Consumer complaint received 2024-08-24
Product: Debt collection — Rental debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: FAIR COLLECTIONS & OUTSOURCING, INC. (FL)

I am filing this complaint about a debt collector, namely, Fair Collections & Outsourcing - XXXX thereafter, of XXXX XXXX XXXX # XXXX, XXXX, MD XXXX, whom the CFPB should be familiar with. in fact, the CFPB had filed a lawsuit against XXXX and its owner, XXXX XXXX, for violating federal law when, among other allegations, XXXX represented, that consumers owed certain debts when, in fact, XXXX did not have a reasonable basis to assert that the consumers owed those debts. 

Consistent with such pattern, XXXX, once again, reported a debt to the credit bureaus, claiming it is mine, without any basis or evidence that the debt is mine. XXXX knew or should have known that their claim, is false and inaccurate, when they requested a payment from me of {$1600.00}, which I disputed. And when I requested in writing verification and validation of such debt, not only XXXX failed to produce it, but they ignored my cease-and-desist requests and continued to harass my family about a payment. They even harassed my uncles wife about a payment, who is not even involved in this matter. XXXX knew that contacting a third party about a debt that is not hers and harassing her about it, while ignoring multiple cease-and-desist requests, is a violation of FDCPA. 

It should be noted, that when the CFPB filed a law suit against XXXX, it also alleged that XXXX failed to establish or implement reasonable written policies and procedures regarding the accuracy and integrity of the information it furnished to credit reporting agencies and failed to conduct reasonable investigations of indirect consumer disputes, resulting in inaccurate information remaining on consumers credit reports. And at the present time, the debt reported by XXXX on my credit report, is marked as open account with a past due, which is illegal reporting, as it is inaccurate information remaining on my credit report. 

RELEVANT FACTS & HISTORY In XX/XX/XXXX, I rented an apartment at XXXX XXXX the original creditor in XXXX, FL, to start college. And my uncle, XXXX XXXX, I agreed to co-sign my apartment lease. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I moved in, after I paid rent for XX/XX/XXXX, which included a {$500.00} deposit. Then, I paid rent for every month after that. And on XX/XX/XXXX, I paid {$1400.00} for the month of XX/XX/XXXX, which included rent of {$1300.00} plus other fees. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I vacated the apartment, after giving the original creditor my notice. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a final statement from the original creditor, which included a number of false and inaccurate charges, including the allegation that I did not pay rent for XX/XX/XXXX, which is untrue. To the contrary, my bank statements confirm that I paid rent electronically, every month for 12 months, from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, on the following dates and for the following amounts- XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1700.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1300.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1300.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1300.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1400.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1300.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1500.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1300.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1400.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1300.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1600.00} ; XX/XX/XXXX paid {$1400.00}. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, my uncle, XXXX XXXX emailed XXXX Ponds on my behalf and copied me and my other uncle, XXXX XXXX ( the co-signer ) that we received your final statement, and we object to it, simply because the alleged charges are grossly inaccurate pursuant to XXXX XXXX XXXX, your property XXXX, during her meeting with me and XXXX, on Thursday XX/XX/XXXX, the month of XX/XX/XXXX was paid in full by XXXX- that is undisputed on XX/XX/XXXX [ XXXX ] XXXX completely moved out, leaving the apartment with XXXX weeks fully paid. Yet, according to your final statement attached, XXXX owes 11 days of rent for XXXX, with your full knowledge that you were fully paid for those 11 days AND the rest of the month, which amounts to fraud the apartment was cleaned before the keys were turned over to XXXX and was left in the same initial condition, if not better [ pictures were attached ]. Yet, your final statement shows a cleaning fee of {$95.00}. Then, you kept our {$500.00} deposit and sought an additional {$1600.00} on top of it XXXX and her family were deceitfully and unfairly overcharged and harassed, which, under the laws of the state of Florida, give rise to a legitimate cause of action against you, and/or your company Please let me know how you would like to proceed If I do not hear from you by end of day today, it will be understood that your final bill is XXXX ( you can keep the {$500.00} deposit and the XXXX weeks of rent in XXXX ). See copy of email attached. 

At no time did the original creditor dispute or disagree with any of the facts alleged in our email. In fact, on XX/XX/XXXX, they replied by saying Thank you for sending this over. We will forward your email and information with our records to our Attorney for response, but received no response from them or their attorneys, nor did we receive any documentation to back up any of the alleged charges. So, we understood it as, the final bill is XXXX. 

And XXXX and behold, in XX/XX/XXXX, I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX that I owe them {$1600.00}, related to XXXX Ponds Apartments, which was reported to the credit bureau. And in their letter, they articulated that if you write to us by XX/XX/XXXX, we must stop collection on any amount you dispute until we send you information that shows you owe the debt. 

So, on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX my uncle, and I called FCOs customer service and specifically asked them, in a recorded conversation, that we dispute the charges, that we request verification and validation of the debt, and to cease and desist any and all contact and collection regarding this account - # XXXX, which they fully understood and agreed to do. 

Also, on XX/XX/XXXX, I sent them a certified letter, disputing the {$1600.00} debt and its validity see copy attached. I attached a copy of the email sent to the original creditor disputing the charges and requested from XXXX XXXX and validation of their alleged debt, pursuant to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Specifically, I requested, among other documents, the name and address of the original creditor, a copy of the agreement, an itemized accounting of the alleged debt, a history of rent payments, and requested documents to back up other charges, like the cleaning fee, which was another made up charge. 

Unsurprisingly, I received no documents at all from XXXX that verifies any of the alleged debt. Instead, I received a letter ( copy attached ) dated XX/XX/XXXX, which is another violation of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, as it is not within the XXXX window required to respond, stating please find enclosed verification of the above reference debt which is misleading, deceptive and is a total misrepresentation of what they had actually sent. The attachment that XXXX sent is a billing statement labeled security deposit from the original creditor about the deposit and rent owed, which is not a validation of the debt. Rather, it is a re-affirmation of their made up rent owed that they know for a fact, I did not owe, based on the original creditors own admission and my bank statements. XXXX knew or should have known the difference between a billing statement and a validation of debt, that is backed by a signed agreement and an accounting ledger, which shows a history of the rent payments made. Also, in their XX/XX/XXXX letter, XXXX lowered their original debt amount from {$1600.00} to {$1300.00}, without explanation or validation of neither the original or updated debt amount. 

Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, which is after we advised them on a recorded line to stop contacting us about a payment, XXXX continued to call my uncle XXXX ( the co-signer ) and harass him about a payment. During those harassment calls, according to my uncle, they admitted to him, that they can not collect from him anyway, because this case is in dispute and under investigation. Yet, they kept calling him non-stop. They even called his wife to harass her about a payment, knowing she has no involvement in this matter at all. These are all violations of the FCRA, which is illegal. 

XXXX used deceptive and abusive conduct in the collection of consumer debt that they knew or should have known is against the law. XXXX knew they were required to send me information that shows I owe them the debt, which they failed to do. XXXX knew they were required, based on their own admission in their letter, to stop collection upon our notice, which they failed to do. XXXX knew they are prohibited from harassing my family by calling them non-stop, after our cease-and-desist call and letter, but continued to harass them anyway, all in an attempt to extort money from me and my family, illegally, based on a debt that is unsubstantiated and fraudulent. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I sent another letter to XXXX, that I continue to dispute and disagree with their unsupported debt of {$1600.00}, and the lesser amount of {$1300.00}, but received no response. So, as we sit here today, the debt has neither been validated by XXXX, nor removed from my credit report and my uncles, and continues to be reported on our credit report, as open account with a past due, which is illegal reporting.