Immediate Right of Entry to Exterior Yards, Fenced Yards?

Question

Do Landlords have immediate right of entry to exterior yards, including fenced yards, to take care of the grounds, water the plants, do yard work, without providing advance notice, or without providing any notice, to Tenants?

I just planted extensive and expensive foliage at a triplex and the plants need daily watering now, and every other day watering for a few months. I can't trust tenants to do it, so I have to have access and do it myself until they have settled in, which takes 6 months. I'm writing a lease and including a clause in the Additional Stipulations section, as follows:

"LANDLORD has immediate right of entry from 9AM to 9PM to the exterior premises, including fenced yards, for watering plants, yard care, gardening, and grounds maintenance, without prior notice to TENANT."

I don't know if this is legal. Is this acceptable? Legal?

Thanks

Account Closed · Answer

I think landlords often misunderstand cooperation for enjoyment of their company.  I'm sure you're a really nice landlord and that they do like the new landscaping.  And maybe they're lonely and like company that drops by unannounced.

But, as a landlord, you are in a position of power.  You are the guy who can decide to raise the rent or kick them out. Can they afford to tell you to quit coming around so much?

Try thinking about being in their shoes.  Would you want your loan officer to feel he/she has the right to drop by at any time of the day or night?  Or from 9am to 9pm 7 days a week?

Now pretend that loan officer, if he doesn't like you, can take your loan away in 12 months, or change the terms of the loan after 12 months, if he doesn't think you are cooperative or have an attitude, etc.

You are not on equal footing with your tenants in the friendly, neighborly sense.  They have the power to choose to get mad at their neighbors or friends without losing their housing.

It's just not the same.

And, they're probably afraid you're going to raise the rent.  That's what usually happens when lots of improvements start happening.  So, they're probably really afraid, and maybe hoping to shmooze you a little with coffee.

But, imagine being an applicant to rent a place and the landlord puts before you a contract that says he has the right to enter their fenced yard any day of the week from 9am -9pm.  Would that sound great to you?

And even if it was just the grounds out front of the building, it would be super intrusive to live with your landlord in your front yard constantly.

If it was me, I'd never sign it and I'd keep looking, honestly.  Even a version that said you'd "only" be there for 2 hours every day, etc.  I would not move into a place where my landlord was in my yard all the time.

And if I moved into a place and the landlord was even in my front yard all the time, I'd move.

I am particular about my privacy and I want a landlord who understands that this is my home.  I'm not a serf on his property.  I rent the entire space that is included in my rental contract, and have the right to "own" that space as if it was my own property - within reasonable exceptions that I agree to (like occasional inspections or agreeing to not paint the walls a different color or put in a swimming pool, etc.).

I know you're trying to get the place in great shape, etc.  I would just like to encourage you to get into your tenants' shoes a bit, and imagine what it's like to be them living in your units.

Account Closed · Answer

Oh, that's different if they're new tenants and aren't worrying about their rent.  And it sounds like they signed on for the work going on.

Sounds like  fun project.  I always really enjoyed fixing up a place.  There's one in town I wish I could buy.  It's funny to hear people talk about what a mess a property is.  I go look at it and see what's underneath.  Just needs a power wash and some paint, needs the weeds wacked down, junk hauled off, rip out that carpet, basically cosmetic stuff - but the bones and location are good!  LOL.

I envy your projects.  I was good at managing, but I really would love flipping better.  Love to fix up a place.  Don't really love dealing with tenants - even if I'm good at it :-)

Account Closed · Answer

It's my opinion that that is not acceptable.  When a clause in a lease goes against law, it's not enforceable.  In my opinion, your clause would be a violation of a tenant's right to quiet enjoyment.

Quiet enjoyment is not about noise.  It's about a tenant's right to enjoy their property, without constant interference on the property by their landlord.

But, I think you should be able to write up a separate addendum about the new plantings, and do it in a way that your tenants can agree to.

What I'd do, is write up an agreement that says that because there are new plantings, the landlord will need access until the plantings are established.   This will mean daily access for _____________ (1 hour?) 7 days a week until ____________(date).  Then, access every other day for (1 hour?) until _______________ (date).

Landlord wants to interfere with the tenant's quiet enjoyment in the least amount possible, so tenant will choose between the following options:

Then, list a couple of options.  Maybe a before-work early option, and an after work option.

But, you really need to keep in mind that this will be their home.  And the law says you need to let them use it as if it was their own home.  They won't be able to ever just relax, if they never know when you're coming and that window is a 12 hour window every day.

So, make it a 2 hour window, and less if possible.  Something like they can choose between 6 - 8 am or 6-7pm - something that will work for you, but also be something they can schedule for, knowing that the rest of the time is their time to enjoy the place in private and peace.

You might also consider giving them a break on the rent until the plants are established to take some more of the sting out of their landlord showing up every day.

Jon S. · Answer

Sue K.  You have some good points. In this case, I don't think the current tenants are irritated. They moved in 2 months ago, while the very old building was being renovated, there was only dirt, no yard, no foliage, punch out was still taking place in the units. The exterior updates were only a promise when they moved in. Now they are getting pavers installed, so they have beautiful backyards. So it might be that they have a lot of enthusiam about our project, and the nice grounds they are getting. They knew moving in that there woulld be a lot of projects going on. The AC wasn't even installed and running properly until they were in for about a week. They didn't care, they wanted the place. Young folks. Their back yard didn't have a fence when they moved in, now it has a privacy fence. They had no foliage, now they have foliage. They had no patio, now they have pavers. This tenant understands because they lived a few blocks away and have seen this house before and after.  But I still think all of your points are valid. I get what you are saying. It's important to understand this from the tenants position as well. And the reference to power position, I can see that. It might be hard to know whether the friendliness is because they want the landlord to treat them well, so I will keep that in mind. Good lessons, thank you Sue.

As for the amount of time spent there daily, I wasn't very specific about the amount of time, but it's not hours, its actually been taking approx 5 minutes per yard to water the plants. We have lives too, we don't want to hang around the property either, we want to go do our thing. What we are doing with the plants is for the tenants enjoyment of having nice yards. I still have construction crews there putting pavers in, putting in parking, doing improvements, so I have to stop there anyways.

I decided against including any clause about entry to the exterior premises. It was a bad idea. I'm very glad I posted here to see if it was acceptable, and learned a lot from your post about quiet enjoyment. And I'm going to discuss this with the new tenants to see what they are comfy with.

Thank you again!

Jon S. · Answer

Sue K.

Thank you for explaining that to me. Wow, there is a lot online about  "Right to Quiet Enjoyment".

It's a partially occupied triplex that is about to become fully occupied. The current tenants haven't minded our visiting to water plants, and in fact love the new landscaping and greet us and offer us coffee. So maybe I'm trying to create a clause for incoming tenants and making a problem out of something that hasn't been a problem?

William Hochstedler · Answer

What does your lease say about who takes care of landscape maintenance?

If you are responsible for the common areas, the right to enter is already in the lease (if that's all you're doing when you're there).

In most states, you do not need an agreement to enter the private spaces, just notice.  Are there even any private spaces that the tenant is responsible for?

If so, simply give them a schedule of when your going to be there to water in the private spaces.  That should constitute notice.  Check with state law and/or an attorney.

Immediate Right of Entry to Exterior Yards, Fenced Yards?

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