[wa] Storage Facility Burnt Down, 5ft Safe Stolen, Now They’re Holding My Property Hostage Unless I Sign A Liability Waiver.

Location: Pierce County, WA

First time poster, I hope I'm following guidelines accurately.

TL;DR: Early January, our commercial/personal storage unit in WA—which housed our workshop and every worldly possession we own—was destroyed by a suspicious fire. We have been denied access since then, the facility has stopped responding after we declined to sign a waiver releasing them of any and all liability in order to assess the damage and retrieve our property. There is clear evidence of forced entry and theft, and suspicious events in the month prior to the fire. We were told we were insured under their plan but since the fire we have been told that was false. We have lost employment, livelihood, and financial security directly due to this event.

MY QUESTIONS:

• ​Is it legal for them to withhold access to my property contingent on signing a liability waiver in Washington?
• ​Does the evidence of theft/tampering prior to the fire suggest "Gross Negligence" that might bypass the standard "at your own risk" clauses in a storage contract?
• ​Theoretically, would a lawyer likely take this on a contingency basis given the high value of loss and potential negligence?

​We’ve teamed up with a neighboring business owner who is being treated similarly.

There is a police investigation regarding the stolen safe and firearms, we have supplied them with serial numbers.

The fire investigator has told us in an email that the storage company has "not been very forthcoming with information" so the report will be incomplete when they close it out.

​The Red Flags:

Month leading up to the fire: We found a tool that weren't ours inside (notably, a tool large enough and equipped with the necessary addition to cut through sheets of metal, this will come into play later), no notice of intent to enter by maintenance or anyone, and our alarm had been set to a mode that neither of us had ever used.

​Theft & Arson: There were clear, visible signs of forced entry, the front door to our unit was completely bashed in. Our 5-foot-tall fire proof gun safe was stolen by cutting open the large, metal garage door and wheeling it out. We know this because there was a furniture dolly left behind after the fire. There perpetrators cut through the wall to the neighboring unit, where we believe the fire was started. All this happened, but there were no responders until after the fire had consumed most of the building EVEN THOUGH there were alarms set in each unit AND there was a security camera pointed directly down the row of units.

​Insurance Misrepresentation: We were told (via verbal agreement and through email communication that we have on file) that they would sign us up for the insurance through their company and that the insurance would be included in our monthly rent. It was stated very clearly in multiple places that insurance is required at the time of signing the rental agreement, and should we not provide our own that they would sign us up. We’ve since discovered we have no coverage.

​Access Denied: It has been 2+ months. The facility has blocked us from even getting near the site or seeing if any items could be salvaged. All the tools my partner and I need for our trade are in there, which led to loss of employment and has put us in a very unstable financial situation.

​The "Hostage" Waiver: They sent us and only us, a waiver saying that we could access our property only if we sign away any and all rights to peruse legal action against them for known and unknown damages, losses, claims, etcetera. We did not sign, and have since sent multiple emails asking for assurance that our things would not be disposed of or moved without our explicit consent. It has been weeks and we have not received any response.