A Brooklyn man has lost his fully paid-off $800K home over an unpaid $5,000 water bill he didn’t even know existed. Filmore Brown purchased his home in 1996 and paid off the mortgage in 2019. He claims he never received notices about the outstanding bill and was unaware of it until strangers tried to enter his home in the middle of the night. The city sold the debt to a trust, which initiated foreclosure proceedings leading to the auction of his property. Brown is now speaking out, calling the situation a “slap in the face” and a “profound injustice.” Local lawmakers are rallying behind him, calling for reforms to prevent similar incidents in the future
一位布鲁克林男子因一笔他甚至不知道存在的 5000 美元未付水费而失去了他完全付清的 80 万美元房产。Filmore Brown 于 1996 年购买了他的房子，并于 2019 年还清了抵押贷款。他声称他从未收到关于该未付账单的通知，直到深夜陌生人试图进入他的家时才意识到此事。城市将债务出售给了信托机构，该机构启动了强制执行程序，导致他的房产被拍卖。Brown 现在正在发声，称这一情况是“当头一棒”和“严重的 injustice”。当地立法者都在支持他，呼吁进行改革以防止未来发生类似事件
Brooklyn man lost his fully paid $800K home after a $5K water bill was quietly sold into an anonymous investor-run trust. Hidden from his statements, the debt let the trust foreclose and auction off his house without his knowledge.
布鲁克林一名男子在 5 千美元的水费被悄悄卖给一个匿名投资者运营的信托后，失去了他全款购买的 80 万美元房产。该债务未被列入他的账单，信托因此得以在不知情的情况下对他进行强制执行并拍卖房屋。
He bought his home back in 1996 and paid off the mortgage in 2019. He says he didn’t know he had an unpaid water bill for $5,000.
他在 1996 年买下了这所房子，并在 2019 年还清了抵押贷款。他说他不知道自己有一笔 5000 美元的未付水费。
“I didn’t know, I just would’ve paid it,” he said.
“我不知道，我本来会付的，”他说。
The city takes action against people who have larger unpaid tax or water bills, selling the unpaid bills to a trust, or group of investors. It’s then up to those investors to collect the money, with interest. If the balance isn’t paid, the home can go into foreclosure and be bought at auction.
城市对那些有较大未付税或水费的人采取行动，将未付账单出售给信托或一组投资者。然后由这些投资者来收回款项，并计算利息。如果余额未支付，房子可能会被拍卖并进入法拍程序。
That’s exactly what happened to Mr. Brown.
那正是布朗先生遇到的情况。
“It was stolen from me,” he said.
"它是被偷走我的东西，"他说。
New York City’s Department of Finance said they sent numerous notices, warning Brown of a pending lien.
纽约市财政部门表示他们发送了多次通知，警告布朗即将被查封资产。
Brown says he didn’t receive them.
布朗说他没有收到这些通知。
Court documents show the investors served someone at his home with papers in November of 2020 during the height of the pandemic. The documents announced that they were initiating foreclosure proceedings.
法院文件显示，投资者在 2020 年疫情期间的高峰期，于 11 月将文件送至他的家中。文件宣布他们开始启动法拍程序。
Mr. Brown claims he didn’t get the notice. He lives on the top floor of a three-unit home and rents out the lower two units to other families.
布朗先生声称他没有收到通知。他住在三单元住宅的顶层，将下面两个单元出租给其他家庭。
“I would’ve paid it, no problem,” he stated.
"我会支付的，没问题，"他说。
“He said he didn’t know anything about this and I believe him,” said Brown’s attorney, Alice Nicholson.
布朗的律师爱丽丝·尼科尔森说：“他说他对此一无所知，我相信他。”
The attorneys working on Brown’s case said he has paid thousands of dollars in current taxes and water bills since his bill went into the trust.
处理布朗案件的律师表示，自从他的账单被转入信托后，他已支付了数千美元的现行税款和水电费。
“He just paid a water bill this year in the thousands of dollars, so it’s just heart wrenching,” said attorney Yolande Nicholson.
"他今年刚支付了一笔数千美元的水电费，这真是太令人心碎了，"律师约兰德·尼科尔森说。
Nicholson said once his old bill was put into the trust, it didn’t show up on his current bills. The two payment systems aren’t connected.
尼科森表示，一旦他旧的水费账单被转入信托，就不再出现在他当前的水费账单上。这两个支付系统并不相连。
“There needs to be some type of notification that there’s another bill out there that needs to be paid,” Nicholson said. “There needs to be more done to make sure that these hardworking older people who paid off their mortgage and have fixed incomes don’t get into that kind of rut.”
尼科尔斯说：“需要某种通知，表明还有另一笔账单需要支付。”他补充道，“需要采取更多措施，确保那些辛勤工作、已还清抵押贷款且收入固定的老年人不会陷入这种困境。”
There are more than 6,800 that have been put into the trust for not paying water bills. Our ABC data team found a majority of them live in communities of color.
有超过 6800 人因未支付水费而被列入信托名单。我们的 ABC 数据团队发现，其中大多数居住在少数族裔社区。
A spokesperson with the city’s Department of Finance sent this statement in response to Brown’s story:
市财政部门发言人就布朗的报道回应称：
"Our goal is never to see a homeowner lose their property. Last year, we implemented reforms to specifically prevent unfortunate situations like this from happening, by giving property owners more time, information, and resources to resolve their debts. For this year’s lien sale, we strengthened our outreach efforts to make sure we reached as many owners as possible, working with non-profit groups and other City agencies to conduct door-to-door visits, direct phone calls, and other targeted communications.
我们的目标永远不希望看到房主失去他们的房产。去年，我们实施了改革，通过给予房主更多时间、信息和资源来解决他们的债务，以防止此类不幸情况发生。对于今年的产权拍卖，我们加强了宣传力度，确保尽可能多地联系到房主，与非营利组织和市其他部门合作，进行逐户拜访、直接电话联系和其他有针对性的沟通。