Bellevue eviction case escalates to Superior Court amid restraining order dispute

BELLEVUE, Wash. — The fight between a Bellevue property owner and a tenant he started eviction proceedings against is heating up in court.

The tenants, Sang and Yougin Kim, received a temporary restraining order against their landlord, Jaskaran Sarao, but the hearing to extend that order was canceled Thursday, now being pushed from King County District Court to Superior Court.

The change is happening because the eviction case against Kim is already in Superior Court, according to a court filing. There’s a hearing on the eviction lawsuit on April 5, just four days before a new hearing date set on the restraining order.

Stephen Freeborn, the attorney for the property owner, told KOMO News the restraining order request is “frivolous.”

RELATED:Landlords protest outside Bellevue rental home over tenant's nonpayment of rent

Kim told KOMO News that his family needs the protection because his daughter’s been bullied at the bus stop and because people have protested outside the house he’s renting. That protest, on March 23, included the property owner’s family, friends, neighbors, and even the chair of the King County Republic Party.

“And we're here to shine a light on the injustice that's happening here,” said Matthew Patrick Thomas into a bullhorn outside the rental property in Bellevue. People held signs that said "protect small landlords and housing injustice project," referring to the Housing Justice Project, which just stepped in again to pay Kim’s back rent.

“Housing Justice Project has paid everything, but only after my client has spent thousands of dollars filing three different lawsuits to get the money they should’ve gotten before,” said Freeborn.

Freeborn detailed all of the payments received from the Housing Justice Project. That group stepped in last year, paying more than $37,000 for rent due by Kim.

“Then there was an agreement to leave the property in 90 days,” said Freeborn.

But the family didn't leave, so another eviction lawsuit was filed. The one now scheduled for a hearing on April 5. And then, just this week, Freeborn told KOMO the Housing Justice Project mailed another check for $44,000 to cover the last ten months of unpaid rent.

“Basically, in my opinion, after my client went public,” said Freeborn, referring to media coverage of the protest held outside the Bellevue home where the Kim family lives.

The $44,000 check only covers rent through March, so Freeborn also demanded the rent for April, which totals $4,400, be paid, giving Kim one month to move out.

KOMO asked him if he plans to move by then. He did not directly answer the question but said he is looking for someplace to rent, perhaps outside the city of Bellevue, because he said his name has been unfairly tarnished in that city.

“This guy hasn’t worked since 2022, and when he went into the house into the job, apparently he and his wife were making over $400,000 a year, and then he lost the job. I don’t know what the story is behind that, but what’s he done? He’s claiming that the publicity that we put on this case is making it difficult for him to get employment,” said Freeborn.

KOMO News directly asked Kim about his job loss and future employment. He said that he was an independent contractor during the pandemic and accused the company that contracted his services of breach of contract.

He also told KOMO News his wife does work full time and that he is now getting some training for a new job, though he was not specific about what it entailed. The eviction case against him is scheduled for a hearing in King County Superior Court on April 5.

“All I know is it’s cost my client my clients probably spent $20,000 in legal fees to get the money that should’ve been his in the first place,” said Freeborn.

The hearing regarding Kim’s request for an order of protection from the landlord is April 9.