DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Residents of a 100-home condominium community off Interstate 285 and Bouldercrest Road refuse to pay a homeowners association (HOA) they say they never elected.
The HOA issues are reflected in a past due water bill of $5.1 million and $24,000 in unpaid trash service.
Several homes are now pending foreclosure filings from the disputed HOA.
Community in crisis
Several large dumpsters sit in all corners of the Whitehall Forest community, piled with trash including car doors, mattresses, toilets, stoves, and a motorhome.
“From looking in the area, there’s no president, there’s no HOA,” said resident Kadian Green.
Some streets and yards are flooding with cracks in the ground. Many homeowners said it’s a sign of failing infrastructure, a problem reflected in the community’s shared water bill.
DeKalb County confirmed the community has a past due water balance of $5.1 million as of March 2026. A spokesperson said the department works with communities to keep water on, but those costs fall on every county water customer through a shared fund.
“There’s been leaks in the streets ever since I’ve been here,” said homeowner Stephanie Stennett.
With several abandoned homes, residents began boarding them to keep people from trying to live in them.
Dekalb police call records show 162 calls for service to the community from March 2024 to 2026.
“The drug dealing back here is crazy,” Green said. “I have a six-year-old and it’s unsafe.”
Despite the conditions, the community HOA dues are $143 a month. According to the HOA covenants, dues are supposed to cover roof repairs, lawncare, trash, and water.
But many homeowners say they don’t pay because they don’t trust the HOA. “I’m not seeing what you’re doing with my money,” Green said.
Who’s in charge?
Residents say the board appointed themselves. Atlanta News First Investigates confirmed the HOA president, treasurer, and secretary don’t currently live in their Whitehall Forest properties.
Homeowners say they boarded up the secretary’s home to keep people out of it. The abandoned home is the address the HOA is registered to with the Secretary of State.
“I have never had a flier in my mailbox saying, ‘Come to this meeting,’” said resident Barbara Francis. “So how did you get that position? Where are the bylaws?”
“I’ve sent multiple emails asking for the accounting, the books and the bylaws,” said Demond Ford.
Some say they were originally told there was no HOA. “When I purchased my house, I was told that there was no HOA,” Stennett said.
First-time homeowner faces foreclosure
Tatiana Pimentel used her life savings to buy her first home in 2024. Now she faces foreclosure for owing nearly $8,000 in HOA dues that were not disclosed to her when she bought the home.
“I always want to have my house,” Pimentel, who is originally from Brazil, said. “I don’t want to pay rent anymore. For the first time after 25 years in America, I have my house.”
Pimentel spent nearly 25 years in Florida before choosing to buy in Georgia.
“I [was] saving some money to send my son to college, then my son decided to go to [the] Navy,” Pimentel said. “He said, ‘Mom, you can use the money to buy a place.’”
She and her fiancé, Obren Cicmil, bought the home in the Whitehall Forest community without visiting in-person.
A dream townhome, she says, quickly turned into an HOA Nightmare.
ANF Investigation
HOA Nightmares
Atlanta News First Investigates uncovered the lack of oversight for HOAs across the state, leaving families tens of thousands of dollars in debt, with liens on their homes and the possibility of foreclosure/
“[They] want to take my house from me,” Pimentel said.
Pimentel is one of three homeowners and four investment companies that the Whitehall Forest East Condominium Association has filed a lien and foreclosure documents on since July 2025, claiming years of unpaid HOA dues. Seven are still open cases as of March 2026.
Georgia law as of March 2026 allows an HOA to file for foreclosure when a lien exceeds $2,000.
Court documents claim Pimentel is more than four years behind on HOA dues, but she has owned the home less than two years. Her closing documents state the HOA balance was zero dollars at the time of purchase.
The person who signed her closing documents as the HOA president was Antonio Smith. According to state records, Smith was not actually in charge of the association. The name of the HOA on her paperwork is also different. Smith told her to send her HOA dues to a UPS mailbox in Tucker, Georgia.
In addition to this information, Atlanta News First Investigates confirmed there was no active HOA on record when Pimentel purchased her home.
Records from the Georgia secretary of state show the HOA was dissolved in 2021.
Dean Heard, who owns two properties in the community, reinstated the HOA in 2024 and became president, this was one month after Pimentel bought her home, according to the nonprofit records.
Pimentel and Cicmil said once they started calling county code enforcement and police to the neighborhood, they received the past due bill for the previous homeowner.
“We have talked with many people,” Cicmil said. “Nobody wants to help us.”
“I feel I can lose my home, all my savings from my son’s education,” Pimentel said.
Atlanta News First Investigates made repeated attempts to reach Smith for comment and was unable to locate him.
The financial breakdown
Heard denied an on-camera interview but said he took over the HOA to help manage finances.
He said there is no money to fix the community’s problems. He said 60% of homeowners do not pay dues, so he cannot pay the bills or make pipe repairs.
In a community of 100 homes, 40% of homeowners paying $143 a month in dues equates to almost $70,000 a year. But the water bill alone runs between $16,000 and $20,000 per month.
A county spokesperson said the HOA pays about $1,000-$2,000 of its monthly water bill.
When asked at what point the county would shut water off, a spokesperson said, “While the County continues to ramp up disconnections due to non-payment, we are working with communities to address large outstanding balances.”
The county confirmed every DeKalb water customer is helping pay Whitehall Forest’s bill.
In addition, DeKalb County sanitation records show the community owes $24,000 for its trash service as of March 2026.
The county charges $625 a month for sanitation service. Records show the HOA’s last major payment was $1,000 cash in October 2025.
Questions about HOA president’s business operations
Records show twenty-six 911 calls were made to Heard’s properties between 2024 and 2026. Police reports state they responded to a “daycare” and “New Horizons Assisted Living,” a business Heard last registered with the Georgia Secretary of State in 2022.
Calls include behavioral health crises and suicide threats, according to police call records.
Community covenants state homes must be used only as “private residential property … and for no other purpose.”
Atlanta News First Investigates reached out to Heard to ask about his business operations but did not receive a response.
Residents seek help
Homeowners said they’ve tried to contact county departments for information regarding their bills and oversight, but they said they’re told everything is through the HOA.
“You won’t get a dime from me,” Francis said. “If we have to go to the Supreme Court for them to regulate these associations, then that’s exactly what I do.”
Pimentel and Cicmil cannot find an attorney they can afford and do not know where else to go.
Title insurance can protect homeowners in incidents like this. Pimentel said her insurance wants to pay, but she does not think it is fair.
Loopholes in law
In Georgia, homeowner associations file as nonprofits with the secretary of state.
Georgia law allows nonprofits that are dissolved to be reinstated within five years and they can operate as if they never dissolved in the first place.
HOA dues typically transfer with a property and are supposed to be disclosed or paid at closing. This means if a homeowner is told there is no HOA and the HOA is then reinstated. The past five years could be held against them.
Because the Georgia secretary of state does not actually oversee association actions, a homeowner would have to fight their case in court.
Legislation could change the rules
Earlier this week, Georgia’s legislature passed the state’s most comprehensive HOA oversight bill in history.
Now on its way to Gov. Brian Kemp, Senate Bill 406 assigns oversight to the Georgia secretary of state’s office and raise the foreclosure threshold.
If Kemp signs the bill, associations will have to register with the secretary of state and pay a $100 registration fee. The bill requires an HOA to keep 10 years of financial records and submit three years of the documents to the state, allowing the state to deny, suspend, and revoke an HOA registration.
Homeowner complaints and association disputes would go through a “hearing officer.” The secretary of state’s office could make a decision after a hearing and homeowners could end up in court in an appeal process.
When it comes to foreclosures, the bill raises the threshold from $2,000 to $4,000 in unpaid dues. It cannot include fines and fees. Or if a homeowner is not paying any dues for a year, if that amount exceeds $2,000.
If homeowners are trying to pay, they cannot be foreclosed upon. The bill also allows them 90 days to cure the debt before the HOA can file to foreclose.
If there’s something you would like Atlanta News First Investigates to dig into, fill out this submission form.
Atlanta News First podcasts are available now on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | YouTube
Download our Atlanta News First app for your latest news and information.
Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.