Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

You need to contact the local police department or District Attorney's Office to be sure as to that location. Many cities ban doing that on the basis that their contracts with trash companies allows the company to keep the money back cans to make a little more money from the trash hauling. Also, their is the fear that the person will not put all the trash back into the cans. So the person might be arrested for being a public nuisance or littlering.

I agree......there are some other public-policy reasons why dumpster-diving is disapproved by the authorities, including invasion of privacy and identity theft. Some folks who go through your trash may be trying to "recycle" your credit card numbers or your communications with your stockbroker, lawyer, doctor or mistress.

Now a days due to mandatory recycling laws imposed on cities by the state, trash collection contracts have mandatory recycling standards built into them that set a percentage of collected materials that must be recycled or the city, and the contractor respectively face penalties. Since "dumpster diving" for recycleables messes up the percentages, pretty much every city and county has laws against collecting recycleables from trash cans and curbside bins. I am fairly certain Tustin has such an ordinance, and would be amazed if Irvine doesn't. If you want to be sure, however, as Mr. Shers suggested, just call city hall.