Arbitrarily assigning fines for in apt waste pickup (apartment, lease agreement, tenant)
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.
My apt has a waste pickup that we pay for where we sit the trash outside our doors and then they pick it up. Well we got an email saying that if it is left out at the wrong time (2 hour time frame) and not picked up overnight, that they give you a violation fine of $25. Well this is new and the fine amount is rediculious and not agreed to or signed off by me. It is not in the lease agreement. Is This Legal? And if so, what what if they made the fine $1000? How could that be legal if I never agreed to it?
My apt has a waste pickup that we pay for where we sit the trash outside our doors and then they pick it up. Well we got an email saying that if it is left out at the wrong time (2 hour time frame) and not picked up overnight, that they give you a violation fine of $25. Well this is new and the fine amount is rediculious and not agreed to or signed off by me. It is not in the lease agreement. Is This Legal? And if so, what what if they made the fine $1000? How could that be legal if I never agreed to it?
Is it legal? Depends on your local and state regulations, find out what office handles rental housing in your municipality and ask them or see if you can find the answer on the internet. My HOA is allowed to fine us and we are private homeowners. On another note, while $25 does sound reasonable, that two hour window does not seem realistic or fair.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Is it legal? Depends on your local and state regulations, find out what office handles rental housing in your municipality and ask them or see if you can find the answer on the internet. My HOA is allowed to fine us and we are private homeowners. On another note, while $25 does sound reasonable, that two hour window does not seem realistic or fair.
It was not in the lease and they just started randomly charging these fines, that is the question. The Internet said they can't do this.
It was not in the lease and they just started randomly charging these fines, that is the question. The Internet said they can't do this.
The internet is not the law..check your local laws. Also, all they have to do is give you proper notice to 'community rule' changes..it does not have to be in the lease and you do not have to agree with it, just abide by it.
If you don't want to be fined, carry your trash to the dumpster
The internet is not the law..check your local laws. Also, all they have to do is give you proper notice to 'community rule' changes..it does not have to be in the lease and you do not have to agree with it, just abide by it.
If you don't want to be fined, carry your trash to the dumpster
Everything I've read has said if it is not in the lease then they can't charge it.
Whether or not they can charge the fee is meaningless. What's the big deal here? Just be a good neighbor and good tenant and get rid of your garbage the right way. Don't be 'that guy'
PS if you ever buy a home, don't buy in an HOA community. I can already tell you'll hate it, and your neighbors will be unhappy with you as a resident.
It is not like they are arbitrarily charging or making up fees that you can not avoid. That is what would be against the terms of a lease. If they had come out in the middle of your lease term and said that from this point on there will be a $25 charge just to even use this service then that might be a problem specifically if that service was included in your lease as a free service. And, if they had just started fining people who abused the service without warning of said fines, then that would be questionable as well. But that is not what is happening here, or even close.
They gave you fair warning on a service that they are providing for you that you have a choice to use or not and if you do want to use the service it will be free unless that service is abused based on the "pre-warned" stipulations. So, at this point, it is zero out of your pocket and now that you were notified you will have zero out of pocket in the future unless you abuse the service from here on out. Totally fair and I am quite certain that any judge would agree.
I don't believe that most logical people, or non-abusers, would have any problem with this rule whatsoever as long as they were fairly warned ahead of time, have a choice to use the service or not and that management wasn't just arbitrarily fining tenants without warning.
Then you are not reading and understanding your lease. Look for the part where it addresses complying with the apartment rules.
It's legal for them to change the rules and notify you IN ADVANCE of the new rule, which is exactly what they have done - notified you IN ADVANCE.
If you don't want to pay the fine ($25 or $1000), the solution is simple, put your trash out when you are supposed to put it out.
What part of that don't you understand?
Or, walk it to the dumpster.
Yes. Maybe legal to change the rules but not legal to increase fines and fees.
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.
