On March 19th, the residents of Amber Overlook received a notice from DC Water informing us that water will be shut off to our residence on April 17th, effectively displacing 100+ residents.
The Amber Overlook Condominium Owners Association is a self-managed homeowners association. Since assuming self-management in July 2020, we have experienced persistent and unexplained water usage and billing issues that continue to this day.
In 2021, the association installed third party meters to track water usage across the condominium, which reflected lower water usage than reported by DC Water. We initiated formal disputes contesting the charges with DC Water to no avail. While a subset of residents have been unable to pay their bills, the majority of residents have consistently paid their bills on time. Unfortunately, since the property is set up on a single master water meter, all residents will be impacted by the shutoff.
Despite repeated efforts to resolve these issues through professional inspections, disputes, government outreach, and financial hardship programs, our current water balance has escalated to $227,000. Our community is not financially capable of paying this amount, nor any significant portion of it.
Our immediate goal is to raise $66,000 to pay on the bill and prevent water from being shut off. This money will also be used to work with specialists to address the underlying cause of the fluctuating bills.
About Amber Overlook
Since 2020, The Amber Overlook Condominium Owners Association has become 75% owner-occupied during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our homeowners are comprised of communities who have historically been displaced from their neighborhoods in DC, which include black homeowners who take great pride in maintaining our community despite limited resources and extraordinary challenges.
We are 100% minority and woman-led, with approximately 30% of households headed by single or solo parents. We are gravely concerned about the impending water shutoff and condemnation of our complex, outcomes that would devastate our residents and displace families who have worked diligently to remain in good standing on their bills.
Your support will be invaluable in helping these first-time homeowners keep their homes, and preventing another injustice from affecting our community.