Washington’s Furniture Relocation Fight : Planet Money : NPR

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Normally, when you run an illegal business, you don’t advertise in the phone book. But there’s nothing normal about Mike’s moving story.

Yellow Pages, Seattle 1997/NPR screenshot

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Yellow Pages, Seattle 1997/NPR screenshot

Normally, when you run an illegal business, you don’t advertise in the phone book. But there’s nothing normal about Mike’s moving story.

Yellow Pages, Seattle 1997/NPR screenshot

In 1978, a young man named Mike Shanks opened a small moving company north of Seattle, just him and a truck. Everything was going well. But one afternoon, he was pulled over and ticketed for moving without a permit.

The investigators who summoned him were members of a special team responsible for enforcing utility and traffic laws. Mike called them Furniture PoliceTo legally work as a mover, Mike needed a license. Otherwise, he’d face a fine—and possibly jail time. But he soon discovered that getting a license was nearly impossible.

Mike The Mover’s life is littered with court records.

King County Superior Court in Washington State Public Records/NPR Screenshot

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King County Superior Court in Washington State Public Records/NPR Screenshot

Mike The Mover’s life is littered with court records.

King County Superior Court in Washington State Public Records/NPR Screenshot

Mike was the kind of man who would never back down. This run-in with the law launched him on a decade-long crusade against Washington’s furniture moving industry, the furniture police, and the code itself. It made him a notorious semi-celebrity, landed him in courts across the state, caused him to change his legal name to “Mover Mike,” and landed him in the deep end of Washington’s industrial code.

The fight was personal. But it also drew Mike into a larger fight: an economic fight over regulation, and who it should protect.

This show is hosted by Dylan Sloan and Nick Fountain. It was produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Sally Helm, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Will Chase assisted with research. Maggie Luthar was in charge of planning. Jess Jiang is our acting executive producer.