Story Photos
 Photo by Bill Wagner P.J. Stakes, left, and Melody Clark, center, sweat through phone calls to a Utah man who rented a North Kelso house to them. Clark's grandson, Josh Granchi, listens by candlelight after the power was shut off by the real homeowners. |
Home Invasion: Owners, renters entangled in real estate nightmare
Friday, November 19, 2004 11:06 PM PST
By Courtney Sherwood
Printable version
E-mail this articleWhen P. J. Stakes saw the ad for a three bedroom Kelso rental home on Nov. 9, it seemed like the answer to her prayers.
By Nov. 18, as Stakes stood in the cold rain and wondered where she would rest her head that night, she cursed the man who had placed the ad.
As Kelso police try to unravel what went wrong, the Washington Attorney General's office says that Stakes and her family may be victims of an increasingly common real estate scheme.
They rented the house from a Utah-based company that didn't have any claim on the property.
Stakes, 51, met Melody Clark, 62, a few months ago through their now-engaged 18-year-olds, who are expecting a baby in June. The two women wanted to combine households, bringing their teenagers together and sharing resources to help raise their future grandchild. Stakes is disabled and Clark is retired.
Within a week of seeing the ad, Stakes and Clark had filled out the paperwork, moved furniture and boxes of clothes, signed up for satellite TV and paid $3,060 to cover six months' rent.
"This is the closest family I've ever had in my whole life," Stakes said Wednesday, laughing as Clark's toddler granddaughter, visiting for the evening, danced circles in the floor of their new Vine Street house.
Stakes' two teenagers and Clarks' two teenagers had moved in with them. With other family members visiting, the house was filled with voices and laughter.
"When we saw that ad in the paper, it was like a godsend," Stakes said. "It was so perfect, room for the whole family."
By Thursday night, the new household would be in shambles, its members possibly cheated out of six months rent and forced to crowd in with Clark's adult daughter in Kelso.
Utah connection
Stakes called the toll-free number in The Daily News classified ad and talked to Jamen Wood, who said he represented BK Properties in Ogden, Utah.
Wood told her that the house was in foreclosure and could be rented out pending its sale, Stakes said.
She bought a fax machine to handle the back and forth paperwork -- rental application, lease agreement and an offer to purchase the house at the end of six months. They wired off six months' rent in hopes of securing a chance to buy the dwelling.
When the Stakes and Clark family showed up at the Vine Street house with all the paperwork in order, the front door was unlocked.
"BK Property said most of their renters replace their locks," Stakes said. "The first thing I did was replace my locks."
Stakes did not realize that she was changing the locks on a house she had no right to.
County records show that the three-bedroom Kelso home belongs to Jason and Tracy Cozad, who live in Castle Rock. Although the Cozads are going through bankruptcy, their house has not been foreclosed on.
Unwanted tenants
After Jason and Tracy Cozad's renter moved out of their Kelso house this summer, the Castle Rock couple decided to sell the home. They hadn't found a buyer yet, and they thought the house was vacant when they received a surprising call.
"My brother-in-law called Tuesday and asked if we had rented it out," said Tracy Cozad, 34. "He said there were people moving in."
Jason Cozad, 30, went to the house and called the police when he found a family living there. Stakes showed Cozad and police their paperwork, rental agreements, and phone numbers for BK Properties.
The Cozads were confused about whether their house could have been sold without their knowledge. They became even more confused after calling BK Property, a company they had never heard of.
Wood said that their bankruptcy filing gave him the right to rent out the house, Tracy Cozad said.
"He is absolutely incorrect," Cozad's attorney Kevin Vibbert said. "He has absolutely zero right to the property."
Real estate scheme
BK Properties rents out foreclosed houses that are awaiting sale and collects fees from real estate agents when the properties sell, according to Jamen Wood, of BK Properties, in Ogden, Utah.
Wood admitted to renting out the Cozad's house for six months and accepting $3,060 in payment without getting permission from the owners.
"We should have talked to the homeowners before anything happened," Wood said in a phone interview Thursday.
Cowlitz County records for the Cozads' Vine Street home do not show any notice of default or foreclosure on the house.
After Wood found out about the Cozads' house by searching bankruptcy court filings, he contracted with a local inspector who prepared it for the Stakes and Clark family to move in, Wood said. He would not name the person or agency that inspected the house.
"That is breaking and entering," said attorney Vibbert. "He has no legal rights whatsoever."
Wood also told The Daily News that he has rented out other houses without the owners' knowledge in the past.
"This happens once in a while," Wood said. "With bankruptcy, things get tricky."
BK Properties' real estate dealings sound like equity skimming, a growing scam in Washington, said Lorie Takahashi, public information officer for the state Attorney General's office.
"The person renting the home collects fees," Takahashi said, while the owner risks damage to the house and often does not get the rental money.
"The scary thing is, there are a lot of these scheme-type things running in the area," said Vibbert, the Cozad's attorney.
"Usually our market is for people who haven't done their homework," Wood admitted.
Kelso police are still trying to unravel the case, said Sgt. Joe Dieter.
"Once we get all the information compiled, we will submit it to the prosecutor, who will evaluate it and determine if they will file for fraud," Dieter said. "I still do not understand the mindset or the strategy of this person trying to gain property and convert it."
"We've heard of people moving into vacant properties before and sleeping in them," said Officer Ken Hochhalter. "But nothing like this."
Vibbert told his clients Thursday that they should evict the Stakes and Clarks.
"The Cozads still own the property," he said. "As owners of real property, you have liabilities as regards damages and injuries to other people if someone is living in your house."
"I feel sad for these people," Tracy Cozad said Thursday after asking Kelso police to remove the family from the house. "But I can't really let them stay. It's my house, and they didn't pay us any rent."
"What a mess"
By early Thursday night, four days after moving in to their new home, the Stakes and Clark family knew that something was wrong.
The police had questioned them about their home. Their power had been shut off. They sat around the living room talking by candlelight about what might happen next.
"At least we still have a roof over our heads," Stakes said. "Honest to God, we're OK. There are a lot of people out there that have a lot of worse things than this."
Stakes had talked to Wood at BK Properties earlier that day -- before the phones were shut off -- and he had assured her that everything would be in order by Friday morning, she said. He told them that it would be all right soon.
"I don't understand how this happened," Clark said.
As Stakes and Clark talked Thursday night, a Kelso police vehicle parked across the street. Sgt. Dieter climbed the steps to the front porch.
"You guys are to vacate the residence or we're going to arrest you," he told Clark and Stakes. "You have no standing to be here. BK has no legitimate standing -- they are not the owners of this residence."
"But he's got over $3,000 of our money," Clark said, leaning against the door frame.
The teenagers drifted out of the living room, gathering boxes they hadn't had time to unpack and squared their shoulders as they obeyed the policeman's orders.
Stakes and Clark walked outside, down to the sidewalk, and pleaded unsuccessfully with police to be allowed to stay.
"This stuff doesn't happen in the United States," Stakes said, sniffling and tightening her jacket in the rain. "This stuff doesn't happen in the real world."
"What a mess," Dieter muttered, as Stakes wiped away tears and Clark tried to calm the panicking teenagers. "What a mess."
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