City of Atlanta Cites Billy Tyler For Home He Doesn't Own

ATLANTA -- A former northwest Atlanta homeowner told GA Daily News that he faces thousands of dollars in fines and possible jail time if he doesn't make repairs to a house that he no longer owns.

Billy Tyler said his bank foreclosed on the home two years ago.

"It's not fair. Because I filed for bankruptcy, the bank took it over. And look at it now," said Tyler.

Tyler told Channel 2 reporter Tom Regan that his former family home was in a better condition when he surrendered it after failing to make payments on a loan he took out for renovations.

He said he fell ill and got behind on the $100,000 loan. Last month, the city of Atlanta slapped him with code violations for the decaying condition of the property. He was told that his name was still on the deed.

"I called the bank and told them it was their property. They said they were not going to take my name off because it was not beneficial to them," said Tyler.

Regan contacted a representative of Wells Fargo Bank.

In an email response, the bank said it was looking into the situation to see if an error was made. If so, the matter would be quickly corrected.

Tyler gave Regan a depressing tour of the home.

He pointed to holes in the walls where copper and other metal had been stripped out. New appliances were stolen, and there was evidence that vagrants were staying in one of the bedrooms.

"It's trashed. I grew up in this home. But I got to keep fighting. I can't give up," said Tyler as he choked back tears.

He said he will appeal to have the code violations dropped when he appears in court next month.