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This guest deliberately violated a township law, and the township fined us $100, so we withheld $50 from the guest's security deposit. We take great care to warn all our guests that garbage out for collection must be in cans, and that the township enforces this law very strictly. This guest did not report any problems or dissatisfaction to us during, or even after, their stay -- until we notified them that we intended to withhold half the township fine from their security deposit. Only then did they tell us that all the trash cans had been full when they had arrived at the house. We do not know if their claim was true; they offered no proof. But we decided that, even if the cans had been full, it was not a sufficient excuse for them to break the law. There were three factors in our decision: 1. The guest should have informed us that all the trash cans were full as soon as they discovered the situation -- NOT weeks later. If they had brought the problem to our attention, there are several steps we could have taken to address it. By not informing us of the situation in a timely fashion, the guest implicitly assumed responsibility for dealing with it. 2. The guest could have purchased an additional trash can (or two) to contain their garbage. We would have reimbursed them for the expense, and compensated them for their trouble. 3. Our check-in time is 2pm on Saturday and garbage pickup is 6:30am on Monday. How much garbage can a family possibly produce in that amount of time? If the guest had simply waited until after the garbage had been collected on Monday morning, they could have put their garbage in the emptied cans. The guest’s comment about the deck moving is silly. All decks flex to some extent. Several years ago, we upgraded the upper deck from cedar to composite (Azek). Composite decks flex more than wood decks. The deck is perfectly safe.