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Got a letter from a collections agency in Houston over a $340 bill I never got, do I call them or a lawyer first?
Back in March I moved out of an apartment in Houston and thought everything was squared away, then Tuesday a collections letter showed up for $340 from a cleaning fee I never heard about. I called the old landlord and he said they mailed the notice to my old address, which is the same place they were charging me to clean. Do I just pay it to make it go away, or should I talk to a lawyer about whether this counts as a real debt?
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alices163d ago
That $340 cleaning fee notice got mailed to the exact apartment they were charging you to clean, so of course you never saw it. That's on them, not you. In Texas a landlord has to send you the itemized list of what they're keeping from your deposit, and sending it to the place you just moved out of is a weak move. I'd skip the lawyer for now since a lawyer will cost more than the $340, but I would not just pay it either. Send the collections agency a letter asking them to prove the debt is valid, and mention the notice went to the wrong address. That alone kills a lot of these.
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