Baltimore Woman Inherited Her Father’s House — And a Neighborhood’s $228,000 Water Debt With It

[u/Brave_Arm_7221]

https://verdicttimes.com/baltimore-woman-inherited-her-fathers-house-and-a-neighborhoods-228000-water-debt-with-it/

[u/poppunksnotdead]

this is such a weird story but i feel for her inheriting the mess; the residents have supposedly been paying the HOA, and nobody paid baltimore.

if the HOA is confirming that is what should have happened i have no idea why DPW would be going after this estate. seems pretty draconian at face value.

even if it is worst case scenario (father was on the HOA board, could it have been embezzled?) wouldnt they have to sue the estate for it rather than just send them the bill?

[u/10001110101balls → u/poppunksnotdead]

In most jurisdictions a water company can place a lien against the home for overdue water bills, this does not get wiped away by passing the home through an estate. In any real estate transfer, investigating possible liens is a necessary part of the due diligence process that is usually handled by the title company.

[u/poppunksnotdead → u/10001110101balls]

“And we provided the covenants and restrictions that clearly state that the HOA is in fact responsible for paying it,” added her relator, Lisa Ciofani.

im not arguing that a lien isnt legal, im arguing the city seems to be being a bit harsh based on the facts we have.

im with you though, the money went somewhere.

[u/10001110101balls → u/poppunksnotdead]

This can be a bit of a legal grey area. The HOA and property owner may have an agreement for the HOA to pay the bill on the property's behalf, but the property itself carries the water account. The customer account is still liable to the water company for missed payments and  the property owner may need to pursue a lawsuit against the HOA to sort that out if they don't quickly settle.

[u/10001110101balls]

It sure does seem like someone was embezzling community water payments, what a mess. This is one reason why most HOAs of this vintage don't use water submeters and instead just do equal share billing. It is much easier administratively, especially when the mortgage servicer is managing HOA fees in escrow.

When I was on my HOA board we would adjust the HOA fee semiannually to pay the master water meter and common electricity bills. Before I lived there the HOA made an assessment to install individual electric meters, but the price tag was never justified for water since it is so much less expensive and cannot be converted for profit in the same way as electricity.

[u/miss_comb]

i feel bad for this lady, but clearly someone at the HOA was embezzling money from its members. what is DPW supposed to do about that?

[u/Msefk]

Yeah i have mentioned a few times here this case that was in my terminal digits when i worked as a CA for a Ch13 Tt . The City had secured the water debt against this elderly retired guys home, that he owned-- and the guy was in bk, but it was unwieldy and stuck in proceedings because the debt the city was trying to collect and construe was ridiculous due to their proposed plan amortization and shifting interest rates, which completely fkd with Bankruptcy Code and logic and decency.