New York State Man Hasn’t Paid His Mortgage In Over 20 Years

Talk about sticking it to the system. Here is the case of a man who's been living for free for many years and apparently he can't be evicted. You may refer to him as a hero, or perhaps a con artist, but the fact remains that this New York state hasn't paid his mortgage in over 20 years. And now with the effects of COVID-19 backing up the whole court process, it doesn't appear he's going anywhere anytime soon.

The NY Post says that the 52-year-old East Meadow man "bought" (or maybe, just occupied) the house back in 1998, and then made only one payment on it. Fox Business says that the bank foreclosed two years later. However, four lawsuits and seven filed bankruptcies later, the same man is still living there for free without a care in the world. Did we also mention that two separate banks and a real estate company have owned the 2,081 square foot home since this all began? This is where it really turns into a complicated legal mess.

The Post says this crafty Long Island man is not the only person who's claimed to have lived there. Reports indicate that at least three other people listed the three-bedroom home as their address, and they've also reportedly filed for bankruptcy at one point. A big factor playing into their favor is the US Bankruptcy Code’s “automatic stay” rules, which temporarily blocks foreclosures. Fox says the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office even ordered him to vacate the house in 2010 but to no avail.

Just when the system thought they had him in a corner and were ready to give him the boot, here's come a major pandemic. The Coronavirus and the subsequent non-eviction policies have put the courts' never-ending battle to evict this man on hold once again for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, for his sake, his landlords don't resort to desperate measures like this one did back in February.