Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Texas

Wrongful debt destroyed my credit

In short, when I applied for an apt. they did a credit check on me. My credit showed that I owe $4500 to a housing complex in lubbock, Texas.

I was originally going to be going to college there but i decided to use off campus housing. This was 3 months prior and the only way they would reserve a room for me was to sign a lease and put down a deposit. I then received a job offer in san diego and decided to pursue job opportunities there instead of attending collect in lubbock. About a month and a half to two months prior i informed the complex that I would not be attending school there and would not be living on their complex.

They found this to be unacceptable and reported me to the credit bureau stating that i owe them the a full lease of $4500. I cannot afford this and refuse to pay for an apt that i never even stayed at. I never received my deposit back nor expected to. What should i do?

Thanks.


Asked on 4/30/06, 6:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
TC Langford Langford Law Office

Re: Wrongful debt destroyed my credit

You need to read the lease that you signed.

You also need to check the records of the county, to see if they filed suit against you.

If no suit was filed, and there was no judgment, then read the terms of the lease, to see what your obligations were.

Normally, under a broken lease, the landlord is entitled to a certain number of months rent, and has an obligation to mitigate their damages by reletting the apartment. You should find out if they did that, as most judges will not allow them to collect twice.

If you gave them a forwarding address, you may have some rights to collect your deposit, or at least have it credited against what you owe them.

After reading all the terms of your lease, send them a certified letter advising that you do not owe the money, and ask them for an itemized justification of the charges. Send a copy to each of the credit reporting agencies, certified mail, disputing the charges.

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Answered on 5/01/06, 7:00 am


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