A Seattle landlord was forced to take matters into his own hands and confront a squatter who he says owes $80,000 in rent and refuses to vacate his $2 million home.
Jaskaran Singh rented his five-bedroom house on 123rd Avenue near Seattle, Washington, to the man’s family in the summer of 2022.
He received the first and last month’s rent, but said the tenant then stopped paying, leaving him $80,000 out of pocket.
Singh filed for eviction, but after the tenant was granted a stay with a court date set for April 5, Singh took matters into his own hands, confronting the tenant and staging a protest with 200 people outside of the House.
Singh said KOMO News: ‘I suffered a loss of $80,000. This should stop. It is a fight against injustice.
Jaskaran Singh (right) confronted a squatter in his $2 million Seattle home on Saturday.
He says the man owes him $80,000 in back rent and refuses to leave the property.
The $2 million home has five bedrooms and measures 1,600 square feet.
The moment Singh confronted the tenant was caught on camera.
During the protest, Singh approached the 1,900-square-foot home and knocked on the door.
The tenant, who was not named, opened it and walked out.
Singh said: “You haven’t paid the rent for a year.”
The tenant tried to enter the house but Singh said: “Wait, I need to talk… For six months you haven’t paid the rent. It’s my house.’
The tenant then entered the house and closed the door.
Singh told KOMO News: “He is not ready to pay. Basically, he’s exploiting the system.
Singh initiated eviction proceedings when the tenant began missing payments, but the Housing Justice Project (HJP) intervened on the tenant’s behalf, seeking a stay of eviction and paying a portion of the back rent.
The HJP even paid a three-month advance on the rent to give the family time to move.
But when the three months passed in May 2023, Singh says the family still didn’t leave and they started missing rent payments again.
Singh told KOMO News: “He never paid rent after May 2023 last year, so it’s been almost 11 months now.”
The tenant allegedly claimed to have lost his job due to the pandemic and was unable to find other work as a consultant in the medical field.
But Singh’s lawyer, Stephen Freeborn, said KOMO News: ‘The guy can’t pay his rent, but he has two new cars parked in the driveway.’
Singh and his lawyer staged a protest outside the house on Saturday where about 200 people attended, holding signs and chanting “No pay, no stay.”
Seattle-based journalist Jonathan Choe filmed the protest.
King County Republican Party Vice Chairman Kory Hahn led a “Get Out, Crook!” “” chanted in Korean and said, “If you don’t pay, you shouldn’t stay there.”
200 people showed up at the address on Saturday to protest and call for the tenant to leave.
They held signs reading “owners’ lives matter” and chanted “no pay, no stay.”
Jaskaran Singh told KOMO News it was a ‘fight against injustice’
The police had to intervene when demonstrators knocked on the door of the house.
Freeborn told KOMO News, “I was there and I thank them all for coming. It was not only a community gathering, but people came from as far away as Tacoma, Olympia.
“We had representatives from both the Democratic and Republican parties, which I was surprised and happy to see because this shouldn’t be a partisan issue. This should be a bipartisan issue because it affects everyone.
“I’m happy that things like this (the protest) are starting to happen because they’re afraid no one will listen. Nobody listens to them.
“These owners are dying on the vine, which is bad for the economy.”
According to KOMO News, the tenant obtained a temporary restraining order against the Singhs.