Rent Skimming Landlord In Foreclosure Walks Away From 40+ Unit Building Without Running Water, Electicity; Leaves Dozens Of Tenants, Kids Dry & In The Dark

In High Point, North Carolina, WFMY-TV Channel 2 reports:

• “Water should be back on!” A High Point city crew shouted to a resident in front of a row of apartment buildings on North Hamilton Street.
  
  That was all it took to turn a challenging day into a much better one for the tenants occupying more than 40 units on the property.
  
  “We do have water!” Cindy Messer exclaimed as she turned on her faucet. It’s been a long day. Barely 24 hours -- but it feels longer.
  
  “I was trying to cook and there was no water to cook with so if you didn't have something in the refrigerator to eat you just did without unless you want to the store somewhere,” Messer told WFMY News 2.
  
  City crews turned off the water and lights in shared areas Tuesday afternoon to the complex. As night fell, darkness in the hallways -- desperation behind the walls.
  
  “We’ve got about 42 tenants living out here and most of them have three and four children and I guess the fire department over here they were toting water in buckets out here last night so the kids can eat and everything,” Messer said.
  
  The issue is a result of a foreclosure dispute between the former and current owners of the property.
  
  Vivian Thorpe, the current owner who originally sold the property, says, she sold the housing units to S&S Sterling LLC about 6 years ago. For the last year and a half, Thorpe says, the investors weren't paying the mortgage. She filed foreclosure papers on September 30th.
  
  And after a mandatory 10-day upset period, Messer assumed the property Tuesday. It was then, she says, she found out S&S Sterling had left the water, light and gas bills unpaid.
  
  Fees, Messer says, the company was still charging her and other tenants as part of their rent. “They've just been taking the money and running off with it,” Messer said.
  
  And when it came to a head Tuesday afternoon, it left more than 3 dozen unsuspecting tenants dry and in the dark.
  
  “It’s been very upsetting that the city did what they did and just come out here and cut everything off because the tenants didn't have anything to do with this,” she said.
  
  According to city officials, High Point is in a tough situation.
  
  A city spokesperson says S&S Sterling had asked for the water and light to be shut off Tuesday since it was no longer in charge of the property. But the shut off day happened to be the same day Thorpe took over the apartment buildings.
  
  Thorpe explains, as a result of the holiday weekend and documents not being ready at the courthouse, she couldn’t prove to the city she was the new owner.
  
  The city says it couldn't transfer the account to her name because of liability and privacy issues. City officials plan to work with the previous owner to work out the unpaid bills.
  
  Meanwhile, Thorpe is not sure what she wants to do with the property. Calls to S& S Sterling Properties have yet to be returned.

Source: Lag In Paperwork Leaves Tenants Without Water.