Apartment complex is trying to screw me...should I pay?

Go find a pro bono tenant rights lawyer. Go to your local bar association and ask for a pro bono referral.

Then, here's the plan:

1. Get someone (free clinic/pro bono lawyer) to write a letter to the collection agency saying you are represented and that they are not to contact the debtors (you) any further only the attorney (calls will stop); (I do this for my local community)
2. Got to small claims court (no lawyers allowed) and get the decision one way or another finally. If you win, great, no more harassment, no credit problems. If you lose, you got your shot without any lawyer fees.

Good luck.

 

Definitely don't pay.

Instead of photos I went one better with the last apartment I lived in before buying a condo. They showed me the apartment before I signed the lease. There were a couple of bad stains on the carpet and another problem that I don't remember. I had the property manager write into the lease that I was not responsible for the carpet or the other problem before I agreed to sign. I didn't have any problems when I moved out.

 

Forget the lawyers. Forget the court.

Just don't pay it, and don't back down. I've been there, and it never hurt me a bit. Your credit rating can survive something like this. You're getting scammed by these charges anyway. Tell the collection agency you're not paying sucker charges, and don't back down. They'll stop calling eventually. Don't let them scare you. Be tough right back.

 

This is why it is good to be very thorough when filling out your move-in inspection forms, etc. It is also why I advise people to insist that the landlord/apt. manager do a move-out inspection with you a few days or weeks prior to departure. They may not want to, but you need to make them do it. If they are there and they tell you everything's fine, they have not a chance of trying to keep your money when you move out. And if they don't like something, you have a few days to remedy the situation. But if you don't fill out your move-in forms, and they didn't do a move-out inspection, well, why wouldn't they claim whatever they want to?

This is why many large apt. management companies hand you a blank stapled move-in inspection form and say, oh, just fill this out and return it within two days. Because they know most people will forget about it or fail to do it entirely. But, for those who actually fill it out, you can basically list even the tiniest problems and they have to accept it, because they chose not to have a say in your move-in inspection. Of course, you should make a copy before you turn it in, otherwise they can always "lose" it.

 

This. Don't hire an attorney, but let them think you did. Collection agencies will back off if they think the courts are involved. It's not worth it to an apartment complex to come after you for $350. In all likelihood it will go away.

 

First and only question: Did you take pictures of the apartment at any stage of this -- water damage at the beginning, how clean it was when you moved out?

 

Yes, I have pics and now I have a voicemail from the landlord (who works for the corporation that owns the complex) saying that they have bumped the charges down to $350 bucks (from the original $980).
I have contacted a pro bono lawyer just to get some advice...I will ask for a itemized list of charges from the landlord, along with an order sheet for the crisper that they use and then tell them they can have the money for the crisper (after I find out if it's actually worth the $60 she says it does...I doubt it) and drop the rest...or else they can go after me and they can deal with my lawyer from now on.
I am willing to pay for what I broke, but not a cent more. Thanks for all the advice.

 

Spike, you're being too nice. When a landlord tries to rip you off like this and it gets this full of bullshit, you just cut them off and say, "You'll get no more money from me. We tried to reason with you, and you wouldn't listen. Now go away."

Once a collection agency resorted to nasty phone calls, I told them to fuck off. They tried a couple more times but then gave up. And my credit rating never took a hit.

 

That's basically what happened the last time I left an apartment. I really wanted to leave on good terms with the landlord, so I had the apartment professionally cleaned before I left town. I told them to call me if they had any issues and made sure they knew where to find me. I called a week later, then two weeks later, to double check.

About two months later, I got a certified letter in the mail from the property manager with a bill for $3,000 (equivalent to six months rent). I called and asked why. The property manager said something about replacing the carpet and linoleum. I'm usually pretty timid on the phone, but I told her that she was being completely ridiculous and now she wouldn't get a cent from me without a fight just for being greedy. I hung up and started researching the state's tenant laws for what I assumed would be the lawsuit that was coming.

Two years later, haven't heard a word since. They were just fishing for suckers.

 

Yeah. And a bill to replace carpeting is a good first sign of predatory management billing after you leave. Carpeting, like paint on the walls, deteriorates fairly quickly in apartments. Especially if the carpeting is average quality or worse. Stuff like that has to be replaced often, but they still try to shove it on the departing tenants as if they destroyed it.

 

The last apartment I ever lived in, they tried to charge me $200 for a bullshit cleaning charge. That apartment was cleaner than a hound's tooth when I turned the keys over. I never paid it, bought a vehicle and a house with that on my record since then, and that was 11 years ago so it's long gone from my credit report.