Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in New York

Can landlord ask for lump-sum charge for lawn-maintenace at end of lease period?

We have rented a house for almost 2 years. We are approaching the end of our 2nd 1 year lease and are planning to move after this lease is up. The landlord is requesting a lump-sum charge for 2 years of lawn service he provided. Both leases do say that the renter is responsible for lawn care and in the event that the landlord provides this service reasonable/customary charges will be added to the rent. At the beginning of the first year when we saw a service cutting the lawn on behalf of the landlord, we approached the landlord saying we thought we were supposed to mow the lawn. The landlord's response was ''don't worry about it''. Can he now, at the end of 2 years charge us a lump-sum covering the 2 years of service. If the answer is ''yes'', is he required to provide an itemized bill including dates of service? Thanks!


Asked on 7/24/06, 11:47 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Loeb Law Office of Stephen R. Loeb

Re: Can landlord ask for lump-sum charge for lawn-maintenace at end of lease period?

You may be able to fight this one. While the lease said you are responsible for lawn maintenance and you were aware of the provision, the fact that the landlord told you "don't worry about it." may constitue a waiver at the very least you can argue prejudice by the lump sum billing at the end of the lease, it may not be a waste of time to fight the bill.

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Answered on 7/24/06, 1:10 pm


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