It’s almost normal to have one or two annoying neighbors at one point in your life — someone who plays loud music, one with noisy or destructive pets, or has a dead car forever parked in front of your gate.
You may even be annoyed every single time the neighbor shows up at your front door – as usual – to ask one same favor.
Now that’s annoying.
The most annoying thing, however, is when a neighbor forms a habit of putting their trash can in front of your house.
So, Can Your Neighbor Put Their Trash Cans In Front Of Your House?
No – that’s outrageous, isn’t it? There are a few exceptions though, and may also depend on the approach. If you want to be a good neighbor so bad, you might stomach it for some time until you reach the tipping point.
Scenario #1: Are Your Doors Adjacent? If yes, the neighbor is somehow justified
Let’s say the entrances of your homes are close to each other (facing each other or adjacent). If the garbage guys are known to come by to take it away daily, your neighbor may be justified to place their trash can at your door so that the collection guys can collect it in a few hours’ time.
Unless it’s intolerably smelly with flies all over it, you should be okay with that arrangement.
Better yet, you might think of keeping another large bin outside your door so that your neighbor can easily place their small trashcan in it together with yours to maintain tidiness and orderliness at your doorstep.
You want to maintain good relationships in your neighborhood, and you may easily rob yourself of the rare joy of having a few great helpful neighbors when you start going at them over minor issues.
So, even if you are of opinion that the neighbor isn’t placing the garbage at the correct place near your door, don’t lash at them immediately for it (which is quite common among some neighbors, by the way).
Your neighbor may or may fail to learn from your example of disposing of the wastes in the right way, but you should leave plenty of space for emulation.
Of course, there are those that may take advantage of your patience for too long. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to declare your stand and how upset you are with their recklessness (let’s call it ‘disrespect’).
If you feel the neighbor is overdoing it, they haven’t learned, and has been on it for too long to recall, then consider taking a reasonable action – a brief verbal fight, maybe.
Scenario #2: Are Your Doors Far Apart? Hell no!
It would be total insanity for your neighbor to bring their trashcan all the way from their house – 5+ meters away, let’s say – right to your doorstep. Unless you told them to (which we’d wonder why), the neighbor has no right to do that.
Scenario #3: Is The Neighbor New On Your Block? If yes, then umm…they can do it for some time.
If your neighbor is new on the block or apartment and your doors are a bit closer, you don’t want to be hostile to the stranger too fast.
In such a case, you’d let the neighbor bring their trash can at your door (you can assume they are just clueless and aren’t familiar with how you do things over here although some things should be just obvious).
However, you would long for educating them about the proper way of doing things on your block after a few cases.
Once they’re familiar, anything beyond that point should be considered to be a violation.
Scenario #4: Did you choose to include your garbage service on rent? If yes, the neighbor has no right to do that
Some landlords require all tenants to include garbage collection services on their rent payments. Then there are those landlords who are considerate enough to allow you to opt-in if you really want it and opt-out if you don’t.
So, let’s say you opted in your community’s garbage service which means your landlord pays the accrued bill for trash (and you probably get billed for anything else completed on top of the basic service you selected).
The single garbage can at your door should be enough for you and you only without going over it (and incurring more charges in that case).
You could be provided a larger recycling bin just for yourself or anyone you choose to share the cost of the service with.
If you don’t fill it because, say, you went on a business trip, the can is expected to remain empty until you return.
However, the neighbor may try to take advantage of your absence or even choose to opt-out of the service in hopes of filling your large can with their half-filled cans (“I don’t litter much, so just dispose of these few papers for me”).
Your response to this will depend on the extent of a neighbor you want to be to others. But because you are the sole payer and your neighbor doesn’t, you are more likely to reject it outright.
Scenario #5: Do you share a common collection point? If yes, he’s good to do that
Let’s say your landlord likes it when each two or several tenants collect trashcans at a central collection point and that point happens to be near your doorstep – in that case, yes, but all trashcans need to be placed in the larger can, not right at your door.
Also, proper care needs to be taken to avoid spillage that may mess up the entire place.
Scenario #6: You are friends
If you are good friends – you are workmates or went to the same school, graduated, and decided to live close to each other – and now you are good neighbors, why not gather your garbage at one point and even share the cost of disposal service?
Friends can do anything for mutual benefit.
You probably agreed on collecting your garbage besides your doorstep). In that case, yes.
Summary
It would be a serious violation for the neighbor to leave their trash can at your door.
Some communities may have rules in place against the process if found to be endemic. However, it may not be an entirely wrong thing to do in some cases.
If your neighbor is new on the block and your doors are a bit closer, you don’t want to be hostile to the stranger too fast.
In case of a new neighbor, you’d let the them bring their trash can at your door – You can assume they are just clueless and aren’t familiar with how you do things over here although some things should be just obvious.
However, you would long for educating them about the proper way of doing things on your block after a few cases. Once they’re familiar, anything beyond that point should be considered to be a violation.
Are your doors adjacent? If yes, the neighbor may be justified
If the garbage guys are known to come by to take it away daily, your neighbor may be justified to place their trash can at your door (your doors are adjacent) so that the collection guys can collect it In a few hours’ time.
Even better, you might think of keeping another large bin outside your door so that your neighbor can easily place their small trashcan in it together with yours to maintain tidiness and orderliness at your doorstep.
It’s the goal of every tenant in peace with everyone. You also want to maintain good relationships in your neighborhood, and you may easily rob yourself of the rare joy of having a few great helpful neighbors when you start going at them over minor issues.
Of course, there are those that may take advantage of your patience for too long. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to declare your stand and how upset you are with their recklessness
Of course, there are those that may take advantage of your patience for too long – sometimes it doesn’t hurt to declare your stand and how upset you are with their reckless garbage handling methods
Are your doors far apart? In that case, No!
It would be total insanity for your neighbor to bring their trashcan all the way from their house – 5+ meters away, let’s say – right to your doorstep unless you told them to (which we’d wonder why), the neighbor has no right to do that.
Did you choose to include your garbage service on rent? If yes, the neighbor has no right to do it
Some landlords are considerate enough to allow you to opt-in if you really want it and opt-out if you don’t.
Let’s say you opted in your apartment’s garbage service which means your landlord pays the accrued bill for trash (and you probably get billed for anything else completed on top of the basic service you selected), it would be a violation for your neighbor to take advantage of your empty trash can (when you are not around, for example) and bring their trashcan at your doorstep for collection.
If you are good friends, you can agree to collect your trash cans at your doorstep for whichever reason.