When remodeling, can I put “ trash “ on the sidewalk....?

Question

- 3-4 desks and random items from an eviction cleanup... are sitting off to the side of house/yard ( I own the lot next to my rental house )

- Today I stepped out of my vehicle to get to work on updating the home again... and the moment I step out, the 68 year old neighbor, from 3 houses down, Yells me down to converse with her. She tells me about how they are having a meeting about the trash and ETC. I feel so isolated as I’m the SOLE white owner of a property on this street and it’s such FEW times that I KNOW, no one else would be getting “ B!tched “ at for it

- I am legally allowed to set things out in front of my house? Correct? Especially if someone may have use for it, like a desk... chairs. Wood. Metal.

- where do YOU place your things (trash or items)   during the remodel process?

- I don’t have enough trash to economically pay for a dump, that’s a key factor in this post. Why pay for a dump when it was a full on tear out. Most things were just household items

Donald Robers · Answer

An economically smart thing to do is to get your neighbors on your side, or at least do not actively antagonize them.

Jim K. · Answer

I don't think the neighbors dislike you just because you're white. I mean, I'm white, I've known you for about 30-some days, and yet I feel no sense of deep racial solidarity and kinship with you over your trash.

Leah Stuever · Answer

This is going to be a city ordinance issue. You can check with them to see what you are allowed to put in your front yard. Generally trash  is not one of them though.

Do you want your neighbors leaving trash all over in front of the house and making your neighborhood look bad?  Be courteous to others. Call someone to come pick it up and haul it away.

Andrew B. · Answer

I'm not exactly sure what's happening from your description. Are you leaving stuff by the curb to be collected for trash day? If so, review local ordinances. Most state that garbage can only be placed by the curb during certain hours.

Are you leaving trash all over your lawn for a few weeks while you remodel? That's probably a code violation, and in general a crappy thing to do. Your neighbors want to live in a nice, clean neighborhood. Don't be the landlord who doesn't care about the neighborhood. That's who gives landlords bad names.

Is it sitting next to your house cause you are trying to decide what to do with it? Again, that's a question for code enforcement, but if its a short period of time and doesn't look unsightly, you should be ok to store it there. Just make sure you are considerate of your neighbors and that it is not extremely un-kept.

If you are just leaving junk by the end of the driveway in the hopes that someone will take it for free, that's most likely an eyesore and should be cleaned up.

Matthew Paul · Answer

Landlord did an eviction in my area , there was a couch and some other things set out at the curb . They sat there for a day or 2 and someone asked the guys painting the house if they could have it . They said they didnt care its from an eviction . So they took all of it . A week later they called the landlord saying they want him to pay to have their house fumigated because the furniture had Bed Bugs .

The landlord basically laughed at them .

Sean Lambert · Answer

@Charlie Moore take the trash to the dump.  Part of a rehab process is making the outside presentable during the rehab.

Bryan Devitt · Answer

@Charlie Moore " in a few weeks"?? If your budget is so tight that a couple hundred dollars puts you in the red, you screwed up. Stop making the neighborhood look like trash and haul your crap out of there. Go on Facebook and find a town page, find someone local to pick it up. It's cheaper than you think and you won't have neighbors that see someone trashing your building and saying "good, he deserves it"

Kyle J. · Answer

That's pretty funny.  Coincidentally, I have a bed bug addendum that I have my tenants sign and it says, among other things, that: "Residents have an important role in preventing and controlling bed bugs. Residents agree to never bringing secondhand, or discarded items from the curbside, into the premises without thoroughly inspecting them first for the presence of bed bugs."

You never know where used furniture has been.

Charles Goetz · Answer

Can you do it and should you do it are different conversations.  As most have said, the city will say whether you can or not, but personally, I never like trash sitting outside at my jobs. Nothing screams "Hey, empty house with new stuff" like having old carpet, appliances and paint cans sitting in the driveway.

I've found it helps to be friendly, even try to meet the neighbors rather than have an adversarial relationship right off the bat.

If they don't like you, I doubt it's because you're white. It's probably because you're the guy with all the crap piled up in the yard.

Mike McCarthy · Answer

1-800-got-junk or one of their many competitors would happily pick it all up for you. If it’s out for more than a day or two, I’d understand why the neighbors aren’t happy.

When remodeling, can I put “ trash “ on the sidewalk....?

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