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A couple of weeks ago, we took a ride out to our house in Charlotte to do basic maintenance, as it continues to sit vacant until we sell it. We noticed that our neighbors had piled up a bunch of trash and debris on our side of the fence on the curb, so we called 311 to have it removed. A contractor we had hired to do some painting actually verified that the neighbors put the junk out there, on our side of the fence, and that when he asked them what they were doing they simply didn't reply.
The housing inspector came out within a couple of days, but the city did not remove the debris. Instead, they sent us a letter stating that we are in violation of code and that we are going to be fined $50 + cost of inspection + cost of removal, and that they will put a tax lien on our house if we don't pay. When we called, we informed them that the neighbors put the trash there, but I guess that doesn't matter to them.
And people wonder why I have such a low opinion of government ....
A couple of weeks ago, we took a ride out to our house in Charlotte to do basic maintenance, as it continues to sit vacant until we sell it. We noticed that our neighbors had piled up a bunch of trash and debris on our side of the fence on the curb, so we called 311 to have it removed. A contractor we had hired to do some painting actually verified that the neighbors put the junk out there, on our side of the fence, and that when he asked them what they were doing they simply didn't reply.
The housing inspector came out within a couple of days, but the city did not remove the debris. Instead, they sent us a letter stating that we are in violation of code and that we are going to be fined $50 + cost of inspection + cost of removal, and that they will put a tax lien on our house if we don't pay. When we called, we informed them that the neighbors put the trash there, but I guess that doesn't matter to them.
And people wonder why I have such a low opinion of government ....
That really sucks. I guess they didn't think that you would be back and didn't think that they would get caught. That is really ridiculous. I agree, move it all to their side and I would complain to the HOA if you have one.
A couple of weeks ago, we took a ride out to our house in Charlotte to do basic maintenance, as it continues to sit vacant until we sell it. We noticed that our neighbors had piled up a bunch of trash and debris on our side of the fence on the curb, so we called 311 to have it removed. A contractor we had hired to do some painting actually verified that the neighbors put the junk out there, on our side of the fence, and that when he asked them what they were doing they simply didn't reply.
The housing inspector came out within a couple of days, but the city did not remove the debris. Instead, they sent us a letter stating that we are in violation of code and that we are going to be fined $50 + cost of inspection + cost of removal, and that they will put a tax lien on our house if we don't pay. When we called, we informed them that the neighbors put the trash there, but I guess that doesn't matter to them.
And people wonder why I have such a low opinion of government ....
I would definitely file a police report, and tell them that they have until next garbage pick-up day to clean their stuff out of your yard. You have a witness. You can probably even take them to small claims court and get rewarded the money you have to pay for cleanup, fines and such...
That really sucks. I guess they didn't think that you would be back and didn't think that they would get caught. That is really ridiculous. I agree, move it all to their side and I would complain to the HOA if you have one.
Same thing happened to my friends who own an empty lot at a resort island (gated) near Charleston. (Lot price: $385,000). They received a HOA notice saying they would be fined $100/day until they removed all the debris on their property. They were clueless; there is no debris on their property. They quickly made a trip to find out what was going on. A builder had been using their lot as a "dump." They had everything from scraps of wood to dry wall to buckets, etc. dumped on their property. They contacted neighbors (there are houses on both sides of them). There were witnesses who saw the builder (well, subcontractors - whatever) on several occasions - dumping debris!!! They took pictures, contacted HOA, contacted the city, blah blah and no one cared. They had to hire someone to remove the debris - cost them nearly $1500 to get the stuff hauled off, and took them months to negotiate w/ the HOA to straighten out the fees they were charged (even w/ the neighbors affirming that someone else had dumped the debris!!!)
Several weeks after they had things cleared up, a neighbor called - someone had dumped stuff on the land again.
We called the city of Charlotte with a complaint that our neighbors had dumped a bunch of trash and debris on our front lawn ... and I am talking big stuff here, kind of like construction debris ... and the city inspector decided to fine US. You don't see bureaucratic inefficiency here? You don't see a complete lack of communication between the agency that took our report and the agency that came out to check on it?
I would definitely file a police report, and tell them that they have until next garbage pick-up day to clean their stuff out of your yard. You have a witness. You can probably even take them to small claims court and get rewarded the money you have to pay for cleanup, fines and such...
The house is located in a "transitioning" neighborhood, and the neighbors have caused problems for us since we bought it. I assure you that they don't have the money to pay for anything.
We called the city of Charlotte with a complaint that our neighbors had dumped a bunch of trash and debris on our front lawn ... and I am talking big stuff here, kind of like construction debris ... and the city inspector decided to fine US. You don't see bureaucratic inefficiency here? You don't see a complete lack of communication between the agency that took our report and the agency that came out to check on it?
Yeah, the city government is very much at fault.
Yeah, I agree, the city government is very much at fault. Were you supposed to somehow foresee that these trashy neighbors of yours were going to dump crap on your yard, I mean really. I wish you had better neighbors. Still if you file a police report doesn't that somehow take the responsibilty off of you? I think you should try talking to someone representing the city again, b/c you should not have to pay fees on their dumping.
Yeah, I agree, the city government is very much at fault. Were you supposed to somehow foresee that these trashy neighbors of yours were going to dump crap on your yard, I mean really. I wish you had better neighbors. Still if you file a police report doesn't that somehow take the responsibilty off of you? I think you should try talking to someone representing the city again, b/c you should not have to pay fees on their dumping.
Oh I assure you ... we are not paying a penny. If I have to spend 10x the amount of the fees on lawyers to fight this, I will.
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