Consumer complaint received 2019-09-26
Company: EQUIFAX, INC.
State: CO
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
Equifax ; XXXX and XXXX are reporting incorrectly a collection in the amount of {$4000.00} on the XXXX account number XXXX. ( Please see page attached from my credit report. ) This is a completely unsubstantiated collection. I do not owe {$4000.00} that XXXX XXXX of XXXX, TX is claiming that I owe. I gave them the appropriate notice to vacate the property on XX/XX/XXXX and my move out date was XX/XX/XXXX. ( I have attached letters and documents verifying this. ) The move out notice was signed by the manager of XXXX, XXXX XXXX. The month prior to my move out I was given a letter that said I owed a prorated amount of {$160.00} for my last months rent. When I went on the billing website to pay this amount in XX/XX/XXXX, the amount they showed as due was approximately {$2000.00}. I immediately called and asked how they came up with this amount. The woman I spoke to on the phone assured me this was clearly an error and that she would correct the information. I followed up and checked the website a few days later only to discover that the information had not been corrected. The following weeks I continued to check the website and the amount due still had not been corrected. I called multiple times and when I did get someone on the telephone they assured me the information had been corrected online, but that it didn't show the corrected amount on my end. ( I have attached call logs verifying dates/times. ) I contacted the office and asked to pay the original amount due of {$160.00}. I was told in order to get this account closed, I owed them {$4000.00}. They also claim I owed {$1000.00} in cleaning fees. I did have an appointment scheduled to do a final walkthrough of the premises however, the apartment manager never showed up to that appointment. I went to the front office and physically handed the apartment keys to the front desk person. I was told that this was acceptable since the office manager never made it to the walkthrough appointment that we had scheduled. I have attached copies of pictures of the apartment. The picture of the laundry room is not in my building. The community laundry room is in a separate building however, Ive included this picture to show the condition of the apartment complex. The picture of the ceiling in the bathroom was from a leak in the upstairs apartment. It took over a week for this to get fixed and consequently I was without water in the bathroom and had not shower. The pictures of the insects are just one example of the inhabitability of the unit ; the picture of the thermostat references how hot the apartment was w/o air conditioning. It was over 90 degrees. I had my toddler daughter living with me, so it was concerning to have her in that high heat for so long. It took over a week as well to get the air conditioner fixed. The living conditions at the apartment complex was horrible as referenced by the attached pictures. I had cockroaches the entire time I lived there, even with the unit being sprayed bi-weekly. There are other fees as well that they claim I owe. On the statement they gave me they claim that I owe for the entire month of XXXX although I only lived there 8 days. They are charging me a concession charge back fee of {$460.00} which I believe is for the discount I received for being in the medical field. They are charging re-letting fees in the amount of {$540.00}, which are again unnecessary as I gave appropriate and timely notice to vacate. They are charging a notice fulfillment fee for {$1200.00}. This amount is more than double my initial rent. My monthly rent was {$600.00}. These additional fees are fraudulent! The apartment complex has numerous complaints filed with the XXXX for their unethical and shady practices. I am formally requesting that the law offices of XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) remove the collection from my credit report as Ive made SEVERAL attempts to pay with no resolution. This account should never have gone to collections in the first place. This collection is completely unsubstantiated. This incorrect reporting of a collection is harming my credit score and this line item needs to be removed from my credit report. I have contacted the ( 3 ) bureaus to remove this however, I have not been successful.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation