Couple charged with squatting in Federal Way home, among others

Published 1:34 pm Tuesday, November 4, 2014

A man and woman were recently charged with squatting in four homes, including one in Federal Way.

Crystopher Donn Smith, 28, is being held at King County jail on $5,000 bail, while Talisa Gaines, 35, will be issued a summons for her next appearance in court.

Prosecutors allege the two lived in foreclosed houses in Normandy Park, SeaTac, Des Moines and Federal Way without permission. Smith was charged with four counts of false representation concerning title, while Gains was charged with three counts. They both face one count of residential burglary on the Federal Way home.

A detective with the Des Moines Police Department arrested Smith after he served a search warrant on the Federal Way home located in the 1400 block of SW Dash Point Road in Federal Way on Oct. 23.

Investigators found a “Notice of Adverse Possession Claim of Property” document allegedly filed by Smith on the King County Recorder’s Office website on July 16. The document stated the property was supposedly abandoned and if the homeowner didn’t respond to the notice, he would be able to claim the property’s entitlement by “admission of abandonment.”

For 2014, the tax assessed value for this property is $211,000. The homeowner said she purchased the Federal Way home in August 2006 but left in October 2010 after she lost her job and could not afford the payments.

“[The woman] did not give anyone permission to live in the house and does not know Smith or Gaines,” the charging documents state. “At the time she moved out, she left a refrigerator and other appliances in the garage.”

A Normandy Park detective involved in the investigation said in the charging documents he drives by the house at least eight times per week because it’s on his way to work.

Before Smith was arrested at the house, the detective said he saw two vehicles at the house each day. One was registered to Smith.

Just before his arrest, police spoke to a couple who live near the house. Charging documents state they had seen the same man coming and going from the residence since the middle of summer.

“They indicated there is a female that resides at the residence with the black male and the two of them argue loudly on a regular basis,” the documents continue. “… [The couple] believes the owners are abusing their dog because they can hear the dog yelping on a regular basis as if being kicked or hit.”

Police became aware of the alleged squatting when someone reported people posting signs on a vacant property in Normandy Park on Aug. 13, 2013. Normandy Park police responded to the report and saw Smith’s name with another man’s. The signs indicated that Smith intended to occupy the “abandoned” residence. A quick check with the legal homeowners revealed they lost the house after they filed for bankruptcy in October 2011 and they had not given permission for anyone to live there.

Smith and Gaines allegedly filed a “Notice of Adverse Possession Claim of Property,” which stated they posted a “Notice of Intent to Homestead” on the property on Aug. 12, 2013. Because the homeowner didn’t respond, the document stated that it constituted as an “admission of abandonment” and they could claim ownership of the supposedly abandoned property through adverse possession.

The two filed the same documents for a house in SeaTac; however, it was owned by the FNMA or Fannie Mae, and not the previous owners they had sent the documents to. They, too, did not give permission, according to charging documents.

Months later, police found another case connected to Gaines and Smith. The house was a Des Moines property owned by a couple that could not afford their mortgage. They, too, had not given permission for anyone to live in their house.

The King County Prosecutor’s Office Mortgage Fraud Unit and their prosecutors and investigator assisted with the case.

Smith was convicted of possession of cocaine in 2005 and a third-degree driving while license suspended charge in 2008. Gaines was convicted of conspiracy to deliver cocaine in 2013, third-degree theft in 2006 and “numerous” third-degree driving while license suspended convictions throughout the years.