My apt. was robbed; Apt. mgr was evil and did not care; I broke my lease; now a collection agency says?

that I owe 3x more than I really do...

What can I do in this situation? I have no reason to fight w/ the apts since the "debt" has been sold to a collection agency. So do I have to pay this LARGE amount of money? Should I just let it be until 2013 - which is when it will drop off my credit report? Will this be a bad mark of some sort of "apartment history report"? What do apts check for when they run the application?

When you say you were robbed do you mean that someone confronted you with a weapon inside you apartment, or did they break in and steal your things. This happened to me once in an apartment and once in my own home. I did not break my lease when I moved from the apartment, nor did I move out of my home the next month when it happened in my home. Being broken into is not a reason to move, breakins are fairly common in the city, and can just as easily happen to the new place you move to. knowledge about making your apartment unnattractive to thieves is a better solution before someone breaks in. If your life is being threatened that is another matter. You need to check your state for legal issues regarding the ability to break a lease in that situation. The most important thing to do is find out if and when they re-rented the unit. If it has been re rented they cannot collect double rent. If they are trying to collect other punitve amounts what are they? If you have proof that the unit is re rented and they are collecting double rent bring it to the attention of the collection agency and tell them that you will take them court or you will counter sue in this instance (I don't know your state or the limits on small claims but it would have to under 3 to 5 thousand. Consumer protection laws can be involved an landlords can get into a lot of trouble for double dipping, especially in the case that you present. You don't say how many months of rent are at issue, did you move out onn a 1 year lease after 2 months? Do a little detective work, ask the next door neighbors if someone is living there and how long they have been. In the alternative, maybe you need to make a deal with the collection agency. Agree to settle for a set amount that you think would be fair. You also don't say if they have already taken this to court? The time to ask for a settlement would be before they take you to court if the place still is not rerented. You don't say how they arrived at 3 times the amount either. Did yo leave the place filthy and damaged? Your question is not that simple without knowing all the parameters, you may need to hire a lawyer, and yes it's a bad mark on your rental and credit history. Especially if you are in a hot rental market. I have no reason to rent to someone with marks on their credit when I have people clamoring at my door to live in my apartments.

The amount you owe will not just disappear, only closed accounts drop off of your credit.

Yes, this will show up as an eviction and a collection. It will effect your ability to rent, purchase with credit, as possibly get a job, as many employers look at credit reports to get an idea of someones ethics.

You likely do owe the full amount. The lease, plus all legal fees.

It is NOT the manager's fault your apartment was robbed. That is not a legimate reason for breaking a lease. You are legally liable for the remaining rent on the remaining months of the lease you abandoned. If your lease was for 12 months and you left with 3 months remaining, you owe your monthly rent times three. It WILL be a bad mark on your renting history.

If you had renter's insurance, your losses would have been covered from the burglary.

When landlord run a application check, they look for judgement, eviction, owe money, late payments. If you want a decent apartment you are going to have to pay.

First of all,

I have included two links that will be helpful to you. The first is to a PDF file that outlines your rights as a consumer, with a collection agency. This law tells collection agencies what they can and can not do.

Second is a link to the official website set up by the three credit bureaus to provide you with a free annual credit report.

So, the first thing you should do is to document your situation. Get a copy of the police report, right down the dates you moved into the apartment or house and the date you moved out. Put it all together into a file.

The next thing I would do is get a tape recorder or a digital recorder and put it on your telephone so that you can record your conversations with the collection agency.

I would then go to the nearest post office and get a P.O. Box.

The next thing I would do is write a letter disputing the debt.

The letter should include your name, and the address you lived at when your house was robbed and the collection agency's account number and your new P.O. Box. Do not include your social security number, date of birth or anything else.

I would write in the letter. To whom it may concern. I have received communication regarding this account number. I am officially informing you that this is in dispute.

Don't put anything else in the letter. Don't give them anymore information.

Now wait. They will likely come back to you in a few weeks saying that they reaffirmed the debt.

During this time I would obtain a copy of my credit report from all three credit bureaus. If this debt is listed on them, dispute the debt with each of the three credit bureaus. Each bureau has an section on their official website that allows you to dispute things on your credit report.

If the collection agency comes back to you and says that the debt is legitimate, I would send them another letter (all of these letters should be sent via registered mail) requesting that you be allowed to inspect the original contract (original being the key word here). A copy of a contract really isn't enforceable. So do not accept a copy. Tell them you want to see the original contract, if they can't produce it let them know that you will expect them to remove this debt from your credit report promptly or they will be hearing from your attorney. This means that they will have to lay their hands on the original with your signature.

Keep in mind that your position should be that you owe NO money. To the contrary, it is your former landlord who owes you. Your former landlord broke the terms of the lease by not providing a safe environment for you to live in.

Never admit that you owe anything. It is better to negotiate UP from zero than DOWN from an arbitrary and inflated number (they inflated the number just so they could make you an offer in compromise that is STILL profitable to them.)

So, don't admit that you owe money. You are not at fault. Make them jump through the legal hoops. Contest this on your credit reports. And see what happens. More likely than not they will either leave you alone and the debt will lift from your credit report, or they will reduce the amount to something reasonable.

I am saying all of this and assuming that you were not evicted or served with a summons and had a judgment entered against you by a court.

For the record, I am not an attorney. While I think my advice is sound, you follow it at your own risk.

I hope this helps.

Once a judgment has been filed it can be renewed every ten years. I have one against a tenant from back in 1981. I have renewed it twice already and plan to continue until he finally wants to own something and can't until he pays me back...BTW interest is accruing every day on that judgment.

In my vast hours of court experience watching Judge Judy, I think maybe you could have if there was a history of breakins in your complex, on the grounds that the landlord knew of a dangerous condition and failed to address it. It would've also helped if your landlord was a man. Judge Judy seems to hate men more than she hates everyone else.
But you say its in collections now. I suggest you go to Bud Hibb's website. He has lots of advice about bill collectors and can hip you to some of the sleazy (and sometimes illegal) moves they use. You can find out what your rights are.

Did you file a police report when they broke in, if so maybe you could prove that it was an unsafe enviroment and you had to move for your safety.(Know someone with a similar situation and thats what they did).

Robbery has nothing to do with your apt manager. You should have bought insurance for your stuff.

If they get a judgement against you, judgements are good for 10 years and can be renewed FOREVER.

That is the difference between a judgement and a mere collection.

So what if your apartment was robbed...happens to alot of people and they don't have a legal right to move out. That is when you get extra locks or a security system.

You didn't have a legal right to break the lease, therefore the landlord can legally charge you for the REMAINDER of the lease.

Yes it will be not only on your property history report, but if you ever go to buy a house, the bank will require you to pay that off before they lend...b/c it's a housing obligation that you didn't fulfill.

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