Speaking of Landlords....(not a copycat, a real question)

[Not_Giving_Up]

I live in a trailer park run by idiots. There is a store at the front of the park. To take out your trash, you have to:

Go to the store and write your name, address, and phone number in a log to get the key to get you in the gate to access the dumpsters.

Anyone who comes in after you can see your information. Being female, I am not so cozy with this.

The dumpsters have cameras on them as well. If someone else is already dumping trash and you just slide in and throw your trash in, the office puts nasty notes on your door.

It is not uncommon to take your trash up there, go into the store, and be told that the dumpsters are full and they are not accepting any more trash. I have cats, and after I scoop the litter boxes, I try to get the trash OUT. Four times, I've had to take it back home.

My husband was told this once, and he left the trash outside of the gate anyway. (We call the owner and she always tells us she doesn't know why the dumpsters are full!) We got a note on our door stating that using their dumpsters is a priviledge, and that after 3 trash related write ups, we will be denied this priviledge.

Can they do this???

[fertilizeonarbusto]

1. Where are you?

I'll tell you that at least in Pennsylvania, that is illegal as hell.

[Not_Giving_Up]

2. Texas!

I once refused to put my phone number, and abbreviated my street name, and they wouldn't give me the key until I did it right. I said "What if I don't have a phone?" Blank stare!

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Probably not

You could, and probably should, report them to the Board of Health (or whatever it's called in your area).

Most property management people rely on scare tactics threatening illegal action. Call their bluff politely and you'll usually get red-carpet treatment.

Good luck!

--p!

[Not_Giving_Up]

6. They don't like us, period!

My husband had a verbal confrontation with the onsite manager (we didn't even know who she was at the time), and ever since, they bug us to death. Our neighbors don't mow their grass, nothing happens. They stick notes on our door saying that we have 24 hours to mow or we're going to be fined. Never mind that the yard holds water like a swamp, and can't be mowed for a week after it rains.

[Xithras]

4. Yes, they don't have to provide garbage service...

...unless it was specifically defined as a paid utility in your rental agreement.

That said, they cannot stop you from using an outside garbage service if they prohibit you from using theirs. If I were you, I'd contact the city government and find out the particulars of getting municipal garbage service to your home. Under the laws of every state I've heard of, they cannot stop you from using an outside service unless they are willing to provide that service themselves.

[Not_Giving_Up]

7. We're not in city limits

It's not my fault if somebody puts too much stuff in the dumpster...why do I have to smell trash for a weekend until after they are emptied again on Monday? Oh, and don't take your trash Tuesday night, wait until after it's emptied on Wednesday!

It's a huge park and there are only three dumpsters!

[Xithras]

19. How do your non-TP neighbors get rid of theirs?

Does the county have a trash pickup service? Do they burn it? Call your county and find out what your options are.

Living in the county makes it a little harder, but my basic point still stands. They do not have to provide garbage service, but they cannot prevent you from obtaining your own through some other means.

Who knows, if the park is that big maybe you could form your own tenant organization and contract as a group with a local garbage company for scheduled collection. My grandmother used to live in a trailer park that did exactly that, and when the cost was divided between the residents it was very reasonable (like $5 a month, but that was quite a few years back).

[Not_Giving_Up]

20. I see lots of burning trash

But we can't burn trash in the park, it's in the rules.

As far as forming a tenant association, I can tell you it would never happen. These people are scared of the landlord, beats me why. Lots of them only rent lots, not homes, and I think they just don't want to rock the boat. They tried to talk us into buying the one we're renting...no way am I committing to living here 8 years lady! (You can't move the trailer til it's paid for)

[DS1]

5. Freepers are obsessed with shit, trash, and refuse of all nature

Hence the fascination with porta-potties, and I'll bet there's some SEVERE foot fetishism going on

[Cuban_Liberal]

8. Your landlords are real jerks, you know that?

:wtf:

[Not_Giving_Up]

9. No kidding!

What I REALLY don't get is this - if you are on camera when you dump your trash, why the log?

[Heddi]

10. Is there a landlord-tenant association in your area?

Do a google search and put in either your state or town, and then "landlord tenant association" and see what comes up. If there IS one, then you're in good luck, because those assn's always list exactly what can and can't be done by you and your landlord, and they have sample complaint letters you can print out, and if your issue isn't resolved, you can petition the ass'n on your behalf to mediate btwn yourself * your ll.

if you DON'T have one in your area, then I would do this:

I would contact whoever is in charge of waste/sewer/garbage in your area. Even if you're not in city limits, I would think there has to be SOME public statue that lists what can and can't be done with garbage/refuse.

I know out here in WA, there is a law (statute, whatever) that says a landlord must provide X garbage containers for every X tennants. If they're not providing enough containers for the people that live there, then they are most likely in violation of the law. It's a public health matter...You can't have a trailer park with 50 trailers (so figure between 100-150 people living there), and a 30-gal trash can for everyone. That's unsanitary.

Talk to the garbage people in your area. Hopefully if they can't help you, they'd be able to at least point you in the right direction of someone who CAN help you.

[Not_Giving_Up]

12. I'm going to call the county and see where I get

I can't help but think of the horror after everyone dumps their holiday trash!

[Heddi]

15. When you call the county

Make sure to keep stressing the words PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARD, BIOHAZARD (if there are people who dump diapers where you live), etc.

Even though you SHOULD get results if you tell them "Hey, I ain't got no where to dump my trash and it's gross", I think they'd be more vigilant if you said instead "This is a really gross public health hazard. We're dealing with rotten food, soiled diapers, who knows what else that isn't being thrown away in a hygenic, sanitary way"

:)

[Not_Giving_Up]

21. Rotten food, diapers, cat boxes, you name it

ICK!

[Heddi]

13. Also, I think they may also be blowing hot air with the

"trash is a privelege" thing.

When you started renting with them, what was listed as being 'included' in your rent, and what was listed that you were responsible for paying?

Did they state that they would pay Water, Sewer, and Garbage? If they did state that, then they MUST provide garbage service for you, or give you a reasonable way for you to provide garbage service for yourself (set up private removal via the garbage company or whatever).

I've had my fair share of shitty landlords, shady landlords, and awful neighbors in WA and SC. I'm not a lawyer, but I've come to learn that with rental properties, there is alot of illegalities and 'not quite rights" that landlords try to pull out on you. I don't stand for that shit. Luckily, in WA, there are landlord-tenant assoc's all over, and I proudly let landlords know UP FRONT BEFORE I SIGN THE LEASE that I'm well versed with Landlord Tennant law and hope that they are too. it lets THEM know that I'm a serious renter who isn't going to create noise disturbances or bury my garbage in the back yard instead of paying the city to take it away, and it lets ME know if they're "legit" landlords who are just as interested in following the law themselves as tehy expect me to be.

[Not_Giving_Up]

16. We're on a well...so that's the water

The lease says that dumpsters are provided and should not be abused (OK, the lease is at home, but that's basically it). I'm not abusing their dumpsters. I'm being denied access to them because someone else abused them.

I lived in SC for a while, and a landlord there had "set out day". No shit. If you hadn't paid your rent by a certain day, they went in while you were at work, and set all of your belongings in the yard. One single mom of an infant and toddler came home to find she no longer had a crib, much less anything else. I told the manager that they'd better NEVER do that to me. They have the legal right to put my stuff in storage and hold it hostage until I pay...Not just set it out for the scavengers in the park to pick through.

[Not_Giving_Up]

11. More on these idiots

You cannot get a receipt for paying your rent! When we first moved there, we were told to drop our money orders in the slot. There was no onsite manager. (What a way to run things) So, after they hired the onsite idiot, I took my money order in during business hours and asked for a receipt. She told me that I had to drop my rent in the slot. WTF? So, I have tons of stubbies showing I've bought money orders, but no proof that they actually received my rent. I suppose they could say, at any time, that I haven't paid!

[Heddi]

14. That, I'm very certain, is illegal

By law, you are required to give a receipt for ANY transaction once one is asked for.

Keep the stubs for your MO's. If they said you didn't pay rent, you could call the MO company and have them pull a copy of the cashed MO, like they do with checks. It'll show the endorsement, where and when it was cashed, etc. I think it costs $15 or something to do that, though, but at least you do have recourse through the MO company.

KEEP THOSE STUBS!!!!!

[Not_Giving_Up]

17. Oh, I have every one of them

Two for each month (the rent is too much for one money order apparently). I wish I had the money to move!!!

[Not_Giving_Up]

18. Also, these igits don't live in the park (of course not)

So, when we need to get something done, we call them. They do not answer the phone when they see it's us. I did get an answer when I called from my cell, but only once, she got wise. They refuse to have a conversation with me, I have to play voice mail tag.