Consumer complaint received 2022-03-21
Product: Debt collection — Other debt
Issue: Written notification about debt — Didn't receive enough information to verify debt
Company: M.A.R.S., Inc. (OK)

MARS Inc. is currently reporting two different debts on My Clients credit report. Both debts involve allegedly unpaid rent and property damages owed to previous landlords. The first alleged debt is listed as {$1300.00}, and it is mostly made up of tort-like property damages with uncertain amounts that were never determined by a court. MARS Inc. has no real evidence that my client caused more than normal wear and tear to the apartment nor that she has any legal duty to pay for any of the listed damages. The second debt is listed as {$1400.00}, and it also includes alleged property damages that were never taken to court. However, the bulk of the second debt is made of unpaid rent for my clients last two months of tenancy EVEN THOUGH MARS Inc.s own documents show that my client had her entire rent paid by a section 8 voucher while living their. My client denies owing either debt, and Mars Inc. has not provided satisfactory documentation proving she owes the debts. However, the most important part of my clients complaint is that MARS Inc. never contacted my client before putting the debts on her credit report. 

Debt Parking is where a debt collector furnishes debt to a credit reporting agency ( CRA ) without first giving the debtor proper validation notice of the debt. The debt collector then waits for the debtor to be denied a job, mortgage, or other loan, and then uses the time-sensitivity of the debtors high-stakes circumstances to coerce the debtor to make payments that he or she would not otherwise make. This sort of debt parking directly violates the requirements of 12 C.F.R. 1006.30. Furthermore, this behavior also violates FDCPA 1692f because it constitutes an unfair or unconscionable means to collect a debt, and it also likely violates FDCPA 1692d because it constitutes conduct the natural consequence of which is to harass, oppress, or abuse. 

In my clients situation, Mars Inc. did not contact her about the two alleged debts prior to furnishing her debt to the credit reporting agencies. She did not find out about the alleged debts until after she was denied by multiple apartment complexes with specific instructions that she needed to first resolve the two landlord debts from her credit report before she can be accepted as a tenant. My Client is currently homeless and has been approved for public housing assistance. However, her approval will lapse if she does not find an apartment that will accept her Section 8 Voucher in around 3 weeks. She has been denied by multiple apartment complexes due to the debts reported by Mars Inc. The first apartment complex specifically told my client that it would accept her voucher only if she paid off the two debts furnished by MARS Inc. By parking the alleged debts on XXXX XXXX Credit Report , MARS Inc. has already increased the duration of her homelessness by multiple months. If MARS Inc. contacted my client before furnishing the debts to the credit reporting agencies, then my client would have had time to properly challenge the debt without the looming deadline of her Section 8 voucher 's expiration date.

For the sake of brevity, I decided not to include in this complaint all the reasons that MARS Inc.s evidence of the debt is not sufficient. I have filed a dispute with the big 3 Credit Reporting Agencies, and I am waiting on the results of the reinvestigation before deciding whether to file another complaint based on MARS investigation.