DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County condo owner says she was shocked to receive a water bill for nearly $3,000 after months without receiving any statements and now claims her homeowner’s association is preventing a plumber from accessing a key area needed to determine what caused the spike.
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Cynthia Brentley said she went about five months without receiving a water bill from her HOA. When the bill finally arrived in October, she said it showed she owed more than $2,000 for more than 100,000 gallons of water.
“I didn’t know that it was this high until I got it in October,” Brentley said. “If I had known ahead of time, we could have had the plumber out before then.”
Brentley said she lives on a fixed income and cannot afford the unexpected charge. After receiving the bill, she hired a plumber to investigate.
Photos provided to Channel 2 Action News show red clay backing up into her plumbing system, which Brentley said caused her toilet to leak.
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According to Brentley, her plumber suspected the issue may have started after the property’s water meters were changed when the HOA contracted with a private utility company.
The plumber wanted to inspect the full water line to identify the source of the problem, but Brentley said that would require access to the condo’s water closet, access she says the HOA has repeatedly denied.
“Yes, she can check the pressure, but she can’t check the entire system without access to the water closet,” said Caroline Simmons, another condo owner. “In 21 years, no one has ever said we cannot access the water closet.”
Text messages between Brentley and the HOA president show that in October, the president said he could not grant access without an HOA representative present. In November, Brentley said the HOA told her she needed permission from the independent utility company to access the meter.
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Brentley said the utility company told her the HOA has the authority to allow access.
“All I know is I need somebody to come in to assess it to see if there’s a problem,” Brentley said. “And they won’t let me.”
Channel 2 Action News contacted the HOA president, who said he had no official comment regarding Brentley’s allegations and would only agree to speak off the record.
“I’m just asking them to credit the bill,” Brentley said.
The HOA declined to go on the record about why water bills were delayed for months. Brentley said if she had received the bills on time, she believes she could have addressed the problem before the charges grew to more than $2,000.
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