Seattle-Area Man Faces Felony Attempted Theft Charge For Allegedly Trying To Sell Foreclosed House After Filing Phony Claim In Home Hijacking Racket

In King County, Washington, the Seattle Post Intelligencer reports:

• A former real estate agent who landed in the news for assisting squatters who'd taken over a Kirkland mansion(1) may be headed to the big house, after prosecutors filed felony charges against him.

• Filing attempted-theft charges earlier this month, King County prosecutors contend Edmonds resident James C. McClung tried to use a bogus legal action to sell a home he didn't own to a young couple. Prosecutors claim the move by McClung came to light in October when one of the Shoreline home's new owners stopped by and found McClung's "tenants" around the house.

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• In the current case, prosecutors claim McClung acted as an intermediary for the Shoreline home's former owner, who lost the house through foreclosure earlier in the year. McClung, prosecutors claim, filed a false claim to the house and began renting out the residence.

• Writing the court, Senior Deputy Prosecutor David Seaver noted that McClung has cast himself in public statements as an enemy of the banks and a friend to the little guy. "The defendant has acknowledged to a number of media outlets that he is engaged in a self-proclaimed 'mission' to interfere with financial institutions," Seaver told the court.(2)

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• According to [King County Detective Robert Inn's] account, McClung said he was "taking advantage of confusion in the lending industry" and could sell the property. The Edmonds man offered that the foreclosure sale during which Chase bank bought the home was illegal, and suggested he had as much right to sell the house as the bank.(3)

For more, see Charge: Man who helped Kirkland mansion squatter tried to bilk Shoreline couple (Edmonds man claimed to be on a 'mission' to hurt banks, tried to break young couple, prosecutors claim).

(1) According to the story McClung, 42, had caught the attention of Kirkland police in June after they arrested a woman -- Jill Lane -- squatting in a bank-owned $3.2 million mansion. According to charging documents, McClung, a former real estate agent, had signed his name to a bogus claim filed by Lane.

(2) For earlier reports on this home hijacking racket, see:

• The Seattle Times: Mansion squatter not finished,
• KOMO-TV Channel 4: Police investigating man claiming million dollar Eastside mansions,
• Kirkland Reporter: Man connected with Kirkland squatter targets more Eastside homes.

(3) Reportedly, Detective Inn found, among other things, a self-titled 'deed of release' taped to a front window of the home McClung was allegedly trying to unload, purporting to identify him as the representative of the lawful owner of the property.