Unbelievable Water Bill- Detroit

[Saul L.]

Since I began investing in Detroit a few years ago I cannot get my head around so many things regarding the way things are done over there - but this one definitely is a contender for taking the cake. 

End of April I sold one of my section 8 tenanted homes. This home has had the same tenant continuously since bought about 2.5 years ago. The sale closed and I have received  payment - Title company held the usual $300 in escrow for final water and sewage bill. This has taken about a month to extract from the city and I couldn't believe it when I saw it. The bill is for $5,353 pertaining to usage for 11 days in beginning May ?!?. A search of the billing history shows zero billing on the house every single month since I bought it. 

The only thing I can make of it at the moment is that the city didn't bill, the tenant didn't pay, the PM never checked and someone is going to take a fall (hopefully not me). (Even if this bill is for 2.5 years usage it seems too high?) I cant see the tenant being capable of paying. 

How do you see this panning out ? Can the buyer come back to me considering closing and transfer have taken place and the bill period is post closing ? Have any of you ever run across this kind of situation ? Any insight welcome.