Code Enforcement Committee Asks For Change In Abatement

Thu., Nov. 26, 1998

By Kristen Kromer kristenk@spokesman.com

A group of community leaders hopes their recommendation to City Council will result in a much shorter wait for removal of evicted tenants’ goods.

For several months, members of the Community Assembly’s code enforcement committee have been working to trim the 10-day wait for abatement by code enforcement to 24 hours.

That means city code enforcement officials would only wait one day to get rid of a tenant’s belongings after a landlord puts them on the curb, rather than a week and a half.

After a presentation at October’s Community Assembly meeting, the code enforcement committee asked neighborhood leaders to share the information with their neighborhoods. Citizens voted to go forward with the action.

The assembly - made up of one representative from each neighborhood council - meets monthly with neighborhood services staff to hear city reports and discuss neighborhood topics.

Currently, the Revised Code of Washington allows a landlord two methods of removing belongings of an evicted tenant. They can make arrangements with the tenant for storage or they can deposit the goods on the nearest public property - usually the parking strip in front of the rental.

People usually care enough about their belongings to arrange for storage. But when they do not, the goods sit until the tenant comes to collect them or a formal complaint is filed through code enforcement. After a complaint is filed, a code enforcement officer will inspect the area and issue a 10-day notice.

If medicine or other hazardous items are contained in the goods, however, code enforcement will remove them immediately.

The code enforcement committee thinks the abatement process should begin as soon as the tenant’s property is hauled to the curb, or within 24 hours.

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