Consumer complaint received 2026-05-12 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Rental debt
Issue: False statements or representation — Attempted to collect wrong amount
Company: Collection Bureau of Fort Walton Beach, Inc
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
I moved out and surrendered ownership of the apartment XXXX # XXXX for XXXX XXXX of XXXX KY on XX/XX/XXXX, and the keys were returned via certified mail. I received an invoice notice dated XX/XX/XXXX advising me of the charges accrued after their inspection which I will attach. The invoice states " It is our intention to deduct the following charges from your security deposit. In accordance with Kentucky State 's Statute Code 383.580 you are herein notified that you are permitted 15 days from the date you receive this notice to object to any deduction or I will be authorized to deduct my claim from your security deposit. Your objection must be mailed to us within 15 days of receiving this form. Your objection must be mailed by certified mail. '' I sent a dispute via certified mail to XXXX, which was marked delivered and received prior to XX/XX/XXXX ( 15 days after XX/XX/XXXX ). I never received a response back. Later on, I received a collection notice from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX advising I have an account open in collections for {$8200.00} with a date of service XX/XX/XXXX ( My move-out date ) and a date of referral XX/XX/XXXX. This indicates XXXX sent the bill to collections prior to working with me per their own form sent to me. In XXXXXXXX XXXX form, they also advised that within the 15 days of the receipt of this notice that I must work with them which I attempted to do in good faith or it would be sent to collections with a 40 % collection agency fee. Despite my letter sent in a timely manner, XXXX sent the bill to collections before my certified mail response could even be received. This is deceptive, and a 40 % fee is highly inflated. Me and the joint accountee XXXX XXXX who is also on this debt sent a debt validation request to the Collection Bureau of XXXX XXXX XXXX. In this, we requested : A complete itemization of all charges Documentation supporting the original principal balance Documentation supporting the cleaning, trash out, and large item fees Copies of invoices, receipts, contractor bills, or work orders supporting each charge A copy of the lease agreement authorizing any collection percentage fee Documentation demonstrating that any 40 % collection fee is contractually authorized and represents actual and reasonable costs Proof of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX authority to collect on this debt. This dispute for validation was sent within 30 days of receiving XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX letter and is marked received via certified mail. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX responded with their supporting evidence. They provided a portion of the lease agreement, a scanned copy of my ID that XXXX had, A security deposit claim or refund form, an inspection report, a hand written invoice with no date or signature, and a maintenance charges and other deposit deductions list with hand-written invoicing. The collection agency failed to provide proof of their authority to collect on this debt, copies of invoices, receipts, contractor bills, or work orders supporting the charges, documentation actually supporting the need or requirement for the cleaning, trash out, and large item fees. The maintenance charges and other deposit deductions list emphasize that bathroom cleaning was needed as well as cabinet cleaning. While it is clear per the photos items were in the household, wiping out cabinets at {$50.00} each may not be a reasonable number associated with cost and indicates this form may be purely subjective and not based on an accurate representation of what it costs them. An additional example of this is furtniture removal being {$250.00} minimum per item plus labor. They specified there was 5 furtniture items but not what was considered furtniture, and said it is {$1200.00} with no indication of what the labor was itself. When viewing the trash out apartment labor and trash out per bag, it appears to be grouped by <> symbols to indicate the billing is one and is {$1000.00}. If the labor is $ XXXX per employee and there is 10 hours, that is {$1000.00} however the trash out per bags is inconclusive so it is impossible to tell the actual cost of labor and bags. And {$100.00} for a bag may be inflated and unreasonable. At the bottom of the maintenance charges is a resident area saying XXXX XXXX XXXX, this is not XXXX # XXXX, indicating documentation may be poorly managed. The inspection report is dated XX/XX/XXXX as the inspection date with the bottom right clarifying the inspection report however was XX/XX/XXXX. In the inspection report is photos of the unit showing pots and pans, small belongings, and a mattress. The notes of the form sent to me with the initial invoice advised that there was food left however not food is evident in the photos to the best of my knowledge or beverages that they mentioned, and the counters were wiped prior to departing the area. Additionally, the cabinets provided does not appear to equal 7 per the amount of cabinets cleaned on the maintenance list. In the inspection report, they also clarify there was 0 total actionable items, 0 severe items, and 0 needs review items, indicating no work was needed, this was signed as well by the property manager and status is considered closed. In the notes of the invoice initially sent, they mentioned my move out was classified as a skip despite my surrender of ownership and the inspection report says the type is move-out and not a skip, skips have been known to have inflated costs and fees which is concerning. In the maintenance list, they clarified the floor needed to be cleaned, the shower, the bathroom cabinets, and the toilet, however the inspection report has no notes on these section despite their existence to indicate action was or was needed to be performed, and there is no photos to suggest otherwise either. Additionally, these items should be considered normal wear and tear which is protected within the lease agreement, such as counter tops needing wiped/sanitized, and floors cleaned, and toilets, sinks, and cabinets. The inspection report serves under the property name XXXX XXXX but this is XXXX and may be misleading. The initial invoice form as stated mentioned I have 15 days to respond, the security deposit claim or refund form shows they took my {$1000.00} security deposit despite my letter and it was done on XX/XX/XXXX day 1 of the claim date, it feels as if there was never a plan to work with me and they did not honor the 15 day period. This has resulted in a 40 % collection fee being placed onto me, early collection attempts such as the form before the 15 day period, after I even sent my dispute to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, they proceeded to post the accounts to my credit report, and because it was in collections early before the 15 day period without my notice, even caused a late payment to show up on the first month. I have lost my deposit, I have accrued an inflated 40 % collection fee, I was collected on despite my request for debt validation and inaccurate reporting, and the debt validation request has not been satisfied.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation