Consumer complaint received 2024-06-09 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Rental debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed — Debt is not yours
Company: Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX I received a notification that my credit score on XXXX dropped by XXXXXXXX XXXX  and I immediately looked up on XXXX website, there was a collection account listed there and side I owned $ {$44000.00} ( {$38000.00} original balance ) to an apartment called XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX The debt collector is KIMBALL TIREY & ST JOHN LLP. I was living in XXXXXXXX XXXX  at that time and had no idea what was that. So I filed a dispute on XXXX about this collection, and it was deleted from my record several days ago. 
From that time to XX/XX/XXXX, I received 2 physical mails from debt collectors, one was mentioned above KIMBALL TIREY & ST JOHN LLP, the other was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, I thought it's already deleted from my credit report and the letter would be just delayed response. For the second, I immediately disputed at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX. And I received the feedback from the debt collector on XX/XX/XXXX, the collection account was cancelled from their side. I thought at this time, this issue should be completely resolved and it's a mistake or something. 
Until XX/XX/XXXX, I was trying to apply a car subscription at XXXX website. My application got rejected immediately and the reason was Adverse Action in my credit record. I realized that there was still something wrong. Before I only checked the credit score and report on XXXX, so this time I registered the other two Credit Bureau, XXXX and XXXX. And there were same collection accounts on them. I realized this is Self Identity Theft and I am a victim that someone stole my ID and rented an apartment at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXFor the past two months, I reported my case to Federal Trade Commission and got the law enforcement report from them since the Police Department of XXXX ( where this apartment located ) and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXX/XX/XXXX ) guided me to report to FTC first, and if problem can not be resolved, then reach out to police. Now I'm following the guidance generated by FTC to solve this ID theft issue. Reporting to CFPB is part of it. I also mailed the letter generated by FTC, my FTC report and proof of my Identity to the debt collector mentioned above to ask to cancel the record from my credit since I'm the victim of ID theft. I also tried to connect this apartment a lot times, only the agents from XXXX XXXX picked up and transferred me to XXXX  office, but there was no one picking up at all. So I was never able to connect to XXXX directly. 
Actually there was another collection come along with this XXXX XXXX is the XXXXXXXX XXXX charge coming from this apartment, also under my name. But this one was just resolved 4 days ago by me connecting XXXX directly and I provided a variety of residential and ID verification proof. The result was a statement from XXXX : " Your dispute has been validated based on the documentation you submitted. We will have a letter mailed out confirming that the account balance has been removed and the request to have all derogatory remarks and credit inquiries associated with these accounts removed from your credit report. '' Now there is only one collection related to this case and it's on XXXX. But there will be more if I'm not reporting here to try to resolve the collection account with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. Basically I have done anything I can so far, if it can not be solved, the next step would be report to local police department for the further help. 
I would like to provide any proof or verification that help resolve this ID theft case if asked.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation