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Man Finally Evicted From House After Not Paying Mortgage For 23 Years

Man Finally Evicted From House After Not Paying Mortgage For 23 Years

Guramrit Hanspal has been in the house in New York's Long Island for 23 years and only paid the mortgage once.

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

A man who hasn't paid his mortgage for 23 years has finally been booted out of his house as the courts won their battle to evict him.

Guramrit Hanspal has been living in the house on New York's Long Island for decades, and for at least two of those he hasn't paid a single penny towards the mortgage.

The 52-year-old purchased the three bedroom property in East Meadow for $290,000 in October of 1998, putting down $58,000 upon the sale.

Then, he made one mortgage payment of $1,602.37, but never again paid anything towards the house.

It was foreclosed in 2000, and since then the courts have been trying to get him out.

Zillow

Hanspal has filed four lawsuits over the years, as well as filing for bankruptcy seven times and claiming Covid-19 related financial hardship, according to court documents.

Along the way, other occupants of the house have filed for bankruptcy, and the house has changed hands many times before ending up with an investor.

One thing that hasn't changed though is that everyone wanted Hanspal out of the gaff.

Law enforcement agencies have consistently shown up to attempt to remove him, but they've always been met with court documents giving him a reprieve.

Then, Hanspal - who represented himself, along with several lawyers, over the years - would call off the court action, defaulting or refusing to turn out to court.

Zillow

However, the New York Post reported that on Friday morning, the deputies turned up to change the locks, two months after a judge ruled that Hanspal was living there illegally.

After knocking and receiving no response, they entered and spent three hours clearing out the house, which - by the looks of things - was filthy.

Still, Hanspal's lawyer William Friedman says that his client did nothing wrong.

He said: "This is the great American legal system... a man can stay in a house with one mortgage payment and he did not do anything illegal in all those 23 years.

"He's the poster child for a system that has failed.

"He took advantage of the system, he used it and you're blaming him for being bad for using the system. I don't buy that... He's not a bad guy. The system is bad. He played by the rules.

"The system is completely broken. Every damn bit of it."

Zillow

It's not immediately clear where Hanspal and the other residents are just now, but their belongings have been taken and put into storage for 30 days at the expense of current owners Diamond Ridge Partners.

Their attorney Jordan Katz said: "It's a long time coming."

Max Sold, also of the company, said: "While this is a victory for us and we're grateful for the ruling issued by Judge Hohauser, in a sense it's too little too late and the damage has been done,

"I am disappointed that this individual was allowed to lie, cheat, and steal from hardworking taxpayers for greater than 23 years."

Featured Image Credit: Zillow

Topics: Money, US News, New York, Weird