My lease has a $32/month mandatory 'Valet Waste Services' line item. I would prefer to carry my own trash to the dumpster 40 feet from my door. I've asked twice and been told it's non-negotiable. Has anyone successfully gotten this removed or reduced?
Short answer: almost never successfully. The trash valet fee is bundled into the property management contract with the waste vendor and the revenue flows back to the property at a volume discount. They cannot remove it for one unit without restructuring the contract.
I've never gotten a mandatory service fee removed but I have gotten it credited against the first month. Ask for that framing instead. 'Credit me for the first month's fee as a new tenant concession.' Different ask, different conversation.
To be clear: the dumpster is 40 feet from my front door. I can see it from my unit. The valet service leaves my bag outside my door overnight. Twice my bag has been torn open, presumably by animals. I'm paying $32/month for a worse outcome than doing it myself.
A running list of mandatory fees I've seen across Charlotte leases that are not negotiable: trash valet, package concierge, technology fee, filter delivery, RUBS administration fee, pet fee for pets you don't own if the prior tenant had one. The last one I've seen twice.
