March 2, 2006

ASK A LAWYER
Real-life answers to your legal hassles

I live in my car, and while it was parked on a Seattle street for a matter of two days, it was impounded. I don’t have the money to get it back right now, but I need some of the things that were in the car. How do I get those back?

According to Professor David Boerner at the Seattle University School of Law, you have the right to get your belongings out of your towed vehicle without paying to get the vehicle back. In fact, you are entitled to remove your personal belongings from your towed vehicle without paying any money.

Personal belongings can be claimed from the tow truck company at any time before a vehicle is auctioned off, or before the items are transferred to the Police Department. Tow truck companies are required to remain open during normal business hours Monday through Friday. To collect your belongings, you’ll have to show the tow truck operator a valid photo I.D.

Be sure that you don’t wait too long before picking up your belongings. A vehicle is usually auctioned off after 25 days. However, the amount of time that a tow truck company will hold personal items before turning them over to the police can vary from one week up to 25 days. Usually, the length of time a tow truck company will keep your belongings depends on the amount of space each location has for storage. The individual tow truck location can give you more specific details.

Once an impounded vehicle has been sent to auction, or once the tow company no longer has room to store personal belongings retrieved from impounded vehicles, the items are sent to the Found Property section of the Evidence Unit at the Police Department. Regardless of the precinct that your car was impounded from, all personal belongings that were not claimed from impounded vehicles are sent to this one location. The Evidence Unit will make an attempt to contact the owner, and then will hold the items for 60 days before sending the items to be auctioned off. Depending on the workload for the Detective in charge of locating property owners, belongings may be held for as long as six months. For more information, you can call the Evidence Unit at (206)684-8720. n

For further information, contact:

Northwest Justice Project: www.nwjustice.org or 1(888)201-1014

Seattle Police Department: www.cityofseattle.net/police or (206)625-5011

Abandoned Vehicles: (206)684-8763

Answers are intended for general information only and are not intended to replace the advice of your own attorney. Ask a Lawyer is in partnership with the Access to Justice Institute, Seattle University School of Law, and the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Got a question? E-mail: atji@seattleu.edu.