Consumer complaint received 2023-01-26
Company: FAIR COLLECTIONS & OUTSOURCING, INC.
State: NJ
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Seized or attempted to seize your property

Complaint:
This is the first apartment I ever moved into. 
I moved with 2 of my cousins the townhouse was under my name, The other two were listed as my co-tenants.

The first few months were great.. We paid our rent in time every single month. Problems started when one of my cousins moved a dog into the property. Which was against the terms of the lease.

We received notices to quit. Yes, notice '' s '' it was getting old. Legally, it means get the XXXX  out or we'll do it for you. They gave us a date. We moved out before the date because we wanted to keep the dog. They never communicated we had to do anything else. They legally know, we are not there past that date. Because a notice to quit is literally a legal document. A month after our move-out, I notice I am still getting charged rent. It gets better. They've been charging me rent months after that and even kept my deposit. Claiming the apartment was damaged. I was threatened to be taken to court, to be sent to collections, and yes, to have my property seized. With the notice to quit. I called and called upon weeks after I found out about this and every agent I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about. Meaning they never even bothered to keep notes or update whatever system they had. I exchanged letters with their lawyers, called them, I truly did everything I could to explain to them I was never at the property after the date they gave me in the notice to quit letters. They never even sent somebody to check if i was still living there. They tried to come up with whatever excuse they could. Saying things like " you didn't drop the keys at the office '' " We have no record of you leaving '', etc.. They didn't even have records of me calling them since they had no clue what was going on.

The last time I called, was when they finally updated the system and they put the DATE I LAST CALLED. AS MY MOVE OUT DATE. MONTHS LATER.

1. They never checked physically after the notice to quit date yet they claim I never moved out.

2. They never kept tabs of when I called or at least acted like they didn't.

3. Apparently they have no record of me moving out although they sent me letter and LEGALLY they should've known I was out. If I were some squatter, they would've find me out if they checked the premises, they never did. I even have proof of a new lease at another apartment after I moved.

4. Last but not least, they kept my deposit claiming there was property damage. Yet they constructed the bill themselves and mailed it to me. So the claim is literally backed up the person who wrote it. Convenient.

5. I've also been sent to collections for an amount I DO NOT OWE SINCE I MOVED OUT MONTHS AGO. They charged me 3 whole months. Took my deposit, and they still want more money out of me and sent me to collections for it.

My credit is now destroyed and I can not qualify to buy a home.

Here 's some details and dates : Company : XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX The Address of the property I rented : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Renter Account # : XXXX People I spoke to and never helped me : XXXX XXXX Probably every person with access to their customer service email : XXXX There are other names, Since this happened in 2022 I have little recollection. I found out about this on my credit report and of course all of the threats. I was threatened to be put on collections and It happened. I got threatened to be sued and they sued me over EVICTION and then dismissed it. Probably found out they were going to lose. Here 's the case jacket of that : Plaintiff Name : XXXX XXXX XXXX Defendant Name : XXXX XXXX Case Caption : XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX Case Number : MID LT XXXX Docket Text : Generic Proceed Transaction ID : XXXX Notice has been electronically mailed to : Plaintiff Attorney XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Defendant XXXX XXXX XXXX The notice to cease/quit letter I received had a lease termination date of XX/XX/XXXX. I was moved out with 1 cousin by XX/XX/XXXX. The last cousin left around XXXX XXXX, driving to Florida with all his belongings. 
I have email threads and evidence of me leaving the premises. I even left the keys inside the property and locked it. I already knew the apartment manager had a master key so I didn't bother. 
The move out date was set in XXXX. The last time I called them. 



Thank you for reading throughout this post and I hope I get the help I deserve. Thank you.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation