unable to transfer internet to new house, previous occupant's account still active

I just bought a house (yay!) and move in next week. I've been an AT&T customer for over a decade and want to transfer internet to my new house, but because the previous occupant did not turn off their service before moving out and it is weirdly still active, AT&T won't allow my service to transfer because only one account can be active at a given address.

I have called multiple times to tell them that I now own the house and that the previous occupants are definitely not there, but I was told that it was my responsibility to contact the active account holders to turn their service off. I explained repeatedly that I don't know them and have no way of contacting them. The last conversation I had was with a really condescending agent in the customer retention department who said, "I respect your decision if you do not want to stay with AT&T for internet services," when I said at the start of the conversation that I did not want to leave AT&T, I just need internet in my new house, which I OWN and can confidently say that NOBODY is currently living in or using the internet in.

My partner and I both work for the local health department and are mainly working from home, and especially in a pandemic, it is NOT an option to not have internet when we move in next week because we will be unable to do our jobs. I am going to try and plead my case in-person later today, but honestly I am nearly in tears by how frustrating this process has been. Can anyone PLEASE let me know if you have been successful in getting your service transferred in this scenario or do I need to look into a different internet provider?