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Landlord sent me to collections without notice

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sifu1

Junior Member
Florida,

Greetings,

I recently moved out of my apartment, I gave the keys to the landlord on the 14th of June. I advised the landlord to contact me with any amounts that I might owe for the 14 days. Well, I did receive a notification just not the one I expected. I received a notice in the mail that I had been sent to a collection agency for 601 dollars. No one called to say hey this is what you owe they just sent me to this agency 11 days after I moved out. This could ruin my credit what can I do. Is there a due process of law for landlords on this issue.

G
 


xylene

Senior Member
Florida,

Greetings,

I recently moved out of my apartment, I gave the keys to the landlord on the 14th of June. I advised the landlord to contact me with any amounts that I might owe for the 14 days. Well, I did receive a notification just not the one I expected. I received a notice in the mail that I had been sent to a collection agency for 601 dollars. No one called to say hey this is what you owe they just sent me to this agency 11 days after I moved out. This could ruin my credit what can I do. Is there a due process of law for landlords on this issue.

G
The landlord has a collection agency doing his billing. So?

What you can do about it is PAY the money you owe.
 

treese

Senior Member
Did you have a lease? What kind, MTM or fixed term?

Did you give proper written notice to terminate?

Rent is due on the first, correct? You moved out on the 14th without paying.

The landlord can hold you liable for (at least) all of June's rent.

It will only ruin your credit if you fail to pay the amount in full as requested.

You owe it, so pay up.
 

sifu1

Junior Member
OK Genuis

Well, first of all thanks for your "profound" statement.:confused: I made it clear to my landlord to inform me of the amounts due as I was purchasing a home and she stated that she would let me know what the amount would be for founteen days. However, to put me in collections when I am ready to pay seems unethical. So what I asked for einstein was if there was a due process of law. Now regarding your statement "pay what I owe" you are an idiot who has nothing better to do but play games on forums. For your information as a law enforcement officer, author, and martial arts instructor I "CAN" pay what "I" owe however, what I am talking about is the prinicple of the matter(you sarcastic fool), propper business etiquette.

THANKS FOR NOTHING EINSTEIN!
 
Agree, this must be what you owe, so I would pay it..

before it goes any further. I don't think because the LL uses an agency to do his billing that it is reflected on your credit report, however, by not paying it I am assuing it can go on your credit report. If you are worried about the credit report, check it once the bill is paid, if there is anything on there from this particular LL or credit agency or whatever, then I would dispute it.

What is kind of funny is how did you get out of that house/apartment owing rent? I pay my rent at the beginning of the month and I am assuming if I move out in the middle of the month the rent will be pro rated at the beginning of the month, not after I move out, or the LL would owe me money if I paid in full, not the other way around.
 

sifu1

Junior Member
Maybe I am not being clear

I know I owe something this is why I told her to notify me she did not. I was ready to pay when I was in the office because it was the "14" any fool would know that they need to pay :mad:. She said she did not know how much but would contact me. Now what you said about it not damaging my credit unless I don't pay was good info I assumed when something goes to collections it is automatically going to take a credit score down. This is what I was not willing to accept simply because I was in her office and she could not give me the amount and said she would contact me. I have the money always did what I am talking about is not money it's whether my credit would be damaged because I pay everything on time and I want to keep it that way.
 

ajs09876

Member
Are you sure that the agency is reporting it to the credit bureaus? Maybe the landlord just uses a collection agency to collect money owed. It won't affect your credit unless the agency is reporting it. I think if you pull your credit report to find out.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Have you check with the county the rental house was in to learn if there has been any judgment ordered by a court ? You really should check that out. If your former LL failed to take it to court and forwarded the claim to collection agency with out court ordered judgment then send written request via certified mail to the collection agency telling them to validate the debt. Then contact your former LL about payment.
 

sifu1

Junior Member
Thank You Lisa

I appreciate your respectful post, the reason I was able to get out of my lease is because there was a person who lived above me who had a criminal record for stalking and aggravating battery. I did not think I would have to explain all this I just wanted to know about the collections issue and all of a sudden I became a 'dead beat". Anyway she collapsed my bathroom ceiling by running water for about two hours. The landlord repaired my damages however, imagine dealing with someone elses bathroom water pouring through your ceiling and collapsing it. Before this happened we already knew she was disturbed but we tried to avoid her at all cost. Shortly after that she did the same to my kitchen ceiling. So if you can imagine enough is enough the landlord was unable to evict her due to a mental disability that she has despite a petition from about 130 tenants.


So I hope this makes everything clear.
 

xylene

Senior Member
For your information as a law enforcement officer, author, and martial arts instructor I "CAN" pay what "I" owe however,
YAY! I'm so afraid. :D:D:D

what I am talking about is the prinicple of the matter(you sarcastic fool), propper business etiquette.
You asked one question - paraphrasing: How do I avoid damage to my credit?

Pay the bill. If you feel it is improper pay the bill under protest and contest it by suing the landlord in small claims court. Way to go not getting a clear understanding of your charges. How that pertains to your vocation is beyond faulty reasoning...

THANKS FOR NOTHING EINSTEIN!
I'm a scientist, not a physicist , but thanks for the complement. :)

PS - Famer J's comment that a judgment is needed for your account to be in a collection agency is incorrect.

Treese asked you a number of questions. You did not answer.
Instead you were bablling about 'another tenants' mental illness...
 
Unfortunately, you don't get a lot of sympathy...

on this site . It is mostly landlords who post free "advice" and in the eyes of most landlords you, as the tenant, have very little rights.

I found this site to be helpful in answering some of my questions:

http://www.thelpa.com/lpa/lllaw.html

Just click on the link to your state.

I would also call this agency that sent you this bill and ask them directly if you have been reported to a credit agency.
 

aumrdoc

Junior Member
Collection

How come collection agency can collect money without a judgement issued by small claims court? They can of course try but this is not a credit card issue, it's a landlord/tenant dispute which is subject to small claims court first. I would reply to a debt collector by certified mail requesting a copy of judgement. But the best option, since you do owe money and accept it, is to call your landlord and arrange a payment, the case will be withdrawn from debt collector. Make sure you have a record of payment from your landlord in case if debt collector send any futher notices, you have a proof of payment. You landlord may have just forgotten, you ask him to send you a bill.
 

LindaP777

Senior Member
on this site . It is mostly landlords who post free "advice" and in the eyes of most landlords you, as the tenant, have very little rights.
BOOTS! That's fool hearted gibberish! You are free to correct any of us with facts when ever you see errors. Most landlords learn the laws pertaining to their business. FYI - There are lawyers here, too.
 
BOOTS! That's fool hearted gibberish! You are free to correct any of us with facts when ever you see errors. Most landlords learn the laws pertaining to their business. FYI - There are lawyers here, too.
Really, there are lawyers here? I couldn't tell to be completley honest. If you are a lawyer, I'll be interestd in seeing what advice you give, seriously.

One would think MOST landlords would know the laws, or at least have a small grasp or simply pay someone to do it for them. I'm really sorry, but on these boards I have mostly read lots of berating comments from the poor landlords being fully taken advantage of by the smarmy tenants. However, I have to say there are actually some LLs on here that make sense and are not just out to tell you, as a tenant, how you are taking advantage of your poor defenseless LL. Lke the one who told me, yes, I was correct about my security deposit being returned to me, then turned around and said it was a stupid law that only caused problems. Like I am taking advantage of my poor LL. It would have been nice if an attorney rather than a LL had read my original post, however, it seemed that since I was right, no one said anything, like, yes, your right, your LL is wrong. Just that the LAW is stupid. My fault????

I say, as a tenant, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, believe me, you have them and you have an obligation to protect yourself and your family by knowing your rights. Once you know your rights and what is expected of you, you will not find yourself in as many disputes with your LL as you will have covered your butt from day one.
 

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