hat to do if I recently moved out of my apartment complex and was charged 2 separate fees relating to “pet damage”?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
hat to do if I recently moved out of my apartment complex and was charged 2 separate fees relating to “pet damage”?
We never had a pet in the apartment and I disputed the claim, but the landlord is not going to budge. They are going to send the account to collections unless I pay, which I see as ridiculous. How can I avoid this hitting my credit score?
Asked on December 3, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
You can either pay the fee--or at least try to work out a settlement you and the landlord can both live with--or you can take legal action. If you take legal action, you can either wait until the collections agency sues you and defend the action, on the grounds you never had a pet--though that runs the risk of having them first report a default or bad debt to the credit rating agencies, at which point you'd have to take action to remove the false reporting, which is *very* difficult. Or you could pre-emptively take legal action, suing the landlord and seeking a "declartory judgment," or court determination, that you do not owe the money. No matter what, if the landlord is determined to seek these fees, you will have to spend money and/or time to resolve it; if the fees are comparatively small, the most practical thing would be to pay them, even if you consider them unjust and unwarranted.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.