The Seattle landlord who claimed that a nightmare tenant squatting on his property drove him to homelessness never actually owned the property in the first place — his father did — according to a new report, which casts doubt on the story which has dominated headlines.
Jason Roth told local news outlet KIRO that Kareem Hunter moved into his property earlier this year and has consistently failed to pay his rent since then. Hunter also supposedly listed Roth’s property on AirB&B, earning a profit on the unit, while Roth was unable to make mortgage payments, he alleged.
The landlord claims that since the situation began, he’s been driven so deep into debt by his mortgage and legal fees that he was forced to live in his car. Though he tried to evict Hunter, Roth claims that Seattle’s strict tenant protections have made that close to an impossibility.
Property records and Hunter’s account of the situation, however, shed a different light on the story.
The Seattle property isn’t actually owned by Roth and there’s no record of anyone making mortgage payments on the home, according to nonprofit news outlet PubliCola. An LLC in Roth’s father’s name owns the property outright, they discovered — and Roth’s father is the LLC’s sole governor and executor.
When questioned about the discrepancy, Roth reportedly was surprised that he wasn’t listed as the LLC’s sole member.
“I do make payments on the house but it’s a private loan,” Roth told PubliCola. “I don’t want to discuss my personal finances.”
The nature of Hunter’s tenancy is also in dispute — Roth initially claimed that he moved in this year but Hunter actually first rented the upper unit of the duplex through a service called Loftium in March 2022. The lower unit was an AirB&B and Hunter reportedly assisted in running that unit, in exchange for minor compensation but the property had other issues.
“There were some issues with safety. I had my daughter staying with me at the time,” Hunter told PublicCola.
“We had no control over it. People would get mad and come upstairs. I had a guy come up with a gun one time. I couldn’t get anyone on the phone with Loftium. It was random people in other countries.”
Two months into his tenancy, Hunter claims that he applied for a short-term rental license, with plans to run the AirB&B himself, with encouragement from Roth. This arrangement would’ve ostensibly saved Roth money because it removed Loftium from the equation, according to PubliCola.
Roth says that he “never encouraged [Hunter] to do anything” and that he rented the property to Loftium, who oversaw everything else. If that was the case, it’s likely that Roth was in violation of Seattle’s short term rental regulations, according to PubliCola.
After Loftium was acquired by a different company, Roth and Hunter negotiated a new rental agreement wherein Hunter would pay rent to Roth for the entire property and manage the AirB&B.
While Roth framed Hunter’s AirB&B operation to the media as part of an extended scam, the reality is that his lease always allowed for that.
“Tenant shall be permitted to engage a commercial short- and/or mid-term rental website listing service (e.g., “VRBO,” “Airbnb, Inc.,”) and any other brokerage or marketplace for short- or mid-term rentals, whether online or not) to sublet the Basement Residence,” the lease, which was shared in court, read.
Hunter’s supposed failure to pay rent is also reportedly more complicated than Roth’s original description of the situation. The two men had supposedly discussed going in on a business venture together but misunderstood the terms of the agreement — with Hunter thinking that Roth’s investor stake in the business would cover part of his rent.
Roth claims that he wouldn’t have agreed to that plan because he couldn’t afford it but Hunter has records indicating that the two edited a Common Stock Purchase Agreement together, according to PubliCola.
By the time it was clear that the men had a different understanding of the rent agreement, Hunter was several months behind on payments. Roth and Hunter agreed to new terms which allowed Hunter to pay back rent in installments. When Hunter was nine days late on his May rent, Roth began eviction proceedings, according to PubliCola.
While the two men continue to battle in court, Roth’s accounts of living in near-poverty are also being called into question.
“I mean, could I go find another apartment, like a dirt cheap bedroom somewhere? Probably,” he said, according to PubliCola. Instead he’s choosing to live in a GMC camper because he wants “to get this done.”
