You come home from work one night and you find, in the mail, a ticket telling you that you are being cited by the Municipal Code Official because the grass is too long at your investment property. Unbeknownst to you, there is a Municipal Ordinance requiring the grass to be kept less than 8″ in height. You quickly drive down to the property that you have rented to that nice couple and you see what the Code Official saw: High grass!

When you call your tenant, he tells you that he was on vacation and then he got sick and yes, he did not have a chance to cut the lawn, as required by the Lease. You tell him about the ticket and he promises to get it cut. The issue remains – Who is responsible for the cost of the ticket? And how will it be defended?

The good new is that if the grass gets cut and you go into Court with the problem resolved, you may be able to convince the Prosecutor to recommend a dismissal of the ticket. In that case, you may walk away with a very minimal fine or maybe even just pay the court costs. Remember that just because you have a clause in your lease that requires the tenant to cut the grass, (or any other municipal requirement – eg., snow removal, trash cans being put out too early…), it is still your responsibility. You may want to consider a clause in your lease requiring the tenant to compensate you for any fines (and maybe even your time) if you are required to attend Court to resolve any issues created by the tenant.