Avalon gets trashed

That’s one of several reader photos we’ve received of an unceremoniously strewn pile of stuff on the sidewalk and street in front of the Westside Flats apartment building at 3233 SW Avalon Way. The first reader to mention it said the pile showed up sometime last night. Police logs indicate it’s been reported, but it’s still there as of a short time ago. We advised one concerned reader that sidewalk/street obstructions can be reported to SDOT‘s 24/7 dispatch line at 206-386-1218; they called but got stuck on longterm hold. The city of course has mechanisms for reporting illegal dumping, but this seems more urgent than Find It Fix It. What led to it, we don’t (yet) know.

Al King September 14, 2024 (5:02 pm)

Would be worth digging through to see if there’s anything with a name or address on it.

Jay September 14, 2024 (5:05 pm)

I live in that area and yesterday is when that pile showed up. It looked like someone was getting kicked out or evicted from that building as several people were carrying the stuff out and setting it on the curb. Then last night and this morning I noticed random people pulling up and rustling through the pile and tossing things they didn’t take.

Al King September 14, 2024 (5:31 pm)

If that’s the case isn’t the tenant legally responsible for cleanup?
- Jay September 14, 2024 (7:03 pm)
  
  Someone newly navigating homelessness isn’t going to be able to do that. I don’t think they wanted to lose all their stuff. It was somewhat tidy when they moved out, it was thieves who came alone and spread this huge mess around while picking through the stuff for valuables.
  - WiseWoman September 16, 2024 (10:38 am)
    
    Exactly but it was not the sheriff’s dept and they should have had a ju nk be gone dump.hauler ready to go or their own uhaul and had a set time to drive away. Evictions are ruthless. And people are not getting help.from eviction prevention fast enough including Veterans from Veteran agencies. This city is only focused on housing people into transitional housing and kicking them out 6-9 months to 1-2 years later and skewing the housing acceptance numbers. Our city is rogue and the homelessness money is really for day to day and there is no consistency amongst agencies. Case managers are overwhelmed however many people who are agency dependent should not be living alone in a Building with no oversight and accountability. I am willing to bet this is an issue someone who moved and did not care, evicted bc did not ask for help or agency dropped the ball. Several people in this buildings are Veterans, are on shelter + care and many thrive despite their issues, but their agency has not been accountable enpugh probably due to the loss of social workers. The whole ordeal is sad. Please pass levy for Veterans and then the city can focus on the non Veteran homeless.
- Bbron September 15, 2024 (4:28 am)
  
  potentially weird line of thinking: tenant gets evicted, landlord unceremoniously dumps their stuff instead of doing something more humane for being the one with the resources to not litter their community, and then someone in the public blames the tenant. class warfare at work!
  - WiseWoman September 16, 2024 (10:42 am)
    
    Exactly but there is no storage at this building bit there is at their other building across the street. Let’s hope they did not put out paperwork with SS# numbers bc that is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Landlords need to be held responsible as well. And the tenant who may be to blame as well. Living check to check can happen to anyone. Not asking for help soon enough this can happen as funds run out. Skewed city housed rates. Not enough eviction prevention since the Covid.
Ben September 15, 2024 (4:05 pm)

It was a Sheriff enforced eviction. I live in the building next door and our landscaping contractor cleaned up the stuff dumped in front of our building, but the other half of the pile was still there this morning.
- JB September 15, 2024 (7:32 pm)
  
  So the landlord dumped this person’s things and made it partly the building next door’s problem?? Curious how your building management feels about that…

Bmc September 14, 2024 (5:05 pm)

OMG this is so awful…. Cameras? Sorry for all the folks that have to look at it deal with is…. We in Mad Max times for sure :(

Marina September 14, 2024 (5:15 pm)

Eviction maybe? Or did someone actually dump a u-haul of trash?

Insertname September 14, 2024 (5:19 pm)

Looks like the aftermath of an eviction.

no sympathy September 14, 2024 (5:25 pm)

this is how you handle the greedy landlords raising the rent!

My two cents September 14, 2024 (6:20 pm)

…. Ok, you win – I responded, happy? Where in the article/reporting does it indicate anything with respect to rent increases?
Erik September 14, 2024 (9:59 pm)

Tenants can be god awful too. Both can be true at the same time.
Jim September 15, 2024 (12:27 am)

And the county is just as greedy with the “rent” (property taxes) that they charge property owners
- Bbron September 15, 2024 (12:18 pm)
  
  lol let me know if you end up experiencing increases that are factors more then property tax increases. owners may feel pinched by property tax, but it’s a tool for landlords to increase their rents beyond it because they need a cushy profit margin.
  - Kay September 15, 2024 (1:40 pm)
    
    It may be that increased property taxes are being passed on through the rent increase so the two are actually linked. Maybe a vacancy tax would be a good way to raise county $$ and then the high rises downtown might adjust their rents down?
    - Bbron September 15, 2024 (3:11 pm)
      
      all for a vacancy tax. I agree property taxes are passed to renters, and also it’s been used as an opportunity to get a better return on the tenant, as I’ve personally and had friends’ rent increase a % more than the property tax went up. there could be other reasons, but I have yet to have a landlord willing to itemize why an increase happened.
    - Mike September 15, 2024 (4:38 pm)
      
      What makes you think that landlords owe their tenants an explanation or otherwise need to justify a rent increase? The edges of rent increase are set by law, and the amounts are determined by the laws of supply and demand. That is: if society deems a landlord too greedy, nobody will rent their units and they’ll be forced to reduce rents. What about this process don’t you understand?
    - Bbron September 16, 2024 (5:26 pm)
      
      @Mike “laws of supply and demand” is a neat little concept in theory, but if it was all that simple then economics as a field would probably not exist. off the top of my head I recall there’s a concept of elasticity in demand where things can vary in price by maintain demand due to their necessity like gas, medicine, and (you guessed it) housing. as you can imagine, moving itself is a cost barrier, so if you weren’t able to meet it, you’d could get stuck with of a “greedy landlord” without much recourse. the only point I was trying to make is they rents increase much more then property taxes could account for alone (and even with inflation, etc.) which points to a generally greedy attitude amongst landlords, and they it’s disingenuous to attribute rent increases solely as out of a landlord’s hand; it’s to maintain positive return on their investment at the cost of the more vulnerable.
Wutang September 15, 2024 (6:26 pm)

Landlords cannot illegally dump items of tenants they have evicted but I imagine this landlord was at their wits end with this tenant taking advantage of the tenant-leaning laws in Seattle and had zero recourse. Has probably already lost thousands due to this tenant and got emotional about it. Doesnt make it right, but I am sure the tenant has not exactly been blame-free either.
- K September 15, 2024 (7:21 pm)
  
  Security deposits cover removal of items from a unit. Owning an apartment building or rental homes is a business. Sometimes your business has to cover unforeseen expenses, like properly disposing of items in excess of what the damage deposit covers. There is no excuse whatsoever for throwing an entire household’s worth of stuff into a public right-of-way, interrupting everyone’s access to the road. I don’t understand why people think property ownership should be immune from any risks of ownership, rather than treating it like an investment or a business, which is what it really is.

NotOnHolden September 14, 2024 (5:27 pm)

The pile was there around 3:30 during my bike commute home on Friday the 13th.

Tim September 14, 2024 (5:43 pm)

Apt Yard sale?

NeighborLady September 14, 2024 (5:45 pm)

I drove by there last night and assumed it was an eviction. That would be such a traumatic situation to be in. Hope they found somewhere safe to land.

WestSeattlite September 14, 2024 (6:25 pm)

Looks like someone cheated

T Rex September 14, 2024 (9:25 pm)

That was my first thought when I saw it on Friday!!!
Frog September 14, 2024 (10:16 pm)

Doesn’t seem like eviction by a landlord. Love ’em or hate ’em, they usually play more by the book. That scene looks more like free-lance removal of a room-mate, squatter, or subletter who wasn’t paying rent.
- Avalon Resident September 15, 2024 (11:42 am)
  
  You’d like to think that but as someone who lives in the building we aren’t exactly dealing with the top brass. Property management was absolutely involved in this.

