BELLEVUE, Wash. — A landlord organized a protest outside his rental home in Bellevue to call attention to a tenant who hasn’t paid rent since May of last year but so far, has been able to delay eviction efforts.

Jaskaran Singh owns a single-family home on 123rd Ave SE and rented it to a couple and their children in the summer of 2022. KOMO News is not naming the tenants at this point.

Singh said he received the first and last month’s rent when the family moved in but nothing after that.

“He's not ready to pay. He’s exploiting the system basically,” said Singh, the property owner. After months of non-payment, Singh and his attorney, Stephen Freeborn, filed eviction proceedings.

That is when the Housing Justice Project (HJP) stepped in and provided the tenants with free legal assistance to navigate the process. Ultimately, HJP paid the back rent as well as a three-month advance to give the family time to move out.

However, the tenant decided to stay, and Singh said the problems he had collecting rent started all over again.

“He never paid rent after May 2023, of last year, so it’s been almost 11 months now,” Singh said.

Late last year, the landlord filed again to have the tenants evicted for non-payment and was granted a writ of execution in January, but HJP requested a stay on that eviction, with a next court case scheduled for April.

The tenant said he lost his job during the pandemic and continues to struggle to find work as a consultant in the medical field. The landlord's attorney takes issue with that.

“The guy can't pay his rent, but he has two brand new cars parked in the driveway," Freeborn said, echoing a point he made in court filings.

Singh said he has tried to get help from the state Legislature as well as local leaders to no avail, and at this point is out $80,000.

Singh the protest outside the home on March 16 involved neighbors, friends, and other concerned landlords.

“All the neighbors, all the mom and pop landlords are invited to join and raise a voice that this should stop,” Singh said. “I have suffered an $80,000 loss. This should stop. This is a fight against injustice.”

Freeborn said the bigger issue is the court system. Delays are routinely granted in eviction proceedings, which adds to the backlogs and financial losses.

“The statute still requires this to be done in 30 days, and the whole reason that statute was created was because of the consequences on homeowners and tenants as well,” Freeborn said.

Edmund Witter with the HJP said the majority of the tenants they represent are in eviction proceedings due to non-payment of rent. Many are struggling with underemployment or unemployment, as well as child care issues, disabilities and other barriers.

The backlog in the court system does have its impacts, Witter said, but they are seeing a surge in eviction filings right now as people struggle to weather the financial landscape.

Freeborn talked to KOMO News after the protest on Saturday. He estimated about 200 showed up to rally as they brought awareness not only to his client’s ordeal, but also the issues other landlords have faced.

“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,” Freeborn said.

“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.”

Freeborn also added that the current court system for evictions is not only hurting landlords, but also tenants.

“People think they’re doing a service to these tenants by keeping them on the property, but it’s making it more difficult for these tenants because under the statute, these cases are supposed to be resolved within 30 days," Freeborn said. "And now that they’re taking a year, or more, what’s happening is landlords including my own clients, they were willing when they knew that they could get somebody out relatively quickly, through the process, they were willing to take risks with these tenants.”

Freeborn added, “what’s happening is landlords are being very cautious about the who they’re renting to. What the system has created is a form of discrimination!”

KOMO News also learned that the tenant was able to obtain a temporary restraining order against the landlord.

The order comes from the King County District Court’s East Division, Bellevue Courthouse. It was signed on Friday by Judge Pro Tem Matthew A. Skau.

Freeborn said the temporary restraining order was "just another delay tactic.”

The tenant’s attorney did not respond to our request for comment on Saturday.