With the uptick in people experiencing homelessness throughout the Pacific Northwest, more abandoned RVs are beginning to appear.
Centralia resident Cathy Lindsey knows this firsthand after an RV was abandoned on her property Wednesday afternoon.
A security camera on her neighbor’s property caught someone driving a white truck towing the RV before abandoning it on Lindsey’s property.
“It’s gutted but full of garbage. It was probably someone who was homeless. The tags expired in 2015,” Lindsey told The Chronicle.
Both Lindsey and her husband, Bob Lindsey, are living on Social Security and can’t afford the expensive towing fee.
They contacted the Centralia Police Department to have it removed but were told a vehicle abandoned on private property is a civil matter and police don’t have the authority to impound it.
After the incident — which followed similar abandonments in the city — Centralia Police Chief Stacy Denham clarified the process concerning abandoned vehicles on private property.
He said if a vehicle was abandoned on private property it is outside of the police department’s authority due to state law, though citizens can use a nuisance abatement to try to get the vehicle removed.
This process still requires the property owner to remove the vehicle themselves.
“Once that property, or motorhome in this case, if they’re off the street or out of the city right away, we have no authority to impound those vehicles or remove them. It becomes the property owner’s responsibility. It’s unfortunate. It’s sad for the property owner and we don’t like to see that, but unfortunately we’re also not allowed to impound it,” Denham said.
He said police try to assist property owners but with RVs being much more expensive to tow, it’s a difficult process. Police can check to see if the vehicle was stolen, but beyond that they can only advise property owners on what to do about someone else abandoning a vehicle on their property.
Lindsey has contacted local towing companies in the area but can’t afford the prices to tow an RV, which have been increased because RVs are more difficult to process and take up more space in impound lots. She said her niece works for Grant’s Towing in Chehalis and told her about this issue.
“Grant’s, they don’t want it because it would cost them so much, and it would cost me a couple thousand just for them to come get it. Then they would have to pay to scrap it as well because this is not salvageable,” Lindsey said. “I just don’t know what to do. We don’t want it here.”
She said she is frustrated with the police department’s handling of the matter as well.
“The cops are worthless. If I was speeding they would catch me though,” Lindsey said.
When asked about the possibility of creating a social media post offering up the abandoned RV for free to whomever could come remove it, whether it be to restore it or scrap it, Denham explained it would be a risk if the original RV owner returned.
“They would be accepting responsibility if the (vehicle owner) were to come back,” Denham said.
According to the Washington state Department of Licensing’s website, property owners are not allowed to sell a vehicle that was abandoned on their property and must have it removed by a registered tow truck company.
As for the specific state law dictating statute on this matter, it can be found in RCW 46.55.240 which can be read in full here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.55.230.
Law enforcement agencies can provide property owners with the vehicle owner’s name and contact information. The property owner is then required to mail the vehicle owner a notification informing them of recovery procedures and the right to arrange for the vehicle’s removal.
Paragraph four of the RCW states, “if the vehicle remains unclaimed more than 15 days after the landowner has mailed notification to the registered and legal owner, the landowner may dispose of the vehicle or sign an affidavit of sale to be used as a title document.”
Lindsey can’t simply push the vehicle off her property into the street either, or she faces the possibility of a $1,000 fine.
As for legal ramifications the vehicle owner might face, paragraph six of RCW 46.55.240 states, “It is a gross misdemeanor for a person to abandon a junk vehicle on property. If a junk vehicle is abandoned, the vehicle's registered owner shall also pay a cleanup restitution payment equal to twice the costs incurred in the removal of the junk vehicle. The court shall distribute one-half of the restitution payment to the landowner of the property upon which the junk vehicle is located, and one-half of the restitution payment to the law enforcement agency or jurisdictional health department investigating the incident.”
A court could force the vehicle’s owner to compensate Lindsey for the money she would have to spend to get it towed, but she can’t afford that cost to begin with.
The abandoned RV is still currently on her property.