Lamont September 14, 2024 (6:37 pm)

Isn’t that very illegal to do that as an eviction?

Bbron September 15, 2024 (12:21 pm)

probably, but if the victim is now homeless they themselves won’t have the means to fight and no one is going to do it for them, so little chance of consequence for a landlord.

Trashy Landlord September 14, 2024 (7:00 pm)

If this was an eviction then the landlord would be responsible. Really shows how much they value no dumping rules.

NotOnHolden September 14, 2024 (8:12 pm)

I had a short hold for SDOT just now. They said they cannot touch it. The property owner is/was trying to collect their belongings. Will follow up in the morning.

West Seattle Mad Sci Guy September 14, 2024 (8:52 pm)

The address is actually 3236 as it’s westside flats north. Across the street from your address and one building up Avalon.

WSB September 14, 2024 (9:39 pm)

OK, thanks, everyone who contacted us said only “Westside Flats.” I’ll take out the address.

JB September 14, 2024 (10:18 pm)

This evening a professional pickup truck with a crew of about four guys came and methodically loaded up about half of the items. Unsure if they were hired by the landlord or if they were associated with the tenant.

bolo September 15, 2024 (10:03 am)

What is a professional pickup truck?
- JB September 15, 2024 (10:25 am)
  
  I meant it had a business logo/info on the side and wasn’t just someone’s personal truck.

Bob September 15, 2024 (4:26 am)

I have done clean up of personal items left at condominiums after bank repos and it is sad having to throw away people’s nice stuff. But, we never would just pile up someone’s stuff out in the rain for people to pillage. Everything was stored nicely until even way after their required wait time. Then when when we could wait no longer we donated the saveable items and properly disposed of the trash. Not everyone wants to take the time to do things right l. Even if it means losing money!

CW September 15, 2024 (8:06 am)

So sad for everyone – the person whose belongings they are, the person who felt they had no other option but to chuck it all out on the street, the neighbors.

Bbron September 15, 2024 (12:24 pm)

eh, I wouldn’t feel sad for the person that chucked it if they’re the landlord. being a large building they had the resources to do the right think before for the tenant and the wider community to not pollute. they would get no sympathy from me; ire is what I’d give ’em

Andrea September 15, 2024 (11:36 am)

Too bad people have to learn the hard way that they need to either carry their share of the rent , or not be out cheating, depending on what really was happening here…

Come on be better people September 15, 2024 (2:17 pm)

I’m assuming a landlord or their agent dumped this. That’s honestly dehumanizing. Even if the tenant was behind on rent. Based on comments here random strangers started picking through their stuff. If a landlord did this eviction then shouldn’t they be held accountable for dumping on city streets?I hope the tenant sees this or someone can tell them to file a complaint. If the tenant themselves dumped their stuff with the plan to pick it up in the morning it’s still sad that they had no way to put it somewhere safe or get a truck. I hope you didn’t lose anything too hard to replace. Things can get better.

J September 15, 2024 (4:11 pm)

I don’t know what happened between the property management and the resident, but I do know the woman who was evicted. She is a good person, and she did not want to have all of her property on the sidewalk. She just didn’t have anywhere to go or the means to move everything. She’s focused on talking to her caseworker about where she can go next.

Mitch September 15, 2024 (6:10 pm)

If it’s someone’s belongings strewn about because of an eviction, I find it incredibly sad. Not blaming the landlord.

CW September 16, 2024 (6:21 am)

We don’t know all the circumstances. I wonder how those who just shrug it off would feel if it had happened to them? You think it can’t happen to you? Think again! What if you got sick, lost your job, had no family to help you out? Do you have 6-months worth of cash to keep you afloat? What about after 6 months? I bet y’all be looking for some compassion.

Tomob September 16, 2024 (7:23 am)

RCW 59.18.312 governs evictions. The law allows the landlord to store the tenants property (often incidental to a sale to recover back rent) and in some circumstances requires that, but at the end of the day it says this “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”
It just took a minute or two to look this up