Expert: Creditwrench - 5/17/2009

Question
QUESTION: I moved out of an apt in Jan. Move out inspection never occured (even though its part of move out procedures in lease). I took pics.  I called in feb asking where my deposit check is, was told it would be mailed. I missed the mailman (it was cert. mial), didnt have a chance to go to post office before it was returned. I called the apt office and said that it was on its way back to them, and if they resend it, I will plan a time to pick it up from post office. Nothing ever showed up. I called again a few weeks later, was told why dont I just come pick it up. I said because I now live over 2 hours away. Ok, we'll get it in the mail. Nothing ever came again. Then on April 17th i get a phone call at work from a coll. agency that I have 24 hours to pay up or else.  Blah blah blah, I sent letters of dispute and demand validation via cert. mail to both the off. and the agency.  Just got letter today that simply says $900 carpet.  That hardly validates a bill if you ask me. It looks like the office just typed it up at random on microsoft word. I have phone records and pics. I dont believe I owe anything, especially after they kept my $300 pet fee, $300 pet deposit, $50 gate remotes deposit. SO whats my next step now? What should my next letters say? Should I file complaints with BBB FTC etc? Isnt the complex in some kind of violation for not notifying me first, for following procedure with a move out inspection, for not providing itemization?verification of this "carpet bill"  ??   So irritated. Working 2 jobs and trying to be my own legal eagle. Im supposed to get pre approval for a home this week, Im afraid of this showing up on my credit report now, or ever.  ...

ANSWER: I can understand that you are upset about what they are doing to you but you simply are not approaching this the way it needs to be approached in order to get a satisfactory resolution to the problem. What I think you need to think about is how to keep them from messing up your credit and ripping you off for a goodly sum of money. You seem to be thinking defensively when you need to be thinking offensively. You need to understand that the debt collector is subject to FDCPA and FCRA and learn how to use their violations to win this battle. You say they sent you a letter that simply says that you woe them $900. What else did it say? It had to say more than that or you have your first violation of FDCPA and quite possibly other violations as well. You need to learn how to deal with them on the phone too. If you don't learn these things they will end up taking you to court and getting a judgment. That will really mess up your credit. That's not all a judgment will mess up. They can freeze any bank accounts you may have, maybe garnish wages, seize vehicles you might have that are free and clear and more. You can wake up one day and find they took all your money out of the bank. You need to learn how to fight and do a good job of it. You will need to learn how to take them to federal court and win, make them pay you instead of you having to pay them. And that is what I teach folks how to do.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: the CA sent me a copy of my lease (which i still have original anyway) and a copy of

" intention to impose claim on security deposit"..(which is dated jan 16 yet this is the first time Ive ever seen it. Im assuming this was the letter they attemped to send but I never recieved, and even called 2x to tell them i never got it (as i still thought it was refund)

it reads as follows:

deposit +394. carpet -900. final water bill -23.17.  amount owed to property 529.17

you have 15 days to object, and must send a letter to the landlord addressed below to do so.  
(apt complex address)

that is all it says.

I want to know how they got 900 for carpet. am i entitled to request specific paperwork? itemization of how my deposits were spent? the office called and left me voice mail that she recieved my letter of dispute and was sending me a disc of carpet pics. It has been a week. I dont know if they really are, or are just being sneaky and wasting valuable time.  ???  

teach away, i am listening!

Answer
It really doesn't make any difference what they claim. Whatever they claim when it gets to court is what the court will grant them. It don't make any difference how they got the figures they claim. They will present whatever it takes in the way of so called itemization of charges to "prove" what they say is true and you won't have any way to prove them wrong. It is a stacked deck from the start and as a tenant you will lose every time. I did have a friend of mine who was hit the same way but for a lot more money. $1700. They claimed the carpet was damaged by pet stains. They claimed he owed them about $300 in electric bills. They claimed all kinds of things and took him to court. He proved he never had a pet of any kind and he had a final bill from the electric company and a return of his deposit. He proved them wrong every step of the way. He came to me for help and we made them go to court 3 or 4 times trying to get the judge to give them their full amount. Bobby proved them wrong every time. In the end, despite all we could do the judge granted them a judgment for $80. Then he gave the lawyer 10% of that for his 3 days in court. Yes, Bobby beat them out of over $1600 in false charges they had him figured for so yes, that is a big victory but the judge should never have given them a crying dime. Apparently you don't have the kinds of proof Bobby had so you aren't going to come out nearly so good. Maybe you will learn to go get you a good digital camera and keep it with you at all times. They are small and great in the case of auto accidents or when you move in or out of apartments or houses or for lots of things. I never go anywhere without one. I also never go anywhere without a digital voice recorder. Never seems like you need one of those until you do, and then their price is mighty cheap. But now you have the proof. If you had used a good digital camera and a voice recorder when you moved in and when you moved out you might have had a chance to beat this thing but that isn't the case here, is it? Now all you can do is learn how to present the best defense you can when push comes to shove and they haul you into court. It's either that or just give up and pay them what they want and that is money you will need for your new home. Start learning now and you can easily end up with the down payment for your house out of your federal court settlement. I teach you how to do all of that. I provide you with 2 ebooks and step by step instruction all the way through federal court and all for just one low price. One of the ebooks is instruction for local court and the other is an annotated version of the federal rules of procedure complete with court case references. I'll work with you step by step every step of the way by phone, fax or email, whatever it takes to make sure that you thoroughly understand the processes and how to use them. If you want to learn more just call me anytime and I'll be glad to speak with you for as long as you want.