A New York man will likely be homeless very soon after dodging his mortgage payments for over two decades.
Guramrit Hanspal purchased the Long Island three-bedroom, 2.5-bath home in 1998 for $290,000. He made one mortgage payment before the house was foreclosed on in 2000. To stay put, Hanspal filed several lawsuits and bankruptcies to delay the foreclosure progress for the past 23 years. Hanspal has sued three separate owners who attempted to evict him.
In a last-ditch effort to remain at the residence, Hanspal and fellow resident, Bhagwant Srichawla, decided to file for COVID-19 hardship assistance, which was designated for tenants hit hard by the pandemic. These protections pause most evictions.
Srichawla died in July, but Nassau County Housing Court Judge William Hohauser has ruled that Hanspal does not qualify for the emergency protections since he has been working diligently to avoid paying his mortgage for years.
Hohauser said in his September 14th ruling that Hanspal’s moves over the years “reflects no payments of any kind for decades, augurs strongly against any protection.”
The home is currently owned by Diamond Ridge Partners, who has made multiple attempts to evict Hanspal to no avail. Lawyers for the man have argued that the judge should prevent Diamond Ridge from skipping ahead of landlords waiting their turn in housing court. However, Hohauser slammed their rebuttal as Diamond Ridge waited to reclaim the home for over 20 years.
Diamond Ridge says that they will be enforcing the judge’s ruling immediately.
