Consumer complaint received 2024-05-18
Product: Debt collection — Rental debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt was paid
Company: T.S. Holdings (TX)

I utilized XXXX XXXX to pay my deposit when moving in to the XXXXXXXX XXXX in XXXX of XXXX. I can't remember the exact amount for the deposit and I haven't been able to get a hold of anyone at XXXX XXXXXXXX On XX/XX/XXXX we received an email from the property management stating that our building, building XXXX would be ongoing repairs that were undetermined as far as when they would be resolved. We had been without hot water and heat the entire winter and gas leaks were occuring every day. 

In this email they stated they would let us out of our lease without penalty. We secured new residency on XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX and moved out. 

We ensured to follow all procedure necessary with moving out. Returned keys, cleaned rental unit, and paid final utility bills which I have proof of. They then claimed to flex deposit that we owed a cleaning fee and utilities in the amount of like {$460.00}. I refuse to pay them, and they sent me to collections with IQ Data.

The email they sent is as follows : See below. 

-- -- -- -- -- Forwarded message -- -- -- -- - From : XXXX XXXX Date : Wed, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Subject : XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX To : XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX Hi XXXX XXXX I had sent this email to XXXX XXXX this morning and when I called to confirm receipt, XXXX XXXX to send a copy to you. Please see below email correspondence regarding my move out. If you could confirm you've received this email that would be great. I appreciate your time. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX -- -- -- -- -- Forwarded message -- -- -- -- - From : XXXX XXXX Date : XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Subject : Re : XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX To : The XXXX XXXX XXXX, Please note that this e-mail is to inform you that I will be moving out of unit XXXX due to the offer extended to me in the below e-mail per the uninhabitable living conditions. As discussed previously, the expectation is that NO penalty applies to me moving out during my lease contract. My rental history is perfect and I consider myself to be an excellent tenant. 

My son had to switch schools in the middle of his second grade year. The school was excellent and he thrived in their gifted and talented program. The lack of response to repairs or overall empathy on the part of yourself, XXXX and the entire staff as a whole is mind boggling. 

People are living like animals. Stress levels are high and this impacts families in more ways than XXXX. Please stop renting out units in building XXXX. I noticed someone moving into this nightmare a couple days ago and I could not believe my eyes. 

I was patient throughout this ordeal but please know this caused myself and my children to live uncomfortably day in and day out for months. Why would no XXXX help? Why doesn't anyone care that these people are human beings just like you and I. 

My son and I will be okay. He will thrive no matter what school he attends and I rented my first home which is not much more cost than what XXXX XXXXXXXX offers and the difference is unreal. I will return my keys as soon as I can. They may have to be mailed. I work XXXX hours a week and to be perfectly honest I'm drained from all of this. 

To recap, I'm asking to be let out of my lease WITHOUT PENALTY. As a matter of fact I'm already gone, just some things left in my freezer. Feel free to give anything there to a family in need. Also, you told me I would be receiving paperwork from corporate. I have not received any paperwork whatsoever. Please accept this as my formal request to be let out of my rental/leasing agreement without penalty. If anything additional is needed on my end, don't hesitate to call me XXXX. I'll also return the keys via mail along with a copy of this letter to ensure I'm doing my part. 

Thank you for letting us out. But please, for the people who have not a clue what they're in for ; steer them to another property and stop collecting people 's money for amenities you have no intention of fixing. I hope this experience was eye opening for you. I hope you understand exactly what you're doing isn't conducive in running a successful business. 

I wish you the best of luck. Please let me know if you need anything from me. I can take off more work if I have to in order to put this horrible nightmare behind me. 

On Fri, XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX wrote : Dear Residents : We have a new update on the repairs ongoing in your building. The work being performed on the gas lines in XXXX XXXX has been completed and the city inspector has approved us to turn the gas back on in your building. This means you will be able to use your heaters as needed again beginning tonight. 

As for the ongoing work to restore hot water for the entire building, we do not have a new update at this time. We want to apologize for the continued delay, but the current issue we have is that hot water is fluctuating in the building for different units. At this time, we ask anyone who is still experiencing drops in hot water or no hot water to please let us know so we can focus our efforts on what is causing this problem. 

To help explain what has already been done, here is a summary of repairs performed already : Initially, we found XXXX of the hot water tanks that service your building was out of service and replaced the entire tank to restore hot water flowing through the pipes underground. Second, we had plumbers troubleshoot the issue and an underground leak beside XXXX XXXX was discovered. That repair was fixed and we saw a slight improvement in the building 's overall hot water temperatures. Despite those repairs, we were advised by multiple plumbing companies to replace parts inside of your units called " cartridges '' -- a part that controls the flow of hot and cold water. We replaced the entire building 's cartridges, and again saw a mild improvement in the hot water temps. 

Now, we have seen that the water is sometimes hot, sometimes cold or fully hot or fully cold. Please contact the office to let us know your hot water temperature, whether it is working or not, so we can troubleshoot the remaining problems effectively. 

Due to the ongoing nature of this work, we would like to re-offer to everybody affected by this hot water issue the option of moving out of their unit without penalty. We can not guarantee a specific date for the repairs to be finished at this time, but we will continue to update you as we can. If you would like to be released from your lease contract as we have offered, we ask that you let us know in writing by XX/XX/XXXX. 

Thank you. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX is the property management company. 

As of now building XXXX is condemned and everyone that lived there when they condemned it received a {$500.00} payout. We did not receive any compensation even though we paid for gas, water, rent, etc while living in these uninhabitable conditions with a young child. We just needed to get out. 


Companies involved : XXXX XXXXXXXX Apartments MANAGED BY XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX I.Q Data International XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, WA XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX Owns the Debt of {$450.00} Threatened to contact my family members and employer to XXXX me into paying. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX who owns the bond on my deposit. 
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