Ruling helps protect homeless people from having cars towed

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington’s Supreme Court has issued a key decision that helps protect people who are living in their vehicles from having them towed. In a case that drew widespread attention amid Seattle’s housing crisis, the justices held that it was unconstitutionally excessive for the city to impound a homeless man’s truck and require him to reimburse the city $550 in towing and storage costs. Further, the court said vehicles that people live in are homes and cannot be sold at a public auction to pay their debts. That eliminates a financial incentive for towing the cars in the first place.