Consumer complaint received 2019-05-08
Company: HW Holding, Inc
State: GA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
Over final rent statement was forward to Hunter-Warfield. During a previous discussion with them it was confirmed that approximately {$920.00} of our final rent bill was paid via money order to the original creditor XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX. The collection agency put the account a dispute status in order to confirm the balance and get an updates statement from the original creditor. The update invoice took some time to get to the collection agency, but onXX/XX/ I received an update statement via US mail from the collection agency requesting a balance of {$220.00}. I contacted the agency because I was unclear of the balance and wanted to confirm that the utility charges on the remaining balance were correct. A second dispute was requested and the collection agency agreed to verify and request a breakdown of the utility statement from the apartment complex. During this conversation I was told that my collection account would accrue interest at a daily rate while the dispute was being processes. When I asked where the interest was from and how could they charge me interest, I was informed that my apartment lease stated that interest would be paid on late payments. I reviewed my lease and saw that the only fees accessed on late rent and past due payments were {$150.00} late and after 3 days another {$100.00} fee plus any fees associated with an eviction. I argues this issue and spoke with a manager who state that it was in my lease which authorizes the collection agency to charge interest on a collection balance. 

On XX/XX/XXXXat approximately XXXX I contact the original creditor XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX to inquire about the interest on late payments in the lease and the collections agency to charge interest. I was informed by the leasing agent that XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX does not charge interest on late or past due rent even when it is in collections. The leasing agent stated that the only fees stated in the lease include {$150.00} late and an additional {$100.00} late fee after three days plus applicable eviction processing fees. She then stated that the collection agency was a third party hired to collect the balance due to the leasing company only. The leasing agency stated that they still own the debt and use a third party to collect on pass due accounts. 

At approximately XXXX I called the collection agency Hunter-Warfield to inquire about the interest on my past due balance and the updated invoice and break-down of the utility fees. The debt collection agent stated that the interest was able to be charged based on my original agreement between the leasing agency and I. When I told the agent that I spoke with the leasing agent and that was false, he then quickly stated that the interest was based on an agreement between the collection agency and myself. I informed the agent that I never entered into any contract with the collection agency and I requested a document which permits lawfully the ability for the collection agency to charge interest. The conversation ended.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation