My "trashy" neighbors

[MichelleCarmen]

When we moved in last year, one of our neighbors came up and introduced himself. When we said we're renting he said, "oooooh, you're renters," as if we're going to bring down the whole neighborhood with our renterish ways. You know, 20 beater cars in the driveway and coors light cans scattered around our grass.

Well, now, it is THEM who is doing that. They overpack their garbage can EVERY dang week and crows get into it and peck at it and garbage is spread all over the cul-de-sac. Today, I drove up to the my house and not only is there trash all over in their driveway, it is blowing into my lawn. Okay, now I am just furious. It's gross and unsanitary seeing chicken bones and frozen lasagne oven packaging with crusty ground beed on the street, but now in my yard too?

Yeah, I know to contact the HOA, but it's really taking every bit of restraint not to tape a nasty note to their garbage can telling them to clean up their garbage!!! (I just sent a photo to the HOA to show them the mess!) Maybe I should call the garbage co too even though *they* did tape a note to the garbage can?

(Thanks for the vent. . .I'm going to call the garbage company right now!)

 

[Steel]

I feel your pain.

As a worst case scenario, is there a litter warden you could call?

 

[jewelz617]

Date: 3/5/2010 4:00:44 PM
Author:MC
When we moved in last year, one of our neighbors came up and introduced himself. When we said we''re renting he said, ''oooooh, you''re renters,'' as if we''re going to bring down the whole neighborhood with our renterish ways. You know, 20 beater cars in the driveway and coors light cans scattered around our grass.


Well, now, it is THEM who is doing that. They overpack their garbage can EVERY dang week and crows get into it and peck at it and garbage is spread all over the cul-de-sac. Today, I drove up to the my house and not only is there trash all over in their driveway, it is blowing into my lawn. Okay, now I am just furious. It''s gross and unsanitary seeing chicken bones and frozen lasagne oven packaging with crusty ground beed on the street, but now in my yard too?


Yeah, I know to contact the HOA, but it''s really taking every bit of restraint not to tape a nasty note to their garbage can telling them to clean up their garbage!!! (I just sent a photo to the HOA to show them the mess!) Maybe I should call the garbage co too even though *they* did tape a note to the garbage can?


(Thanks for the vent. . .I''m going to call the garbage company right now!)

I know we''ve had a couple times where the neighbor''s dog got into our trash can overnight. It was soooo embarrassing trying to pick up all the trash. Bungee cords work. Tell them to get some, that''s just ridiculous!

 

[rierie26]

Date: 3/5/2010 4:00:44 PM
Author:MC
When we moved in last year, one of our neighbors came up and introduced himself. When we said we''re renting he said, ''oooooh, you''re renters,'' as if we''re going to bring down the whole neighborhood with our renterish ways. You know, 20 beater cars in the driveway and coors light cans scattered around our grass.

Well, now, it is THEM who is doing that. They overpack their garbage can EVERY dang week and crows get into it and peck at it and garbage is spread all over the cul-de-sac. Today, I drove up to the my house and not only is there trash all over in their driveway, it is blowing into my lawn. Okay, now I am just furious. It''s gross and unsanitary seeing chicken bones and frozen lasagne oven packaging with crusty ground beed on the street, but now in my yard too?

Yeah, I know to contact the HOA, but it''s really taking every bit of restraint not to tape a nasty note to their garbage can telling them to clean up their garbage!!! (I just sent a photo to the HOA to show them the mess!) Maybe I should call the garbage co too even though *they* did tape a note to the garbage can?

(Thanks for the vent. . .I''m going to call the garbage company right now!)

LOL. Isn''t always those people who end up being the biggest *beeps*? That''s really gross about their trash though. I thought HOAs were really strict? I''m surprised they haven''t said anything already.

 

[April20]

Take a photo and send it to the HOA. If they do nothing, send it to Code Compliance. The code compliance people will do something about it.

I had a very similar issue when I bought my first house only ten times worse. They didn''t get their trash picked up at all- they just put it in their garage and when that filled up they put it in all the abandoned cars in their yard...... I made several calls to code compliance and sent documentation and they sent someone out to talk to them and tell them to clean it up. They finally got foreclosed and evicted and it took like three dumpsters to clear it all out.

 

[dragonfly411]

I''m from the south and country, and I had to chuckle... we have so much worse here. Think several vehicles in the yard.... chickens squawking.... trash EVERYWHERE... piles of it.. in the driveway, yard, everywhere... children''s play things all over... sometimes with the children all grown... several vehicles are only half assembled.... oh and there''s a falling down shed with half a dozen torn apart lawn mowers.

Just wanted to lighten it up. I''m sorry you''re going through that and I agree, you should report them to someone in the community. This could lead to smell, and also to bad germs in the air/area. I hope you get it solved

 

[Haven]

Oh, that stinks.

I wonder how you can see how much they fill up their trash cans, though? We keep our garbage and recycling bins next to our homes or in the backyard for pickup, is it different in your neighborhood?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Thanks gals. The garb co said they''d send a letter to the people to get a larger can, but she said chances are a letter has already been sent and the people are ignoring it.

I did sent a photo to the HOA just before my first post.

Never heard of code compliance. . .just googled and found something for my county. Okay, sigh!

 

[April20]

Date: 3/5/2010 4:19:56 PM
Author: dragonfly411
I''m from the south and country, and I had to chuckle... we have so much worse here. Think several vehicles in the yard.... chickens squawking.... trash EVERYWHERE... piles of it.. in the driveway, yard, everywhere... children''s play things all over... sometimes with the children all grown... several vehicles are only half assembled.... oh and there''s a falling down shed with half a dozen torn apart lawn mowers.

Just wanted to lighten it up. I''m sorry you''re going through that and I agree, you should report them to someone in the community. This could lead to smell, and also to bad germs in the air/area. I hope you get it solved

Ok, I''m going to tell on my family here. Don''t hold it against me.

I grew up in the country too. I''ve seen everything Dragonfly describes and then some.

When my grandparents sold their house in the city and moved out to our family farm- land they''d owned for years- my grandfather bought an decommissioned school bus from the county. My grandmother had filled the house and attic with stuff and it hadn''t been cleaned out in 30 years. So he gets this bus for her to load all this crap in. I mean, the woman found sheets still in the original package that she received as wedding gifts in 1958 (this was like ''93). So the bus gets filled from stem to stern. I mean FILLED. My grandfather drives it up to the farm and PARKS it. No, not next to the house they bought to unload it, he parks it in eye shot of where my parent''s house is. This is like four fields away from their new house. They can''t see it. It''s been sitting there, full, since the day it was parked. I mean, it''s been nearly 20 years now. Saying that actually frightens me. It''s been there so long that saplings sprouted up around the bus. Several of them grew up through the front and back fenders and have matured into full blown trees. It''s tree locked in! God knows what creatures (raccoons, squirrels, mice whatever), have gotten on that bus. The bright side is that at least now that the trees are mature Mom can''t see it in the summer. This bus is parked off of a one lane road that is only traveled by residents and the occasional guest and it''s across the street from undeveloped woods, so at least it''s not visible to stranger neighbors.

 

[April20]

Date: 3/5/2010 4:38:19 PM
Author: MC
Thanks gals. The garb co said they''d send a letter to the people to get a larger can, but she said chances are a letter has already been sent and the people are ignoring it.

I did sent a photo to the HOA just before my first post.

Never heard of code compliance. . .just googled and found something for my county. Okay, sigh!

Are you in King County? When I lived out there, that''s what county I was in. Either way, your best bet is to call, get a human and then ask them for their email. Email the photos while you are on the phone with them and make them agree to send someone out ASAP. They will do it, I promise. The grosser the stuff is, the faster you will get a response.

 

[dragonfly411]

April - that is a hoot!!!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 3/5/2010 4:37:56 PM
Author: Haven
Oh, that stinks.

I wonder how you can see how much they fill up their trash cans, though? We keep our garbage and recycling bins next to our homes or in the backyard for pickup, is it different in your neighborhood?

Here is a similar style of can to ours. See how it's hinged at the back? The lid flips back, the can is filled with bags of garbage, and then the lid flips forward. If a person overfills the can, the lid won't close down properly and bags poke out and the crows can access the contents.

On garbage day, the cans are moved to the front of the houses and then moved back to the sides of the houses the remaining days of the week. (the cans are provided by the garbage company. The bar on the front (which I guess isn't visable in the photo - lol) is designed so the garbage collector doesn't have to get out of his truck.

ETA - these aren't our cans. I was going to post an actual photo, but am not sure if I should or not. . .this is just an example of the design.

 

[charbie]

Date: 3/5/2010 4:37:56 PM
Author: Haven
Oh, that stinks.

I wonder how you can see how much they fill up their trash cans, though? We keep our garbage and recycling bins next to our homes or in the backyard for pickup, is it different in your neighborhood?

Quite literally, i presume.

tehehe.

sorry, MC! we had nasty neighbors like that, and luckily they moved out (well, were kicked out by the landlord. in this instance, they were the renters who moved in and we all said, "well, there goes the neighborhood") but we did contact the city who eventually made them clean up their stuff.

 

[VegasAngel]

Maybe leave a box of drawstring trashbags with a bow on it by their front door? ha.

 

[monarch64]

MC, gah! I can''t believe their garbage isn''t attracting raccoons, dogs, etc. Yucksters. Hope they clean up their act soon!

