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A Georgia couple is fighting to save their first home after a disputed homeowners association bill ballooned to roughly $20,000 — even though closing documents reportedly showed no outstanding balance when they bought the property.
Tatiana Pimentel poured her life savings into a townhouse at the 100-unit Whitehall Forest community in DeKalb County in 2024, hoping to become a homeowner after spending 25 years in the US.
But less than a year later, the Whitehall Forest East Condominium Association moved to foreclose on the property over nearly $8,000 in allegedly unpaid dues, according to Atlanta News First.
The association now claims Pimentel and her fiancé, Obren Cicmil, owe about $20,000 after adding monthly assessments and legal fees, Pimentel told the outlet.
“I have no idea” how the amount became so high, she said.
The association’s original October 2025 foreclosure filing sought nearly $8,000 in dues that Pimentel claims were never disclosed before the purchase. Court documents reportedly claim she is more than four years behind — despite her having owned the home for less than two years.
Her closing documents showed a zero-dollar HOA balance, while state records indicated that the association had been dissolved in 2021 and was not active when she purchased the property, the outlet reported.
Dean Heard, who owns two units in the community, reinstated the HOA in 2024 and assumed its presidency about one month after Pimentel’s purchase, according to nonprofit records cited by the outlet.
But residents told the station they do not recall electing Heard or receiving notice of a community vote. Heard acknowledged that homeowners did not elect him, saying he had been vice president and took over after the board removed the previous president.
The couple struggled to find an attorney willing to handle the case until Candace Sneed, working through DeKalb Pro Bono, agreed to represent them without charge.
Sneed said she was stunned that a homeowner could potentially lose her property over an assessment she had allegedly never known about. Although the organization does not ordinarily handle HOA disputes, she took on the case after private firms declined it.
The couple appeared in court on Aug. 24 and asked for a jury trial. An attorney representing the association opposed the request, and the judge postponed a decision while reviewing the case. Pimentel and Cicmil are due back in court Sept. 23.
Their title insurer has offered a $9,600 check to help cover the disputed dues and prevent foreclosure, but the association is still seeking thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees, according to the report. Pimentel said she is holding the check as a show of good faith while the litigation continues.
The foreclosure battle comes amid a wider financial and infrastructure crisis inside Whitehall Forest.
As of March, the community had accumulated a staggering $5.1 million past-due water balance and owed another $24,000 for trash collection, DeKalb County confirmed to Atlanta News First.
The HOA charges each household $143 per month for water, trash collection, lawn care and roof repairs. But Heard said roughly 60% of the community’s 100 homeowners withhold their dues, while residents maintain they do not trust or remember electing the association’s leadership.
The development’s monthly water charges reportedly run between $16,000 and $20,000, while the HOA pays only about $1,000 to $2,000. Persistent leaks may have added to the costs, although their financial impact remains unclear.
County officials said the unpaid balance is being absorbed by a shared fund supported by all DeKalb County water customers.
Heard maintains that the association has acted according to its bylaws and that foreclosure decisions are made by its attorneys. Sneed, however, said its financial records do not support the debt claimed against Pimentel.
Georgia has since passed a law increasing HOA oversight, but it will not fully take effect until January 2027.
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