A tenant is renting a property for reduced rent, in return for
maintenence of the gardens on the property (verbal agreement).  Over
the years, the tenant has purchased and and planted some plants on the
property.  The plants are now growing on the property of the
homeowner.  Who owns now owns the plants?  Does the tenant have the
right to dig up and remove plants from the private property of the
homeowner, or are plants now growing on the private property owned by
the propery owner?

Hello maeve2~

I must begin this answer with a disclaimer. I am not an attorney, and
the advice given here should not be used as a replacement for an
attorney?s advice.



Since the renter is getting a break on his or her rent *because* they
are not just renters, but gardeners, the landlord is, in essence,
paying for their work-?and for the plants. Any gardener or landscaper
that the landlord hired would not have the right to remove plants they
placed on the property; therefore, a tenant who is receiving reduced
rent (i.e. being paid) for the same sort of work doesn?t have that
right. Therefore, the plants belong to the landlord.

It isn?t ideal that your agreement is not in writing. However, verbal
agreements are binding, and even if the tenant denies that such an
agreement was made, a judge will look at the fact that the renter was
receiving reduced rent, ponder why that was, and put two and two
together.

In the future, it would be wise to get such an agreement in writing;
include a clause about plant ownership.

For information about landlord/tenant law, specific to your state,
check out  Rent Law: http://www.rentlaw.com/


Regards,
Kriswrite

landlord plants
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=landlord+plants&btnG=Search

renter's garden
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=renter%27s+garden&btnG=Search

tenant's garden
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=tenant%27s+garden&btnG=Search

tenant's rights
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=tenant%27s+rights

tenant's rights garden
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=tenant%27s+rights+garden&btnG=Search

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Request for Answer Clarification by maeve2-ga on 14 May 2004 07:22 PDT

Hello researcher of "Ownership Right of Plants" -
Thank you, your answer was quite thorough and provided the content I
needed.  Only 1 thing - the website you gave for renter's information
is a US website for various states.  I live in Candada so need a
renter's site that give Canadian law for various provinces.  Can you
resend a Canadian renter's law site?

Many thanks for all your help,

Maeve2

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Clarification of Answer by kriswrite-ga on 14 May 2004 07:59 PDT

Does this do the trick for you? "Landlord Tenant Law by Province," at
About.com: http://apartments.about.com/cs/landlordtenant/l/bl_canada.htm

Kriswrite

I would give the answer 3 stars.  It was quite helpful and gave most
of the information I needed - and next day!  The only downfall was the
fact that the advice wasn't from an actual lawyer, and that the
webiste they gave me to folowup was a U.S. website with information
about laws in various Sates.  I live in Canada so need a wesbite with
Canadian laws pertaining to various provinces.  The researchers
wouldn't have known this though as I didn't mention it in my question.
 Next time I'll specify if I need Canadian-specific information.

Thanks, great service!