Consumer complaint received 2019-04-09
Company: National Credit Systems,Inc.
State: CO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I moved to XXXX, XXXX and into a three bedroom apartment at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) apartment complex. In XX/XX/XXXX I vacated this apartment and moved to XXXX XXXX, XXXX. Shortly after that I received a final bill from the XXXXs property manager XXXX XXXX for the amount of {$1900.00} which included a list of damaged items and clean up charges. The bill was nearly all fabricated and contained no evidence of damages ( exhibit A ). 
I promptly called XXXX XXXX XXXX which owns/manages the XXXX apartment complex on XX/XX/XXXX and talked to XXXX XXXX who is the Administrative Assistant in charge of XXXX. I explained to her that the bill was fraudulent and fabricated by the property manager and that nearly everything on that bill, except for a few items were normal wear and tear and not my responsibility to pay for. She asked me to send her an email regarding the bill which I did and explained why I thought the bill was bogus ( exhibit B ). In this email I went thru all the eight items XXXX XXXX had charged me for and explained why they were not true. 
After only a few hours she emailed me back saying she would stand by the charges ( exhibit C ) but changed the amount to {$1900.00}. I did not respond to her and did not pay the bill. 
Consequently XXXX hired the collection agency of National Credit Systems , Inc. to collect. They sent me a letter of collection in XX/XX/XXXX ( exhibit D ). I wrote back to them and explained that the bill was fabricated and I had already explained the reasons to XXXX XXXX XXXX ( exhibit E ). The National Credit Systems wrote three more letters to me ( exhibit F ) to try to collect the money. I did not pay the bill and they reported this to the credit bureaus. 
In XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from the collection agency of XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX again trying to collect the bill from XXXX ( exhibit G ). I wrote back to them explaining the bill was bogus ( Exhibit H ). Later that month XXXX XXXX sent me a follow up letter along with documents as verification of the debt ( exhibit I ).  The documents were a printout of my rent payments to XXXX from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, copies of my rental agreement with XXXX and five pictures of a vacated apartment supposedly mine after I left. The pictures, as you can see in the exhibit H, are grainy, undated and show no proof of damages listed on the XXXXs bill. 
On XX/XX/XXXX I was informed by my credit company, XXXX, that my FICO score had been decreased. I checked into it and my FICO had dropped almost 90 points ( exhibit J ). I contacted the XXXX   Credit Bureau and found out the drop was due to the collection report by the National Credit Systems , Inc. ( exhibit K ). I called XXXX and placed a dispute on the collection issue which they are reviewing. 
In summary, XXXXs bill contains no proof of damages or trash removal as they assert and it is just a list of normal wear and tear and cleanup. The manager just put the word damaged in front of all items to scam the cost out of me. Furthermore, during my last year at XXXX, one of my bedrooms developed a vibrational problem due to a loose air-conditioning cable inside one of the walls so severe that I could not use it for more than one or two hours a day. The vibrations were making me dizzy and nauseous. I requested repairs to my apartment for several months and XXXX did not repair the problem while I paid full rent plus $ XXXX/month extra since I was renting month to month. I have explained the above items in details to all the parties involved and they continue harassing me for this bogus bill. 
These entities and organizations from XXXX to XXXX to their Collection agencies have caused me a great deal of stress and now they have damaged my credit history all for a scam and none of them have shown any proof of the damages claimed by the XXXX manager. Also please note my high credit score prior to this issue and the sudden drop in exhibit J. I have lived in different apartments in five different states for nearly forty years and have never had a single bill for damages sent to me from any other apartment complex. In fact I generally get all of my deposit refunded to me. 
I have no doubt that the scam played on me by XXXX and their cohorts including their collection agencies is systematic and ongoing. The outright lies and deception I have seen from these people can not be an isolated incident. Therefor I would like to request that you ask the collection agency to provide you with the proof of these claimed damages or withdraw their claim.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation