I haul my butt over there on Saturday morning and spend 2 1/2 hours mowing weeding and trimming tenant's lawn.

Tenant then sends me a blistering memo saying "Do you realize you're mowing (my lawn) at 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday? I work nights."

First of all, its been 100'F for the past two weeks. I'm not mowing lawns in the blazing sun.

Second how am I supposed to know your work schedule.

Never mind not saying thanks for the work. But this is a new one. To have them complain that while I'm outside doing their yardwork for free, I'm disturbing their sleep.

Ignore the complaint, or respond? WWYD

I think I would let him know that if he would like to mow the lawn himself, he could mow at any hour he wanted as long as the lawn was kept mowed.

I suspect that 6:30 AM is outside the legal quiet hours, but you might just double check that. Quiet hours vary from location to location. As long as you are outside quiet hours, go ahead and mow when it is convenient.

We have a tenant who hasn't been mowing, 2nd shifter also. We were thinking of hiring someone to do it and bill him. You might want top suggest that. We have it in the lease it his his responsibility and if the City fines, it is much higher than if a handyman charges for it.

Or letting him know that for his safety he should make the outside of the house look lived in, as he was broken into last summer, and warned to keep the lawn mowed. There's very little to mow; we have a patio in back, very small front lawn.

IMO 6:30 is too early to mow. Yes they could have been nicer, but this is an opportunity for you to take the high road. Email saying that you’re sorry about the noise but for health reasons (the heat) you needed to mow earlier than normal. Tell them that in the future you will send an email the day before but that unfortunately sometimes you have to mow early to avoid the heat. You might also say that unfortunately you cannot accommodate everyone’s work schedules as you have multiple tenants.

Hmm I wonder if electric mowers would be quieter and less disturbing

Yeah ... 6:30am is quite early. I totally understand your point though (due to the heat). I would either say as the others stated "I apologize but due to the heat I needed to mow earlier than I normally do ... if this keeps up I can text you to advise when I will be mowing with the time or you can mow at your convenience." type thing.

6:30am is legally too early to mow eh. Well bite this scolders. Sunrise was at 5:15am, and the front street there was FULL OF PEOPLE at 6:30am. People were sitting in their cars right out in front of the building with their engines running and AC's on, the next door neighbor was out ALSO MOWING. People were walking up and down the street, yelling on their smartphones. At least 5 people came out of their houses in the buildings around and drove off on the street. So you've got a lot of city citations to come hand out in my town if you think 6:30 a.m. is too early to be walking around outside when its 100'F. Come on out tomorrow, I'll watch.

I know some will laugh at this theory but time and again I see this pattern after years of leasing, and its the same with many different tenants. They always send the most surprisingly rude and demanding messages after I've been out doing the yardwork. Is there something to seeing your landlord mowing and trimming the hedges, that makes a tenant suddenly feel like they're the boss? Like they're staying at a full service hotel?

I can't think of any other real explanation. I would almost swear by it, if it wasn't so bizarre.

I mean believe me I'm not doing lawns for my health. There just isn't anything in the budget right now to hire lawn service. But its weird that instead of respecting you for doing the extra work, they disrespect you for doing the work, lol. idk.

In my little suburb, legal quiet hours begin at 7am ON WEEKDAYS, 8 am on Weekend days.

I should point out how 4 posters (4) offered comments that give landlords the reputation that they have.

6:30am is legally too early to disturb a tenant's nap while mowing their lawn, outside the building.

Yes I know the drill. When the landlord does it, its illegal.

When the tenant does it, its their 'right'.

But as my father likes to say, "I digress" lol.

You asked what we would do and then rake posters over the coals for their answers because it wasn't the response you wanted? I'm seeing a trend here in how you treat others, might be time to lighten up a bit.

Legal or not, it is socially unacceptable to mow in an urban area at 6:30AM, always has been. Can you do it? sure. Are you going to tick someone off? sure.

Quiet hours from 9:00 PM until 8:00 AM are the standard good-neighbor behavior.

Duplexer, you seem to have a lot of personality conflicts with your tenants.

David in MI, yes, electric mowers and snowblowers are MUCH quieter. I have a set of EGO brand mower and snowblower. Love them! So easy to lift them into the back of the SUV too, at only about 60 pounds each. No big ramps required to get them into the pickup like I had to do with the Honda mower. Cut isn't quite as perfect as the Honda, the EGO leaves a few 'holidays' but Ego now has a model with two blades for better cutting. Might try that in a few years.

Duplexer, I mow my four little single family homes as I am fussy about having a nice looking place, love to garden/ landscape, and it gives me opportunity to check on properties when tenants aren't the greatest. This year I went back to having a set day of the week for mowing, so I don't have to text what day mowing occurs. I DO check with my tenants to verify what was the best day/ time for mowing. After all, they are my customers, and I am in a service industry. One tenant prefers I get done before noon, as they work third shift, go to bed at noon, get back up at eight in evening. Another tenant is retired, and prefers closer to afternoon, as she likes to sleep in. (Cute little Grandma, and she worked hard for many years. ) So, I can accommodate that.

I do occasionally have to reschedule if the rain is heavy, but I've mowed twice this year THROUGH a light rain. Fortunately, I got the hilly parts done before rain. I buy trail shoes just for lawn mowing-better grip, even when wet. ( I expense them on taxes. Very important safety equipment, imo. Though they could be worn for other purposes, they are NOT EVER worn when not working on rentals. And they get grubby looking quickly. But, with yards featuring a couple of steep slopes, I don't slip anymore like I did when I just wore any old sneakers. So, I know they help keep this old workhorse safe.)

I also landscape EXTENSIVELY to reduce maintenance time. Part of that is putting in larger patio or sidewalk areas, as they take so little maintenance. I hauled umpteen truckloads of free pavers ( Craigslist) one very hot summer to edge between grass and planting beds. Mower rides along wide rows of bricks, neatly trimming the edges.

One thing ALWAYS must do, bring Gatorade, and not that zero cal stuff, mowing two lawns a day requires energy, apply sunscreen frequently ( natural redhead, complete with a zillion freckles,) and wear my wide brim ventilated hat. Also, a towel to wipe sweat, and if its really hot, a thin white large dishtowel can be tucked under the hat to drape over the neck and shoulders. If you've ever worn this, you'll know those desert dwellers know what they are doing! Those long white robes keep one cool!

On one of those neighborly apps, there was post complaint about someone using their snowblower very early in the morning, maybe 3am or 4am. The feedback from others was basically, it might be a nurse or cop who works early/late shifts, they got to get to work too. You live in places that get snow, expect to hear snow blowers and snow plows at any hour of the night

And I expect that if I lived somewhere like phoenix or Las Vegas, people would put up with mowing very early or very late to beat the heat. Unless the government mandated no grass.

So here I am a kid, 18 to 20 years old barely able to keep my rentals producing positive cash flow. So to save money I would cut the lawns and clean the pools of my 6 single family homes.

Some clients of my realtors also own a bunch of homes. Jerry owned 16 homes and he never cuts his tenants lawns or cleans their pools. He was a Jeweler that could make enough money win 1 sale to cover the cost of having others do his maintenance.

So for $40 per home I'd get a gardener to do a once a week clean up, and report back if the tenant was doing something wrong to my property.

I also got a pool service to clean my two pools, for $45 a month per home, including adding basic chemicals. So now I was spending $330 a month and had 50 hours a week to make up those cost. I had valued my time at $6.60 an hour. In any field that I could work in, the minimum I could earn was $20 an hour, and up to $50.

So I was cheating myself by doing work to save money but was costing me even more in the log run.

Duplexer- The heat issue is tough. It sounds like it’s acceptable in your area to mow this early. I would just communicate to your tenants with an email every spring that mowing may need to take place as early as 6:30 am due to heat or other issues beyond your control. And ‘thank you for your understanding.”

Busy - Thank you for the detail you put into all your posts. I really enjoy reading them. Beside Gatorade have you tried “Haymakers Drink”? It’s the original sports drink the farmers working in the field would drink. In a 1/2 gallon jar of water, add the juice of 1 lemon, 5 Tablespoons maple syrup, chopped ginger (1 inch chunk), 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar.

Sandy, that sounds yummy. We have two hot days coming up again this week, on my babysitting days. That sounds like a perfect beverage to get Grandma through..

[[[[........ 6:30am is legally too early to mow eh. Well bite this scolders........]]]]]]

I think that a bottom line is that LL cannot simply do as he pleases. Even if there a good reasons for Duplexer to want to start early and to get done using his weekend, the fact is that tenants have rights too, and one of them involves "normal business hours".

A better approach to the whole landlording problem is to keep in touch with your tenants and what they need/want, to be able to work out mutually satisfactory solutions to problems.

The opposite approach and less satisfactory one is for landlord to simply go ahead and do what he wants, pushing aside all objections as tenant uncooperativeness, and asserting that if they don't like it, they can leave. Aside from the immediate business effect, it gives LLs a reputation that maybe they deserve, and that costs money, even if you don't see that right away.

Moshe, maybe in CA, but normally landlord tenant law means a LL can decline to renew this tenants lease or increase rent.

If a tenant cracks an attitude , then it doesn't matter how legit the complaint is. The LL can feel free to not renew or give 30 day notice. I do not want a tenant who acts like they own the place everytime they have a concern

I have to say-I am doing the tenant a favor by letting them live at my place. They don't have to stay and I don't have to let them.

Go ahead and tell every First Responder

not to run lights and sirens.

How bout all of the Ding Dongs

arming and disarming their car alarms.

And about the neighbors Rooster ......................

Is there any wonder why landlords have a bad name? And why present-day society seems to want to punish them?

A really bad tenant needs to be separated from the landlord. But a tenant who complains about 6:30 am lawn mower on a Saturday is not exactly a bad tenant. I would guess that even in MI, he has some right which was violated.

MC's post is pretty hard to understand, except the assertion that the complex didn't care who was sleeping when they mowed or snow blowed. That he used to work 3rd shift-couldn't tell my neighbors not to party because I had to sleep. Thats because there's a time for partying and a time for sleeping, a society determines what most people's schedule is and makes laws accordingly.

"tell every First Responder not to run lights and sirens."

But mowing the lawn at landlord's convenience is not an emergency. Society makes rules for the sake of majority comfort, but they DO make rules. And the neighbor's rooster isn't generally allowed in cities, for just that reason.

Is there any wonder why landlords have a bad name? And why society feels that they should be constrained?

Funny. Early in the pandemic, our state issued an order that landscaping was not essential and landscaping companies couldn't mow. A number of cities told the state to basically shove it and said they would still issue tickets if lawns were not mowed.

What does your lease say about Quiet Enjoyment of the property? Most Landlords don't fully understand what is meant by the Quiet Enjoyment clause/doctrine.

You as the LL are volunteering not to do ANYTHING that will bother the resident reasonably. If they are complaining, are they bothered? So perhaps, this is an opportunity to more clearly explain what the expectations are since they seemed to have been missed somewhere in translation.

We live in a 24/7 society. So please someone define where "normal business hours" are defined city wide as "between 7 AM and 7 PM" or whatever.

I rent to day shift, evening shift, and graveyard shift. If I tried to accommodate all their schedules, nothing would ever get done, because three 8 hours shifts = one 24 hour day.

That said, this is mainly for maintenance since most of mine are SFH who mow their own yards. But for maint, "normal business hours" are defined as "when my maintenance man is available." If you want your stuff fixed, be ready when he's ready. If you don't want your stuff fixed, then be prepared to live without it.

I've had some of my 8-5 tenants demand I send a plumber or electrician over during overtime hours. Conversation went like this the first time:

Me: "Can I send them at 10 AM Wednesday?

T: "No, I work 8 am to 5 pm."

Me: "Okay, how about 7 AM?" (I've got one guy who starts that early, no extra charge!).

T: "No, I'm still asleep/getting ready for work."

Me: "Okay, so can I send him at 5:30 PM?"

T: "No, I'm at the gym/taking kiddo to sports activity."

Me: "Okay, so when can I send him?"

T: "Well, I wake up around 9:30 AM on Saturday, so 10 AM would be okay."

My turn... "No, he charges time and half for weekends. I'm not paying 50% more than necessary to fix this place. Find a representative to be there during a weekday to allow access and let me know when that's ready."

T: "10 AM Wednesday will be fine."

Nowadays, I just TELL THEM when maintenance is coming and leave it up to them to figure out how to allow access. I allow ONE reschedule if something truly conflicting comes up, but anything after that and we start charging Admin fees ($40 per event).

Lease Clause:

"We live in a 24/7 society. So please someone define where "normal business hours" are defined city wide as "between 7 AM and 7 PM" or whatever."

Sid, try your local city municipal code. Other sources of legal restrictions might be found in local County regulations. Restriction like noise are usually best left to local control.

My suburb has ordinance § 9.07.050: "It is prohibited for any person to operate, or permit the operation of any gasoline-powered lawn mower, leaf blowers, or similar equipment within the City except between the hours of 8:00 a.m.and 6:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays."

Here in the big city, we do indeed live in a 24-7 society. But even here in California LaLa land, there is still respect for the neighbors, the religious and otherwise normal people to restrict disturbance to reasonable hours.

The ordinance's official statement of policy says:

" A. In order to control unnecessary, excessive and annoying noise in the City of Culver City, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the City to prohibit or limit such noise generated from or by all sources as specified in this Chapter.

B. It shall be the policy of the City to maintain, preserve and enhance the quiet atmosphere of the City, to implement programs aimed at retaining ambient noise levels throughout the City, and to mitigate noise conflicts. It is determined that certain noise levels are detrimental to the public health, welfare and safety, and are contrary to the public interest. Therefore, creating, maintaining, causing, or allowing to be created, caused, or maintained, any noise in a manner prohibited by the provisions of this Chapter is a public nuisance and shall be punishable as such."

I'm with Moshe on this. Way too many LLs having an "I can do whatever I want on MY property!" moment in this thread. You rent it to them -- you have to follow the rules that go along with that.

I also agree that, even WITHOUT an legal issues, mowing at 6:30am on a Saturday is annoying as heck. I'd be ticked off too. I get one day a week to sleep in -- Saturday -- and by "sleep in", I mean that I'd like to at least be out until 7:30am. That's not asking for much.

6:30am is ridiculous. Even in heat situations. I mow in the EVENING, not 6:30am.

That's a lame move. Legal or otherwise.

I think, if the noise ordinance doesn't forbid it, Duplexer could have alleviated some of the issue by texting the tenant: "Hey it's super hot during the middle of the day right now. Do you mind if I start mowing super-early on Saturday?"

Tenant: "Actually, yes I do as I am working nights on Friday and will have just gone to bed."

Duplexer: "Is there a better day for you then? Just don't want to be mowing at noon in the heat of the day."

A little courtesy never hurts.

David[MI]:

Did you know that Ann Arbor, MI has an ordinance;

CHAPTER 119: Noise Control, 9:362. - General prohibition.

"It shall be unlawful for any person to create, assist in creating, permit, continue or permit the continuance of any unreasonably loud, disturbing, unusual or unnecessary noise which annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others within the limits of the City of Ann Arbor.:, which includes the use of "The operation, between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., of power tools or equipment. "

Did you know that the State of Michigan has a Department of Environmental Quality which has studied the problem and regulated noise levels statewide in terms of permissible decibels?

David, the problem is YOU. This is not a question of private property or not. It is your property, but you rented it out. The terms of the rental were established back in the 13th Century. Everyone knows this except you.

For correlation purposes, I am curious: Did you study in a university?

Well it's a good thing I don't own rentals in Ann Arbor, aka Berkeley of the Midwest.

My rentals muni's noise ordinance is much more specific: "The construction (including excavation), demolition, alteration, or repair of any building may only occur between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m."

Let me put it another way, let's take AA's more strict noise ordinance. My gas snow blower makes way more noise than my gas lawn mower, no contest there. Are you saying that AA's ordinance forbids the use of gas snow blowers between 10pm and 7am?

Around here, most places are 7:00 a.m.

Trash truck now comes anytime after 5:30 due to staffing issues but folks complained ... so they then skip a week saying "no staff" ... double up next week.

I also would mow that early; HOWEVER, I would have informed the tenants a day or so prior rather than "surprise" them.

A few years ago I was getting a roof and it was one of those 100+ degree weeks. Roofer wanted to start very early and finish up by noonish. I forget what the starting time was (perhaps 6ish but I'm not sure) . I told tenants and several neighbors. Tenants didn't say a thing. One neighbor was unhappy but she understood.

I can understand the 10 PM limit. Yesterday was the longest day of the year and sunsets at 9:01 so you could work in the twilight for a little bit.

My son is planning on buying a battery operated mower for the house he just closed on, so he can mow at 2AM. Really! He works night shifts, so on his days off he likes to keep the schedule going. But, doesn't want to disturb his wife or the other housemate who works the day shifts. And, if ya live where summer sun never quite leaves the sky....