Expert: Creditwrench - 10/2/2008

Question
QUESTION: Last year I signed a lease for an apartment in Washington DC with my friend for 12 months.  After multiple problems with bed bugs and other issues that were not resolved, we vacated the property.  The landlord then brought a case against us in landlord/tenant court.  Once our case was heard, the landlord decided to drop the case (we were puzzled).

Anyway, after that we heard nothing from the landlord.  Now, two days ago, I received a call from a collections agency stating that they have had this account since August and unless I paid them THAT DAY they were reporting me to the credit bureau.  They were asking for over $5,000, more than we even owed on the remaining rent.  They never have contacted my roommate, only me.

I never received anything from the property management company or any collections agency since the day in court (which I believe was sometime in February 2008).  I have not received a validation notice of any kind from the collections agency.  I know that the landlord maintains we broke the lease, but we believe that they broke it.

Is there any way to handle this without ruining my credit?  It seems that the collections agencies have unlimited authority to report negative items to your credit report regardless of the validity of the situation.  There is no judgement against me or my roommate in any court and I would happily return to court to have the case heard, but it seems like they are sidetracking that to just ruin my credit in the meantime.

I am going to be moving to a new apartment later this year and I'm afraid negative items, especially recent and related to housing, are going to be a big problem for me.  What are my options?

ANSWER: The interesting part here is where you say you never received a validation notice of any kind. You mean that they sent you a demand letter that had no miranda notice on it?
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---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: They never sent any letters through the mail.  They simply
called me and said they were reporting me to the credit
bureaus.  I still haven't received any letters from them,
though the man did say he would "send something out" before
he hung up.  I've received NOTHING in writing from them...
that's what is so puzzling.  My fear is that despite their
mistakes, my credit report will end up paying for it.

Answer
Then you need to pull your credit reports to find out if there is any incorrect information or impermissible inquiries on your reports.

You also need to be aware that they must have a written demand in your hands within 5 days after their initial contact with you by any means whatever. That even includes by making an inquiry on your credit reports or phoning you or however. If they violate you have a cause of action against them in federal court.

Don't let them stomp on your rights. Learn how to defend your rights and win without having to resort to lawyers.