State Specific Question About: MASSACHUSETTS (MA)

My question is sort of 2-fold. I have off-street parking available to my tenants. I do not charge them to park in the driveway (I am thinking about that though). I also tell the tenants who avail themselves to off-street parking that I am NOT responsible for shoveling out their cars during the snow season. The problem(s) is/are - 2 of the tenants don't do any shoveling and just drive over the snow, packing it down. This is problematic as it creates ice dams, slick areas, etc. ALSO - they continuously drive in/out of the driveway over the Sidewalk that I continuously have to clear of snow - City requires me to maintain a clear walkway.

I want to fix this. All of my tenants have been here a long time, so this is not new to any of us. But I am getting older with ever increasing back and shoulder restrictions. I cannot shovel as much as I used to, and I do not want to fight with them over this any more.

Obviously, if I charge them to park off-street, I would feel responsible for the snow removal. But then I feel I would be buying trouble (why haven't you shoveled yet? etc) I would rather issue a Memo reminding them of the snow removal policy, but with firmer language and the alternative that if they do not do snow removal, then the off street parking is not available to them.

IMO in a SFD the tenant should be responsible for handling the snow. In the event the tenant does not do an adequate job with the public sidewalk portion, the LL should have it done to avoid issues / fines with the city. Of course the tenant should be charged for this service.

In a multi the LL is responsible for maintaining all of the common area exits, stairs, porches, walkways, etc even if it requires multiple snow removal during & after the storm.. IMO the LL is not necessarily responsible for plowing the parking areas. However it order to help prevent issues from slip & falls, unhappy customers (aka tenants), etc, it is wise to take care of this.

Just saw your 2nd post. Not all driveways / parking areas are conducive to plowing. It sounds like you need someone who shovels, uses a snow blower or perhaps a bobcat to handle the snow.

I agree with Steve as to single family vs multi family responsibility. I rarely find a tenant that wants to do any snow shoveling, cleaning. They are in a hurry to get to the gym. But then that is why they are tenants.

You need to raise the rents to cover the cost of snow removal. AND add in the lease whatever agreement you have with your snow removal person for getting the cars out of the driveway for them to work. Problem is during the storm, parking on the street is probably not an option.

In our leases the tenant is typically responsible for the snow removal (driveway, sidewalks, pathways, etc).

I don't really "care" if they clear the snow from the driveway or not - it's their problem if they don't.

HOWEVER - if there is a sidewalk - it MUST be cleared within 48 hours of a snowstorm per some of the cities around here ordinance. some are 72 hours, etc.

IF the tenant doesn't clear after 24 hours - I remind them. If it isn't clear the next day we do it BUT it is in our lease that if we clear - there is a CHARGE for it.

If for any reason the city issues a warning OR clears the snow the FEE is on the tenant per our lease.

And yes, it does hold up in our court (although I haven't ever had a fee by the city - only the notice and I've cleared it myself ... when the tenant brings it up in the court - the one time it occurred - the judge said "is this is your signature on the lease Tenant?" "Yes, Judge" ... "then why did you not clear the snow from the sidewalk if you knew you would be charged for it if the owner took care of it?"

I have three duplexes left. Two of them are full of people who get out and shovel snow even though I pay a guy to do it. The other one is full of people with health issues. I had to deal with everything you have there for 20 years when I had 10 duplexes. The only answer is to pay someone to keep cleaning the sidewalk off and any other messes they make if you can't do it. I taught school in Boston and lived in Revere in 1969 when there were 90 inches of snow in February and school was only open for 10 days the whole month. I would assign parking spaces on the property to those who do what they are supposed to. I assigned spaces at all my properties and it works like a charm. I moved back to NJ after a couple of your winters. They are terrible and there is really no summer.

I used to love snow... right now it causes headaches... hire someone to shovel the sidewalk. Don't get involved with them having to move cars for the plow. That is my current headache. New tenants this year don't seem to get it. Just threatened them with non-renewal of leases if they don't move their cars out at the correct time. Also working with the plow company to get them to stick to the plowing time frame. Snow non-stop for the foreseeable future with blizzard warnings for Monday... I feel your pain and am waiting to see if we reach the point of 2 years ago where we paid to have the snow hauled out of the lot. Next I have to figure out how to make changes for next year so I can enjoy winter again!

Send them a memo, tell them your back hurts and they can either cooperate with you on the snow removal, or you can raise their rents and provide professional service, AND they can park on the street when it snows, AND dig their own cars out after the plow buries them, or runs into them with the plow.

Not that I would know anything about snow being that I am in AZ and we have the AC running right now... :-)