Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Newer issue (pretty sure it's just a rant, but any advice would be appreciated):
This month (beginning of August), and over the course of a week +, a property of ours managed to receive 3 fines.
All are for garbage/recycling cans left by the garage & because they are visible from the street. Here's the issue with that: this is a corner property and has two driveways, one on each street the property sits on. One runs directly to the detached garage ( 4 car lengths long) and the other stops a good 15 feet to the right side of the garage. Lawn between end of driveway and side of garage. You're going to see anything left out by the garage.
Each fine is $65 plus court fees. The second fine was issued 3 days after the first, and the third was issued 2 days after that. We received the first one in the mail and then second and third arrived the following day. Obviously the fines will be paid out of my pocket because the tenants didn't do anything wrong.
An inspector will initially give a warning, but they stick it on the door of the property. Not sent to the property owner's address. My tenants never tell me about warnings. I don't think they feel it's their problem until I hit them with the fine. Which seems to work - very rarely have I had to pass a fine along to the same group of tenants more than once. But this issue is not my tenants fault.
So the day we received #2 & #3 fines in the mail we drove over to see exactly where the tenants where leaving their cans. Same place as always - for the past 3 years & without a problem. Then we drove around the neighboring streets and took pictures (keeping note of address) of about 12 other homes with cans visible from the street. One was right in someone's front yard. My husband has this idea that he can ask the inspector if these properties also received fines for the same issue (the inspector will bring his own pictures of our property to present). Might create a larger headache and have to go back to court to see the inspectors report of these other properties.
Our other properties in this city (one is also another corner lot, but only has one driveway) keep their garbage cans/recycling containers alongside the garages or in the back of the house. Never had a problem.
Why we don't allow garbage/recycling stored in the garage? A few reasons. We use it for storage. It's over 100 years old and not sure how safe it would be to have tenants in and out of it. Don't want garbage to be stored in it - out of site, out of mind. They have issues remembering to lock the entrance doors and their own apartment doors - don't need that happening with a garage where someone might set up residence or tear garbage bags apart (where they won't be seen doing so) looking for whatever they think they might find.
Why no covered outside storage for garbage/recycling? We planned on it. City wanted an architect to design it and it couldn't be "here, there, or over there" b/c it would need to hold 8 garbage cans (two per unit) and 4 recycling cans. The city also wanted whatever built for storage of said cans to be separate. So as not to be "large and unsightly". And then what would be necessary square footage wise would be considered impervious coverage and we'd be over the allowed percentage. No rubbermaid storage allowed, and we wouldn't want to go that route anyway b/c the city dweller scum bags would walk off with it.
To top it off, two doors down from this particular property lives a hoarder. Front porch (in a city that hands out fines for anything other than "outdoor furniture" sitting out on a front porch) is piled chest high with "stuff" under tarps. He also has a car parked in front of his house stuffed with "stuff". It's been like that since we bought our property 3 years ago. I can't imagine what hides/lives in the junk on his porch. Not sure how he gets away with it.
Funny thing is, we've stopped receiving fines and my tenants haven't changed where they keep their garbage/recycling cans. How do you keep fining for the same issue before the first fine is dealt with in mandatory court?
Last edited by Informed Info; 08-28-2015 at 10:19 PM..
Every city is different with their garbage/recycle laws. I am not quite following some of your 'laws' or if I am understanding you correctly.
1) Why isn't it your tenant's problem? Or, weren't you aware that the cans could not be visible from the street? If that is the case, it makes sense that it wouldn't be tenant's problem. Otherwise, aren't tenants responsible for putting the carts out and bringing them back in? Are you sure the ticket is for the carts being visible from the street or could it be for the tenant having put them out on street too early or didn't take them off the street within required time?
Not bringing them in from the street in allotted time is when we will be ticketed IF the city notices them or someone reports them. We don't have any law that the carts can not be visible from the street. In my city, if tenant does not get carts off the street in allotted time the city takes pictures of carts on the street with time and date and the LL gets ticketed and passes it onto the tenant.
2) Have you read your city garbage/recycling laws recently to see if there are updates/changes? Ours are easily accessible via our city's website and are very thorough as to when/why you will be ticketed.
3) Have you tried calling the city to ask them about the 3 consecutive tickets? Perhaps they only give you one warning and then ticket you for every day they are still visible after the initial ticket until the issue is remedied?
The only way you will find out for sure is to check your city's website and/or call the city to get an explanation.
4) And the other properties you noticed have carts that are visible, you don't know if they were/have been ticketed also do you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sawdustmaker
Why no covered outside storage for garbage/recycling? We planned on it. City wanted an architect to design it and it couldn't be "here, there, or over there" b/c it would need to hold 8 garbage cans (two per unit) and 4 recycling cans. The city also wanted whatever built for storage of said cans to be separate. So as not to be "large and unsightly". And then what would be necessary square footage wise would be considered impervious coverage and we'd be over the allowed percentage. No rubbermaid storage allowed, and we wouldn't want to go that route anyway b/c the city dweller scum bags would walk off with it.
And this part is just nasty that everyone's garbage/recycle carts need to be kept inside a building out of sight. Stinks to high heaven in the summer heat. Can't you just put a higher fence up that would hold/hide all the carts instead of having to put them inside a building of some sort? Plus, it is just insane that they expect every property to have room to build a structure large enough to house all of the carts.
Last edited by Corn-fused; 08-28-2015 at 10:44 PM..
I'm a bit confused is this a single family home? Why do you have 8 cans and 2 recycling cans on a single family home? If its a small complex it is likely cheaper to have a large bin for all the units than 8 cans. My 12 unit property has 2 of these and 1 recycling and never gets full, way cheaper than paying the $16 per can a month it costs from the city.
Put up a small fenced enclosure for the cans. Tell the tenants that if they don't return the cans to the right place and in the time allowed you are going to bill them for the fines.
This is so surreal..........In the last 12 months someone has moved on our street and they have taken it on as mission to tag garbage bins with 8" x 11" notes taped to the trash cans informing that it is a city ordinance to put the bins out and roll them back up between certain times and have quoted a city ordinance and listed the code officers phone number. Now you get the note if you fail to do this. We do have some duplexes mixed among single family homes. In nearly 15 years living here we received one of these notes last month. It was raining to hard to pull the can up the night before.
Crazy.....as we live where no HOA's are in place.
Now my neighbors garbage cans are right outside our door in order to keep their cans up close and the first thing we see every time we come in and out of our house are their smelly cans.........now we could extend our fence to block as my wife suggests.......but wait, the city needs a $100 permit to put up a fence.......10' feet or 100' feet
This is so surreal..........In the last 12 months someone has moved on our street and they have taken it on as mission to tag garbage bins with 8" x 11" notes taped to the trash cans informing that it is a city ordinance to put the bins out and roll them back up between certain times and have quoted a city ordinance and listed the code officers phone number. Now you get the note if you fail to do this. We do have some duplexes mixed among single family homes. In nearly 15 years living here we received one of these notes last month. It was raining to hard to pull the can up the night before.
Crazy.....as we live where no HOA's are in place.
Now my neighbors garbage cans are right outside our door in order to keep their cans up close and the first thing we see every time we come in and out of our house are their smelly cans.........now we could extend our fence to block as my wife suggests.......but wait, the city needs a $100 permit to put up a fence.......10' feet or 100' feet
I used to live in Cape Coral Florida and that town has a regulation for everything ! There was an old man who used to walk around with a ruler and he would measure a lawn that he thought was too high and if it was he would call the city and get the person cited. I fully understand how homes should be kept nice to preserve the neighborhood, but some things go way too far.
One idea...can you contact the homes you noticed in a similar position & ask them if the were cited? There might be an opportunity for an angry group to go to the city. Often bullies like to operate in secret and keep groups apart because if they are found out...well something reasonable might be accomplished.
If the neighbors did not also get notices, then you know all the sooner you are being inordinately picked on.
This is so surreal..........In the last 12 months someone has moved on our street and they have taken it on as mission to tag garbage bins with 8" x 11" notes taped to the trash cans informing that it is a city ordinance to put the bins out and roll them back up between certain times and have quoted a city ordinance and listed the code officers phone number. Now you get the note if you fail to do this. We do have some duplexes mixed among single family homes. In nearly 15 years living here we received one of these notes last month. It was raining to hard to pull the can up the night before.
