Yard Maintenance and Bothersome Landlord

[LivinginWestSac]

To begin, my husband and I have been renting a small, single family home with a quarter acre yard for the past five months. The lease is month-to-month and at the lease signing the landlady claimed the yard care as her responsibility.
Now to the problem, the landlady is an elderly woman who seems to like staying active (and in my opinion, nosey).

1. She shows up randomly, without notice, sometimes two or three times a week, to water the yard, AFTER she verbally agreed to our request to let us take care of it. She just walks right into the fenced in back yard and makes herself at home. Furthermore, we're in a drought here and she doesn't seem to understand the concept of water conservation. By the way, she pays for the water.

2. She doesn't do any sort of landscaping or weeding. I wouldn't expect her to anyway as old as she is, but she insists on being at our house and does nothing constructive either.

3. She pays a yard crew to mow the yard, but only twice a month. So two weeks out of the month our yard is a field, and she insists that we not mow.

4. She showed up the other day, without notice, and scared me half to death when I opened up my bedroom blinds and there she was standing there about to put up a new screen.

We love our house and yard very much, but the landlord has become a nuisance. We've tried hinting around to her that we like our privacy but it doesn't work so what I need is to know that I'm in the right for being perturbed just in case I need to get formal with her over these issues.
Any advice or comments would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Since you are only on a month to month tenancy, it is relatively easy for you to terminate your lease with her and find another place to live where you might have more privacy.

The woman sees this house as it rightfully is...hers. It sounds as if you request she not show up she will, in turn, terminate your lease.

Gail

 

[LivinginWestSac]

So what you're saying is that we have no rights whatsoever and our only option is to pack everything up after only five months of being moved in and leave? That just doesn't seem right, not that I hadn't already thought of that. The fact of the matter is that I just found out that I'm pregnant and I'd rather not have to go house hunting again, especially not with the economy the way it is.
Surely to goodness there must be some sort of law on our side that says she has to give 24 hours notice before just popping in and hammering on the house or lingering around in the back yard. If we asked her to do so, it'd be considered a favor on her part? I mean what are we paying rent for? This is also our rightful property as long as we're keeping our end of the lease, am I right or just delusional?
I understand that a month-to-month lease is "easily terminated" but doesn't she still have to have some good reason to terminate it? We pay our rent in full and on time. We take good care of the house and yard. We're quiet and considerate of our neighbors. I'd think that our asking for a little privacy would be perfectly within our rights...

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

You can certainly ask but the 24 hour required notice typically involves getting into the actual rental unit. She's already told you she is responsible for the yard work.

In a month to month tenancy the length of the lease is only from the first day of each month to the last day of the same month. It is "renewed" on a monthy basis. Many landlords and tenants seem to prefer this approach because no reason need be given by either party not to renew for the next rental period and it can be terminated easily (in most states only 30 days notice be provided although in my state of Georgia the landlord must give a 60 day notice).

Gail