(09/26/06) SELDEN - Members of a Mexican-born family are suing their former neighbors and claim racism forced them to move.

Reyna Rojas, a manicurist, says the neighbors said racist things to her family of four. She says they feared for their safety and decided to move. The $65 million lawsuit names Greg Schkoda and others from the Selden neighborhood. Schkoda, meanwhile, denies the claims and says Rojas even gained from leaving Selden. After purchasing her Selden house for $125,000, Schkoda?s attorney says Rojas sold it for about $180,000. The lawyer, Thomas Liotta, also says the Rojas? new home cost them $164,000, which represents a sizeable profit.

Liotta says a countersuit has been filed seeking to recover legal expenses. The trial, expected to last a few weeks, begins Wednesday, September 27th.