Court Declares Seattle Homeless Man's Truck a Home in Case With Broad Implications

Steven Long returned from his job cleaning up CenturyLink Field after a Seattle Sounders' game when he discovered that home was gone.

He had been living in his 2000 GMC pickup, parked on a side street, but the city of Seattle towed it because Long had violated a city rule that requires vehicles be moved every 72 hours.

That impound set up an unusual court ruling Friday that advocates for homeless people and the city both say could have broad implications on the crisis of homelessness.

King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer ruled that the city's impoundment of Long's truck violated the state's homestead act -- a frontier-era law that protects properties from forced sale -- because he was using it as a home. Long's vehicle was slated to be sold had he not entered into a monthly payment plan with the city.

Shaffer also ruled the fees the city required Long, 58, to pay to retrieve the truck were too high, violating constitutional protections against excessive fines.

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