Your lease agreement specifies who is responsible for lawn care and landscaping. It outlines on whether these services are included or not. Typically—either you (the tenant), a HOA, or Baker Street will handle lawn care.

Properties where lawn care is included

• We take pride in maintaining the exterior appearance of our properties. Please let us know if our landscaper missed any areas of the lawn, if weeds are becoming problematic, or if trees and bushes need trimming.
• The lawn care season typically runs from May through late October—or until the grass stops growing. While Baker Street cannot provide advance notice of lawn service visits, mowing occurs on a bi-weekly schedule. Light landscaping work may be scheduled throughout the year. Baker Street will provide advance notice for larger landscaping projects.
• Tenants must remove all items from the lawn before the lawn service arrives to mow.
• If the city issues any tickets for overgrown grass or unkempt landscaping, please forward them to Baker Street for handling and payment.

Properties where tenants are responsible

• For properties where lawn care is not included in the lease, tenants are responsible for lawn mowing and basic landscaping work. While some properties provide a lawnmower, this amenity is not guaranteed at all properties.
• Where lawn care is not included, landscaping is your responsibility as a tenant. You must keep garden beds free of weeds, maintain shrubs and bushes, and remove sticks, small branches, and yard waste. Please notify Baker Street if larger work is needed—such as removing fallen branches, trimming trees, or removing bushes or trees.
• If tenants fail to maintain the lawn as specified in the lease agreement, Baker Street may hire their lawn service provider and bill tenants for the cost. Additionally, any fines issued by the City, township, or HOA for unmaintained grass will be charged to the tenants.
• If you are leaving town for an extended period, please ensure that lawn care is still handled.

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Every Spring and Fall, Baker Street conducts yard clean-ups at properties where lawn care is included in the lease. The service includes the following:

• Cleaning up all of the yard space of leaves and debris
• Cleaning any garden beds (removing dead leaves, dead plants, trash, etc.)
• Hauling and disposing of yard waste and trash
• Sweeping off porches and entrances of properties

Spring cleanups are generally taken care of mid-late April (weather permitting), and Fall cleanups are handled after the bulk of the leaves fall in late-October to early-November. Due to the unpredictability of it we may not be able to notify tenants when a cleanup will occur. During cleanups, our vendor typically creates a temporary pile of leaves and yard debris at the easement before returning later to collect it.

Tenant Responsible

For properties without included lawn service, tenants must handle seasonal cleanups. When maintaining the property, tenants should follow similar standards as our service, paying particular attention to keeping driveways, walkways, and porch/patio areas clear of leaves and yard waste.

Your lease agreement specifies whether snow removal is included or not. Typically—either you (the tenant), a HOA, or Baker Street will handle snow removal

Properties where snow care is included

• If your lease includes snow removal, Baker Street either hired a vendor to manage this service or it is handled by the HOA association.
• Due to weather uncertainty, advance notice cannot be provided. Snow removal typically begins after the snowfall ends, which may occur during the late evening, overnight, or early morning. Salt may be applied before a snow fall or before freezing temperatures are reached.
• To ensure thorough snow removal, please move vehicles to the street. Although our plows will work around parked cars, tenants are responsible for clearing snow around their own vehicles. We strongly recommend keeping a shovel at the property.
• If a driveway or parking lot is blocked by a resident’s vehicle and the plow can not get through the tenant may be charged a fine of $150.
• Please report any missed areas or ice buildup needing salt through the tenant portal. Our priority is maintaining a safe environment.

Properties where tenants are responsible

• Tenants are responsible for removing snow from all areas of the property, including sidewalks, driveways, walkways, and front door access. We recommend purchasing a snow shovel and salt.
• During the winter, the city of Ann Arbor provides residents with up to five gallons of a sand/salt mixture, per visit, at various locations around Ann Arbor to help treat sidewalks. For more information you can go to: Parks with free residential sand/salt
• Tenants must comply with City of Ann Arbor Code when clearing snow and treating salt formations.**
• Any fines incurred due to tenants not clearing their sidewalks will be billed back to the tenants.
• If you are leaving town for an extended period, please ensure that snow removal is still handled.

Baker Street handles gutter cleaning for all properties except those without gutters, those with working gutter guards, or where the HOA maintains the gutters (such as condos or larger apartment buildings). Our preferred vendor, The Gutter Doctor Plus, performs cleanings on a regular maintenance schedule—typically twice a year in the spring and late fall after most leaves have fallen. This important maintenance prevents ice dams during winter months and water intrusion.

Tenants should notify Baker Street if they notice any of the following issues:

• Overflowing gutters during rainfall or water spilling over sides of gutters
• Visible plant growth in gutters
• Sagging or damaged gutters, missing downspouts, or detached downspout extensions.
• Water coming in to basement area from exterior walls

For safety reasons, tenants should never attempt to clean gutters themselves. If you notice any issues between scheduled cleanings, please submit a maintenance request through the tenant portal.

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