Getting Hosed: Chicago man gets water bill for more than $16,000 for vacant house with no operating utilities
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A $16,000 water bill showed up for a house that has been vacant nearly a decade – and a man on the city's West Side told CBS 2 he didn't know about the bill until he went to sell the house.
And now, he can't sell it until he figures it out with the city. CBS 2's Tara Molina brought his concerns straight to the city's Department of Water Management Wednesday – in another installment of our Getting Hosed series on bogus water bills in Chicago.
The Austin neighborhood home in question is in disrepair. Molina was told no one has lived there since 2013 - and utilities haven't been used since 2015.
But somehow, it was subject to a water bill of more than $16,000.
Glenn Jones inherited the property from his mother. It was his family home.
Jones said since he got a termination letter on the utilities back in 2015, he had assumed he wasn't being billed for them. He said he has paid taxes on the property, and the home has been vacant.
"There's been no one here," Jones said.
Jones set out to sell the house, because he needs to…to make ends meet.
"Senior citizen," he said. "Limited funds."
Only then did he learn about a significant water bill.
"It has accrued to the amount of over $16,000 presently," Jones said.
That was also when Jones he learned there was no water meter on the property.
"Going in, I didn't have any kind of knowledge that it could be that price," Jones said.
Ever since, Jones has been saddled with stress and frustration.
"I'm in the balance," he said. "I mean, I'm in the lurch of having to pay that amount for something - a benefit - that I never used."
A large Chicago law firm took on Jones' case pro bono to try to help in his fight against the Water Department for thousands of dollars billed for water never used. Those thousands of dollars have prevented him for selling the house when he needs the money.
People who work for that firm told us it took two months to connect with a supervisor - and they still don't have answers.
A spokesperson for the city's Finance Department told us: "The Department of Finance (DOF) does not comment on individual accounts. We have reached out to the customer to assist in resolving their water billing issue. We encourage any customer who is struggling to pay their utility bill to enroll in a payment arrangement by calling us at (312) 744-4426 or through our online portal: https://utilitybill.chicago.gov."
Meanwhile, Jones said he is still waiting on that resolution.
"I don't have any definite date or definite time that I may get a call back, or any of that turnaround," he said.
We sent all the information shared with us to the city's Water Department requesting a response. If they get back to us, this story will be updated.
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