Close to Home..Man accused of trying to sell home he didn't own

by TONYA MOSLEY / KING 5 News

SHORELINE, Wash. - Zael Zura has a lot of work to put into his new house, but that's OK. All that matters is that he and his fiancé can call their little yellow house, home.

"We're in. We're working on the house. It's our home now," said Zura.  It was a different story last month.  "We were freaking out," he said.

Zura and his fiancé were about to close on the house when something unbelievable happened. Someone had moved into their house.  "I said 'how'd you get in?' They said 'Jim came in and let us in. We rented it from him.'"

The Jim he's talking about is James McClung. McClung was involved in another case out of Kirkland where people were arrested for moving into a multi-million dollar house that was in foreclosure.  "You can't have something for nothing and the guy is just a con artist as far as I'm concerned."

According to court documents, McClung's friend was the previous owner of the home and let it go into foreclosure. After Zura confronted McClung, the renters left and, in a bold move, McClung tried to sell Zura the house he was already buying.

"First, it was really hard just talking to him. Anybody who wasn't born under a rock is just like 'What?'" said Zura.  Zura is now the rightful owner, but online, the house is still listed for sale under McClung's name.  "The guy is not even a real estate agent. The fact that his name is tied in with our house and his scams makes me very, very angry."   Angry, but also relieved that McClung may soon be behind bars.

"We got the house. We got the tree up, so there's a lot of work to be done and we're pretty happy," said Zura.  There's now a warrant out for McClung's arrest. Neighbors told us he moved out of his Edmonds home months ago and might be in California. His mother told us over the phone the charges are bogus.