Moment Washington landlord confronts 'con man' serial squatter who owes $80,000 in backlogged rent but refuses to leave $2M rental property

A Seattle landlord was forced to take matters into his own hands and confront a squatter he says owes $80,000 in rent and is refusing to leave his $2 million home. 

Jaskaran Singh rented out his five bedroom house on 123rd Avenue near Seattle in  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 organizing a protest with 200 people outside the home. 

Singh told KOMO News: 'I have suffered an $80,000 loss. This should stop. This 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 is refusing to leave the property

The $2 million home has five bedrooms and is 1,600-square-feet

The moment Singh confronted the tenant was caught on camera. 

During the protest, Singh walked up to the front of the 1,900 square foot home and knocked on the door. 

The tenant, who has not been named, opened it and came out. 

Singh said: 'You haven't paid the rent for the last one year.' 

The tenant tried to go back in the house but Singh said: 'Wait, I need to talk... In six months you haven't paid the rent. This is my house.' 

The tenant then walked back into the house and shut the door. 

Singh told KOMO News: 'He's not ready to pay. He’s exploiting the system basically.' 

Singh filed eviction proceedings when the tenant first started missing payments, but the Housing Justice Project (HJP) stepped in on the tenant's behalf, applying for a stay on the eviction and paying some of the back rent. 

The HJP even paid a three-month advance on the rent to give the family time to move out. 

But when the three months were up in May 2023, Singh says the family still did not leave and they started missing rent payments again. 

Singh told KOMO News: 'He never paid rent after May 2023 of last year, so it’s been almost 11 months now.'

The tenant reportedly claims that he lost his job in the pandemic and has been unable to find more work as a consultant in the medical field.  

But Singh's lawyer, Stephen Freeborn, told KOMO News: 'The guy can't pay his rent, but he has two brand new cars parked in the driveway.' 

Singh and his lawyer organized a protest outside the home on Saturday with around 200 people attending, holding placards and chanting 'No pay, no stay'. 

Seattle-based journalist Jonathan Choe filmed the protest. 

King County Republican Party Vice Chair Kory Hahn, led a 'Get out, con man!' chant in Korean and said: 'If you're not going to pay, you shouldn't stay there.'

200 people turned up at the address on Saturday to protest and call for the tenant to leave

They held placards reading 'landlord lives matter' and led chants of 'no pay, no stay'

Jaskaran Singh told KOMO News that this is a 'fight against injustice'

Police had to intervene when some protesters went and banged on the door of the home.  

Freeborn told KOMO News: 'I was there, and I thank them for all coming. It was not just a community rally, but there were people that came from as far away as Tacoma, Olympia.

'We had representatives from the Democratic and Republican parties which I was surprised and happy to see because this should not be a partisan issue. This should be a bipartisan issue because it affects everybody.

'I’m glad things like this (the protest) are starting to happen because they’re afraid that nobody listens. Nobody is listening to them. 

'These landlords are dying on the vine which is bad for the economy.'

According to KOMO News, the tenant has been granted a temporary restraining order against the Singh.