Consumer complaint received 2021-05-07
Company: TRANSWORLD SYSTEMS INC
State: UT
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
The original creditor, XXXX, was in possession of a security deposit at the end of the lease in XXXX of XXXX and contact information that included my new address ( see attached notice to vacate ), my email ( see attached notice to vacate ), my cell phone number ( see attached notice to vacate ), and emergency contact information from my 2-year tenancy. As an added precaution my mail was also forwarded to my new address ( see attached change of address confirmation from USPS ). According to XXXX costs to repair the apartment exceeded the value of the deposit. When verbally questioned by me XXXX indicated they were unable to reach me with either the itemized list or the bill through the mail. I did not receive a letter at the forwarding address on my notice to vacate or forwarded from my old address through USPS. They claimed they had attempted to mail a letter and that it had been returned. I would encourage you to observe the address on the attached document and confirm that it is indeed a valid address. XXXX confirmed they had not attempted to email or call in the thirty day waiting period before sending the debt to collections, but agreed they should have done so. XXXX then sold the debt of {$910.00} to the Collections agency Transworld Systems on XX/XX/XXXX who never notified me via mail, email or phone that they had taken possession of the debt or that I even had a debt that they were trying to collect. I never received any written communication from Transworld Systems at my new address or forwarded from my old address or any attempts to make contact. I only became aware of the debt and collections attempt after Transworld Systems made a negative mark on my credit report in XXXX of XXXX. I then contacted Transworld Systems directly from the number listed on the credit report to dispute the negative mark and they informed that I needed to speak to the original creditor. I reached out to XXXX who informed me of the reasoning behind the additional charges, explained how they hadn't been able to reach me despite my due diligence, acknowledged they should have put in more effort ( phone/email/the actual address I left them? ), and indicated since they had sold the debt I needed to speak with the collections agency. I then contacted Transworld Systems again to request the negative mark be removed in exchange for payment of the debt since standard procedure wasn't followed and I could not have known about the debt. The collection agency refused these terms by insisting this wasn't their responsibility and that I needed to speak to the government instead. When I repeatedly asked for the department within Transworld Systems that I would need to write a letter to or perhaps a number I could call, the representative I spoke to insisted there was no one at Transworld Systems that could answer my questions and continually insisted the only thing Transworld Systems could do was take payment and that I needed to pay with a debit/credit card. I asked for a mailing address to send a check to, which I received, I wrote and mailed a personal check on XX/XX/XXXX for {$910.00}. The check was cashed ( cleared ) on XX/XX/XXXX ( See attached check image from Bank Statement ). Transworld Systems did not close the account until XX/XX/XXXX, please refer to current credit reports, despite having received the total balance in full within a week of my notification of the debt. Over the last year, I have disputed the negative mark on my credit reports because the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act was not followed, but the negative mark has not been removed by the bureaus despite the blatant disregard of fair debt collection processes. At this point I feel obligated to lodge a formal public complaint against both XXXX and Transworld Systems.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation