Allegedly racist LI squatters officially booted after not paying mortgage for over a decade — but leave a wreck behind

Metro

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By Georgett Roberts, Dennis A. Clark and Kathianne Boniello

Don’t let the door hit you in the rear.

Allegedly racist Long Island squatters who apparently hadn’t paid their mortgage in more than a decade and repeatedly gamed the court system have finally gotten the boot.

On Wednesday, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office arrived to change the locks on the Friendly Lane home in Jericho after the Chawla family won their 23-month legal battle to evict Barry and Barbara Pollack.

“We got it!” owner Bobby Chawla told The Post of the successful eviction.

“The sheriff handed us over the document finalizing the eviction and it was just an amazing sense of relief,” Chawla, 32, told The Post. “These last two years have just been so exhausting for me battling the Pollacks in court and I am just excited to finally move on.”

He is now faced with the deplorable condition the four-bedroom, two-bath house was left in.

The basement is soaked and smells “rancid,” the home’s oil tank is empty, the boiler needs $550 in repairs, and the garage is littered with debris.

Chawla, together with his family, bought the home at a bank auction for $762,200 in February 2022, intending to give it to Chawla’s now-pregnant sister, Gege, and her husband.

Barry and Barbara Pollack, both 72, purchased the 1,536-square-foot split-level in September 1990 for $255,000 before falling into financial trouble.

The couple was foreclosed on twice, dragging out one of those proceedings by asking for 13 delays over 11 years before the house was auctioned.

Once the home went on the block, the Pollacks turned to bankruptcy court, filing seven times but failing to follow through, pay court fees, or respond to court requests, records show.

Chawla accused the Pollacks of filing “skeleton” bankruptcy filings. A judge eventually barred Barry Pollack from filing any more bankruptcies.

Oddly, among the items the Pollacks left behind was a statement showing the Pollacks had more than $58,000 in the bank last month.

“I never felt fully confident I would get my house back today,” Chawla said of Barry Pollack. “I was definitely concerned that he would pull some new scheme to stay in the house. Only once the sheriff handed us the document confirming the completion of the eviction, did I truly feel that the home was in our possession.” 

Amid several clashes with the Chawlas, Barry Pollack was caught on video telling Bobby Chawla, whose parents are from India, to “Go back to Pakistan.”

A moving truck appeared in the driveway last month after the Pollacks’ alleged abuse of the court system was exposed by The Post.

Though he seemingly left, a neighbor who didn’t want to give their name said Pollack returned several times a day and would leave notes on their car in which Pollack apparently wrote that his “life was over.”

“Like he was a cat or dog marking his territory,” the neighbor said. “When I brought it to the police attention they said it didn’t rise to the level of harassment. …Why I was the lucky recipient I don’t know.” 

Barry Pollack, who also left one of his vehicles parked on the block, did not return a message seeking comment.

Chawla, who credited The Post for getting the Pollacks out of his home, wants to see laws changed to address squatters.

“The reality in New York is that there is no real way to combat the issue of squatters or non-paying tenants who are abusing the system.  I wish they would make a change and fix it,” he said.