Hello. This is a long one so I will just make a list of events. My main question is wondering if its worth pursuing legal action against the housing company, or the collection company.
Received 2 months free rent as promotion to move into new apartment complex (large complex)
Moved in January, lived happily for 4 months
Easter weekend, roommate finds a bag of oxycotton in the building hallway (like a hotel hallway) turns it into the leasing office. Cops come and check it out. (cameras in building) (OC bag was half a fist size)
Police report made, cops leave, end scene.
About a month later we see a $5k charge (2 months rent) on our account we use to pay rent/etc. We wonder whats up, assume they missed our rent payment on accident.
After investigation we find out that it was them charging us for the 2 free months that we got when we moved in.
Reason- Violating our lease terms by possessing drugs (the Oxycotton WE TURNED IN!!!!)
We try to talk to the office staff about it but they have been told they cannot discuss it with us.
They start putting pressure on us to pay up, we stand our ground, roommate gets a meeting w/ a mediator.
We receive the option to either not stay and leave w/out facing punishment of breaking our lease, or stay for our lease and not pay, but the situation gets swept under the rug, and we cannot pursue action against the company.
We say F that, we are leaving. We assume everything is done and over. They were even required to pay for a moving company.
[side note before part 2, they required us to move out 3 days b4 the end of the month so they could turn the apartment over to the next tenant, this was a pain but in the lease so we accepted, unfortunately our stuff could not be accessed until we were ready to take ALL of it, so for 3 days I lived out of my car, b/c if i went to the storage unit, I would need to take EVERYTHING. Then we find out from our old across the hall neighbors that no one moved in for over 2 months. All that hassle for nothing...)
PART 2 - Debt Collection
Just when we think everything is all said and done, we each receive a collection notice in the mail for the $5k, plus $6k in additional charges. We absolutely are not paying that. However, anyone thats lived in Boston knows that housing is very competitive, and having a collection on your account basically means you wont be approved for housing.
After a Month, my roommate (we no longer live together at this point as i moved back to NY) pays the debt. He was having tons of issues with housing and decided to pay and take them to court later, so he could temporarily move on and be approved for housing.
The only problem is they never reported it paid on my end of the account. I went for over a year until I applied for an apartment and it came up on my credit report. A delinquent payment for $11k...
We call the company and they say they are going to remove it from my account. Never happens. Now my credit is screwed for a collection that was actually paid, off of a debt that was bogus in the first place. I have been declined from multiple hosing complex's, and was only able to get an auto loan at almost 9% interest.
Am I able to hold the collection agency accountable for not reporting it as paid on time?
Am I able to go after the housing complex for filing this $11k debt after we agreed on our dismissal terms?
TL:DR - Housing company files debt for money we didn't owe, collection agency doesn't report as paid after we foolishly pay it anyways. Credit is absolutely ruined when it goes over its payment window. Consequences of having a collection on credit report ensues.
Written By: theekevinbacon
Source: https://ift.tt/2HSRnWk
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