A man who has been living in a Long Island residence for 23 years, despite only making one mortgage payment, may finally be evicted.
Guramrit Hanspal, 52, purchased the three-bedroom property back in 1998 for $290,000, the New York Post reports. Since then, he has only made one mortgage payment towards the 2,081-square-foot property.
Hanspal was able to buy the house after borrowing money from the now-collapsed Washington Mutual, but he only paid $1,602.37 towards it before the house was foreclosed upon in 2000, the Post reports.
In an effort to remain in the sizable East Meadow home, Hanspal has filed four lawsuits and claimed bankruptcy seven times - taking advantage of the US Bankruptcy Code's "automatic stay" rule.
Now, the Post reported that Nassau County Housing Court Judge William Hohauser has ruled that Hanspal does not qualify for pandemic housing protections, due to the fact that he has been occupying the residence illegally.
The ruling was made on September 14, and could mean that Diamond Ridge Partners - the company that legally owns the property - could finally evict Hanspal.
Hohauser stated last week: "As this matter continued winding its serpentine meandering way through the state and federal court systems."
Hanspal reportedly shared the property with fellow resident Bhagwant Srichawla, and the pair filed for Covid-19 Hardship declarations back in April in an effort to further stave off evictions.
Srichawla died in a car crash back in July, the Post reports.
Judge Hohauser stated that "Diamond Ridge and its predecessors have been waiting for more than two decades" for their turn in housing court, after Hanspal's lawyers argued that other small landlords should be prioritized before them.
The judge has also moved that Hanspal should not benefit from the pandemic's hardship declaration due to the fact he's not a tenant of the property.
Hohauser ruled: "The protections of the Covid declaration would inhere to tenants, but not to those who have no financial obligation."
Hanspal’s behavior, according to the judge, "augurs strongly against any protection".
Diamond Ridge Partners is reportedly "very satisfied" with the judge's decision, per its lawyer Jordan Katz, who added that it will be "immediately enforcing the court’s order and ending this illegal occupancy".
Katz has previously stated that people like Hanspal are "more than willing to use the courts and abuse the courts to whatever extent they need to extend their illegal occupancy."
"Nothing even approaches the length" of time Hanspal has managed to stay in a foreclosed home," he added.