Crazy.....as we live where no HOA's are in place.
Now my neighbors garbage cans are right outside our door in order to keep their cans up close and the first thing we see every time we come in and out of our house are their smelly cans.........now we could extend our fence to block as my wife suggests.......but wait, the city needs a $100 permit to put up a fence.......10' feet or 100' feet
This is exactly what I was thinking. Someone has it out for you, or some new busybody is going around trying to act like they are in charge and reporting people for this violation. This is why I think HOA's are a menace and would rather live in a not so nice neighborhood over having a busybody with nothing else to do going around causing problems where there are none. We just had one move into our non-HOA neighborhood and she has been reporting people to the city for things that are not a city violation, only a violation of her previous home's HOA. When about 12 neighbors protested, she started a petition to MAKE this an HOA neighborhood. I'm sittin' back with a beer and chips waitin' to watch the sparks fly.
On that note - here's why you may want to avoid HOA's - Without suing, owner is locked in a losing battle with HOA board - LA Times Too many times homeowners are too busy to attend the meetings and don't realize who the people are that want to run their neighborhoods. Before anyone blasts me, yes, I know there are SOME HOA's that are OK or even beneficial. The horror stories abound, however. And even a good HOA when you move in can go bad in one election. Kind of like city, county, state and federal elections, huh?
Only solution is to get involved. Join the Board of the HOA and make things livable again in your neighborhoods. Or start a petition to remove the HOA all together...
Every city is different with their garbage/recycle laws. I am not quite following some of your 'laws' or if I am understanding you correctly.
1) Why isn't it your tenant's problem? Or, weren't you aware that the cans could not be visible from the street? If that is the case, it makes sense that it wouldn't be tenant's problem. Otherwise, aren't tenants responsible for putting the carts out and bringing them back in? Are you sure the ticket is for the carts being visible from the street or could it be for the tenant having put them out on street too early or didn't take them off the street within required time?
It doesn't fall on the shoulders of my tenants because they haven't changed a thing they have been doing for the past 3 years (those who have lived there as long as I've owned) or the newbies who follow status quo.
I have more than a few properties in this city.
I have another that sits on the same type of a property - corner lot. Just a few block down the street from the the one collecting the fines.
This other property has only one driveway. Can't see the side of that garage from the street b/c there is no cleared out space for a second driveway to do so.
Collection cans kept alongside the garage. Fine free.
Quote:
3) Have you tried calling the city to ask them about the 3 consecutive tickets? Perhaps they only give you one warning and then ticket you for every day they are still visible after the initial ticket until the issue is remedied?
That was the first thing done. Called the inspector, no reply. After the 5th call I pressed "zero" to get back to whomever and all she could tell me, again, is to leave a message. No one is going to answer for the inspector who wrote the ticket that ended up in a fine - when he or she won't return your call. They hide behind their higher-ups and admin assistants. Just going through the motions until they end up in court.
Quote:
The only way you will find out for sure is to check your city's website and/or call the city to get an explanation.
4) And the other properties you noticed have carts that are visible, you don't know if they were/have been ticketed also do you?
The inspector didn't return any of the many phone calls. We'll wait for court. There is no database I can check for "fined" properties. That would be nice….
If the inspector doesn't want to deal with me before court? I can't do anything else.
Quote:
And this part is just nasty that everyone's garbage/recycle carts need to be kept inside a building out of sight. Stinks to high heaven in the summer heat. Can't you just put a higher fence up that would hold/hide all the carts instead of having to put them inside a building of some sort? Plus, it is just insane that they expect every property to have room to build a structure large enough to house all of the carts.
I really don't know at this point. Any build has to be approved by neighbors and my next door neighbor (who has a flower garden growing on my property & refused to give it up even after I told her I would pay for her crap to be transplanted to her back yard) is old... and I'm more than sure wouldn't allow it (b/c I'd have to rip up her "garden" to do so).
So now we're battling her for the rights to a section of my property and before she can claim I didn't fight her for it. Don't need the law to claim she's entitled to it due to lack of my claiming it.
If all of my properties in this city incurred the same fines for the same issue? So be it.
More than annoying.
Thanks!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Many HOA's are just a menace
