Landlord Debt / Collections Account

[danielaxe]

What is the name of your state? Florida

In August 2018 we had to break a lease early. We gave the office the proper 30 days notice and paid the rent for the 30 day period, the other tenant and I went our separate ways and due to personal and unfavorable conditions between us we no longer have any communication whatsoever.

I can prove the house was rented out within the next week, however, I just learned that I have been sent to collections and two months worth of rent has been reported to all three credit bureaus with Fair Collections and Outsourcing. I did not receive any kind of notice such as a phone call or letter despite providing them with my new address on my vacate notice.

My questions are:

Can they charge me for rent for two months event though the majority of that time the house had been rented to a new tenant?

Can I have the charges reduced to just the amount of rent it would have been up to when they re-rented the house?

Can I have the collection removed seeing as I didn't get any notice prior to seeing this on Credit Karma?

What do you recommend my next steps to be?

I CAN pay the debt, and would have already had I been given some notice of what was due and the ability to at least negotiate with them prior to being sent to collections, however of course, I prefer not to pay the full amount and to at least pay a much smaller amount than they are charging me for, and in either case my number one concern is having the collection removed. In all honesty I thought the deposit was going to cover any amount due and was expecting some of it to be refunded, so seeing the collection was a huge surprise to me.

 

[STEPHAN]

Did you give your new address to the landlord when you moved out?

Was there any fee for breaking the lease in your contract?

 

[FarmerJ]

Have you gone to the county court house of the county that home was in to look up your own name to learn if the landlord had sued you in small claims court and won a judgment against you? IF you had not looked to learn if the LL had or not then I sincerely suggest you do so .

 

[adjusterjack]

Can they charge me for rent for two months event though the majority of that time the house had been rented to a new tenant?

Depends on the terms and conditions of your lease.

Can I have the charges reduced to just the amount of rent it would have been up to when they re-rented the house?

That's between you and the collection agency. Understand that the collection agency wants money, not talk. You can offer a lump sum discounted cash settlement but "I don't owe $X" is going to fall on deaf ears. You would have to go to court and seek a declaratory judgment as to how much you actually owe, or wait to be sued and raise defenses as to how much you owe.

Can I have the collection removed seeing as I didn't get any notice prior to seeing this on Credit Karma?

Notice was not required. So, no, that's not going to happen. At best the item can be upgraded to a paid collection account, but it's not going to be removed.

my number one concern is having the collection removed. In all honesty I thought the deposit was going to cover any amount due and was expecting some of it to be refunded, so seeing the collection was a huge surprise to me.

Here's the thing. You breached a contract. Giving notice that you are breaching the contract doesn't absolve you of the financial consequences of breaching the contract. I don't know how the landlord would justify 2 months rent in court but if you don't want to go to court the best you can hope for is a negotiated settlement for a reduced amount.

 

[danielaxe]

Did you give your new address to the landlord when you moved out?

Was there any fee for breaking the lease in your contract?

Thank you for your response, in answer to your questions, yes I did give them my new address. The lease does say there is a 30 day notice plus a 2 month fee. I figured the deposit would cover everything but apparently they applied 100% of the deposit to damages (which were not legit, as we only lived there for 2 1/2 months). Had they notified me before ruining my credit, I would have worked with them. No letter no phone call no email even though I harassed them for a month about it via email and was constantly told a refund check or notice of balance due would be mailed to me.

 

[danielaxe]

Have you gone to the county court house of the county that home was in to look up your own name to learn if the landlord had sued you in small claims court and won a judgment against you? IF you had not looked to learn if the LL had or not then I sincerely suggest you do so .

I just checked the public records on the Seminole County Florida Court website and nothing came up with my name, perhaps I’m doing something wrong? I have no public records on my credit report and we vacated the house in August 2018. Any knowledge on that would be appreciated. Do they typically try to take you to court for that? The house was left spotless with no damage and a full $1675 deposit had also been kept...

 

[danielaxe]

Depends on the terms and conditions of your lease.



That's between you and the collection agency. Understand that the collection agency wants money, not talk. You can offer a lump sum discounted cash settlement but "I don't owe $X" is going to fall on deaf ears. You would have to go to court and seek a declaratory judgment as to how much you actually owe, or wait to be sued and raise defenses as to how much you owe.



Notice was not required. So, no, that's not going to happen. At best the item can be upgraded to a paid collection account, but it's not going to be removed.



Here's the thing. You breached a contract. Giving notice that you are breaching the contract doesn't absolve you of the financial consequences of breaching the contract. I don't know how the landlord would justify 2 months rent in court but if you don't want to go to court the best you can hope for is a negotiated settlement for a reduced amount.

I appreciate your thoughtful and concise reply. Have a great weekend!

 

[FarmerJ]

SO as to damage claims by the LL, damage claims can be problematic when it comes to landlord tenant disputes, So did you take pictures of how clean you left every thing ? Did you leave all walls , insides of drawers , fridge , oven, toilet bowls tubs laundry tubs closets garages basements attic and other storage areas clean ? light fixture glass, venetian blinds, shades, radiators vent covers clean ?

 

[justalayman]

I haven’t checked the specific laws but you can probably sue the landlord for any of the deposit kept without cause. You can’t reallt do anything about the 2 months debt being reported since it is a valid debt.


You can’t argue the unit was rented because it’s irrelevent. You utilized the clause in the lease to terminate it early. That cost you a fee equal to two months rent. You didn’t pay that. Whether the unit was rented or not doesn’t matter. You accepted the safe road knowing that whether the unit was rented the next day or it took until the natural expiration of the lease, you wouldn’t be liable for the rent.

 

[bcr229]

Florida residential landlord/tenant law is at:
http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/Chapter83/PART_II/

From the section on deposits:
(3)(a) Upon the vacating of the premises for termination of the lease, if the landlord does not intend to impose a claim on the security deposit, the landlord shall have 15 days to return the security deposit together with interest if otherwise required, or the landlord shall have 30 days to give the tenant written notice by certified mail to the tenant’s last known mailing address of his or her intention to impose a claim on the deposit and the reason for imposing the claim. The notice shall contain a statement in substantially the following form:
This is a notice of my intention to impose a claim for damages in the amount of upon your security deposit, due to . It is sent to you as required by s. 83.49(3), Florida Statutes. You are hereby notified that you must object in writing to this deduction from your security deposit within 15 days from the time you receive this notice or I will be authorized to deduct my claim from your security deposit. Your objection must be sent to (landlord’s address) .

If the landlord fails to give the required notice within the 30-day period, he or she forfeits the right to impose a claim upon the security deposit.

So, go back through your emails. How many days after the termination of the lease were you still asking about the return of the security deposit?