Consumer complaint received 2020-05-05
Company: I.Q. DATA INTERNATIONAL, INC.
State: RI
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged

Complaint:
My daughter and her friend moved to XXXX, TN to begin their XXXX  careers working at an XXXX-city XXXX XXXX. They entered into a Lease, with myself as a co-signer, with XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX @ XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX. on XX/XX/XXXX. To my knowledge there were never any issues with them paying their rent during the time leading up to lease end. Towards the end of their XXXX  program, they decided to leave XXXX and not continue the lease for another year. On XX/XX/XXXX they met with someone at the Property Office to give them notice of their decision. Notice to Vacate is attached. At the time, the woman they dealt with told them ... '' they will be all set ''. And subsequently a walkthrough of the apartment was performed with no issues. When my daughter returned home from XXXX, I had her reach out to XXXX XXXX to confirm that financially " they will be all set ''. She placed several calls that went without a call back, so on XX/XX/XXXX @ XXXX she sent an email to " XXXX XXXX '' indicating that she was concerned about not getting any closing paperwork and was writing to be sure " no monies are due and the lease is considered final ( closed ) ''. 

The next communication we received was from a company called IQ Data International. After looking them up, it's clear that they have a long history ... .and not a good one, so I'm certain you are aware of them! If not, you're welcome. I personally received a call, during work hours no less, from someone at IQ Data telling me I owe money and that if I don't pay they would damage my credit rating ... and I had to pay that day. The total they said was {$3100.00} ( or so ) which come to find out later included all sorts of fees and other charges. I can't exactly say what day this was but it was before XX/XX/XXXX because there were several calls, with each escalating in threats in the form of screaming over the phone and questioning my financial moral fiber, and I have a dated hand-written document ( from a conversation they had with my wife ) which indicates loosely what I supposedly owed. They said they couldn't provide me with the actual lease document or anything else that would prove their claim ... which seems strange. They also mentioned that the Leasing company, XXXX XXXX, wouldn't help either because they turned the debt over to IQ Data. I dealt with a XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX ... they like to mix it up and for good reason I'm sure. 

I did some work on my end and finally called the folks at XXXX XXXX sometime in early XXXX. After discussing the issue with XXXX, who I believe may be the Property Manager on site, she offered to send me all the documents pertaining to my daughters lease ( that I'm aware of ) even though IQ Data said they wouldn't. XXXX did say there was nothing she could do beyond that since it was now in IQ 's hands. I received a copy of the lease, a financial ledger of the girls ' account, and a Notice to Vacate form that was signed by both girls. The Notice to Vacate is important because IQ said that part of the fees were for early termination without notification. Not only did they provide notification, it was provided before the 60-days spelled out in the lease. It appears with the understanding that the lease would be paid to term, which would have been XX/XX/XXXX or thereabouts ... but no more than 1-more month rent due. This was never discussed with the girls, but I later saw it in the legal documents. In addition, given these facts, the ledger shows the amounts being written off ( and I suppose sold to IQ Data ) on the final day of the lease XX/XX/XXXX. This is strange because my daughter has written proof that she email ( described above ) on XX/XX/XXXX making sure no monies were due. All they had to do was contact her or myself -they had both phone numbers on file. Instead -what they apparently did was send US Mail to the apartment that they knew was already vacated! We found this out after the fact. 

I want to be clear that this would have been a whole lot easier if people at XXXX XXXX responded to phone and email messages -but they didn't. And part of me feels like this is just easier on their end ... dump the debt to an IQ and write it off or whatever. Problem solved! Who cares if it destroys someones ability to secure credit -that 's an issue someone else will have to worry about. That attitude would make any decent bill-paying citizen, with excellent credit by the way, feel justified in not feeling obligated to pay a debt. 

Nonetheless, I made an attempt to resolve this through the only channel we had ... IQ Data. On XX/XX/XXXX I submitted an offer to XXXX XXXX ( XXXX, not sure how she fits in ) in the amount of {$1500.00} to settle the claim and restore my credit -which was and still is impacted. This was refused. Another offer was emailed on XX/XX/XXXX in the amount of {$1600.00}. This was also refused. On XX/XX/XXXX a THIRD AND FINAL offer of {$1800.00}. They called again, while I was at work, and I asked them to mail their response to me rather than have them try to verbally intimidate me. That response never came -so they rejected my Third and final offer. 

In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX I finally received a letter from IQ Data XXXXthis stating I now owed {$3400.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX I responded with a letter using certified US Mail. In this letter I detailed the facts of this case and made one more attempt to bring a closure to this attack on my near-perfect credit rating. I offered {$1800.00} to settle all disputes in exchange for a general release. I have still yet to hear anything back from IQ Data. 

Clearly, they don't want to work this out. I am suggesting that someone from the CFPB work to restore my credit rating -I will gladly go to any court in America to settle this case and put my reputation up against theirs. But even that would be too good for these people at this point. I wish I was writing to you to say that this really hasn't impacted me very much -but it has. It has caused some financial hardship to me and my family ..hardship that wasn't necessary. I pay my bills. In fact, we even reach out to people to be sure our bills are paid! Given these facts -I want this put to an end and at this point I don't feel I owe them anything. I am willing to provide any information you require but would like to discuss this first -I 'm not comfortable providing ANY information to IQ Data, especially any that is personal in nature. Thank you in advance for your help and consideration.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief