Consumer complaint received 2023-03-17
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: National Credit Systems,Inc. (TX)

I lived in the XXXX @ XXXX apartment from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. Before moving there I paid a {$200.00} security deposit which was supposed to be refunded to me after the expiration of my lease if I didn't damage anything. Aside from this, monthly utility charges covering water, sewer, trash, and pest control were verbally dictated to us monthly by the staff of the apartment. I lived alone in a one-bedroom apartment but I discovered that the amount being charged to me monthly was too much compared to other tenants who have XXXX or more people living in the same one-bedroom apartment. I have complained many times and requested to know how the bills were shared among tenants. The management of the apartment always turns down my request, telling me that I have no right to see the bills and that whatever is shared with me I must pay. That was how I lived there for a year paying utility bills that I couldn't verify. 

I moved out of the apartment after the expiration of my lease without owning a dime. On the very day, I handed the key back to them, I was asked to pay {$99.00} covering any utility bill they have not received. I paid {$99.00}. 

Around XX/XX/XXXX, I received a notice at my door that a new management will be taking over the apartment building but the lease I signed with the former owner still subsists. When the new owner took over, I discover that some other unexplained charges were added to my utility bill which I queried. Two charges amounting to {$24.00}. To my surprise, the new owner told me that I have signed a new lease with them empowering them to charge me the added new charges. I did not sign a new lease and I demanded to see the new lease they claimed that I signed. To my amazement, they brought a document with a forged signature. The signature on the document is entirely different from my signature and I confronted them with an accusation of forgery. Immediately, the manager begged me and asked me not to pay {$20.00} out of the {$24.00}. She explained to me that I still have to be paying {$4.00} every month for administrative fees Which I wasn't paying when the former owner was in charge. Reluctantly I agree to be paying the {$4.00} administrative fee for the rest of the months I lived there. 

At the expiration of my lease, I demanded my {$200.00} deposit because I didn't damage anything. I was told that they were still in the process of reconciling accounts with the former owner and that they will get back to me and that I should pay the {$99.00} to cover any utility bill they were expecting, which I paid immediately. 
I moved out without any problem believing that I do not have anything to do with them again. The whole year I lived there was hellish. My unit was always with one problem or another and it was very frustrating living there.

Over three months after moving out, I was surprised to receive a notice of collection from National Credit Systems Inc that I owed {$140.00} to my former landlord. I tried to explain to the company agent on the phone that I am not owing them a dime. The agent did not give me any chance to explain anything, all she wanted was that I must pay the money. This amount is currently on my credit and it has affected me badly.

I am in the process of moving to another apartment now, I couldn't secure an apartment because of this collection on my credit history.

I visited the apartment building and demanded my ledger and the underlying bills shared among the tenants during the period I lived there. The assistant manager that I met printed me an incomplete ledger that did not reflect the first six months I lived there which span from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX. She told me that they only have information on when they took over the management of the apartment starting in XX/XX/XXXX. 

Looking through the ledger, I discover these discrepancies : 1. Administrative fee : XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX = {$4.00}. Please note that my lease expired on XX/XX/XXXX and I moved out at the expiration of my lease. I did not spend a day extra. I moved to a new apartment on XX/XX/XXXX. 
2. Final Admin. fee : {$4.00}. I do not understand the reason for this fee.

3. The {$200.00} deposit was not applied to the last utility bill they received after I left even I was asked to pay {$99.00} on the morning of XX/XX/XXXX when I handed the key to them. 

The collection company did not give me a fair hearing and I disputed the collection with one of the credit bureaus but the account still stay on my credit report.