Imagine renting a dumpster just for the trash piled right in your driveway. This is what happened after a rent dispute between a cleaning company and a customer on 19th Street in San Pablo took a messy turn (1).
According to Express Rental Dumpster — which bills itself as the top-rated dumpster company in the Bay Area — the moveout group arranged for a bin to handle the debris. Doorbell camera footage shows it was delivered and kept as requested, but owner Martin Perez said the payment was never made.
“They say, ‘Oh, I’ll pay later. I’ll pay later. I’ll pay later,’ and never do,” he told KTVU News. “Or say, ‘I’ll put money on the card so you can charge.'”
After several attempts at collection, Perez said the company returned to retrieve the bin, which at the time was full. Instead of removing it, the materials were thrown back onto the property.
A neighbor said the situation called the police. Officers later directed the driver to move the debris off the sidewalk and back onto the property.
“She says she paid $700 for it, and then, all of a sudden, I see her take it back and throw it all on the floor. I don’t really know what that is,” said a neighbor named Mary.
The situation worsened when the scavengers touched the garbage and started spreading the garbage all over the area.
Under San Pablo’s Municipal Code (2), property owners are required to keep adjacent sidewalks and surrounding areas clean, including removing any illegally dumped items. This means that the responsibility for cleaning may still fall on the residents, even if they did not cause the mess.
Neighbors eventually moved in to cover and contain the debris, but the situation has drawn the attention of local authorities. San Pablo Code Enforcement has opened a case (3), which could potentially involve tenants, who neighbors say still live in the area.
While the dumpster drop may have raised eyebrows and struck some as petty, Perez said it ultimately came at a cost.
In the San Pablo area, dumpster rentals typically cost between about $600 and $770, depending on the size of the bin and the rental period (4). But prices can vary widely when factors such as delivery charges, weight limits and disposal costs are factored in.
