Squatters Stake Claim To Vacant F'closed 8,000 Sq. Foot Mansion Currently On Market For $3.3M; Unexpected Move-In Leaves Listing Agent Scratching Head

In Kirkland, Washington, The Seattle Times reports:

• The 8,000-square-foot mansion was dark and in foreclosure for years. So last weekend when the for-sale signs came down and the lights lit up, neighbors were relieved. "We were like — 'finally, somebody's going to make that place a home,' " says one. But then some new signs went up.

• "No trespassing," the signs say. "Privately owned property. Not for sale." That's odd, neighbors thought. The West of Market neighborhood in Kirkland is friendly, easygoing. So one of them called the real-estate agent to ask what was up. What he said floored them. The house is still for sale for $3.3 million. Whoever is living there had broken in. They're squatters.(1)

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• The house's history is like a recap of the economic meltdown. A modest house was torn down to make way for this behemoth, but the builder defaulted on it in 2008 and the mansion went into foreclosure. It ended up in the hands of Venture Bank, in Lacey, Thurston County. Then that bank failed — too many defaulted loans — and was seized by the feds. So the house went to another bank, called First Citizens, which, according to legal documents on file at King County, now owns it. Or so they think they own it.

• A form posted on the door of the house by its new "tenants" says "all rights, interest and title in said property" has been transferred to something called the "Priority Rose Children's Outreach" in Bothell. That's a charity that was incorporated only two weeks ago, according to the state Secretary of State's Office. Its purpose is listed as "spiritual training for adults and children in a religious safe environment for the development of all mankind."

• That sounds nice. But the phone number for the charity is also the number for a Bothell company called NW Note Elimination that specializes in "eliminating mortgages." It does this by finding flaws with loans or titles and exploiting them to stake outright claims to property.

• One of its strategies, according to a primer it posted on Craigslist, is to create a land trust and claim title to a piece of property, then try to challenge the existing mortgages as flawed in hopes the banks eventually will just go away.

For the story, see Squatters cozy up in mansion.

For story update, see:

• The Seattle Times: Police squelch squatters' brazen move into mansion: Tuesday the rent came due for the mansion squatters, a woman and man who last week just moved in and tried to stake claim to a 8,000-square-foot, foreclosed house in Kirkland that is for sale for $3.3 million,

• Kirkland Reporter: Suspected squatter of $3.2 million waterfront home arrested for criminal trespass: The woman, who moved into the home more than a week ago, told police and neighbors that she owned the home. The women showed police false documents when they came to the house to investigate on June 6, said Kirkland Detective Allan O’Neill.

(1) Reportedly, the real-estate agent had $80,000 worth of staging furniture inside, but last week he managed to get in and cart it away.