Your home, while not perfect, has been your sanctuary for years.  You’ve paid your rent, you’ve taken care of the unit, despite its many imperfections.  You’ve complained about habitability defects profusely, for years, including the unsanitary and unmaintained yard that the landlord has neglected for years.  Despite your prudence, the landlord has not performed maintenance or made repairs, and your home remains uninhabitable through no fault of your own, including the unsanitary and unmaintained yard.  The yard has been derelict for years.  However, you begin to feel that it is not fair.  Why should you, the upstanding & rent paying tenant, have paid rent for a home with an unsanitary and unmaintained yard that poses a life and safety threat to you and your family members.  Not only does the unmaintained yard attract pests, but you fear it could become a fire trap.  You begin to wonder; Does my landlord have to clean up my unmaintained yard?

Yes, your landlord has to repair and maintain an unsanitary and unmaintained yard.  Peviani v. Arbors at Calif. Oaks Property Owner, LLC, (2021) 62 Cal. App. 5th 874, 894-895 (Unsanitary and unmaintained yard constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability); California Civil Code § 1941.1(h), (j); California Health & Safety Code § 17920.3(g)(2).  Provided it is not de minimis (minor or not severe), a broken window with shattered glass, broken locks, a decaying frame, and other hazardous issues constitutes a defective condition that substantially affects habitability.  Id.; CACI No. 4350 (Additionally, CACI No. 4350 expressly references an unkempt yard as constituting a condition that constitutes a breach of the warranty of habitability.).  Thus, a substantially unsanitary and unmaintained yard is more than an inconvenience—it is a habitability concern that your landlord must remedy.

Repeated complaints and broken promises should not define your experience at home.  When habitability defects persist and requests for repairs go unanswered, pursuing a habitability claim may be an important step toward holding those responsible accountable and seeking compensation for the harm you have suffered.  Your complaints, photographs, inspection reports, and records of losses can help tell that story, and help you as you litigate your timely filed breach of the implied warranty of habitability claim (not making repairs) in a court of law, including for unsanitary and unmaintained yards.