Consumer complaint received 2023-03-14
Company: Aldous & Associates, PLLC
State: NC
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Improper use of your report
Sub-issue: Reporting company used your report improperly

Complaint:
In XXXX of XXXX, I made the grave mistake of applying for an apartment at XXXX XXXX. They are student apartments near the XXXX XXXX XXXX, managed by the XXXX XXXX. 

At that time I was working in Charlotte, but shortly after applying for the apartment, my job was to be relocated to another city and state. All I completed with XXXX XXXX at that point was an application, or so I thought, since that was what it was entitled when I filled it out. I was told in order to keep my spot, I would need to first be deemed financially qualified - either by myself or with a guarantor, and pay a deposit. 

As soon as found out that my job was not going to be in NC anymore, I called and emailed both XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX to let them know that I would not be able to complete the process. Mind you, they do not allow move-ins before XXXX ( which is a normal procedure for most student apartments ). So they had from XX/XX/XXXX until XXXX of XXXX to simply rent the apartment to someone else. However, they illegally informed me that me signing my APPLICATION ( which is what they are claiming as a rental agreement ) was the same as signing a LEASE with them. 

So after no resolution with XXXX nor XXXX XXXX, I ultimately resigned from my job, and began applying to other jobs local to Charlotte, believe what they told me that I was now responsible for the apartment. I was able to find a new job and emailed the leasing office my first 3 paystubs. However , XXXX XXXX called me to inform me that I was not even able to self-qualify after running a credit report and reviewing my check stubs. 

I thought that would have been the end of this issue since I did not have the credit score nor the income to qualify for the apartment. But nooo XXXX XXXX XXXX continued to send me harassing emails and call me saying that I needed to get a guarantor to sign the lease and I was still financially responsible even if I lose the apartment. ( How the heck does that even work?? ) I even explained to them that everyone, including my own mother refused become a guarantor on an apartment for me ( I was XXXX years old at the time and a non-traditional online student returning to finish my degree ). Then XXXX XXXX said I would need to get a sub-leaser to take over the apartment, but again, how can someone sublease an apartment they didnt lease in the first place? 

After speaking with a lawyer, I was told that what they did to me was completely illegal, the application and lease are separate entities and until an apartment complex has qualified me financially and run a background check, then there would be no reason for them to present me with a lease until that has been completed and approved. Also, I can not be financially responsible for an apartment that I never rented, nor lived in. I dont think in the history of landlord-tenant law, has there ever been a case where an applicant who had not been approved for an apartment, was later held financially responsible for the apartment rather than it just being rented out to someone who actually qualified for it. 

I dont often check my credit report, but I received an email in XX/XX/XXXX and went on the XXXX website to see why my score had decreased recently. To my absolute shock, it was a collections notice that had been sold to a law office acting as a collection agency on behalf XXXX XXXX XXXX, in the amount of {$8000.00} for 12 months of past due rent from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX- for an apartment that I literally NEVER received keys for nor stepped foot in! 

I immediately called the phone number listed for the collection agency and informed the representative that the entirety XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX claims were fraudulent. I even asked the representative what address XXXX XXXX XXXX claiming that I owe rent for? She read off the address of my ex-boyfriends fathers house ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, NC XXXX ). A house he OWNS, not XXXX of their student apartments, but an actual two-story house with a mortgage, that is miles away XXXX XXXX XXXX and has absolutely no relation to that company!! 

XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX, NC XXXX was the actual apartment XXXX XXXX XXXX assigned me after attempting to financially qualify but later was denied. So I found out that they decided to remove that address from their collection claim and used my home address ( seen in the screenshot below ). After I disputed the fraudulent charges with the credit bureau, they are now using my ex-boyfriends fathers home address to continue the collections process against me. 

For them to first use my home address to start the collections process and then use my exs dads address rather than the actual address of the apartment they claim I owe money for, tells me XXXX XXXX XXXX did exactly what I asked for in the beginning- they found some other person to rent that apartment! I know this because it is illegal for a landlord to charge a person rent for the same lease for a single property after it has been taken over by another person. And If you know anything about student apartments, they get filled up quickly! XXXX XXXX even sent me marketing emails saying that they were full for the fall move-in for XX/XX/XXXX ( which means the apartment they claim I owe them money for had been rented out! ) Then after explaining everything that happened to the collections representative, I was simply told that all I can do is submit a dispute to them in writing. So I will be doing that and I have already disputed this unfounded claim of debt to XXXX and the FTC. 

You have to remember that during this time period, many landlords and leasing companies were struggling financially because of lost rents from the XXXX XXXX Moratoriums across the country due to the impact of XXXX and the rise in unemployment. So in my honest opinion, this was just a way for them to either scam unsuspecting vulnerable people like myself out of our hard-earned money, or most likely to scam PPP and XXXX loan XXXX from the government by claiming losses that were completely fabricated on their end.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation