Park anywhere: A truck is legally a home in Seattle

[DBTrek]

Park anywhere: A truck is legally a home in Seattle

Just when you thought our homelessness problem couldn’t get any more bizarre, let me lay this one on you.

King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer just ruled that a truck is a home. You heard me right. A homeless man named Steven Long had his truck impounded because it violated the 72-hour parking law.

You remember laws, right? Those written rules that supposedly apply to everyone? Yeah, me neither. Well Mr. Long decided to sue the city and won.

According to the reporting in The Seattle Times, Assistant City Attorney Michael Ryan is flabbergasted. He told the Times:

• Someone could park right here in front of the court house on Fifth Avenue, and we couldn’t tow them, or if we did tow them, we couldn’t put them in impound. We’d have to put them somewhere else and we couldn’t charge them at all for it, because if we did, we’d violate the constitution if they were living in that vehicle.

If you thought the homeless population was brazen before, now all they have to do is park wherever they want and just invoke this ruling.

“This is my home. I don’t have to move it, you can’t impound it. I live here now.”

So a homeless person in any vehicle they choose can now drive up to a spectacular multi-million dollar waterfront view and boom, it’s now their home...

http://mynorthwest.com/917295/truck-hom ... picks=true

Ah, Seattle. You never let your crazy well run dry. Always priming that pump with another shot of WTF, to keep things interesting.

Well ... the joke is on the homeless. If they think having their vehicle declared a home is a victory, they have no idea what King county does to home owners when tax time comes around.

Going to be a lot of rusty wagons going into foreclosure ...

[Speaker to Animals]

Maybe we should make judges the arbiters of all social and moral disputes. What could possibly go wrong?

[Fife]

Maybe we should make judges the arbiters of all social and moral disputes. What could possibly go wrong?

There's lots of ways to skin a cat. Everyone in this thread is, IMNSHO, a good candidate to enjoy this take on historical dispute resolution (hint hint DB and StA, but the door is open for all of you).

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[DBTrek]

If Monte or Nuke ever need a city to call “home”, Seattle is here for you.
Well, we’re a sanctuary city too, so I guess it’s fair to say we’re here for everyone.

We’re the bus station of America, just throw your shit down somewhere and make yourself at home for a while.

[Okeefenokee]

I assume we're charging property taxes on all car owners now, right?

I mean, if a car is home, then everyone who owns a scooter is now on the hook for the next school tax hike, right?

Or are we making an exception on that front?

[Speaker to Animals]

I assume we're charging property taxes on all car owners now, right?

I mean, if a car is home, then everyone who owns a scooter is now on the hook for the next school tax hike, right?

Or are we making an exception on that front?

I am getting slammed with property taxes on my Jeep. It pisses me the fuck off every October now.

[Haumana]

I assume we're charging property taxes on all car owners now, right?

I mean, if a car is home, then everyone who owns a scooter is now on the hook for the next school tax hike, right?

Or are we making an exception on that front?

That was my takeway too! Or is it that the City is now their landlord since the "own" they property under the residence in question?

[BjornP]

Does that mean that Seattle cab drivers can charge "rent" from their customers after they leave the cab? Might be a "great" way to bring those homeless numbers down, tho: Do nothing except change the statistics parameter for what counts as homeless.

[Haumana]

Does that mean that Seattle cab drivers can charge "rent" from their customers after they leave the cab? Might be a "great" way to bring those homeless numbers down, tho: Do nothing except change the statistics parameter for what counts as homeless.

Or can the customer refuse to vacate said dwelling and claim residency that requires a sheriffs intervention?

[BjornP]

Does that mean that Seattle cab drivers can charge "rent" from their customers after they leave the cab? Might be a "great" way to bring those homeless numbers down, tho: Do nothing except change the statistics parameter for what counts as homeless.

Or can the customer refuse to vacate said dwelling and claim residency that requires a sheriffs intervention?

Squataxists? The YouTube Uber vids will be legendary.