security deposit/ charges

Jacksonville, FL. I moved out of my apartment and waited 30 days for a letter of claim against my security deposit ($200). After about 34 days, I stopped by the office to find out whats going on and the letter had been returned due to transposed numbers of my address( their error). I then received a notice that I owe $242.84 and has been sent to collections. I did not receive the letter because the office manager wrote down the wrong address and did not try to resend the letter. That was her error. Do I still owe this amount even if I did not receive a letter within 30 days and had to go to the office to get this information? They also have sent this to collection. What should I do?

You still owe any amount that is really from your damages. They attempted to send the deposit statement out in the required time frame. They have proof that it was mailed within that timeframe. A clerical error will not be seen by a court as bad faith on the LL's part. (Not tandamount to failing to send a statement out at all. They did not fail to get you the statement on purpose.) It was a simple error. Once brought to their attention, they corrected the error and re-sent the statement to the correct address so that you did receive it. Had you written the forwarding address down for them and given it to them in writing, this error may not have occured.

If you were responsible for the charges on the statement, you still owe that overage above and beyond the deposit. If you did not do the damages they have on the statement, you still need to challenge it by sending them a challenge letter to dispute each charge individually, stating why you don't owe that amount or for that damage. Mail it by certified mail and keep a copy for yourself. If you still cannot come to an agreement, you will have to take them to small claims court.

I did not receive the letter against my claim at all. I only receive an collections notice. I went to the office and thats when I received the letter that was sent back. I will go ahead and pay the amount due. I just hate that they did not take the time to correct their error and sent the claim to collections. It was unprofessional and unfair.
Thank you. I appreciate your time.