In yet another learning experience, it has come to my attention that, along with a 6-unit apartment building, we purchased the big dumpster that sits in the parking lot. I finally broke down and called the real estate agent that helped us with the deal, and he was as surprised as I was to learn this fact. Now, I understand that most people in most of the country would know something like this because they pay a regular trash bill through a private company. Our City collects the trash, so it is paid for through property taxes and the water/sewer bill. I have never received a bill from anyone about this dumpster; as long as nothing is blocking it, it gets emptied almost every week. The City will also make bulk pick-ups of items like couches and mattresses upon request.
Unfortunately, two Tuesday nights ago (May 12th), one of my tenants texted to tell me that the dumpster was upside-down. What?! Why would it be upside-down? I drove by Thursday morning, confirmed that it was upside-down, and called the City’s information line to figure out what was going on.
I was told that when a dumpster becomes unsafe, the garbage truck will flip it over and then send the property owner a snail-mail letter with the reason and next steps within a week. Silly me - I believed her.
I waited until Wednesday’s mail came, a solid week, and called again when I failed to receive a letter. Oh, well, there still was nothing in their system. Great. We are at 100% occupancy without a place to throw away trash. And I have no idea where this dumpster came from, what is wrong with it, or how to get it fixed. I’m just waiting for a code enforcement citation, too, as the trash continues to pile up.
So, now it is Friday afternoon before a 3-day weekend and I’m waiting for the City to call me with an update that they have 1-3 business days to make. Our real estate agent has also promised to reach out to the prior owner to see if there is any other information available.
I’m probably going to put the tarp in my car to haul away some trash because it is still ultimately our responsibility to provide trash removal for this property. Yuck.
Woohoo! Before I could even post the above, the City called. The bottom is rusted out and the dumpster needs to be repaired. He’s going to try to get this put into the system today, or Tuesday at the latest. Isn’t that nice.
