Someone keeps cutting our rental home's grass... (phone, vs, ranges)

[the_grimace]

This is the first time I ever experienced something like this.

My fiance and I just moved into a new rental home in a fairly dense suburb neighborhood. (Small town, but dense neighborhood with houses pretty close to one another) We have only been here about a month now, and someone has cut our grass three times. The strangest part of this is our lawn is one of the biggest on the block, probably easily a $25-30$ cut job.

We are very confused about this. I have seen the guy twice, early twenty something guy on a rider mower. At first I thought maybe it was our landlord's lawn care guy since he has someone that takes care of his properties and maybe he was cutting our lawn for us. Except the next time I saw him he was also across the street cutting a lawn over there, then he drove across the street and cut our lawn... maybe it's a neighbor?

I haven't had the chance to go out and talk to the person yet (obvious solution.. I know...) and it doesn't appear to be someone that my landlord has hired. Has anyone experienced something like this? What is going on with this?

EDIT: I have someone scheduled to come next week. If I see the other guy come again I'll go out and talk with him, but I'm just very confused this is happening in the first place... Any thoughts?

EDIT 2: Just in case anyone asks, the mystery person cutting the lawn is not even doing a complete job. Just a very quick 20 minute cut with the rider mower, missing a lot of smaller areas and not going close to our house. Basically just cutting the larger areas then leaving.

[wit-nit]

If you're renting and it's not in your contract to maintain the yard then the landlord is responsible and that may why you see the fellow mowing your yard. The other homes he's mowing may be rentals also or the homeowners saw him cutting and hired him to cut theirs. Ask him.
If you're in an HOA they may possible have a regular lawn service for the area.

[Qwerty]

If he's on a rider cutting small lots, maybe it's easier for him to cut that part vs trying to turn around before getting to your yard?

[sj08054]

It's a simple email and phone call to the landlord. Why don't you do that first?

[BirdieBelle]

Just walk out there, wave your hand, introduce yourself and ask him if he is working for the landlord.

[thecoalman]

My Dad always snowblowed the neighbors sidewalks but he knew them for decades, he could do the whole street in very little time. Maybe he's just being a nice guy, trying to keep things looking nice on his street, bored etc.

[luv4horses]

Walk out and ask the person cutting the lawn what he would charge to keep doing so, and to do the additional work you require. Not a difficult solution by any means. And being neighborly is not completely a concept of the past.

[Sunnydee]

It's a shame you haven't talked to this good deed doer. Perhaps he was just being nice, needs money and was hoping for a tip, or figured he'd do a little bit for free and then you might hire him to do a more thorough job. The nice thing to do would be to talk to him and find out what the deal is.

[HWTechGuy]

Sometimes landscapers use smaller riders in order to be able to maneuver through gates, etc.

I mow my own lawn, but my neighbors who don't all use the same landscaper. So seeing the guy mowing other lawns doesn't seem all that unusual to me. He might park his truck/trailer down the street and zip around on the mower to do each lawn. That's what the guy does here.

[phonelady61]

I was going to say maybe he is a neighbor and doing it so all of the lawns on that street look nice . some people appreciate a nice looking neighborhood . I have see it all over , one house on a street of nice homes , you always have that one nasty house whom no one ever takes care of and it brings the whole appeal of the neighborhood down .So maybe he has seen that as well and does not want that to happen to the neighborhood .Could be just a nice guy .