Consumer complaint received 2018-02-23
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: GA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
To whom it may concern : I am writing this letter in an effort to have a negative collections removed from my credit report immediately. I do not believe that this reported information is accurate or substantiated. 

I have been told for months that this charge of {$1200.00} was related to unpaid rent for XX/XX/XXXXAND that I didnt evacuate the unit until XX/XX/XXXX ( according to XXXX XXXX records ). I knew this information was in accurate because I signed a new lease and was living somewhere completely different as of XX/XX/XXXX. I signed a new lease on XX/XX/XXXX with Ga XXXX XXXX. 

After more than 2 1/2 years of living at the property and countless incidents that created bad experiences for me ( complex water being turned off, broken a/c for more than a year, break-ins, neighbors physically fighting consistently, etc. ) I decided that I could no longer stay at the property. I had threatened to leave on many occasions but my daughters school was less than 5 minutes away. And as a single parent, it was just more convenient to stay close to her school and go to work.

I received countless calls and letters on my door asking me to extend my lease. On XX/XX/XXXXI sent a note expressing I would stay until XX/XX/XXXX. 

But after an erroneous, distasteful late payment accusation, several car thefts and consecutive nights of listening to XXXX XXXX, I went to speak with the leasing office to say No More. My lease was ending in XX/XX/XXXX and I did not intend on staying one day over it. I did not feel safe anymore and the community management was poor. 


I was greeted by an agent named XXXX, she was very familiar with me and had me to write down on a paper that she provided the new date of my departure and assured me there was no penalties. It was at this time that I WAS TOLD 60 DAYS NOTICE WAS NOT REQUIRED FOR TENANTS WHO STAYED THROUGH THEIR LEASE TERM. 

She explained 60 days notice was required to break a lease. But this was not the case with me and I would just need to move out before XX/XX/XXXX to avoid any fees. I told her more than likely I would need to stay through the weekend due to my work schedule, but would try my best to evacuate before XX/XX/XXXX. I specifically asked her if there was anything that I needed to do and inquired about the process for a walk through. She said this was optional and based upon staff availability. 

I requested a walk through via email on more than one occasion -- I received no reply. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I rented a XXXX and my daughter and I moved out of XXXX XXXX into a townhome. 

I returned the keys to the property on Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX. I asked XXXX to complete a walk through and was told they were short staffed, and they would be contacting me if there were any concerns. She collected both keys. 

The very next communications I received was regarding unpaid balance from XXXX XXXX XXXX approximately in XX/XX/XXXX. I immediately disputed the charges and contacted the property. 

I could never get an explanation of what happened and the staff was constantly changing and leaving the property so month after month I was retelling my story. 

XX/XX/2017 I drove to the property to have a face-to-face conversation with the manager regarding an explanation of the charge. I spoke with XXXX, who at the time was very helpful. He reviewed the account and showed me a XXXX   balance in the ledger. He confirmed that I had a good payment history, and then he questioned me about the date that I had actually returned the keys. He expressed he showed no record of the keys ever being returned. I told him that I had given the keys to a leasing agent name XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I asked him what we needed to do to resolve this and to prove that I was not living in the unit at this time. He told me to request a letter from XXXX XXXX showing that the electricity was not in my name in XX/XX/XXXX. I did exactly that and XXXX faxed over a letter to XXXX XXXX showing that the utilities were in the properties name in XX/XX/XXXX. 

While there that day, and on several other occasions I requested for a lease to be provided for my review. Till this day I have not received a copy. 

After disputing this with the credit card bureaus, the item was removed from non-response. It is currently there again. 

I reached out to XXXX again, and this time he expressed the {$1200.00} was for liquidated charges for not giving 60 days notice on a lease that was not being renewed. 

I am in the process of purchasing a home and this negative collections is causing me major problems with lenders. I am being told that this {$1200.00} for a landlord debt looks much worse than my student debt from XXXX University. 

At the end of the day I was a good resident and I feel disappointed and dismayed that property would treat me like this, especially given the amount of stuff I endured during my stay. ( See attachment for more details ) Thanks

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation