We have a neighbor or someone putting their trash in other families trash bins. Dealing with it.

[LovesTimone]

So I read the post about deal with they neighbor and the doogie poop issue.So this made me think about another issue we are having in our neighborhood.

So here's the issue, everyone in our neighborhood pay's for their own trash pick up, Tuesday regular trash only, Friday recycle and regular trash, and Wednesday lawn trash, but you have to call if you want lawn trash picked up as we are still being built in, and not enough houses I guess for regular pick up.

We take the trash bins to the road the night before, and then I will take out any trash that morning, and I have been noticing black trash bags in my bins, which are not mine. So the neighbor next door said something along the lines of did you put trash in my bins and I was like of course not. Then I asked her are you getting black trash bags thrown in yours...Yes... So we are not the only one, Then talking to the neighbor on the other side he said that they are having the same issue. He was quite upset, as he went to throw away a bunch of moving boxes and such, and his recycle bin was full of black bags of house hold trash that had spilled out. So I called the HOA lady and she said that there are other complaints of this. Because we don't know who, they can't really do anything. It might not even be anyone that lives in the neighborhood. I would not mind someone else putting trash in our bin, but at least ask. You know hey I got some extra trash do you mind.

They did catch someone throwing trash in a construction bin... the builder called the police... never a dull moment..

Any suggestions on catching the person would be appreciated.

 

[Keeblerelf928]

We had this issue at our old townhouse because trash would be taken to a communal area to be collected. We started taking it out first thing in the morning before work to avoid. It was annoying because they would put too much in our bin and then we'd get in trouble because it was "overflowing". The eventually caught the guy by someone from the HOA board sitting in their car one night/day waiting because it had gotten so bad (they were throwing out electronics and other illegal waste in other people's bins.). He got a hefty fine from the HOA and the police were involved because it was technically theft of services. Maybe put a camera outside the house or just wait until the morning to put the bin out.

 

[lynxstch]

We had this issue also. We all pay for our own trash, which is only picked up once a week. NOT a HOA neighborhood. A few years back, I found a bag in our pile of trash that wasn't ours. I didn't think much of it the first week. The second week, it happened again, this time 2 bags, I thought maybe someone driving down the road just put them there. The third week, finding 3 bags this time, I got ticked enough, to open one of the bags and look for evidence of who it was. Voila. Name and address on junk mail, belonged to a guy across the street who had just rented one of the end apartments that are on either side of what used to be a pool company. I picked up the bags and put them on his back porch. He didn't get the hint apparently, as the next week, his bags were back with our trash. This time I came in and printed out a page that told him who the trash company is, what we pay, when it's picked up, etc. And I added that it wasn't very neighborly to keep putting his trash with ours. I took the bags back to his porch, and taped the note to it. The bags disappeared, but the next week, he had the nerve to do it again. This time I walked over with the bags, opened them and dumped them on his porch. Knocked on his door, and said 'do it again, and I will be making a call to your landlord and then the county sheriff'. He gave me some story that his landlord didn't tell him we had to pay for trash, that he thought he was supposed to just put it with someone else's. I guess finding his trash replaced on his porch 2x didn't give him the message? Apparently my opening and dumping it did, as he never added his trash to ours again, lol!

 

[CarolAnn856]

Camera, wait until morning, and stakeout are the three options I see.

 

[mom2rtk]

I like the motion sprinkler idea from the dog poop thread.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

We have a couple of cameras outside to monitor our yard. That's how we would catch them.

...My husband is weirdly territorial over our trash cans. It would be frustrating if someone was using all of the space in our bins.

 

[frostedpink]

The Ring doorbell could help catch them if you set the motion detector to cover where the trash bins are

 

[nkereina]

Definitely annoying - not only because its taking up your space, but it also may cause stink in your bins that isn't yours. Blech. Also, our garbage company will only take X amount of trash per pickup, so if I would be pretty mad if someone else's garbage put us over that and they left some behind. Which our garbage men have done to other neighbors when they apparently put too much out.

