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Wealth & Poverty Review Protestors Demonstrate Against Squatter and Deadbeat Tenant Epidemic

Jonathan Choe
June 2, 2024
Housing
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Mom and Pop Landlords Protest

This weekend, a coalition of angry mom & pop landlords rallied in Maple Valley to spotlight the squatter and deadbeat tenant epidemic in Washington. While many came out to blast embattled King County Fire Commissioner Steve Hickey for taking over Katrina Freitag’s house, we also heard other related horror stories.

Seattle landlord Leka Devatha is calling out lawmakers for making it difficult to quickly enforce the squatter laws. Bellevue homeowner Jaskaran Singh is so frustrated he’s now running for office to fix this broken system.

Attorney General candidate Pete Serrano also rallied with the crowd and promised to prioritize swift prosecution in these situations if he’s elected to office. More protests to come!

Investigation Part Two

Freitag is in a ferocious fight with Hickey who refuses to leave her house in nearby Ravensdale. After our expose, Hickey’s entire reputation as a King County Fire Commissioner and independent journalist is now on the line.

Investigation Part One

In part one, Oliveira and I confronted Hickey with squatting claims. He’s refusing to leave a house belonging to another woman, claiming it should be his. Hickey has already been sanctioned in court for not providing all documents during discovery.

Jaskaran Singh

Standing by Freitag on Saturday will be Bellevue mom & pop landlord Jaskaran Singh, who made global headlines for his battle against Sang and Youjin Kim. They’re now facing eviction for the fourth time after failing to pay rent on a $2M house in Bellevue.

Leka Devatha

Leka Devatha is also talking about her success in removing two notorious squatters from her rental property in Seattle.

Jonathan Choe

Journalist and Senior Fellow, Center on Wealth and Poverty
Jonathan Choe is a journalist and Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth and Poverty, covering homelessness issues for its Fix Homelessness initiative. Prior to joining Discovery, Choe spent several years as one of the lead reporters at KOMO-TV, consistently the top rated television station in Seattle. His in depth stories on crime and deep dive investigations into the homeless crisis led to measurable results in the community, including changes in public policy. Choe has more than two decades of experience in television news behind the scenes and in front of the camera for ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, and Tribune. He has also been nominated and honored with multiple industry awards including an Emmy. Choe spent several years teaching classes on emerging media and entrepreneurship to under privileged youth in inner city Chicago. As an independent journalist, Choe also contributes regularly to the Mill Creek View and Lynnwood Times and has reported on exclusive stories in the past year for Daily Wire and The Postmillennial.