Autumn brings brightly colored trees and piles of fallen leaves. These fallen leaves raise the question of what to do with them after they have been raked up. A popular disposal method is to burn the unwanted leaves. But as a Toano rental property owner, should you permit your tenants to burn their leaves? While burning the leaves will help dispose of them quickly and opportunely, it can also be a dangerous task to let your tenants do. Just by helping your tenant ascertain safe and proper leaf disposal, you can better protect them and your property from destruction.
Every kind of open flame carries a certain amount of risk. Although some property owners perceive that they can minimize the risks by following certain safety precautions. For instance, property owners who are planning to burn fallen leaves often get ready to do it on a clear patch of dirt with no overhanging branches or power lines. They will furthermore determine a day that falls within a permitted burn timeline set by local governmental agencies, when winds are calm, and keep a garden hose on hand in case the flames get out of control.
However, even these safety measures can induce property damage if the fire gets out of control. In dry conditions, even a really small amount of wind can carry sparks into dry foliage, sparking dry grasses and other materials that are often abundant during the fall. Open flames probably can likewise cause injury to your tenant, pets, or others who turn out to be near, especially if the fire grows and spreads over your property boundaries. In the instance that injury or property devastation does happen, as the property owner, you probably be held liable for medical costs, legal fees, and other related expenses. When you include it in the amount for the improvement you need to do on your own rental house, the added expenditures can bring about a substantial risk that should strongly discourage you from permitting leaf burning as a disposal method.
Despite that the risks alone provide a compelling reason, there are more elements that impart for more arguments to ban leaf burning on your rental property. For instance, the smoke from burning leaves probably produces toxic gases that can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, and even trigger respiratory distress in individuals with asthma or other conditions. Burning leaves is also bad for the environment, unlocking those same toxic gases into the atmosphere that have been exhibited to have negative effects on both local and global ecosystems. Admitting the drawbacks of burning leaves, some local governments have banned leaf burning outright. Others may permit it, although limit it to certain months, designated locations, or to a certain size. Violating these municipal restrictions can result in fines and other legal consequences.
When burning leaves is a bad idea, you need to discover other safer ways to dispose of those fallen leaves. Some other property owners might reduce the number of fallen leaves they need to rake by shredding them with a mulching lawnmower. This way could help manage the number of leaves that need to be removed by turning it into fertilizer for your lawn instead. Just in case your property is large enough, you could indeed take into consideration composting your fallen leaves in an unused corner from a distance to the house. You might, moreover, hire a clean-up crew to make an appearance and haul your fallen leaves away, which is a great option but will add an additional expenditure.
Doesn’t matter how it gets done, it is critical to see to it that the fallen leaves on your Toano rental property are being raked up and properly disposed of. Leaving them scattered all over the ground could cause safety issues while attracting pests and killing your landscape. But leaf disposal must likewise be executed in a certain way that does not create additional liability.
At Real Property Management VA Peninsula, we can do the more labor-intensive chores – including leaf disposal – relieving you to focus on other aspects of your real estate investing business. To discover more relating to what we can do for you, contact us online or call 757-251-9188 today.
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