Flint residents who haven’t paid for their poisoned water could be getting some more terrible news

In this Feb. 5, 2016 file photo, volunteers load a vehicle with bottled water at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, in Flint, Mich. Flint’s lead-contaminated water crisis has affected all of the city’s nearly 100,000 residents, but some grapple with an extra challenge: A language barrier. Advocates residents who speak little or no English say some didn’t learn about the water problems - or need for filters - for months after the problems became known. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Over 8,000 residents of Flint, Mich., have been told that they could lose their homes if they don’t pay for their water bills. For the past few months, the state has been paying the water bills for Flint residents; however that program ended in the beginning of March. According to the Washington Post, the lead in the pipes has already been linked to a dozen deaths, and city officials have only recently begun replacing the contaminated pipes.

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RELATED: Flint residents are now being exposed to a contagious bacterial disease as a result of the water crisis

At the end of March, as the first bills were being mailed out, the Toronto Star spoke to a number of Flint residents who said they weren’t going to pay for the water that wrecked havoc on their community. A city spokeswoman told the Post that residents will have until February to pay the bills before they will be forcibly evicted.

RELATED: The first felony charges have just been filed in the Flint water crisis

NBC spoke to one Flint resident who said that if she doesn’t pay $900 by May 19th, a lien will be placed on her property. After that, foreclosure could be the end result. Melissa Mays told the station, “While I understand this is the way the law reads, we are in a totally different situation.”

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