Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Re: Car stolen is landload liable

One of the duties of a landlord is to provide reasonably secure locks. This duty cannot be contracted around (you can't agree to ignore the law).

But the problem is whether or not the landlord's negligence was the proximate cause of the loss, and that is less clear. If your daughter knew there was no lock, then perhaps she should not have left her car in an unlocked garage, but rather complained in writing to the landlord about the broken lock.

The landlord *might* be liable, but the court could also find that the landlord's negligence was not the proximate cause of your daughter's loss.

You might want to run this past a local attorney, see what they think.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell