If you manage a rental or you just inherited the keys after a tenant left, the temptation is to stack the unit at the curb and call it a bulk set-out. DeKalb’s sanitation rule treats that as a commercial dump when a hauler is doing the work. The legal path is the landfill scale: tare weight, permit, and a per-ton commercial rate. The house itself is still in spec. The shortcut is not.
- Commercial crews dump at Seminole Road. They do not borrow the residential collection point.
- Bring a tare-weight ticket and a pre-approved sanitation permit.
- The commercial rate named here is $63.00 per ton, paid as a tip, separate from the haul.
The rule that keeps the pile off the curb
DeKalb Code of Ordinances Section 22-27 bans commercial haulers from using residential curbside collection points for evicted-tenant clearouts. The operating rule that follows is direct: the crew dumps at Seminole Road Landfill with a tare-weight ticket and a pre-approved sanitation permit. Bulk-item placement is enforced, and commercial waste haulers are charged per ton at that landfill. The text to read is the county code, not a summary site: DeKalb County Code of Ordinances, Section 22-27. This page paraphrases the ban and the landfill duty. It does not invent subsection letters the brief did not supply.
Who feels this most is the landlord and the lead contractor. A homeowner hauling their own garage with a personal truck is a different picture from a hired crew emptying three units after a turnover. Once you have hired the crew, you are in the commercial lane, and the curb is closed to you for that eviction pile. Multi-family turnovers are the question on the card because they are exactly the jobs that get disguised as “a few items at the street.” Say yes if that is the job. The form still sends if you say no.
What happens if the pile stays on the curb
The named consequences are impoundment of the hauling trailer, a code citation, or a $1,000 fine per illegal deposit. That is a per-deposit number, so a crew that stages two piles is not looking at a single polite warning. Impound is the painful one: the trailer is how the rest of the day’s jobs were going to move. A landlord who told the crew “just set it out” owns that instruction when the citation lands. The fine is not a tipping fee. You can pay $1,000 and still have the junk.
Who signs, what it costs, and how Fulton differs
| Item | What this note says |
|---|---|
| Who signs | Lead contractor, or the property landlord. |
| Fee | $63.00 per ton commercial tipping rate at Seminole Road Landfill. |
| If you skip it | Impoundment of the trailer, a code citation, or a $1,000 fine per illegal deposit. |
| How Fulton differs | Fulton uses transfer stations and a lower single-axle trailer limit than DeKalb’s direct landfill scale lanes. Fulton’s named tip is $58.00 per ton at Merk Road. |
Fulton is why DeKalb has its own page. A driver who learned Merk Road will talk about manifests and a furniture-and-yard split. That split still matters as good packing, but the DeKalb failure mode in this note is the curb, the missing permit, and the missing tare ticket. DeKalb’s scale lanes take the truck at the landfill. Fulton’s single-axle limit is tighter, and this page does not invent the axle weight that makes it tighter. If your property is a Perimeter Center tower, the dock and the insurance certificate are a further constraint on top of this county rule, not a replacement for Seminole Road.
Checklist for a DeKalb clearout
- Decide whether the job is an eviction or a multi-family turnover. Say so on the card.
- Do not stage a commercial clearout at a residential collection point.
- Confirm the sanitation permit is pre-approved before the truck rolls.
- Plan on a tare-weight ticket at Seminole Road.
- Name the signer: the lead contractor or the landlord.
- Keep $63.00 per ton in the disposal column, separate from the haul.
The fee this document actually names
$63.00 per ton is the commercial tipping rate at Seminole Road Landfill. No other DeKalb dollar figure is printed here except the $1,000 fine per illegal deposit, which is a penalty and not a disposal price. There is no published hour-by-hour timeline for a house cleanout. The timeline that matters is permit first, then the scale. Appliance handling, beyond “it goes to the landfill with the permitted load,” is not given a separate clock or a separate fee in the section this page cites. If someone quotes you a DeKalb tip that is not $63.00 per ton, ask whether they are describing Seminole Road or borrowing a Fulton number.
Questions people ask before they send the job
What are DeKalb County landfill tipping fees for estate clearouts?
The commercial tipping rate named on this note is $63.00 per ton at Seminole Road Landfill. An estate clearout that moves on a commercial crew pays that rate when the truck dumps there, with a tare-weight ticket and a pre-approved sanitation permit. The $63.00 is not the haul band of $150 to $1,800. It is the landfill figure. This page does not publish a separate estate discount or a resident minimum ticket, because the cited section does not.
Can independent junk haulers use DeKalb County curbside pickups?
Not for an evicted tenant’s clearout. DeKalb Code of Ordinances Section 22-27 bars commercial haulers from using residential curbside collection points for that work. The crew dumps at Seminole Road. Setting the pile at the curb and hoping the residential route absorbs a turnover is the violation, not a shortcut. An independent hauler is still a commercial hauler for this purpose when they are hired to clear the unit.
How are appliance disposals handled in DeKalb County?
Appliances on a commercial cleanout go with the load to Seminole Road, under the tare ticket and the sanitation permit, not onto a residential curb. The cited section does not name a separate appliance fee, a freon evacuation window, or a retail take-back program. If the piece is a white good that needs scrap handling, say so on the callback. This note will not invent a per-appliance price to sound complete.
What requires a commercial dumping permit in DeKalb?
A commercial cleanout crew needs a pre-approved sanitation permit to dump at Seminole Road Landfill, and they need the tare-weight ticket when they scale. That is the pair this note names. It does not publish the application form number, the office hours, or a permit fee. Showing up with only a smiling driver and a full trailer is how you earn a citation, an impound, or the $1,000 fine per illegal deposit.