RCW 19.48.070 Liability for loss of baggage and other property—Limitation—Storage—Disposal.

Except as provided for in RCW 19.48.030, the proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager, whether individual, partnership, or corporation, of a hotel, lodging house, or inn, shall not be liable for the loss or destruction of, or damage to any personal property brought or sent into such hotel, lodging house, or inn, by or for any of the guests, boarders, or lodgers thereof, unless such loss, destruction, or damage is occasioned by the gross negligence of such proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager, or his, her, their, or its agents, servants, or employees; but in no event shall such liability exceed the sum of two hundred dollars, unless such proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager, shall have contracted in writing with such guest, boarder, or lodger to assume a greater liability: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That in no event shall liability of the proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager, or his, her, their, or its agents, servants or employees, of a hotel, lodging house, or inn exceed the following: For a guest, boarder, or lodger, paying twenty-five cents per day, for lodging, or for any person who is not a guest, boarder, or lodger, the liability for loss, destruction, or damage, shall not exceed the sum of fifty dollars for a trunk and contents, ten dollars for a suitcase or valise and contents, five dollars for a box, bundle, or package, and ten dollars for wearing apparel or miscellaneous effects. For a guest, boarder, or lodger, paying fifty cents a day for lodging, the liability for loss, destruction, or damage shall not exceed seventy-five dollars for a trunk and contents, twenty dollars for a suitcase or valise and contents, ten dollars for a box, bundle, or package and contents, and twenty dollars for wearing apparel and miscellaneous effects. For a guest, boarder, or lodger paying more than fifty cents per day for lodging, the liability for loss, destruction, or damage shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars for a trunk and contents, fifty dollars for a suitcase or valise and contents, ten dollars for a box, bundle, or package and contents, and fifty dollars for wearing apparel and miscellaneous effects, unless in such case such proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager of such hotel, lodging house, or inn, shall have consented in writing to assume a greater liability: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, Whenever any person shall suffer his or her baggage or property to remain in any hotel, lodging house, or inn, after leaving the same as a guest, boarder, or lodger, and after the relation of guest, boarder, or lodger between such person and the proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager of such hotel, lodging house, or inn, has ceased, or shall forward or deliver the same to such hotel, lodging house, or inn, before, or without, becoming a guest, boarder, or lodger thereof, and the same shall be received into such hotel, lodging house, or inn, the liability of such proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager thereof shall in no event exceed the sum of one hundred dollars, and such proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager, may at his, her, their or its option, hold such baggage or property at the risk of such owner thereof; and when any baggage or property has been kept or stored by such hotel, lodging house, or inn, for six months after such relation of guest, boarder, or lodger has ceased, or when such relation does not exist, after six months from the receipt of such baggage or property in such hotel, lodging house, or inn, such proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager, may, if he, she, they or it so desires, sell the same at public auction in the manner now or hereinafter provided by law for the sale of property to satisfy a hotel keeper's lien, and from the proceeds of such sale pay or reimburse himself or herself the expenses incurred for advertisement and sale, as well as any storage that may have accrued, and any other amounts owing by such person to said hotel, lodging house, or inn: PROVIDED, That when any such baggage or property is received, kept, or stored therein after such relation does not exist, such proprietor, keeper, owner, operator, lessee, or manager, may, if he, she, or it, so desires, deliver the same at any time to a storage or warehouse company for storage, and in such event all responsibility or liability of such hotel, lodging house, or inn, for such baggage or property, or for storage charges thereon, shall thereupon cease and terminate.

[ 2011 c 336 § 541; 1929 c 216 § 3; 1917 c 57 § 1; 1915 c 190 § 4; RRS § 6863. Formerly RCW 19.48.070 through 19.48.100.]