A Brooklyn man is fighting to reclaim his home after losing it over an unpaid water bill that he said he didn't know existed, per ABC7.

“It’s my only dream,” 66-year-old Filmore Brown, who bought his home in 1996 and paid off the mortgage in 2019, said. “I don’t want anybody to go through what I’m going through. I cannot eat, I cannot drink, and I cannot sleep.”

Brown said he initially realized something was wrong when strangers attempted to enter his home in the middle of the night. To his surprise, they had legal claim to the property, which had been foreclosed and sold at auction.

According to city records, the unpaid water bill was sold to a lien trust, or a group of private investors. Foreclosure proceedings began in 2020 after interest and fees accrued the bill to $5,000. Brown said he never received a notice.

“I didn’t know, I just would've paid it,” Brown said. “No problem.”

Court documents show that someone at his home was served with legal papers in November 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Brown, who lives in the top unit of his three-family home, maintains that he never got the notice.

Brown's attorneys said he's paid thousands in property taxes and water bills in recent years and wasn't aware that the past due amount had been transferred to the lien trust. The city's two billing systems, one for current charges and one for debts sold to trusts, aren't linked, so the unpaid $5,000 balance no longer appeared on his statements.

“He said he didn’t know anything about this, and I believe him,” attorney Alice Nicholson said.

After decades of work to pay off his home, Brown's attorneys believe the disconnect in the city's billing systems cost him his property.

“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,” attorney Yolande Nicholson said.

According to reports, over 6,800 properties have been placed in lien trusts for unpaid water bills, a majority located in communities of color.

In a statement, New York City’s Department of Finance said it has since implemented reforms:

“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… We strengthened our outreach efforts… and worked with nonprofits and City agencies to conduct door-to-door visits, direct phone calls, and other targeted communications.”

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