Apartment Collections

My husband and I recently moved from an apartment before the lease was up > and payed all the penalties. A few weeks after the move we get a letter in the mail saying that we owe another 65.00 for cleaning and painting even thought the apartment looked better when we left than when we moved in. I called the apartments and filed a dispute of the charges. A few weeks went by and I heard nothing from the apartment complex. Now I have a letter for collections of the funds. What can I do? Is that legal to send you to collections without properly settling a dispute of charges first?

[sandyclaus]

Originally Posted by Tiffany My husband and I recently moved from an apartment before the lease was up > and payed all the penalties. A few weeks after the move we get a letter in the mail saying that we owe another 65.00 for cleaning and painting even thought the apartment looked better when we left than when we moved in. I called the apartments and filed a dispute of the charges. A few weeks went by and I heard nothing from the apartment complex. Now I have a letter for collections of the funds. What can I do? Is that legal to send you to collections without properly settling a dispute of charges first?

It is legal, it's just not ethical. Either they ignored your dispute or you didn't follow your state's proper procedure (either how dispute was made or timing of it).

What you might want to start by writing a letter to the collection agency to demand that they validate the debt. They will be required to provide all documentation to support their right to collect the debt. Here is a website you can use that tells you how to create the letter:

Sample Leter 9 - Request to a collection agency to validate a debt

If we find out what state you live in, we can can provide you with the proper security deposit return & dispute resolution procedures for your jurisdiction.