Consumer complaint received 2026-07-14 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — Rental debt
Issue: False statements or representation — Attempted to collect wrong amount
Company: FAIR COLLECTIONS & OUTSOURCING, INC.
State: IL

Complaint narrative:
I resided at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXX, IL XXXX, from XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  through XX/XX/XXXX. I completed my full 17-month lease term and was never evicted. On XX/XX/XXXX, property manager XXXX XXXX emailed me confirming I could leave my keys in the drop box. I vacated properly on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  with no balance dispute raised by the property. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, a {$15000.00} government rental assistance payment ( Check # XXXX ) was applied to my account, as documented in The XXXX  official Resident Statement generated XX/XX/XXXXXXXX   by XXXX XXXX XXXX the propertys own management system. 

I have now obtained and compared two ledgers covering this account : DOCUMENT XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX official Resident Statement ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  ) : Covers my full 17-month tenancy. Shows the {$15000.00} rental assistance payment applied XX/XX/XXXX. The figure of {$7800.00} does not appear anywhere in this document at any point during my tenancy. 

DOCUMENT XXXX XXXX ledger on XXXX XXXX letterhead ( dated XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  ) : This is the document FCO  used to collect and report this debt. When compared against the official Resident Statement, it contains the following specific falsifications : 1.My lease end date is listed as XX/XX/XXXX. My actual lease ended XX/XX/XXXX confirmed by my signed lease and written emails from XXXX XXXX property managers. 
XXXX {$15000.00} rental assistance payment ( Check # XXXX ) is completely omitted. This payment appears clearly in the official Resident Statement and was confirmed by XXXX XXXXXXXX own property management team. 
3.An unexplained Conversion Balance of {$3900.00} is inserted on XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  after I had already vacated the property with no payment history showing how this figure was calculated. 
XXXX XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  rent charges are added, then XXXX and XXXX are reversed with notes stating XXXX  XXXX XXXX should not have been charged and XXXX  XXXX rent should not have been charged acknowledging these charges were wrong but a manipulated balance is still carried forward. 
XXXX XXXX  rent of {$560.00} and parking of {$33.00} are then charged after my move-out to reach a final balance of {$7800.00}, which FCO rounded to {$7800.00} for reporting purposes. 

The {$7800.00} FCO is reporting was manufactured using a document that omits a {$15000.00} payment and falsifies my lease end date. This is not a bookkeeping dispute. This is a fabricated document used to collect a false debt and report it to all three credit bureaus. 

I sent FCO two certified dispute letters in XXXX and XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  with full documentation. FCO did not respond to either and closed the account without requesting deletion. I wrote to XXXX XXXX  registered agent on XX/XX/XXXX with no response. All three bureaus have failed to remove this tradeline despite my documentation : XXXX  re-reported it as current as of XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  ; XXXX  completed a 10-day reinvestigation without addressing my evidence ; XXXX is still investigating. 

This false reporting has directly prevented me from securing housing for myself and my child with XXXX. I am requesting that FCO immediately delete this tradeline from all three credit bureaus and provide written confirmation that no balance is owed.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation