‘Serial squatter’ refusing to leave $2M Seattle home escapes eviction for THIRD time after non-profit coughs up another $50K in taxpayer cash to cover his rent
A “serial squatter” who refuses to leave a $2 million Seattle home has dodged eviction for a third time after a controversial nonprofit stepped in with $50,000 in taxpayer money to cover his rent, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Sang Kim has made waves in the upmarket Bellevue neighborhood after squatting for almost two years in a five-bedroom property owned by Jaskaran Sarao.
But an eviction hearing scheduled for April 5 has been scrapped after the Housing Justice Project (HJP) paid nearly a year of unpaid rent to keep him in the building.
This brings the total amount of state benefits provided by the HJP to the shameless squatter to almost $90,000.
Mr. Sarao branded it a “terrible misuse of taxpayer money,” adding that he had spent about half of Mr. Kim’s annual rent payments on legal fees to get his money.
Sang Kim has sparked outrage in the upscale Bellevue neighborhood after reportedly paying just one month’s rent out of his own pocket for a property he had lived in for nearly two years.
His current landlord, Jaskaran Sarao, previously confronted Kim, claiming he owed him $80,000 in back rent and refused to vacate the property.
Mr. Kim currently lives with his wife and two children in the $2 million, five-bedroom, 1,600-square-foot home pictured above
HJP gets $4.6 million a year from Washington state and another $500,000 from King County to pay its 32 attorneys and support staff.
The extraordinary row comes as thousands of American property owners grapple with a broken legal system that allows squatters to live rent-free in expensive homes without any consequences.
Mr. Kim, his wife Yougin and their two children moved into Mr. Sarao’s home in the summer of 2022, but reportedly paid only one month’s rent out of their own pocket, according to court documents filed by their landlord .
The rest is covered by HJP, which provides legal assistance to tenants facing eviction in Kings County.
According to Sarao’s lawyer, Steven Freeborn, it paid about $24,000 in February last year to cover Mr Kim’s unpaid rent, with a further installment of about $13,000 covering his payments until May 2023.
But Mr Sarao had not received a cent since then, forcing Mr Freeborn to file a third eviction notice.
It also led to an ugly confrontation between the landlord and the tenant, as around 200 protesters descended on the property to demand that the ‘scammer’ either cough up or go away.
Mr. Kim even took out a restraining order against Mr. Sarao after he complained of harassment.
The final eviction hearing was scheduled for April 5, but was scrapped after HJP raised another $47,000 last week to cover retroactive rent, plus another $4,400 to cover the month of April.
But Sarao has little hope that his tenant will pay out of pocket next month and will either have to file a fourth eviction notice or that taxpayers will continue to pay.
Ultimately, he just wants Mr. Kim out, he said.
Mr. Freeborn added, “I don’t think the good, taxpaying citizens of Washington State are going to be very happy about that.”
He said the HJP could continue paying Kim’s rent “as long as the state tolerates this nonsense.”
‘It is ridiculous. They paid almost $10,000 to keep a man in a $2 million home in Bellevue.
“For that money, they could move him to a cheaper community where he could live for three years or more.
“Why do taxpayers have to pay this kind of rent?”
DailyMail.com previously revealed that Mr Kim and his family reportedly moved to Mr Sarao’s property from a previous squat nearby, where they used similar delaying tactics to avoid paying rent of around $4,000 per month had to pay for a three-bedroom apartment, $1.3 million. At home.
It has now emerged that Kim reportedly moved straight from a previous ‘squat’, a three-bedroom property worth $1.3 million (pictured), also in Bellevue, where rent was dodged for two years
The 2,490 square meter property is described by the agent as ‘refined and elegant’
About 200 people attended a protest outside the property this weekend, chanting “no pay, no stay” in an attempt to force Kim and his family to move out
Singh claims his tenant bought two Mazda 3s costing more than $20,000 despite not paying rent in almost a year
Kim and his wife Yougin also earned a combined income of $408,000 a year while working for medical consulting firm SiriusIQ when they moved to Singh’s property, according to proof of income.
Shortly afterwards they lost their jobs.
But Sarao claims the family still “lives a lavish life” in his home, “having barbecues, buying new cars, living in the best neighborhood and sending their children to the best schools.”
Mr Kim has previously accused Singh of “making up stories” about him, claiming he is simply a Korean national and trying to make it in the US.
Washington is the only state in the country that offers legal representation to low-income renters at risk of eviction.
DailyMail.com contacted HJP for comment but had not received a response by time of publication.
Edmund Witter, the managing attorney, has previously said the nonprofit “houses many households that should not be evicted.
In a statement to KIRO 7, the group said, “If every tenant, every time they look at someone the wrong way or just do one thing wrong, we throw them out every time, then you’re going to have a homelessness crisis. This is how you ensure that people die on the street.’