Question: Will the city pick up the garbage Christmas Day since it’s not on a Sunday like in 2022?
Answer: No, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are the only two holidays that Honolulu’s refuse collection crews take off. They won’t be collecting garbage, bulky items, mixed recyclables or green waste on those days, according to the city’s Department of Environmental Services. Here are ENV’s instructions for Oahu residents who will miss a pickup:
>> For neighborhoods on the three-cart collection system, if your refuse collection (gray cart) falls on the holidays, the missed collections will be made up within a day or so. Leave your gray cart curbside until serviced.
>> Recycling days that fall on the holidays will not be made up. Hold mixed recyclables (blue cart) and green waste (green cart) until your next scheduled pickup date.
>> Residents on twice-a-week manual refuse collection routes should hold their rubbish until their next scheduled pickup date.
>> Bulky item collection, which is by appointment only, will not be scheduled on the holidays. To schedule an appointment on an available date, go to honolulu.gov/env or call 808-768-3200, wait for the recorded greeting and press zero.
>> All convenience centers, transfer stations, H-POWER and Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. These facilities will reopen the day after each holiday.
Q: With Christmas coming up, I wanted to know, can we put glossy gift wrap in the blue recycling bin?
A: No, glossy gift wrap and gift bags should go in the gray rubbish cart, along with tissue paper, holiday cards and unwanted holiday decorations, according to the ENV website. Only corrugated cardboard, white and colored copier paper, metal cans, paper bags, glass, bottles and jars, newspaper and plastics 1 and 2 should go in the blue bin for mixed recyclables, ENV says.
Q: My HOA/management company served me a notice of foreclosure for alleged unpaid charges that are in dispute via their collecting attorney. Can they foreclose condo owners for this? My understanding is that only banks can foreclose on someone’s residence. Would appreciate your help perhaps sending me to the right direction.
A: Your understanding seems incorrect. According to the legal encyclopedia nolo.com, if your home is part of a homeowners association (HOA) or condominium owners’ association (COA) in Hawaii and you fail to pay your assessments, the association can get a lien on your property and might foreclose on your home. “The association typically can charge you for overdue assessments, including late fees, attorneys’ fees and costs, interest, and fines. The process might be judicial or nonjudicial if the association forecloses the lien. But an association can’t use a nonjudicial process to foreclose a lien that arises solely from fines, penalties, legal fees, or late fees; the lien must be judicially foreclosed,” the website says. We also emailed the Hawaii chapter of the Community Associations Institute seeking answers to your questions, but did not hear back by deadline.
As for further guidance, perhaps you should consult a Hawaii attorney. The Hawaii State Bar Association provides limited free advice, as well as referrals to lawyers you can hire. For more information, go to hsba.org and click on the header that says “For the Public.”
We’ll highlight that on Wednesdays from 6 to 7 p.m., attorneys host HSBA’s Legal Line, answering calls at 808-537-1868. “The volunteer attorneys provide free legal information to the public. This one-hour weekly program assists members of the public who may not have access to an attorney and need general advice or who just want to be pointed in the right direction to get information,” the website says.
Mahalo
My wonderful husband loses everything. Here are our thank-yous for the year to the two people who found his cellphone and the person who found his driver’s license. The phone was first lost in Waikiki on Kalakaua Avenue and found by a kind tourist when it fell off his bike. The second time he lost the phone, it was at the Honolulu Zoo parking lot, where a local surfer returned it to us. Last, he dropped his license at a local eatery, and within minutes a staff member from J. Dolan’s called to inform him. This would have never happened on the mainland, and it is just a wonderful sign that aloha still lives and breathes on these islands. — Grateful couple
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