We always put our garbage cans out in the morning immediately before leaving for work, around 7:30am. Garbage collectors come sometime in late morning. We stopped putting it out the night before because we had witness a coyote tip the bin over and go through our garbage. So putting it out the next morning avoids that and hopefully would deter the culprit from adding to your garbage bin too.

 

[kimblebee]

These threads are always fun..


My opinion would be who cares? Unless you pay per garbage bag or by weight. That would change things. Since you don’t mention that, I don’t think it’s the case.

I really, really, really am glad I don’t live anywhere where this is considered an issue.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

These threads are always fun..


My opinion would be who cares? Unless you pay per garbage bag or by weight. That would change things. Since you don’t mention that, I don’t think it’s the case.

I really, really, really am glad I don’t live anywhere where this is considered an issue.

"...he went to throw away a bunch of moving boxes and such, and his recycle bin was full of black bags of house hold trash that had spilled out."

You wouldn't be bothered that someone put trash in your recycling bin that now you have to clean out in order to use said bin yourself?

 

[nkereina]

These threads are always fun..


My opinion would be who cares? Unless you pay per garbage bag or by weight. That would change things. Since you don’t mention that, I don’t think it’s the case.

I really, really, really am glad I don’t live anywhere where this is considered an issue.

But what if said garbage bag stinks up your garbage can? Or their bag breaks open and now their dirty cat litter is inside your can? I don't know about you, but we keep our cans in our garage and I hose them out periodically to avoid them getting gross and stinky. So I would be none too pleased about cleaning up someone else's mess.

If this were a neighbor who asked my permission, or even just a rare occurrence, I'd have no problem with it. But it's bold of a neighbor to drop their garbage in others' bins to presumably avoid paying for garbage service themselves.

 

[Christine]

Someone's going to have to go on watch to figure out who it is.

You've probably already thought of this but consider having your HOA handle the trash and recycling contracts. Charge every homeowner their share in their dues. Our HOA started this about 2 years into the neighborhood being built. It actually saved each homeowner quite a bit of money on trash collection fees because their one big contract got a better rate that having separate contracts with homeowners.

 

[nkereina]

You've probably already thought of this but consider having your HOA handle the trash and recycling contracts. Charge every homeowner their share in their dues. Our HOA started this about 2 years into the neighborhood being built. It actually saved each homeowner quite a bit of money on trash collection fees because their one big contract got a better rate that having separate contracts with homeowners.

This is a good idea, and how our HOA is set-up as well.

 

[neverlandsky]

We had the same issue before surveillance WiFi was available. So we changed to rolling out the bins the morning of vs. the night before. Never had the problem again.

 

[Meriweather]

As long as my garbage and recycle fit, I don't care if someone adds more.
Stinky garbage? It's all stinky. We wash ours our often even though everything has to be bagged.
We have one can each a week

 

[CdnCarrie]

Is it common in the USA for HOA to deal with trash? Up here it's the municipal government. It's paid by your taxes same as street cleaning.

 

[Christine]

Is it common in the USA for HOA to deal with trash? Up here it's the municipal government. It's paid by your taxes same as street cleaning.

Depends where you live. Remember in the U.S., states operate differently and that extends down into county and town municipalities.

When I lived in Maryland and lived in one particular county, part of my county property tax bill went to trash collection. The county handled all of it and we never had to contract out for it nor did our HOAs. I live in a county now in Virginia that does not include it. My friend lives 30 miles from me in an incorporated city in Virginia and his trash is covered by is local city taxes.

 

[Floridaman999]

Is it common in the USA for HOA to deal with trash? Up here it's the municipal government. It's paid by your taxes same as street cleaning.

I think it depends if you live within the city limits. I do not and have to pay for my own service. There are no city or county options for me.

 

[Hikergirl]

These threads are always fun..


My opinion would be who cares? Unless you pay per garbage bag or by weight. That would change things. Since you don’t mention that, I don’t think it’s the case.

I really, really, really am glad I don’t live anywhere where this is considered an issue.

I care because I have principles and I don't respect freeloaders. Do unto your neighbors as you would have done unto you and all that jazz.

 

[VandVsmama]

Do an overnight stake out, lay in wait for the culprit, and then spray them with the hose when you catch them in the act.