DeKalb Co. man bought foreclosed home, floored by $71K water bill from previous owner

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A Dekalb County homeowner says he was hit with a more than $71,000 water bill on a home he purchased out of foreclosure.

“I had to look at it several times. I’m like, this can’t be real,” Charles Holmes told Channel 2′s investigative reporter Justin Gray.

But Holmes says things got even stranger when he reached out to Dekalb County to get information about that massive bill.

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“They say they couldn’t talk to me because I wasn’t on the bill, that it was the previous owner’s debt. And because of privacy reasons, I couldn’t discuss the bill,” Holmes said.

Holmes reached out to Gray after finding himself in that Catch-22.

He was told he’s on the hook for the debt, but can not see the details of the bill and what caused it to grow that big.

“You want me to pay it? But yet we can’t discuss it. It makes absolutely no sense,” Holmes said.

Holmes says when his work crew went in to clean up the house, he realized there was no water and contacted Dekalb County to have the water put in his name and turned on.

“They said that they can’t turn the water on without this $71,000 water bill being paid, and I was floored,” he said.

The email he received from Dekalb said “There is an unpaid balance on that property and an active Lien by the County for the balance of $71,846.45. The Lien must be satisfied before service can be provided.”

Holmes says for three weeks he tried to talk to Dekalb about the debt and get details on the water bill but got nowhere.

After Gray reached out to Dekalb County, Holmes says a representative called him to discuss the bill and create an account for him.

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Dekalb County tells us, “A new water account has been established for the customer, and water service will be turned on once the county has proof of completed repairs and there are no leaks.”

Dekalb says Holmes must provide proof of purchase of the home and have the existing leak fixed.

Holmes says he is now hoping to negotiate down that $71,000 bill after making the repair.

“You feel funny paying someone else’s debt, but it kind of comes with the territory. But not to this degree,” Holmes said.

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