Dealing with collections...options

[TheSiege]

So I was contacted by a debt collection agency saying I owe $1100 bucks for an apartment I used to rent.

Long story short, I had to move quickly so I left the apartment in a mess. They kept my $700 deposit and now they are saying I owe $1100 more. I am fine and agree with most of the charges. But one charge of $810 under "cleaning" is what I am disputing. They have no breakdown of how this is calculated, no time or mention of work done. The carpet cleaning fell under a different section and is already listed. Additionally, my contract only mentions me paying for things that are broke or not returned (keys, blinds, windows) there is no mention of me paying for any kind of service such as cleaning, besides carpet cleaning. From what I am describing do I have a case? Should they remove that charge? Are they breaking the law?

 

[highland145]

You broke the contract so I wouldn't hold out much hope.

If you could get them to take you to small claims court, the judge could say the charges are excessive.

How long ago was it?

 

[TheSiege]

1/2013. I am confused, what part of the contract did I break that constitutes a $800 cleaning charge?

 

[z1ggy]

Yeah you're pretty much boned I'd guess. But I'd def ask for an itemized list of what $810 worth of "cleaning" is. If they give you that and it all adds up, you're sunk.

 

[TheSiege]

Yeah you're pretty much boned I'd guess. But I'd def ask for an itemized list of what $810 worth of "cleaning" is. If they give you that and it all adds up, you're sunk.

I would expect something to the effect of "40 hours of cleaning walls, sinks and trash removal at $20 an hour"

 

[highland145]

1/2013. I am confused, what part of the contract did I break that constitutes a $800 cleaning charge?

Which ever part says that you're liable for repairs/cleanup. I didn't say it was fair or right but you don't have much to stand on.

Pull your credit, annualcreditreport.com, and see if it's been reported yet. If not, pay it and call it a lesson learned. If yes, try and negotiate some deal (in writing) to pay it and get it removed from your report. You'd hate for that $800 to hose your score unless you don't care. If you don't care, tell them to eff off.

 

[TheSiege]

Its been reported, but I went over the contract through and through it says absolutely nothing about cleaning

 

[Bob the Coder]

This boils down to 1) what your contract says regarding damages that exceed your deposit, and 2) what restrictions state laws may place on #1 (laws that may prevent a landlord from just willy nilly charging former tenants $810 just because they feel like it).

Here's the rub: you need an attorney to read your contract and then mail a letter to the collection agency / land lord. This letter would lay out #1 and #2, demand an itemized list of repairs/costs, and then threaten action in the event your credit history is damaged by his tactics.

Based on the little information provided, my guess is that you're getting screwed, the landlord knows he's screwing you, and knows that you'll roll over. Hiring an attorney over $810 is a pain in the ass, and you'll spend about 20% of that just getting the attorney to send the letter. More if the landlord digs his heels in.

Perhaps the landlord views this as repayment for screwing him first and feels justified in charging you an asshole tax.

 

[CPA]

Send this letter to them and see how they respond.

 

[highland145]

Perhaps the landlord views this as repayment for screwing him first and feels justified in charging you an asshole tax.

 

[CPA]

This boils down to 1) what your contract says regarding damages that exceed your deposit, and 2) what restrictions state laws may place on #1 (laws that may prevent a landlord from just willy nilly charging former tenants $810 just because they feel like it).

Here's the rub: you need an attorney to read your contract and then mail a letter to the collection agency / land lord. This letter would lay out #1 and #2, demand an itemized list of repairs/costs, and then threaten action in the event your credit history is damaged by his tactics.

Based on the little information provided, my guess is that you're getting screwed, the landlord knows he's screwing you, and knows that you'll roll over. Hiring an attorney over $810 is a pain in the ass, and you'll spend about 20% of that just getting the attorney to send the letter. More if the landlord digs his heels in.

Perhaps the landlord views this as repayment for screwing him first and feels justified in charging you an asshole tax.

You don't need an attorney to send that letter. Anyone can do it and there are myriad of sites that have sample letters. This is a small claims court issue, in any case, and a lawyer is not warranted.

As far as being an asshole for leaving early, life happens. Sometimes we don't get the luxury of a thirty day notice. That shouldn't mean the lessor gets the right to charge up the wazoo.

 

[TheSiege]

Contract has no mention of charges exceeding my deposit. I sent a letter asking for the itemization and have yet to hear back. I should just upload the info on here.

 

[TheSiege]

Send this letter to them and see how they respond.

I did send that letter, that exact one and went something like this

New Keys $150
Carpet cleaning $200
2 new blinds $180
Cleaning $810

and so on until the amount was around 1800 then they gave me credit for my deposit.

1800 - 700 = 1100

 

[John Connor]

Just be glad the bill hasn't made it's way to a lawyer's office. That is what happened to me with a medical bill back when I had a colonoscopy. I had Blue Cross Blue Shield and a supplemental from Transworld (the pyramid building in San Fran.) and I still owed money! I not only got my ass checked but they screwed it too without a reach around FFS! So long story short and about seven years latter I'm down to a little over 100 bucks to pay this lawyer off who has sent me two forms of interrogatories and stole money from my checking account. And that's the thing. You have to fill out the form of interrogatories truthfully otherwise the judge sends a Sheriff to your house and send you to jail. I'm locked into a contract to pay this POS every month. I can't wait to pay him off finally.

You may be screwed as well with that bill. You're locked into a contract and if collections can't get payment they could go to a lawyer and they won't leave you along. Here's the kicker. A form of interrogatories means you list all the stuff you own; furniture, TV, computer, car you name it so the Sheriff can come by and take your stuff. I did think about bankruptcy back then, but for the amount I owed on the bill and the cost of bankruptcy it just wasn't worth it.

Small claims court will probably cost more than it's worth.

 

[TheSiege]

Well I never even had notice of the debt until I contacted them in December, I had no idea about it

 

[highland145]

You don't need an attorney to send that letter. Anyone can do it and there are myriad of sites that have sample letters. This is a small claims court issue, in any case, and a lawyer is not warranted.

Guess he could file a summons and complaint to get the LL into court to explain the charges. $80 here. But his damages are to his credit so if the LL doesn't show up, I don't know what the court could do for him.

As far as being an asshole for leaving early, life happens. Sometimes we don't get the luxury of a thirty day notice. That shouldn't mean the lessor gets the right to charge up the wazoo.

Life isn't fair. How many times have you dealt with the IRS screwing some poor sap?

 

[highland145]

..

 

[Bob the Coder]

You don't need an attorney to send that letter. Anyone can do it and there are myriad of sites that have sample letters. This is a small claims court issue, in any case, and a lawyer is not warranted.

As far as being an asshole for leaving early, life happens. Sometimes we don't get the luxury of a thirty day notice. That shouldn't mean the lessor gets the right to charge up the wazoo.

I'm not saying the OP deserves this, I was just speaking from the landlord's POV.

A letter on an actual attorney's letterhead would carry far more weight than a template from the Internet. Could certainly try the free one first, but that uses up valuable time while his credit gets the assrape.

 

[Bob the Coder]

Life isn't fair. How many times have you dealt with the IRS screwing some poor sap?

I'm going through that as we speak. IRS thinks we owe $1800 because we failed to send them proof that we spent funds on higher level education about 5 years ago when we took a credit. Our CPA has sent them said proof countless times, as have we, and the IRS just keeps losing it. We're talking gross incompetence on their part. We call their collections department, and they can see the letter in their file system and see that we did what was asked. But they can't close the matter because that's a different department. That department can't see the letter, so the case remains open. And round and round we go.

Life can be a bitch.

 

[John Connor]

The IRS needs to be abolished and the Feds need to institute a flat tax!

 

[TheSiege]

The IRS needs to be abolished and the Feds need to institute a flat tax!

Thats a topic for P and N

 

[John Connor]

IRS was mentioned.

 

[z1ggy]

Contract has no mention of charges exceeding my deposit. I sent a letter asking for the itemization and have yet to hear back. I should just upload the info on here.

Did you get sued...? I mean, if you damaged the landlords property causing damages that exceed the security deposit, then he's still going to go after you.

PS- I think your LL is trying to bone you. I left an apartment in kind of shit shape when I Was younger. I got a notice from LL saying he was keeping $700 of my $1200 deposit for carpet replacement. I sent him a letter back saying fine, but that he needed to send me an invoice and receipt of services, and that I wanted the letter notarized. He did that, and I couldn't really do anything as he followed the law.

The extra $810 for cleaning other than carpet should be itemized, AND include invoice and receipt of services. In my state, if the LL keeps deposit or charges more, by law they have to provide the tenant that info.

What condition did you leave this place in?

 

[TheSiege]

I wasnt sued, its just on my credit. The place had maybe 5 hours worth of cleaning, and thats a stretch. Manly just garbage left after you move out, and some small items that needed to be thrown out. Outside of the 2 broken blinds that my 2 year old broke, nothing was damaged. Besides the carpet

 

[Spungo]

PS- I think your LL is trying to bone you. I left an apartment in kind of shit shape when I Was younger. I got a notice from LL saying he was keeping $700 of my $1200 deposit for carpet replacement. I sent him a letter back saying fine, but that he needed to send me an invoice and receipt of services, and that I wanted the letter notarized. He did that, and I couldn't really do anything as he followed the law.

This seems to be the correct course of action. You'll gladly pay for whatever needed to be done as long as there is a record of what was done. I think that seems reasonable. Do you think I'm allowed to send insurance claims for medical procedures without showing any evidence of the procedure being done? Of course not. Gotta show those receipts to make a claim.

Speaking of which, this seems like a wicked scam to pull as a landlord. Start your own cleaning business. When tenants move out without cleaning, your "company" (you) cleans the place for an exceptionally high cost, but the itemized list shows things like steam cleaning everything, de-stink everything, shampoo everything.