim a lawn, some landlords might just decide to pave it all or let it get really overgrown.

So I think the short answer would be to talk to the landlord about it but don't assume you'll get a big cut in rent. If you like having grass, mowing the lawn is a good way to make sure the landlord doesn't put in asphalt. OTOH, it is a pain. So maybe you could talk $25 a month or so off your rent?

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

If you're willing, I second offering to maintain the property for a cut in rent. In our last place, we negotiated a $50 reduction in rent for maintaining the grounds. Otherwise the landlord didn't do much more than masswich noted above.