For Filmore Brown, a Brooklyn resident, owning his home was the embodiment of the American dream. He worked seven days a week for more than 20 years to pay it off.

"It's my only dream," Brown said in an interview with WABC-7.

That dream unraveled when he discovered strangers attempting to enter his house in the middle of the night. To his shock, they had a legal right to be there — his home had been sold without his knowledge.

"I don't want anybody to go through what I'm going through," Brown said to the outlet. "I cannot eat, I cannot drink, and I cannot sleep."

Brown purchased the home in 1996 and finished paying his mortgage in 2019. But he says he was unaware of a $5,000 water bill left unpaid.

"I didn't know, I just would've paid it," he explained.

In New York City, when tax or water bills go unpaid, they can be sold to a trust or group of investors. Those investors then attempt to collect the debt with interest, and if it remains unpaid, the property can be foreclosed on and sold at auction. That’s what happened to Brown.

"It was stolen from me," he said.

The city’s Department of Finance said Brown was sent multiple notices warning of the lien. Brown, however, insists he never received them.

Court records show that in November 2020, during the height of the pandemic, foreclosure documents were served at his address. Brown, who lives on the top floor of his three-unit property and rents the lower floors, maintains he never saw them.

"I would've paid it, no problem," he said again.

His attorney, Alice Nicholson, agrees. "He said he didn't know anything about this and I believe him," she said.

Brown’s legal team argues that he continued paying thousands of dollars in current taxes and water bills even after the old debt was sold to the trust. But because the city’s billing systems are not connected, the outstanding bill no longer appeared on his statements.

"He just paid a water bill this year in the thousands of dollars, so it's just heart-wrenching," attorney Yolande Nicholson told the outlet. "There needs to be some type of notification that there's another bill out there that needs to be paid. There needs to be more done to make sure that these hardworking older people who paid off their mortgage and have fixed incomes don't get into that kind of rut."

Data shows that more than 6,800 properties have been placed into the trust for unpaid water bills, with most of them located in communities of color.

In response, the Department of Finance said:

"Our goal is never to see a homeowner lose their property. Last year, we implemented reforms to specifically prevent unfortunate situations like this from happening, by giving property owners more time, information, and resources to resolve their debts. For this year's lien sale, we strengthened our outreach efforts to make sure we reached as many owners as possible, working with non-profit groups and other City agencies to conduct door-to-door visits, direct phone calls, and other targeted communications.

Homeowners have several options for resolving their debt with the City, whether it's related to property taxes, water and sewer charges, or other municipal charges. This includes property tax exemptions for eligible residents, flexible payment plans, and other forms of assistance. Our priority is to connect property owners with these resources early, so they can protect their homes and avoid the lien sale altogether."