Garbage b4 tenants moved in

[donksky]

Hello, garbage was dumped on my rental`s backyard - glass debris, mattress, etc. before my tenants moved in and they`re asking if I`m having it removed. I wasn`t responsible for this and the area was clean when I was there three weeks ago. They said they were told that it`s a health hazard and that if not removed, someone can have the city remove it at the owner`s expense (Sudbury). Anyone got any good advice, is this under provincial law of city by-law (should I call the city & find out)? I don`t want to have to remove this - I already spent $350 having junk inside removed when vendor trashed the place. And what`s to keep the backyard from getting trashed again after they move in? I don`t think any junk removal company is going to go around picking up pieces of glass, are theY?? If not, who can/will? I`m 4 1/2 hours away! Am I to keep paying for garbage illegally dumped on my rental premises?? HELP!!
2) on an ongoing basis, who`s responsible for premises trash when property is rented?? & who can charge who for what? thx

 

[Nir]

Hi Donna, Good question.

I`m also interested to know what other investors think...

One way that comes to mind to avoid such an issue is if it is somehow included in the tenant lease agreement.
Regardless, hopefully your property manager can hire someone to clean it for you for a reasonable price(?)
however, I don’t know the answer to the more important question - once clean how to prevent this from happening again in the future(?)

Regards,
Neil

 

[billf]

Hi Donna,

I work for the government in this area. Unfortunately unless you catch the person doing the dumping, the owner or controller of the property is responsible for the clean-up. Under the municipal property standards by-law they can likely clean up the property at your expense (tax roll). Depending on what the material that is dumped the Ministry of the Environment can also order a clean up at your expense.

My experience is mostly material that is dumped in parks or on commercial property. Commercial owners will usually install cameras or fences for repeat problems. If you can prove your tenants are allowing the dumping you could evict for violating municipal by-laws. I don`t know if you could make non-commercial tenants pay for someone dumping on your property.

For clean up call one of those junk removal companies, e.g. 1-800-got-junk or something like that, check the yellow pages in sudbury. The down side is it will be a $500-1000 for removal probably or you could pay the tenants to take care of it.

Be sure to report this to your local Waste Management Department and the police, even if to just get a report on the file. Thet will likely not do anything, but I have seen people caught by sifting through trash for mail and tracing it back to people who paid a company to legally dispose of the material.

Sincerely

Bill F.