aprilegan2007 Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 The problem I am having is with an apartment management company. We moved out of there in Sept. 2005. June 5th I recieved a notice in the mail from a collection agency saying I owed this apartment complex $1600!!!! This is the first I have heard of this debt! Our account was at zero when we moved out and they gave us a good landlord reference and everything. Not only did they not send us our deposit in the allotted 45 days, but I heard nothing from them until I got this collection letter! I called the collection agency immediately (only found this website two days ago, so I didn't know the proper steps to follow) and told them the story. The guy was very helpful and put in my file that I did dispute the debt and it is currently on my credit report as disputed. Problem is, that was June 5th! We are now applying for apts. and this issue keeps coming up. I called the collection agency again today and he put me on hold while he called them. When he got back on, he said they have to dig my file up out of a basement at corporate and that the lady in charge of it is on vacation and said it will be another 14 business days before she gets back to it. So, she hasn't provided me or the collection agency with any validation of the debt. What do I do now?!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elyse449 Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 I can't tell you how many times I've heard this happen to folks! Not only do they NOT get their deposits back BUT they don't even get notification of why and what was done with those funds! GRRRR!!!If it were me, the first thing I'd do is write a formal letter requesting complete validation of this debt and include a dispute within this letter. Send it to the collection agency via CMRRR immediately. Once you receive the green card back indicating that they've received the notice, dispute this tradeline w/ ALL three credit bureau's. Please make sure to go over your landlord/tenant laws for your area/state. In many cases, they're suppose to forward to you your check w/ in a certain period of time OR they're suppose to notify you of WHY you aren't getting your check back, what the funds were spent on, etc. Do you have photos of your apt upon move out? Did you do a final walk-thru w/ the mgmt?? Gosh I hate it when this crap happens...but they aren't suppose to be allowed to use deposit monies for "normal wear and tear." Anyway, make sure you review those laws for your state carefully.I'm sorry for what you're going through, but the lesson here is COVER YOUR BUTT from now on. ALWAYS do the initial walk-thru upon move in and a final walk through upon move out...and include a neutral witness and take photos of the apartment upon move out. Do whatever you gotta to protect yourself. Another thing that gets folks is not reviewing their lease paperwork carefully. Sometimes there are terms for deposit forfeiture.Elyse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razr Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 Of course DV the CA. Also...Tenant-Landlord law in this case is your best friend. Look it up for your state. Generally, landlords must return your security deposit or tell you why not within 30 days. As long as you left a valid forwarding address, you prob. have a case against them.-r Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aprilegan2007 Posted March 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 Well, what I ended up doing was contacting the CA by phone ( i know!) and telling him the whole story. He told me what papers I needed to send him that disputed the debt. Well ,I did and I heard nothing for a few weeks. Then I called him again (by this time I had established that he was decent enough and had helped me enough the first time that I was willing to try it again) He was very adamant about his company not wanting to report false information to credit bureaus. He contacted the old landlord, she told him she would send him proof of the debt. It was aparently in a basement in their corporate office. He told her she had 30 days to produce the proof. Well, I called him on the 30-day deadline, he said he had not recieved any proof from her and would immediately remove it from my credit report. I then checked the credit report and sure enough it was removed!!!!!! YAY!!!My next question is, should I call the guy back and get him to send me something so I have documentation that this debt was not valdated and removed from my credit report? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shae Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I'm new to all of this, but I would get something in writing because you never know this will come up again. Always have something to CYA...(in other words - COVER YOUR BUTT). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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