Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: bill

I apologize if I am not reading your question correctly, however, your post is a bit confusing. I assume what you are saying is that you bought a house, and nowhere in the documentation for the purchase of the home was it disclosed that you have to pay for trash. You now want to know if you are required to pay for the service. If my assumptions are incorrect, I apologize.

With respect to disclosure of the requirement that you pay for trash in the purchase documentation, I don't think you have a claim against the seller. To determine if the Seller has any liability to you for failing to disclose this condition, you'll need to review the purchase documentation with an attorney, but I just don't believe the claim would have any merit or value.

Second, can the City (or whomever is saying you must have trash service) require you to pay for trash service? The failure to disclose this requirement to you is not basis for the City to abandon its rule, and allow you to not take trash service. The contract between you and the seller has nothing to do with the City, so their requirements are not connected in any way to your claim that you didn't know you "had" to take service. Go to the City (or whomever is telling you that you must have trash service) and find out how they are imposing this requirement on you. Most cities have a zoning ordinance that requires all residential homes in the City to have trash disposal service, and in fact, most Cities require that you use the specific service provider they contract for. You might want to review with a local attorney if that is legal, but I can tell you that virtually every City we work in does require trash service - its something that is common knowledge, and that's why you may not prevail on a claim that this wasn't disclosed to you. Good luck.

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Re: bill

Disclosures to a buyer of a home don't have to include a reminder to the buyer that buyer will have to comply with the law. The law says houses must have trash service, so you have yo comply with the law and pay for trash service. You probably also have to have, and pay for, water and sewer service. It's part of modern life.

If the house were to be unoccupied, perhaps you can get relief from the requirment to pay for a service you wouldn't use by so notifying the city, county or private contractor providing the service or imposing the payment requirement. Whether the requirement can be waived for unoccupied homes is uncertain and may vary from community to community.

Think of trash collection service as a utility, pretty much in the same category as water and sewer.