I wish someone would sneak into our yard and weed. Weeding is NO fun.

I agree...regardless... if the lease says 24 hr notice then that is what is expected! The landlord is collecting rent and should be polite to give notice!

You usually know when the lawn guy is coming. And like I said. There is no lawn. Coming through the gate is just like entering the home. There is a threshold. Once behind the gate you can see everything in the house. That’s why people put locks on them.

This is the normal situation, the standard clause in a residential lease all over the country. The 24 hour notice is for entering the home, not cleaning/weeding the yard.

I understand your point-but
 

We own our place. It seems to be acceptable by repair crews to just enter YOUR property and do repairs etc.

We certainly do not have the details. Who knows-perhaps you or the people around you complained about the weeds.

I would suggest you get over being angry AND THEN THINK HOW BIG OF DEAL YOU WANT TO MAKE OF THIS and is it worth it.

Nobody can see in and the tiny little weeds coming through the cracks in the concrete are not annoying. I pull them out when I go by. I am not angry just wanted to know if this was ok to do. States differ on these issues.

Does the lease allow you to have cats? Does your landlord know how many cats you have in the house? Are you keeping that or something else not allowed in the lease from him?

BTW, Entering the yard is not the same as entering a dwelling.

I doubt the owners saw their weeding as being any sort of an issue — whether there was a gate or not, yard maintenance is obviously their responsibility (and there were enough weeds in your backyard for them to have to be there a bit). Would you have been as upset had it been someone they hired just to do weeding? A person paid to pull weeds or trim frequently does not have a schedule when a job will be done — too many other factors involved such as weather, what else had to be done in a given week or day, etc. Be grateful they care enough to maintain the outside for you and let it go. If you don’t want them going behind your gate, do more than just pull a weed when you walk by — weed the courtyard and do whatever other outside maintenance is required yourself.

I love dogs and cats, but as a former rental CYV owner/landlord, I can't believe any landlord would allow even one cat, much less 2 or more.

As for entering the courtyard to weed without notice, there are service providers like monthly pest control, plant and shrub treatment and trimming, who go in and out all the time without 24 hours notice.

That landlord is probably doing the weeding so he can see what other damage is being done to plants, grass, trees, bushes....and to see whether the courtyard looks/stinks like a yard-sized cat box full of t*rds.

There is more to this story, I suspect.

Yes they know about the cats that’s why we didn’t want a furnished home. We always leave the place better than we received it. Have nothing to hide. When they do work in front of the house they usually knock and I invite them in. Nice people. Just felt a little strange having someone looking in at you when you don’t expect anyone to be there.

IMHO, you have a right to be concerned that anyone can come in the back yard of a CYV without prior notice...where you would otherwise expect privacy.

If it were me, I would read the lease again (and maybe state laws) with a magnifying glass...and see if there is something that allows the owner to come in the back yard at any time.

If not, I would put a combination lock on the gate...which you can unlock when not home in case of pest control/etc. :shrug:

I would also ignore those that are trying to make you feel guilty for expecting privacy...or questioning the legality of your pets.


I couldn't help but being reminded...of this recent post. :D

Now looking in the windows is a whole 'nother matter! You most certainly do have a right to privacy, especially within the curtilage of the home. There are landlords and there are landlords... For the sake of decency and common courtesy I would expect a planned schedule of some sort and a quick knock on the door.

Again, I do not know how the lease reads and whether the tenant or landlord is responsible for yard care.

By writing the original post, the person invited comments from others, and those comments aren't all going to be sunshine, lollipops and rainbows.

There are two sides to every story, and the fact that the landlord was accommodating enough to allow cats says there is his side of the story, too.

Having 120,000 people here ALSO means the population is going to include at least .2% who think they are correct about landlord-tenant privacy expectations/laws, when they're not.

The OP's thread is NOT about cats!
His comment is about his right of privacy according to what his lease says.
The owner was wrong and I would have kicked his rear-end off the property.
In addition, you can't compare the owner entering the property unannounced versus a hired lawn service who would probably have to knock on your door to gain entry to the courtyard.
I am also assuming there is no lawn service employed to dig the weeds out of the cracks in the concrete.

Why would this landlord have to come into the courtyard to dig weeds out of the cracks in the concrete?
It would appear the landlord had an ulterior motive that made no sense.
I would be making plans to move; I wouldn't trust this landlord for a minute.

Waiting for our house to sell up north so we can purchase. Should be in contract to sell this week.