Kristina Moore inherited her childhood home in Baltimore after her father’s death. In April, she found a note taped to the door. If she did not pay $228,000 within 45 days, her water would be shut off.
The problem is that the debt is not hers alone. The 37 homes in the neighborhood, part of the Springwood Estates association, share a single meter connected to her address. Each family calculates and pays its share to the HOA, which in turn was supposed to transfer that money to the city’s Department of Public Works. Something in that chain failed, and now Moore is the only one responsible to the authorities.
“I thought it would not be my responsibility to pay”, Moore said, who even discovered that she cannot sell the property until the full debt is paid off. She has already secured a payment plan, but the shutoff warning will remain active until the last cent. Her neighbors are as confused as she is: “It makes no sense at all”, one said. Meanwhile, Moore only repeats that she feels abandoned by the city where she works.
