Unpaid Water Bill (Dekalb - Foreclosure Auction)

[Andy Wu]

My fund recently purchased a house from Dekalb foreclosure auction. After we purchased the property, we received a fax from Dekalb county regarding on a $30k+ unpaid water bill that we are responsible for. We ran the title and our DD prior to the auction and this issue did not come up. Anyone know how we can get lower this amount? Or any other ways around it?

[Curt Smith]

Discussions in the Deal makers group of MyGaREIA a local GA REIA said there was a state law passed recently to stop municipalities like Atlanta from attaching to the land a past tenants bill. I don't know the bill number, I know it exists. I looked up our discussion:

http://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2006/36/36-60-...

BTW folks should join a local REIA for more on the ground help.

Sounds like prior to bidding on city of Atlanta property call Atlanta water dept...

Also...

Also, I just read an email today from GAR regarding legislation specifically addressing water liens. I'm not sure if the Governor has signed it yet or when it would go into effect, but hopefully this clears up this sort of problem going forward.

GAR Successfully Establishes Procedure for Water Liens at Closing

In conjunction with the Real Estate Section of the Georgia Bar, the REALTORS® worked with Senator William Ligon to pass Senate Bill 206. Prior to the bill’s passage, water suppliers were not required to properly file and record water liens. As a result, complications with closings became prevalent, as buyers and closing attorneys experienced shock over unknown debt they were expected to assume.

SB 206 mandates that a water supplier provide a notice of outstanding debt within ten days to any real estate agent, closing attorney, owner, tenant, or lender that issues a request for such information. Failure by the water supplier to provide a notice within ten days will cause unpaid charges on the lien to be extinguished and prevents the water supplier from denying service. Current law only allows a water lien to be placed on a property if unpaid charges were incurred by the owner. Additionally, current law prohibits a water supplier from denying service to a residential property for the lapsed payments of a previous account holder. With the passage of SB 206, all current protections remain in law and new protections are created for commercial property owners and tenants if the water provider does not provide the notice of outstanding debt within 10 business days if properly requested.