Consumer complaint received 2023-06-15
Company: Rowland Avenue Management, Inc. A/KA Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC d/b/a Genesis
State: WA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
We were renting an apartment from a company called XXXX which is owned by a parent company named XXXX. Brio is located in XXXX, WA. The headquarters for XXXX is located at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CO XXXX. 

After our lease ended and we moved out, we were given an invoice on XX/XX/2022 that totaled {$4400.00}. We were astounded by how large this invoice was. The largest charge was for the replacement of all the window blinds ( roughly 10 windows ). The claim is that the draw string on 3-4 windows were damaged, so they decided to replace all the blinds in the apartment and make us pay for it. I'll repeat this part ... because the string was damaged on 3-4 windows they replaced all of the blinds on 10+ windows and want to charge us for it. 

When we contacted XXXX, they said that they did not have staff that knew how to re-string blinds on those XXXX windows, so they replaced all the blinds. 

Mind you, XXXX entered our apartment unauthorized, unannounced and without us being there to take pictures, which is illegal in the State of Washington and did not give us a chance to mitigate the things they noted. The most egregious being the replacement of all blinds. We were not notified of any of this until we were already moved out of the apartment. 

Our research indicates that re-stringing blinds should cost somewhere in the neighborhood of {$10.00} - {$100.00} per blind. 

So our stance has been that we strongly disagree with being billed for such an unreasonable resolution. 

We had some back and forth communications in XXXX, but ultimately could not come to an agreement. They basically were willing to take 20 % off the top, but we felt this was too little. We believed that to restring a few windows should only cost a few XXXX dollars. So to offer to reduce the bill from {$4400.00} to {$3400.00} was not reasonable. It was less about the money and more about the principle of not allowing XXXX and XXXX to take such advantage of us. 

At this point, we sent a certified letter to XXXX which was received by a representative named XXXX XXXX. In this letter, which is attached to this complaint, we basically were asking for them to provide evidence of the charges and why they felt it was okay to buy brand new blinds for the whole apartment and charge us for this when only some strings were damaged. We never got a response. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, we received a letter from Genesis / Columbia Debt Recovery. We responded this this letter via email informing them that these charges are being disputed and to please stop collection efforts. We also asked that they should note on our file and in any communications that these are charges in dispute. They did not stop contacting me. 

Near the end of XXXX, I got a notice that the group of Genesis / Columbia / XXXX XXXX XXXX put a credit hit on me for an item in collections that dropped my credit rating by about XXXX points! A pretty sizeable decrease in my credit. I reached out to Genesis to inform them that really I just want XXXX to be reasonable and negotiate in good faith to get this resolved. Genesis 's response was and there is not hyperbole in this ... " Oh yeah, XXXX, yeah they are very firm and will not negotiate at all. If you are lucky, XXXX time a year they will offer something like a 10 % discount. We are not authorized to negotiate very much at all and the most we can do is remove the {$40.00} of late fees if you pay now. XXXX doesn't even seem to care about the money as I've never seen them ask about or refer to any of the collections. '' Okay so what am I supposed to be about the credit hit? " Pay them, I guess. '' Wow. 

Okay, so I reached out to all XXXX major credit agencies ( XXXX, XXXX and XXXX ) and use their online tool to dispute the credit hit. I didn't hold out much hope because I figure UDR is a public company that has many apartment complexes. All of these rely on credit scores, which the big 3 specialize in. Looked like I would be disputing charges with companies that have conflicts of interest with XXXX. But it can't hurt to try right? 

XXXX have come back so far with denials ... both using XXXX words. " Verified as accurate. '' I fully expect XXXX to have the same result. I called XXXX and explained my situation. XXXX said there was nothing further that representative could do ... it was essentially final. So I asked, " what can I do? '' The response was, pay it or let it sit on you record for 7 years. 7 years!! I was not very happy, of course. I asked the XXXX rep, " what does verified accurate '' mean? That you verified that they were trying to stiff me with replacing all the blinds in the apartment? Of course she had no answer. If what XXXX is claiming is accurate and true... what about my truth? What about my perspective? Why would they err on the side of XXXX without even giving me a chance for recourse? At this point I think the rep could feel this was not very fair, so she told me that I could try to fight by contacting CFPB. 

It is totally wrong to take some damaged string and then blow that into replacing all blinds with brand new ones... then charging me for it. When I say that is not fair... okay I'll just give you a huge hit on your credit and offer only one route of settlement... pay everything, fair or not. 

So I am here. Trying this route to see if maybe I might find some justice here.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation