Consumer complaint received 2020-03-24
Company: HW Holding, Inc
State: CT
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Other debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
Our landlord sent us to a collection agency, Hunterwarfield in XXXX Florida. They were initially claiming we owed over {$4000.00} for missed rent payments even though our landlord had agreed to use our security deposit towards rent for the last two months, XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX. After speaking with our landlord, he then adjusted the owed amount to {$390.00}. One of the alleged charges we are being held accountable for is for painting and cleaning services for the amount of {$980.00}. This amount is outrageous and we never even received a final documented walk through of the apartment prior to this work being completed. We are being charged for erroneous items such as light bulbs that were never replaced prior to us moving in, fixing of kitchen cabinets that were broken when we moved in, and every day wear and tear that is normal for rental properties. In addition, the invoice we finally received from our landlord for this " bill '' has a date of XX/XX/XXXX on it. We moved out in XX/XX/XXXX. I called Hunterwarfield to explain why we were disputing these claims and sent them the invoice, they responded saying that their " client '', our landlord, had changed the date on the invoice which was now documented for XX/XX/XXXX. This falsified, fradulent invoice is apparently enough evidence for Hunterwarfield to deem our account " resolved '' and was told they would be sending us to collections for the owed amount. 
My roommate and I are XXXX, we are salt of the earth people in good standing with all previous landlords and payments with our most recent landlord. Hunterwarfield has been harassing us for months with multiple threatening calls saying they will send this account to collections and damage our credit score if we do not pay the amount owed. I am extremely disheartened that a company like this could exist and that landlords are allowed to falsify bills and not follow legal housing guidelines when renting out apartments. We also found out that our landlord did not have the appropriate permits to rent out our apartment when we first signed our rental agreement in XXXX. Our landlord also took over two months to return our previous roommates security deposit which is against Connecticut law. 
We have tried resolving these claims amicably but feel that we are being completely taken advantage of and know that what our landlord and Hunterwarfield are doing is illegal. Our landlord has multiple open lawsuits against them regarding with holding security deposits for invalid reasons and submitting false claims against tenants. We are hoping you can help us come to an agreement before needing to pursue legal action. 

Companies involved : Hunter Warfield XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX FL XXXX XXXX www.hunterwarfield.com Landlord : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX CT XXXX I am including the e-mail sent to Hunter Warfield with the fraudulent invoice that was sent to me by XXXX XXXX. 

Please help us resolve this situation. We greatly appreciate your help. 

Letter to Hunter Warfield sent on XX/XX/XXXX : Support services, I spoke to XXXX with support services this afternoon and she gave me this e-mail address to provide documentation regarding my account. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX  is claiming that we owe {$980.00} for tenant responsible painting/cleaning that was billed to them on XXXX XXXX. The apartment was only vacant as of XX/XX/XXXX so the work that they are claiming to have paid for was NOT for our apartment. This is a falsified bill and we are happy to seek legal counsel against XXXX XXXX due to fraudulent claims on damage to the apartment if they do not remove our account from your company. If you deduct the {$980.00} from the amount that we apparently " owe '' ( XXXX ) we are actually owed {$580.00} by XXXX XXXX. Also, according to our lease we are supposed to be notified of ANY damage claims to the apartment prior to work being completed which we never received. We never had a finalized inspection documented and were unaware of any damages done to the apartment. This is illegal by the State of Connecticut and the tenant needs to be made aware of any damage claims prior to work being done. 

Also, they are charging us for a bill from XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX which was billed on XX/XX/XXXX. Again, the apartment was vacant as of XX/XX/XXXX so this bill but not for our apartment. 

Please review the attached documents and contact me with any additional questions at XXXX. I have made multiple attempts to contact the XXXX XXXX XXXX to resolve this amicably and they have refused to speak with me. 

I hope to hear from you soon,

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