Storage programs are meant to protect people’s property rights and allow them to reclaim their possessions. But they rarely accomplish either objective.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.When Stephenie came upon workers in Portland, Oregon, who had bagged up all of her belongings in a homeless encampment sweep, she desperately pleaded to get one item back: her purse. It contained her cash and food stamp card — what she needed to survive.
In reality, they rarely accomplish either objective, according to a ProPublica investigation of the policies in regions with the largest homeless populations. ProPublica heard from at least 95 people who had experienced encampment clearings in cities with programs to store belongings. Thirty said they tried to recover their belongings but hit obstacles, such as being unable to reach anyone at the facility or the site not having everything that was taken. Only one person got back all of his items.
When Stephenie called to retrieve her belongings last October, no one answered the storage facility phone number. The line was staffed for limited hours. She left a message but couldn’t always keep her phone charged in case someone called back. When she finally reached a person, they provided the address and an appointment time. She had to take multiple buses and walk to get there.
Benjamin Rundall, who represents the plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit, said he’s never encountered anyone whose belongings were stored by the city. “It’s just giving this appearance that they’re doing something when they’re not doing anything,” he said. A 2019 lawsuit brought by seven people experiencing homelessness and two advocacy groups alleged the city has “codified” seizing and destroying belongings, rather than investing in bathrooms, hand-washing stations and trash cans for unhoused people. In April, a federal judge overseeing the caseIn response to questions from ProPublica, the city of Los Angeles provided data showing that it only stored belongings 4% of the time during a three-month period in 2023.
Evidence in an ongoing lawsuit in San Francisco revealed that workers were not instructed how to distinguish between personal property that is unattended, abandoned property and property that’s mixed in with biohazards, Chief Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu wrote. Workers’ decisions “appear to give rise to the most disputes,” Ryu wrote in August. The city agreed to better train workers who handle the belongings of homeless people at removals.
Some cities, such as Seattle, Portland, Anaheim and San Jose, California, don’t publicize the addresses of their storage facilities because of concerns about security. Phoenix says it delivers belongings to people, but records show people there are rarely reunited with their property.In Denver, for instance, the storage facility is only open for limited hours.
The city stores belongings at 10 locations across Los Angeles, making it even more challenging for people to find their things. A judge ordered the school, along with other tenants on the West L.A. Veterans’ Affairs campus, to increase its commitments to supporting veterans or face eviction.The $1M house at heart of Orange County civil fraud allegations says a ton about SoCal real estate
Encampments Homeless Property CA Homeless Seattle Homelessness Portland Homelessness LA Homelessness
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