Bankruptcy, Eviction Troubles for Heritage of India Restaurant

Updated: March 31, 11:34 a.m.

A legal battle between two property owners and a tenant on Main Street escalated Monday afternoon. Police responded to a call from the tenant, Rajinder Singh, owner of the , when a self-proclaimed property owner changed the locks. 

As it turns out, Ola Hassan, owner of next door, doesn't legally own the property yet. Hassan fought a realty company in court to get the property back. An attorney for Blackburne & Sons Realty Capital Corp. said it is likely that a settlement will take place three weeks from now.

"Before I get my property back, I don't want it to be destroyed," said Hassan, a Milpitas resident for 32 years. He said he had spent $2 rebuilding the interior of the historic building that, according to him, was illegally foreclosed. 

"I just want the integrity of the building to be maintained," he said. 

The lease runs out on March 31, but restaurant owner Singh said he is protected by an automatic stay under U.S. bankruptcy laws. So when Hassan did not show any papers or legal documents, he called the police, he said. In response, Hassan said he did not see any paperwork from Singh.

"I just want to basically enforce my rights," said Singh. The locks were still changed.

Singh said he has to call Hassan to unlock and lock the doors, while Hassan said Singh has a key. The point was to reduce the chances of others who may have a copy of the old key from vandalizing or burglarizing the restaurant, said Hassan.

"[Hassan] is engaging in self help," said Madan Ahluwalia, an attorney who has represented Singh in a civil suit in the past. He said Hassan did not get the proper authority under the bankruptcy court to intervene.

The officers talked with both involved parties, and they compromised on the issue as a civil matter, said Sgt. Ron Gordon of the Milpitas Police Department. Singh says officers told him he had no rights, because he had not paid rent, and spent most of their time speaking with Hassan.

Singh has not paid rent for eight months, according to Hassan. But Singh said the $8,500 per month he owes could be taken out of the $30,000 deposit he gave Hassan, when the restaurant was sold in 2009.

The property owner of record, Blackburne & Sons Realty Capital Corp., had started an unlawful detainer proceeding in Santa Clara County Superior Court, according to attorney Mark Isola.

The trial was scheduled for March 24, but Singh filed bankruptcy two days earlier, which kept the case from going to trial, Isola wrote in an email. 

Singh bought the Heritage of India Restaurant and took over the lease in 2009. The former owner, Amit Sach, said he sold the business for $123,000, in which Singh stopped paying the monthly installments in September 2010. 

He took legal action to get the money back; however, Singh later filed for bankruptcy.