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NORTH HILLS, Calif. (FOX 11) - The City of LA has long handled trash collection and recycling for single-family residences, but those services for commercial and multi-family buildings were provided by private companies that were not regulated with any oversight. Prices were wildly unpredictable, equipment was old and unsafe, recycling was not included, and customer service could not be guaranteed.

The City's new program started in July to transfer more than 70,000 commercial and apartment buildings from privately provided trash collection services to recycling and trash collection services provided by the City through private contractors. During the transition, there have been some hiccups, including missed collections.

The unfortunate situation out in North Hills was a building transitioning between three different service providers. The City has received several complaints dating back to September and has serviced each of them immediately. The property has now transitioned to their permanent provider, Republic, as of December 1. Republic is being held accountable by the City to ensure that they are properly responding to each of their customers in a timely and respectful manner. If they are not responsive, we can and will impose penalties on Republic and any of the six other service providers in order to provide customer service and satisfaction.

Customers of the new recycLA program are encouraged to call the LA Sanitation 24/7 Customer Care Center for questions or to report a missed collection: 1-800-773-2489.