April20, wow. You describe a situation that I''ve seen here in IN several times. I guess when you own property in the county here outside the city limits you can do whatever you want...I lived in urban areas for the past decade or so before I moved back to Indiana and i had forgotten there are no burn laws outside the city limits, and residential areas are not held to the city codes as far as dwellings, garbage, and the like either. My parents have 60 acres and a 6k square foot home, and across the road from their home are two neat and well-kept "double-wides" or manufactured homes (ok, they''re trailers.) I remember when they were placed, my parents were really concerned with their property value but it''s never been a concern. Well, not until a couple tornadoes ripped through the neighborhood and moved said trailers off their slabs. That was a yikes, for sure.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 3/5/2010 6:07:35 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Maybe leave a box of drawstring trashbags with a bow on it by their front door? ha.

hahaha That''s a cute idea!

 

[jewelz617]

Date: 3/5/2010 6:30:20 PM
Author: MC

Date: 3/5/2010 6:07:35 PM

Author: VegasAngel

Maybe leave a box of drawstring trashbags with a bow on it by their front door? ha.

hahaha That''s a cute idea!

Also, did you know that spraying a little ammonia on the trash bags will keep animals away at night? You could pass that friendly tip along.

 

[HollyS]

I have SO been where you are. . .

I've had the garbage throwers, the clunker drivers, the drunken revelers, the wife beaters, the noisy sex couples, the smelly food eaters, the out-of-control kids and their "So what?" parents. And I don't want to leave out the guy who threatened to beat me up, the kid who stole my door decor, the drug dealer above me, or the bi-polar gal whose family had her committed to the loony bin after a major scene. Oh, and let's not forget the couple who kept their 3 dogs on their balcony and hosed off the dog sh*t every day onto my patio.

I found there is only one solution. Moving. First to the country where the deer gave me no grief.

Now, in the home we bought, I have a pasture across from me, protected woods behind me, and retired neighbors on either side.

I just wish I were farther away from the sound of traffic. I do miss my country quiet.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 3/5/2010 6:41:54 PM
Author: HollyS

Don''t tell my your my neighbor reading here on PS.

 

[HollyS]

Date: 3/5/2010 6:45:23 PM
Author: MC

Date: 3/5/2010 6:41:54 PM
Author: HollyS

Don''t tell my your my neighbor reading here on PS.

No, dear.

I just got interrupted before I had finished, and somehow it got posted without any of my comments. I edited them back in.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Quick update - the HOA responded with that they cannot do anything about the garbage at this time. They said to take pictures every week to demonstrate this is a continual long-term problem, however, if by doing so and having them contact the neighbors (after proof has been made), it''ll turn out into a full-on war, which we should do all to prevent. He did provide suggestions, but all with a hint of sarcasm, so none would work (stuff like sticking a brick on top of their can to weigh it down or offering to demonstrate to the neighbors how to use trash bags).

It''s not like we live in a "rich" neighborhood, but most bought when the market was high and houses were $500-600K (now, of course, their worth less!). It amazes me that people will spend that much on a home and then not take the time to tend to the basics which keep a neighborhood looking nice.

 

[whitby_2773]

MC - have you tried talking to them?

i''m really anti the anonymous note route as it causes all sorts of ongoing problems. if you have a complaint, go talk to them and tell them what the problem is. will it help? maybe yes and probably not. but it''s your first legitimate port of call. and often, before other bodies like housing associations or local councils will/can intervene, you have to be able to say "yes, i''ve spoken to them directly."

our neighbors'' garbage blows over our front yard every recycling collection day. we pick up pizza boxes, empty packets of cigarettes, food containers of all kinds. part of it is just the problem that comes with windy weather. if it was more than that, tho, we''d definitely say something - we''ve had to address other issues over the years and, uncomfortable tho it is, it''s better than pulling in a third party and escalating as a first step.

good luck with this - neighbor issues are difficult...

 

[Maisie]

I live in an area where the houses are mostly owned by the local authority and rented out to us. We don''t have a problem with trash because there is man who lives at the top of our street who goes up and down on bin day checking who has put what in their bin!

He is like the trash police! Maybe we could persuade him to come and help with your problem?


We have recently started recycling. The problem we have now is our normal bin is only half full on collection day, but the recycling bin is stuffed to its limits! They are the same as the ones MC showed above. I wish ours was double sized. I am going to have to drive to the local recycling centre at this rate.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 3/6/2010 1:42:32 PM
Author: whitby_2773

MC - have you tried talking to them?

i'm really anti the anonymous note route as it causes all sorts of ongoing problems. if you have a complaint, go talk to them and tell them what the problem is.

This would be my route, too...and for the reasons Kareyn gave. A dispute in our Virginia neighborhood escalated because the first neighbor didn't just talk to the second neighbor about the second neighbor's vehicle being parked where it was and, instead, reported it to the police. It turned out that the vehicle was technically on land that belonged to the second neighbor. It is my belief (never investigated) that the second neighbor was just parking there temporarily while undergoing construction. (He had never used that area before.) After being "reported", however, he moved uglier and more unsightly vehicles onto that land just to annoy neighbor number one. It was all completely unnecessary. They should have spoken!

AGBF