[WSBARP] Evictions & Vehicles

[Paul Neumiller]

After finally working the issues out with city and county officials, I have got them to back off and not arrest or fine my landlord clients for moving the tenant's personal property to the nearest public property (they tried to charge littering and illegal dumping of garbage.) RCW 59.18.312 says, in part, "If the tenant or the tenant's representative objects to the storage of the property or the landlord elects not to store the property because the tenant has not served a written request on the landlord to do so, the property shall be deposited upon the nearest public property and may not be stored by the landlord....")  BUT, the hold out are the evicting sheriffs who says that if my landlord client moves (or drags) a tenant's vehicle to the sidewalk and street, they'll charge the landlord ("because we'll know who moved it there").

Before I move up the chain of command for my local sheriff and point out RCW 59.18.312, I was wondering if any of you had the same problem and how you resolved it.  Do you agree that a tenant's vehicle that is left on the premises after the execution of a writ of restitution is considered the tenant's "personal property" and thus can be moved "to the nearest public property" under RCW 59.18.312?  Thanks for your input.
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