Consumer complaint received 2023-06-27
Company: National Credit Systems,Inc.
State: DC
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
I moved into XXXX XXXX XXXX apartments and immediately contacted the rental office to question whether or not the place had been cleaned prior to my arrival. I received an apology stating that they were " testing out '' a new cleaning company and they apologized if they did not do a good job. I believe that was a lie today, but I ended up cleaning the apartment myself and sending photos of the filth that was in it to the leasing agent who only said " thank you for letting us know. '' I also had a service animal which was registered, and which the kept charging me a pet fee for. Even after accepting my paperwork they still charged me the pet fee until finally after several complaints they stopped. One day I noticed water in the dogs crate and thought the dog had an accident but knew the dog didn't and then figured out that water was leaking into the unit from the roof. I complained several times about that until finally water was gushing down through the light fixtures from the ceiling in a really bad rain storm, I called the fire company to be safe because an apartment had just recently burnt down in the area from water in the electric sockets. The management came to look at it several times, then sent the people to my apartment without my knowledge when I wasn't there, even though I requested to be there. They said they can not control when outside contractors come. I was very upset over that as well as the mold that was probably in the unit from the water damage. It was apparent that it was happening for some time. My neighbor 's unit had a very large hole in the roof that was discovered when they came to patch mine. Anyway, I decided to move out, they charged me over {$2700.00} to move out, even though I protested that I shouldn't have to pay that to move out of an apartment that isn't fit to live in, I paid it because the manager said if I didn't pay it right at that time I would not be able to get out of the lease at all and would owe the remaining months, which was substantially more than {$2700.00}. I was moving out of state for a job I found and was glad to get out of there. Anyway, I found out from a credit alert several months later that they sent me to a collections agency over {$120.00} that they claim I owe to them. They charged me $ XXXX to break the lease, then they charged me {$120.00} for new carpet ( they re carpet the apartments every time and should not charge for that ) plus they charged {$550.00} for a " cleaning fee '' even though I left that apartment a heck of a lot cleaner than when I moved in. I refused to pay the pretend {$120.00} charge and had contracted with an attorney through my legal plan at work to send a letter to have the charges removed. I already contacted National Credit Systems with a letter denying the charges and with proof that I paid what I had owed the apartment owners and that they owed me my deposit back but NCS refused to remove the fee and were very nasty to me. I just found out through applying for a new apartment that the debt of {$120.00} is still on my record and has not been removed by NCS even though they have failed to prove to me that I owe it in any means. Thus I was denied housing due to a made up {$120.00} fee from a predatory apartment complex who abuses tenants over petty fees like this while not taking care of their units and allowing their tenants to live in life threatening conditions like I was when the water was pouring in from the light fixtures. I need this false {$120.00} fee removed from my record, or I need proof that I have never paid what I owed this apartment complex. Everything was paid and more, and they owe me my deposit back still. XXXX XXXX and the owners XXXX XXXX are abusive corporations that take advantage of people like me who they know get cornered into either paying them their false nickel and dime fees, or are stuck with damaged credit because they submitted false claims against the tenant. They should be looked into by the attorney general for deceptive and abusive practices. Oh, and I forgot that the address provided by NCS- which I had sent a certified letter to in a timely manner was returned as undeliverable. I mailed it certified to their corporate address and it was returned, they were legally obligated to respond to my letter but because they listed a fake address it was returned to me and they never responded to any of my emails.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation