Consumer complaint received 2023-08-23
Company: FIDELITY CAPITAL HOLDINGS, INC
State: SD
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
In XXXX, I moved out of XXXX XXXX XXXX, to move to South Dakota. For many months there were no issues and I checked my email, phone, mail, and credit report regularly. In very late XXXX, however, I noticed a debt collection on my credit report. Knowing I had no such thing, I investigated and found out that XXXX XXXX had sent a debt collector ( Fidelity Creditors XXXX XXXX ) after me. Before leaving, they had made no written or verbal statement telling me that I owed them anything. I had given them all contact info as part of the lease agreement, and so they should have had it on file. Fidelity Creditors also " somehow '' had an incorrect phone number, no email, and an address I had never even heard of on file for me, and thus put me in collections without ever serving me a notice of any sort, nor had XXXX XXXX themselves notified me before or after my departure. This whole process being the result of {$260.00}. I would have paid if I knew I owed it, but I didn't even receive the opportunity. 

Initially over the phone, they informed me that the charges were for " damages to the apartment ''. I did some research and was suspicious so asked for a full itemized deduction list. When I received it, they had instead claimed it was for prorated rent, despite the fact that I had paid for the full month of XXXX at the start of the month and did not stay into XXXX. Additionally, alongside that deduction list was the original lease agreement, in which they in fact do have my phone number listed accurately. As well as this, in their documents they have multiple portions wrong. They have an incorrect date for my departure, ( XXXX vs the actual date was the XXXX ) and note that I skipped on rent despite giving them 30 days notice for my departure verbally alongside a printed form ensuring they had it in writing. I will also note that even since contacting Fidelity Creditors and giving them updated information, they still have been unable to contact me about the debt. I would highly suspect they have not updating their information accordingly due to this, and are in general either unable to or unwilling to maintain accurate records on my case. Their failures to contact me even after my updating their file does not seem befitting of a debt collector attempting to collect debt. One would expect attempts to discuss payment, which has not happened. XXXX XXXX also, despite keeping the security deposit with dubious reasoning ( as I will provide, the apartment was very well kept ), they seem not to be interested in using the security deposit to deduct their expenses from it, and instead demand I pay all expenses despite the purpose of the security deposit being to cover damages. They then, in addition to charging damages, they use a false date ( again, they claim XXXX, when the date was XXXX ), they use this 7 day difference to charge prorated rent?. 7 days during which I had already moved out of the apartment, as such, their charges in prorated rent were specifically for days I had not resided at the apartment, which does not seem reasonable nor accurate. I tried to contact XXXX XXXX for further clarification of this issue, and they would not respond to email or phone, and I tried multiple of each. 

I spoke to a CFBP representative earlier and they informed me that this was in fact unlawful on their part. Both creditor and collector had the means or should of had the means to contact me or find my contact information but either neglected to or chose not to take action to ensure I was notified of this debt. As such my ability to respond to it was not granted and my credit and as a result, my wider finances have suffered through no fault of my own. Included below are some pertinent documents as well as the state of the apartment when I left it.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation