Mold ~ Bad Checks Foreclosure Unpaid Bills Plage Commissioner

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_http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/bad-checks-foreclosure-unpaid-281745.html_

(http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/bad-checks-foreclosure-unpaid-281745.html)

A _DeKalb County_ (http://g.ajc.com/r/Cj/) commissioner tasked with

overseeing a $600 million budget has written several bad checks and has had her

house foreclosed on and her wages garnished....

Sutton said the bad checks were just one of the problems that resulted

from an ongoing battle with her home insurance company.

Sutton said she was forced to leave her home on Randalwood Court in Stone

Mountain about a decade ago because of an infestation of mold. She said she

has since filed a lawsuit against her home insurance company and the

contractor. She declined to talk about the suit because it is still pending.

“Because of this I had to walk away from my home with nothing but the

clothes on my back,†she said. “I had to start all over from scratch,

buying

furniture, towels, sheets, appliances.â€

In September, Bank of America foreclosed on the three-bedroom house,

according to DeKalb court records.

“Over the years, I managed the best I can. At some point, I had to let the

house go,†she said.

Sutton said she was trying to pay the mortgage while renting another Stone

Mountain home, but she got behind on her bills. The Randalwood home,

valued at $162,000, remains vacant.

The foreclosure was the latest financial problem for Sutton.

“It was a struggle for us emotionally and affected our health being

exposed to the mold,†she said. “Because of that, I did have some setbacks.

Because of that, you lose records, you are unable to track things.â€

Sutton, a single mother, said she had to move her three children four or

five times that year, which only complicated her bill-paying.

Sharon Noonan Kramer