Consumer complaint received 2023-08-17
Company: Rowland Avenue Management, Inc. A/KA Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC d/b/a Genesis
State: ND
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
We received a collections bill from COLUMBIA DEBT RECOVERY LLC DBA GENESIS 2 days ago, on XX/XX/XXXX. This bill is in relation to a townhome we rented back in XXXX  through a rental property company called XXXX. Prior to this bill landing in collections, I repeatedly asked XXXX for evidence that the charges billed to us upon our move-out were legitimate, and I was ignored. The reason we never paid this bill, is because we never received proof that these charges ever occurred. We were initially billed for {$1200.00} worth of painting supplies and manual labor ( but we were never sent any receipts ). Then, two days later, we were sent the same bill again, only this time it listed {$2200.00} worth of painting supplies and manual labor. Again, I reached out to XXXX requesting records of these charges, such as receipts from the vendors who did the painting. XXXX never got back to me with any evidence of the charges, so I began to suspect that XXXX possibly fabricated the amount that was billed to us. When I searched for XXXX on the XXXX XXXX XXXX  I stumbled across reports that the company often fabricates move-out conditions and charges in order to make excess money off exiting tenants. So my suspicions were raised further. 

After speaking with multiple different representatives at XXXX and begging for proof that the charges were legitimate, Greystar instead passed my account onto a collections agency ( Columbia Debt Recovery AKA Genesis ). I of course demanded that Columbia Debt Recovery also prove that these move-out charges were legitimate. In response, I was informed by Columbia that they had 30 days to investigate my case. Thats fine. Whats not fine, is that when I requested receipts to prove the painting charges were legitimate, I was informed by Columbia that XXXX likely uses in-house maintenance for painting, so no such receipts from vendors would even exist. However, I called the rental unit that I lived in directly to fact check this ( XXXX XXXX- which is the small residential neighborhood that we lived in, owned by XXXX ). XXXX informed me that in 2020 when I moved out, they were in fact hiring out vendors for painting. What this indicates, is that proof of these charges must exist somewhere, as vendors were outsourced to paint the townhouse after my departure. I mentioned this piece of information to Columbia Debt Recovery, and again requested proof the charges were legitimate. Columbia in turn informed me that landlords are not required to provide receipts to tenants anyway. ( So Im just supposed to take the landlords word for how much the paint costed him, even though theres no financial footprint other than the invoice he typed up himself? ) To add to this, there was not XXXX invoice written up by the landlord, but TWO. The discrepancy between the two invoices is a difference between {$1200.00} and {$2200.00} in paint. So which one is it? Columbia Debt Recovery noted the discrepancy and informed me they have 30 days to reach out to Greystar and collect evidence, and that my account will not be sent to the credit bureaus until XX/XX/XXXX. What this means, is that Columbia Debt Recovery is going to sit around until XX/XX/XXXX, give XXXX 30 days to respond to their inquiry, then get back to me ( hopefully ) before XX/XX/XXXX to make an offer with the evidence they collect. My biggest concern is that once Columbia Debt Recovery finishes their investigation and responds back to me with their evidence, Ill have 5 business days to pay up whatever they demand or else my credit score will be negatively impacted. This feels like a coercive XXXX situation, as my account shouldve never gone to collections in the first place. If the original creditor ( XXXX ) wouldve provided me with proof of these charges, I wouldnt even be in this situation. Columbia Debt Collection should not be able to threaten to ruin my credit score without VALID proof of the charges, yet they threaten to do so anyway by providing me with a set date, whilst simultaneously forcing me to sit around for the next 30 days while they scramble to locate evidence that shouldve been provided to me years ago.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation