BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Whatcom County Superior Court was the scene of a recent hearing where the City of Bellingham received a judgement for $126,743.59 against a property owner whose property was a location of a large encampment.
On February 23, 2024, The City of Bellingham filed a civil suit in Whatcom County Superior Court on February 23rd against a property owner claiming she is maintaining a public nuisance due to an encampment of unhoused people. On September 25th, Whatcom County Superior Court granted a summary judgement giving the city immediate access to the property in the 4400 block of Deemer Road “to inspect the conditions and develop a plan to clean-up the property immediately.”
It was noted at the time that law enforcement personnel had been dispatched to the property and made arrests 45 times between June 2021 and October 2023. 3 people were reported to have died from opioid overdoses on the property.
A hearing was held August 20, 2025, in Superior Court during which property owner appeared remoted via online communication using a certified Mandarin interpreter along with lawyers for the City of Bellingham.
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According to a document filed with the court, the property owner acknowledged the problem with the encampment on her property, but she was unable to prevent the homeless from cutting the fence line and squatting on her property. She also said she had paid a vendor to address the issue but was unable.
City lawyers argued for a judgment for expenses incurred, over $125,000. The property owner argued the government should prevent people who are experiencing homelessness from entering her property and cover the associated costs.
The City asked the Court to impose additional monetary judgments for work completed in different phases, including future authorization for the City and/or its sub-contractors to enter onto the property to build temporary roads and bridges, conduct soil testing, and repair damage to streams and wetlands.
The Court acknowledged that [the property owner] was not at fault for the circumstances that led to the decline of her property; however, it was unable to find a legal basis for why the City or county government should be responsible for addressing the public nuisance on her property or for mitigating the toxic waste resulting from the homeless population. As a result, the Court granted the City’s motion and awarded a judgment against [the property owner] in the amount of one hundred twenty-six thousand, seven hundred forty-three dollars and fifty-nine cents (S 126,743.59).
– Whatcom County Superior Court (August 20, 2025)
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I feel this is so wrong. It just sucks!
The elephant in the room, that the reporter should have pursued, is why authorities will not forcibly remove trespassers in such cases. There are laws against trespassing. Apparently they are not enforceable? What is a property owner to do?
The city government trying to find a way to steal the property. We the people don’t have the power to enforce trespassing laws but we can just keep paying fines until we lose the property. This is the same way they stole all the property on samish way