Consumer complaint received 2026-01-09 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Rental debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action — Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged
Company: Rowland Avenue Management, Inc. A/KA Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC d/b/a Genesis
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
On multiple occasions, most recently on XX/XX/scrub>XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I spoke to the debt collector XXXX XXXX with Genesis/Columbia Debt Collection. 

I told him I would pay the debt if he could show me valid proof that I owe the money due for a specific charge being collected on. That charge is a " transfer fee '' for a transfer within the lease term between XXXX apartment and another. A written policy does not exist and is not in the lease, and XXXX XXXX confirmed that, yet attempted to continue collection anyway, suggesting that since the lease documents stated that the " early termination fee '' was waived, then certainly I should pay a transfer fee from XXXX unit to another. Yet he stated and plain and simple on a recorded line " the early termination fee was waived '', and the lease was terminated. He also said that any past debt from prior lease should have been resolved prior to me moving to a new unit and beginning a new lease. Yet it wasn't. The transfer fee was added as a fee after the lease was terminated with the early terminate fee waived. 

I'll pay the {$1600.00} balance due if I am show proof of a written policy that I signed in the lease stating I am subject to half a months penalty to transfer to another apartment in the community. 

Otherwise the debt is not valid. 

XXXX XXXX threatened me by repeating, on a recorded line, that I would not be able to rent another apartment. He said something to the effect of " you know that eventually when you lease ends you will have to move, and you won't be able to rent another apartment because this will go on your credit and show up as uncollected debt relating to a past lease. " He then said he offered me a fair chance to settle the debt with full payment, and was going to recommend escalating the file to go to the credit bureaus and record it as a collection. 


XXXX Communities, the property XXXX, stated that the debt was valid, but again failed to provide me with a written " transfer fee '' policy within the lease agreement either as part of the lease or as a signed addendum. Air communities also stated that they do not have a written policy for the transfer fee and that it is only a verbal policy told to tenants upon move in. They said I was told of it and was aware of the policy. I agreed with them that upon my initial move in to the community I was told I could transfer to another unit, but I was never told details of the unwritten policy including any fees associated with a transfer. It was only when I decided to transfer to another unit that I was told of the half months rental charge as a transfer fee. Then they stated that " I was told of the policy '' when I later contested the charge but this of course was after I had already signed the initial lease, moved in and requested a transfer several months later. 

I feel that this is a violation of the fair credit reporting act for XXXX reasons : XXXX. Not a valid debt supported by a signed policy document ( lease ) XXXX. Threatening tactics

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation