First Class Cartage, Ltd. v. Fife Service and Towing, Inc.

89 P.3d 226
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 6, 2004
Docket29870-8-II
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 89 P.3d 226 (First Class Cartage, Ltd. v. Fife Service and Towing, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Class Cartage, Ltd. v. Fife Service and Towing, Inc., 89 P.3d 226 (Wash. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

89 P.3d 226 (2004)
121 Wash.App. 257

FIRST CLASS CARTAGE, LTD., a Canadian corporation, Appellant,
v.
FIFE SERVICE AND TOWING, INC., a Washington corporation, Respondent.

No. 29870-8-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

March 2, 2004.
Publication Ordered April 6, 2004.

*227 James W. Feltus, McGavick Graves PS, Tacoma, Counsel for Appellants.

James Morgan Hushagen, Eisenhower & Carlson PLLC, Jennifer Ann Wing, Eisenhower & Carlson PLLC, Tacoma, Counsel for Respondents.

QUINN-BRINTNALL, A.C.J.

In the spring of 2002, Fife Service and Towing, Inc. (Fife Towing) impounded and sold a flatbed trailer belonging to First Class Cartage, Ltd. (First Class). First Class sued, arguing that Fife Towing failed to adequately investigate and establish ownership of the flatbed or to comply with notice requirements of Washington's impound statute. The trial court granted Fife Towing summary judgment and ruled that it had no affirmative duty to locate the owner before selling the flatbed trailer and that it had satisfied statutory notice requirements. We agree with the trial court that Fife Towing had a right to rely on the information provided by the Department of Licensing (DOL) and had no duty to independently investigate and determine the name and address of the legal and registered owners of the vehicle. But because Fife Towing failed to send notice in accord with the information it received from DOL, whether sending notice as it did provided First Class proper notice remains a disputed issue of material fact. Summary judgment was therefore inappropriate, and we reverse and remand.

FACTS

On March 28, 2002, Officer T.L. Rucker of the Tacoma Police Department contacted Fife Towing and requested that it tow and impound a flatbed trailer from 2200 Maxwell Way, Tacoma, Pierce County. The trailer had been left in a parking lot with the permission of the parking lot owner. Tacoma police ticketed the trailer when it was moved to the street to allow the lot to be paved.

Tacoma police provided Fife Towing with an impound form listing the registered owner as "LODE RUNNER TRANSPORT INC. (LESSEE)" and the legal owner as "CIBC FINANCE INC. (LESSOR)." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 26. The trailer was registered in British Columbia, and the ownership information came from the Canadian registered owner system.

Fife Towing sent the "Notice of Vehicle Impound" to Lode Runner, but it received no response for 120 hours.[1] Fife Towing then sent an "Abandoned Vehicle Report" to the DOL on April 2. This time, Fife Towing received different ownership information from DOL:

NLETS TIME: 1102 DATE: 040202 TO: OLYAT
XR.CN0000000
12:03 04/02/2002 03146
12:03 04/02/2002 06255 WAWSP0010
TXT
* * FROM CANADA—BRITISH COLUMBIA R.O. SYSTEM * * *228 HC BC41028
IC80300
RE VIN:2J9R3A1HXVK001045/
LIC:05141Y STATUS: ACTIVE EXP:2003-02-28
REG:4354518 SINCE:2002-03-06 LCHG:2002-03-09 DECAL# 63579752
1997 JCTR FLDCK TRAILER RED VIN:2J9R3A1HXVK001045
GVW: 999,999 NET WEIGHT: 0 NUM OF OWNERS: 1
C KEAY INVESTMENTS LTD DBA
OCEAN TRAILER (LESSOR)
FIRST CLASS CARTAGE LIMITED
(LESSEE)
100 GOLDEN DR
COQUITLAM BC V3K6T1
NO DRIVER LICENCE ON FILE
NSC NOT*REQD MCA
* * * *LIC HIST* * * *
EFF DATE EXP DATE LIC 2000-09-29 2002-03-06 81173W 1998-10-09 2000-09-29 43068W 1996-11-14 1998-10-09 18155W
* * * *VEH HIST* * * *
2002-03-06 4354518

CP at 32 (emphasis added).

On April 4, within 24 hours of receiving the information from the DOL as statutorily required, Fife Towing sent, via certified mail, return receipt requested, a "Notice of Custody and Sale of Abandoned Vehicle" to First Class at the single address provided. The envelope was addressed as follows:

REGISTERED OWNER OF RECORD

FIRST CLASS CARTAGE LIMITED

100 GOLDEN DR.

COQUITLAM, B.C. V3K6T1

CP at 38. But the notice was returned to Fife Towing. The outside of the envelope was stamped "Moved: address unknown" and contained an additional handwritten notation "wrong company." CP at 38.

Fife Towing did not send notice addressed to C Keay Investments dba Ocean Trailer (Ocean Trailer), apparently because it believed that no address had been provided.[2] After waiting the 15 days required by statute, Fife Towing published a "Notice of Public Auction" in the Tacoma News Tribune on April 22, and the trailer was sold at auction on April 25.

First Class sued Fife Towing in Pierce County Superior Court alleging that it was negligent in providing notice to the legal and registered owners of the flatbed truck and that Fife Towing converted First Class's property. The trial court granted summary judgment for Fife Towing, and First Class appeals.

ANALYSIS

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing an order of summary judgment, we engage in the same inquiry as the trial court. Wilson v. Steinbach, 98 Wash.2d 434, 437, 656 P.2d 1030 (1982). Summary judgment is appropriate only if the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, and admissions on file demonstrate the absence of any genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c). Like the trial court, we consider all facts submitted and all reasonable inferences from them in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Wilson, 98 Wash.2d at 437, 656 P.2d 1030. If the moving party submits adequate affidavits, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to set forth specific facts sufficiently rebutting the moving party's contentions and disclosing the existence of a material issue of fact. Seven Gables Corp. v. MGM/UA Entm't Co., 106 Wash.2d 1, 13, 721 P.2d 1 (1986). The court should grant a summary judgment motion only if, from all the evidence, reasonable persons could reach but one conclusion. Wilson, 98 Wash.2d at 437, 656 P.2d 1030.

(1) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS UNDER RCW 46.55.110

First Class contends that summary judgment was improper because Fife Towing *229 failed to investigate and locate the lawful owner of the trailer and to comply with the statutory requirement of giving notice to both the registered owner and legal owner of the trailer. Fife Towing argues that it satisfied the notice requirement by giving notice based on the ownership information provided by law enforcement and the DOL. Fife Towing argues that once it complied with that information, it had no duty to investigate further.

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Bluebook (online)
89 P.3d 226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-class-cartage-ltd-v-fife-service-and-towing--washctapp-2004.