Is it illegal to dump garbage in other people's dumpsters?

Question

I live in a townhouse with 8 units. We pay a quarterly association fee and among other things, it cover garbage removal. There is a dumpster behind the garages for all the units to use. When I came home tonight there was a car with a lady I did not recognize and four little kids right next to the dumpster. Her back seat was full of garbage bags. I pulled up to her and yelled, "Do you live here?" She claimed her grandmother lived here and she just threw in one bag. I do not believe it, and I am wondering if I should have gotten her license plate number and called police. The dumpster we have is not huge, and it fills rather quickly at times, and I am wondering how often this is happening and what I can do about it. I figure, if I have to pay for the service, so should she. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Yes, it is illegal. You are paying for a certain size of dumpster & regularity of pick-up. This woman is stealing a portion of your access to the service you purchased. This is the same as if she took your cell phone & used some of the minutes. You can report her to the cops, complex mgmt, garbage company, but they can't do much except catch her & tell her to stop it.

Answer 2

I would report it to the association or management. Also, who handles your garbage removal service? Is it a city department, or a private waste removal service? Maybe call the city department or the company to report it.

You could report it to the police just to have a record of it if the problem keeps happening, but as others have said, the police probably have a lot of more pressing concerns to deal with. So they may not actually do anything.

Answer 3

It is illegal to dump garbage in other peoples' dumpsters. But realy,forget it if you expect the police to assign much, if any,manpower to this issue.