The good, the bad, and the trashy of garbage collection
With no love lost between rental property owners and Recology, the garbage monopoly is trying to make it through the stink of overcharging, corruption and scandal while Oakland makes it easier for tenants to dispose of bulky trash.
San Francisco's waste-hauling monopoly Recology has created a lot of stench over the years with its many financial and political scandals and now, a new cascade of developments surrounding the garbage giant and the ongoing corruption investigation at San Francisco's City Hall could weaken that empire.
Recology will get no sympathy from rental property owners. In 2017, the Recology-friendly rate board voted unanimously to increase rates. According to the Small Property Owners of San Francisco Institute, this resulted in an overall rate hike of 36.5% for 2-unit, 20.9% for 3-unit, 36.4% for 4-unit, and 21.1% for 5-unit buildings.
Supervisors approve $100M Recology settlement to refund overcharged customers »
The legal monopoly pledges it is back on the straight and narrow and is asking San Franciscans for forgiveness, but not everyone is softhearted. Supervisor Aaron Peskin has floated a ballot measure that would break up the monopoly by among other things, allowing other companies to submit competitive bids for garbage collection services.
Cleaning up blight in Oakland with a novel solution: a free program for tenants to dispose of “bulky” trash.
13 football fields of trash rising up to someone’s waistline. That’s the estimate of the sheer amount of debris strewn on Oakland’s streets, sidewalks, alleys, and lots from July 2020 and June 2021. It seems that residents have accumulated more garbage than they can legally dispose of and the problem was especially acute during stay-at-home orders that kept people confined to their living quarters.
We would be remiss not to remind rental housing providers that there is an implied warranty of habitability in every California residential lease, meaning rental units must be in liveable condition. California Civil Code Section 1941.1 lays out the landlord’s responsibilities, which include “an adequate number of containers for garbage and rubbish.”
Lacking resources and with practically no enforcement of anti-littering laws, the Oakland Public Works Department could not do much to clean up dumpsites. Now, the goal is prevention by giving residents legal means to dispose of unwanted items without the need to unload the trash where it doesn't belong.
As of November 15, when tenants want to part with appliances, mattresses, tires, and other large, unwieldy items, they do not have to go through their landlord or property manager as they once had to - tenants can directly schedule a one-time drop-off of up to four cubic yards of bulky waste for free and can make an appointment to get rid of even more at the curbside.
More information on the program →
It turns out that Waste Management - the company tasked with picking up Oakland's big curbside items - is not without its own controversies. Back in 2016, it raised its fees, prompting protests on the steps of City Hall and spawning a lawsuit by property owners who said it was tantamount to an unconstitutional tax. More recently, it has been accused of driving past bulky trash left on the curb, leaving the city to do the dirty work of removing it.
Parting thoughts
We agree with the sentiment of Oakland Public Works head Harold Duffey, who said the measure brings "equity and inclusion to a program that was always easier for single-family property owners to use."
Of course, there will be some tenants who will not take advantage of the haul-away and curbside pick-up program and still others will accumulate more garbage. When landlords encounter eyesores on their property or when garbage becomes unsafe and unsanitary or spills over to neighboring rental units, Bornstein Law can assist in addressing the nuisance.