Sucky neighbors

Back toward the beginning of February, a few of us that live around here noticed some trash. Being stored in bags in the backyard of a rental property.

Quite a pile, eh?

After I took this photo, I email'd the photo to one of our home owners association representatives and to the police department public relations department.

On Feb 9, 2009, at 10:47 AM, Grace wrote:

I did want to bring something to your attention. There is a family renting at xxxxx street, which is a corner home. They're a quiet family and keep to themselves. A few of us neighbors have noticed something over the last several weeks. The home has trash along the side of the house that can easily be seen if you peer over the fence as you're walking along the street. I've attached photos that I took after dropping the kids off at school this morning.

Isn't this piling of trash a health issue? Is there anything the HOA can do -- possibly notify the owner of the home? I heard from one of the neighbors that the renters tried to put their trash can in front of another neighbors house. Turns out the renter don't have trash service anymore because they didn't their bills. [sigh] I'm hoping that there's some way we can get this eyesore fixed.

I only received one response:

Hi Grace,

I've passed this along to our manager at our HOA management company. I'll let you know as soon as I hear something from her. Thanks for letting us know about it.

HOA Rep

A week later? The trash was gone.

Unfortunately, last week I noticed trash in the backyard again. I didn't do anything in the hopes that the trash would be gone in a day or two. But alas, as of yesterday the trash was still there. The renters did not pile the bags on the side of the house closest to the sidewalk this time though. They placed the bags right outside their back door.

Not only is this a nuisance that brings the property values down, it's also a health issue. These people have a couple pre-school aged kids. We rarely see the kids, but they are there. And for those of you who know Arizona, there are animals everywhere. Chipmunks. Snakes. Coyotes!

Yesterday, I emailed the photo to the same people that I emailed in February. I actually received a few responses this time around.

Here's what I wrote:

After getting rid of the initial pile of trashbags, the renters at xxxx street have begun to pile trash outside their back door. Can anything be done about this?

Best Regards,
Grace

Response #1

I will again forward your concerns -

I forwarded your previous request to our Code Enforcement department who contacted the homeowners. They can best be reached online through http://www.community.com/requesttracker.asp . - Our Citizen Request Tracker System which ensures concerns such as these are addressed by the appropriate department.

Thanks for you persistence in keeping our neighborhood looking good!

Police Department Rep
Community Resources

Response #2

Hi Grace,

It was passed along to our management company last month and they notified the owner by letter and sent a letter to the renter also. Sorry I didn't follow up on what they heard from the owner. According to the CCR's xx.xx.xx the owner is responsible for employing a trash company. Everything seems to take so long! Have you called the Health Department? As a neighbor you should and encourage any other neighbors to contact them as well.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention again. I emailed our manager for an update on this issue. I'll let you know what I find out.

Thanks,
HOA Rep

Response #3

This has been addressed with the appropriate people. They will be having the occupants remove the bags by there back door. This should be done in the next 7 to 10 days. If you have any questions regarding this matter please feel free to contact me at any time.

Regards
Zoning Code Compliance Officer

Here is what I have to say to these emails I received.



Responder #1 - I forwarded your previous request to our Code Enforcement department who contacted the homeowners.

Really? Did you actually contact the homeowner? It's a rental property. Did you contact the management company to get the actual homeowners name and mailing address? Hmm...I highly doubt that.



Responder #2 - It was passed along to our management company last month and they notified the owner by letter and sent a letter to the renter also. Sorry I didn't follow up on what they heard from the owner. According to the CCR's xx.xx.xx the owner is responsible for employing a trash company. Everything seems to take so long! Have you called the Health Department? As a neighbor you should and encourage any other neighbors to contact them as well.

So as an HOA that constantly fines people for parking on the street overnight, you are not taking fast action on getting this trash issue resolved? The management company sent a letter to the renter and the homeowner. Okay. That's fine, but your lack of follow-through is just typical. I KNOW that the renter violated a CCR and I also know the actual town zoning code they violated. You don't need to tell me about it. You need to tell the homeowner! And you want ME to call the department of health? Why aren't you as a home owner association representative doing it?



Responder #3 - They will be having the occupants remove the bags by there back door. This should be done in the next 7 to 10 days.

Sure. They'll remove the trash within the next week or so. But what happens when they decide to continue to pile the trash where we can't see it? Like IN THEIR GARAGE?



Insufficient! You all have got two complaints and two photos of evidence regarding the violations to both town and community codes. DO SOMETHING!!!!