Brooklyn Homeowner Loses Million-Dollar House Over Unpaid Water Bill

Foreclosure Due to Unpaid Water Bill

• 🏠 Filmore Brown, a Brooklyn homeowner, is fighting to reclaim his million-dollar home after it was sold due to an unpaid water bill.
• 💸 The outstanding water bill was less than 1% of the property's value, amounting to approximately $5,000.
• 🚨 Brown discovered his home was sold when strangers began drilling off his front door lock in the middle of the night.

Lack of Proper Notification

• ✉️ Brown claims he never received proper warning notices about the outstanding bill or the impending foreclosure.
• 🏙️ The city asserts that paperwork was served at the home during the pandemic, a period Brown describes as a "ghost town."
• 📉 Once the bill was sold to a trust of investors, it was deducted from the city's billing system, making it appear as if it never existed.

Widespread Issue in East Flatbush

• 🏘️ Filmore Brown is not alone; over a thousand homeowners in East Flatbush had their properties put into tax lien sales, with more than half due to unpaid water bills.
• ⚖️ This situation is described as a "grave injustice" by community members and officials.

Legislative Action and City Response

• 🏛️ Council member Chris Banks has proposed city legislation to improve the notification process and prevent water bills from being sold into trusts.
• 📜 State lawmakers previously attempted to pass similar bills without success.
• 💬 The city stated they will review proposed legislation and are working to support homeowners, noting they have implemented reforms to provide more time, information, and resources for property owners to pay debts.

Community and Media Impact

• 🙏 Brown expresses gratitude to the media, his lawyers, and his community for their support.
• 📢 The story went viral, sparking outrage and a rally, which brought attention to the issue and aided Brown's case.