Garbage & Association

[Rae Rae]

I'm soo pist! Our associations INSISTS that we leave our garbage inside our garage..our weekly garbage w/ spoiled food, Rocky's feces, and other disgusting waste. I can't leave it in my garage, that is disgusting!!!! I don't want my garage smelling up (especially after we got the cat pee smell out) and I don't want animals trying to get in our garage, and I don't want to get sick because of all the unwanted bacteria and pathogens coming into my garage. I tried explaining nicely to the assocation why this is disgusting, unsafe, unsanitary, and obsurd and she basically said "oh well". I even told her "Restaurants are not allowed to leave there waste inside the premises due to health reasons, it's a violation of the FDA, would you eat at a restaurant if they left their waste inside for a week!" Her answer was "well it's in the rules" and she also said "other people have lived in your neighborhood for around 3yrs and they leave the garbage in their garage"..I told her "That is them, if they want to live with garbage in their homes that is fine" and she cut me off saying "Its not in their home it's in the garage" and I said "well I payed a lot of money for this house and I don't want it to smell because the association cares more about how the neighborhood looks than the wellbeing of the people who live here". I went on and on about why this isn't right, but she didn't care. I told her I'm unhappy with this, and she kept saying "theres nothing you can do" until I had to ask her "Is there someone else I can speak to" (She shouldve given me info right away). She told me I can write a letter and she will forward it on, and they will contact me.

So my next step is doing research as to why this is an unhealthy rule. I'm trying to contact the FDA, but their menu is so long and I'm having trouble with it. Does anyone else know how else I can go about doing this? You guys are really good w/ telling people who to go to when they post about problems, so I was hoping someone would have an idea for this.

[red98vett]

You go girl !!! We had ours around the side of the house where NO ONE could see it - and I swear they went to alot of trouble to find it - write us up and send us letter after letter cause I refused to put it in our garage - well - guess where it is....yup I gave up - you can't fight city hall sometimes - and I'm not a homeowner - so it was only making my landlord look bad - but they HOA people can be evil - they charge 35.00 PER LETTER ..'

When that was no longer an issue - they THEN cited me for the Mailbox ....then the Basketball hoop - after I painted them - they wrote me about the FREAKIN Edging on my driveway - funny - I mow my own grass for the last 2 years and NEVER Edge - but even funnier is I hurt my shoulder and haven't mowed grass in weeks - the LAWN DUDES are doing it - and those guys DO Edge the yard -

[red98vett]

You go girl !!! We had ours around the side of the house where NO ONE could see it - and I swear they went to alot of trouble to find it - write us up and send us letter after letter cause I refused to put it in our garage - well - guess where it is....yup I gave up - you can't fight city hall sometimes - and I'm not a homeowner - so it was only making my landlord look bad - but they HOA people can be evil - they charge 35.00 PER LETTER ..'

When that was no longer an issue - they THEN cited me for the Mailbox ....then the Basketball hoop - after I painted them - they wrote me about the FREAKIN Edging on my driveway - funny - I mow my own grass for the last 2 years and NEVER Edge - but even funnier is I hurt my shoulder and haven't mowed grass in weeks - the LAWN DUDES are doing it - and those guys DO Edge the yard -

[Rem&Silkmom]

Originally Posted by Rae Rae

I'm soo pist! Our associations INSISTS that we leave our garbage inside our garage..our weekly garbage w/ spoiled food, Rocky's feces, and other disgusting waste. I can't leave it in my garage, that is disgusting!!!! I don't want my garage smelling up (especially after we got the cat pee smell out) and I don't want animals trying to get in our garage, and I don't want to get sick because of all the unwanted bacteria and pathogens coming into my garage. I tried explaining nicely to the assocation why this is disgusting, unsafe, unsanitary, and obsurd and she basically said "oh well". I even told her "Restaurants are not allowed to leave there waste inside the premises due to health reasons, it's a violation of the FDA, would you eat at a restaurant if they left their waste inside for a week!" Her answer was "well it's in the rules" and she also said "other people have lived in your neighborhood for around 3yrs and they leave the garbage in their garage"..I told her "That is them, if they want to live with garbage in their homes that is fine" and she cut me off saying "Its not in their home it's in the garage" and I said "well I payed a lot of money for this house and I don't want it to smell because the association cares more about how the neighborhood looks than the wellbeing of the people who live here". I went on and on about why this isn't right, but she didn't care. I told her I'm unhappy with this, and she kept saying "theres nothing you can do" until I had to ask her "Is there someone else I can speak to" (She shouldve given me info right away). She told me I can write a letter and she will forward it on, and they will contact me.

So my next step is doing research as to why this is an unhealthy rule. I'm trying to contact the FDA, but their menu is so long and I'm having trouble with it. Does anyone else know how else I can go about doing this? You guys are really good w/ telling people who to go to when they post about problems, so I was hoping someone would have an idea for this.

Wow...not sure I could live with Garbage in my garage either. Our HOA only says that you can cannot be visble from the road. So we put our on the side of our house and built a ladus(sp) fence around it and have vines growing.

Wow...i wish our HOA would fine people and clean up our neighborhood!

[yorkieusa]

Everyone I've ever heard of has complained about HOA's. I'm glad I live out here in cowboy country. If you have to keep it in the garage, get some plastic garbage containers. They have a tight seal and once you put the lid on you can't smell it.

[Rae Rae]

Originally Posted by red98vett

You go girl !!! We had ours around the side of the house where NO ONE could see it - and I swear they went to alot of trouble to find it - write us up and send us letter after letter cause I refused to put it in our garage - well - guess where it is....yup I gave up - you can't fight city hall sometimes - and I'm not a homeowner - so it was only making my landlord look bad - but they HOA people can be evil - they charge 35.00 PER LETTER ..'

When that was no longer an issue - they THEN cited me for the Mailbox ....then the Basketball hoop - after I painted them - they wrote me about the FREAKIN Edging on my driveway - funny - I mow my own grass for the last 2 years and NEVER Edge - but even funnier is I hurt my shoulder and haven't mowed grass in weeks - the LAWN DUDES are doing it - and those guys DO Edge the yard -

Wow, that really sux. See I'm in a townhouse, and my house is in a unit of four and were the second one in. I wish we did have an end unit so we could just hide it on the side of the house. But the association DOES come and do inspections, even up in the yards! I honestly think these people should do something useful if they want to be employed, but oh well. I can't believe you were charged per letter...we got one letter, and it gave us a 3day warning before we get a letter from the "board of directors (ooooh, LOL). Then I'm sure they will fine us. Today we went to my boyfriends mom's house, and she lives in a very nice neighborhood (houses cost ALOT compare to here) and everyone there had their garbage on side or in front of their garage. Our garbage is on the side, but still infront of the garage, but it's not like in the middle standing out you know. She said her association never had a problem with that. And her neighborhood is, I guess you would say more money than ours! The person I spoke with today said "every assocation is like this"..that's such BS!!

[Rae Rae]

Originally Posted by yorkieusa

Everyone I've ever heard of has complained about HOA's. I'm glad I live out here in cowboy country. If you have to keep it in the garage, get some plastic garbage containers. They have a tight seal and once you put the lid on you can't smell it.

Tell me about it, I already want to move now because of them. When I do decide to move into a single-family home, I just want to buy a lot and have the house built for us. That way there's no association, just the city regulations. This is our SECOND problem..and we haven't been here even 2 months!

The first one was the first week we moved in. The landscapers were using our water to water our neighbors lawn!!! I called the association and they said that the landscapers probably didn't know that someone moved into our home. Before a home is occupied, they use that homes water to water the grass, and the builders pay for it. It's not the landscapers fault, they didn't know we were here yet, but the assocation really should have told them what lots' water they can and cannot use.

I also told the lady on the phone that I got a flat tire due to a nail on a road in our neighborhood, and she blamed it on the construction. I told her that if there so worried about garbage and how the neighborhood looks, maybe they should worry about cleaning up the roads! I told her that her inspectors should watch out for this too, because that is more serious than my garbage being infront of my house!

[OLIVIA_KARHIS]

You go girl!! I would go as high as I can. Some people get a little authority and it goes to there damn heads!

The more I am here in Germany, the more I am not wanting to go back to the US to deal with all the dumb A$$ people like this.

[Rae Rae]

Originally Posted by OLIVIA_KARHIS

You go girl!! I would go as high as I can. Some people get a little authority and it goes to there damn heads!

The more I am here in Germany, the more I am not wanting to go back to the US to deal with all the dumb A$$ people like this.

Hahahahaha, I know what you mean about authority. The girl I spoke with was like "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them". I wanted to say "Oh so your a rent-a-cop kinda?" or "What PD did YOU get rejected from?"

[yorkieusa]

Originally Posted by Rae Rae

Hahahahaha, I know what you mean about authority. The girl I spoke with was like "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them". I wanted to say "Oh so your a rent-a-cop kinda?" or "What PD did YOU get rejected from?"

I see you still have your sense of humor.

[OLIVIA_KARHIS]

Originally Posted by Rae Rae

Hahahahaha, I know what you mean about authority. The girl I spoke with was like "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them". I wanted to say "Oh so your a rent-a-cop kinda?" or "What PD did YOU get rejected from?"

Lol
If I was you I would have said it... I tend to not think when I get pi$$ed and stuff just comes flying out of my mouth

[Marcellacml]

LOL some rules are so stupid I mean give me a fricken break! If i'm the one living here why can't I decide where I put my garbage?!? Like why do you care? You should have been like..so what if I don't have a garage? what am I supposed to do build one to fit my garbage?

[Rae Rae]

Originally Posted by yorkieusa

I see you still have your sense of humor.

Actually, it's me being a smart ass...

[Rae Rae]

Originally Posted by OLIVIA_KARHIS

Lol
If I was you I would have said it... I tend to not think when I get pi$$ed and stuff just comes flying out of my mouth

Yeah, I was trying to be as polite as I could, but finally I did get rude back with her and told her how disgusting this is, and how the association cares more about how the neighborhood looks then the health of the people who live here. She said "If that's how you feel.." I cut her off and said "It's not how I feel, it's a fact".

[Rae Rae]

Originally Posted by Marcellacml

LOL some rules are so stupid I mean give me a fricken break! If i'm the one living here why can't I decide where I put my garbage?!? Like why do you care? You should have been like..so what if I don't have a garage? what am I supposed to do build one to fit my garbage?

Oh then you would probably have to put them in your house! All of the homes here do have garages though. Actually tomarrow I'm going to drive by the single-family homes (theres a cul-de-sac w/ about 10 SF homes) and see how they keep theres. I'm hoping they are outside, because than I really will have a reason to bitch! The other rule w/ garbage is it can only be outside from the morning of p/u, until 7pm! OK, some people get home later than that, so I brought that up to her and she said "the association only works unil 5, so they won't be checking if it's after 7pm, as long as it's away by the next morning"...so I brought up "Ok, what about if you dont come home on thursday" and she said "then you have to arrange something with your neighbors or a friend to put it away for you"...I barely know my neighbors! I'm not going to ask them to do me a favor, and definitly give someone access to my house that I don't know! I can't think about it anymore, I'm getting heated just thinking of it!