A friend of mine asked me for advice, and I thought of you all for advice. She lived in Portland, OR about four or five years back and lived with her boyfriend. When the relationship went sour, she moved out and had herself removed from the lease. When he moved out a few months later, he left a balance of unpaid rent and termination costs. Now, the apartment complex is collecting on her for unpaid rent and using her boyfriend's last name as hers (they were never married). Isn't this fraud isn't a pretty pure form? You can't change a last name in order to collect on someone. By the way, the CRA's are reporting the collection under the boyfriend's last name too. She disputed with the CRA's, telling them that wasn't her last name. They replied saying that they had updated the name information, but the account remains. Should she start playing hardball with the OC and the CRA's? Should a dispute letter come first, or should she open investigation for fraud? What other ideas?
Presumably she did not sign anything, including lease applications, using her boyfriend's last name. What does she have to show she was removed from the lease? Was there a new lease drawn up and signed by only the boyfriend, with all rent paid up to that point?
