Wow. You show a lot of space to develop a better grade. The minimum would be to continue the correct slope of the patio and slope that swale left and or right to bypass your house. Another option is to create a 'V' with the point 20' or more from the back edge of the patio to catch and direct water to the sides around your house. The 20' space between the point and the patio can be sloped to each side. You can also treat the interior of the 'V' as a berm destination for a tree or trees, bushes character boulders or whatever you want to incorporate into your landscape design.

Where does the water from your downspouts daylight? Far enough away from the house that it's not contributing to the problem?

I suspect you need a swale and rain garden. Basically, you'd dig a ditch/channel in your yard ending in a sunken bowl (this is going to be subtle, not deep). Then you channel the water there and plant plants that absorb water in it. Sometimes, people do stones in the swale (shallow ditch) to make a dry stream.

It's also worth noting that Birch trees absorb a lot of water and are pretty. I'd plant some birches on your lot line or one in the middle of the back yard.

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A mature rain garden may look like this --- lots of plants in a depression in the ground.

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Before your contractor comes in to do anything, you can pay a person with actual skill for a plan to show him what's necessary. He'll know what you want.

Review @3onthetree advice.

Have a discussion with the local building department who typically inspects these grades prior to certificate of occupancy.

Water should flow away from the house and patio ultimately off property.

Thank you all so much!

@dan1888 @3onthetree It is sounding like your advice is matching the landscapers suggestion of creating a large swale/V, which he said should not be very visible, and scraping a bunch of dirt off of the yard to get a downslope towards the hill.

We are also thinking a channel drain at the top edge of the patio and taking out some of the mulch bed thats trapping the water the flows uphill on the patio (where the yellow line is). This image might help explain how the mulch was intended to deflect water away from the patio more clearly.

The reason I mention the neighbors yards is that they are all newly constructed, including ours (we were the 2nd) and somehow the land was graded towards our house instead of the hill. It feels like this should have been really easy to avoid, which makes it incredibly frustrating.

With the new visual, I'm seeing a big down slope drainage area at the back of your property. Looks like 20 feet or so away. The rear width of your property should be graded to the down slope. I'd determine the amount of drop necessary to get everything to drain that way. Including the runoff from your neighbor's yard. Your houses are close and I don't want to direct his water and yours in the space between your houses when a better drainage option is 20 feet away. You can configure the flow straight back across the whole width of your yard. Or do a swale on the side between the two yards going back. With side flow in your yard over to the swale. If the straight back works I'd want a bit more of a swale going back between your yards.

You can get a length of clear tubing from an aquarium shop or hardware store. Fill it with water and use it to determine the level height relationship between any two spots on your yard. You can make a topographical map of your yard and map out the drainage options. Get 100' or enough to do a diagonal from the patio to the rear opposite corner of the yard. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sREL37Qc6Gc

A planned unit development, which your neighborhood appears to be, should have had full civil engineering drawings of all site improvements (grading) and how each parcel is contoured to not cause water issues with their neighbor.

From the last pic, to alleviate neighbor's runoff, it looks like you just need a swale parallel to the property line which then carries surface water towards the back hill. This swale should extend along the entire property line if the whole of neighbor's parcel is above yours. No trench drains or mulch beds next to the patio should be needed for water mitigation in any case. If you need a surface drain, the contours are not right and the patio flooding is the least of your worries.

There's no excuse here. I see where the water should go via gravity unless the developer/builder made mistakes as it appears.

Multiple issues to be addressed

1. the subdivision grading

2. your site grading

Visit the building department and ask about both, request the subdivision grading plan IF there is one. Ask if the developer is allowed to drain onto adjacent properties.

Even if allowed, the water should not get within 5' of your foundation or patios, which should all have positive drainage away from the home, then that water should make its way off the property.