I received a collection letter today for $15,267. To make a long story short, I lived in an apartment four years ago. The landlord decided to reroof portions of my building. The contractors that were hired ran out of shingles and left without covering the roof with a tarp. Needless to say, it rained and the master bedroom ceiling in my unit collapsed. I had called the emergency maintenance people when I first noticed the leak and was told that they would come out the next morning. The ceiling collapsed two hours after my call. When I moved out two months later (the unit didn't get repaired until after I vacated) I was sent a bill for the rain damage. I disputed their claims and I haven't heard a word from anyone until today. I did a search for the collectors license and found they are not licensed in my state as required. Any clue has to how I should DV this?
By what twisted logic does the landlord expect to get payment from you for damages caused by a contractor he hired? Actually the large dollar amount, and the fact that there are probably state unfair and deceptive trade practices issues on top of whether the CA is licensed, might attract interest from your state AG, or even local DA. It is probably worth a call to each.
I have copies of their original claim and my denial letter. Actually yesterday I goofed. This all happened five years ago not four. Since this goes SOL in less than twelve months, and I live in a state of repose, they are going to try and see how stupid I am.
Your landlord is playing chicken. He has assumed there is no down-side to doing so. Raise the stakes. It is not just a "commercial dispute" to knowingly attempt to obtain money from a renter for damages that are on their face not the responsibility of the renter but caused directly by the landlord. Using a CA to do it does not change that. States have consumer protection laws that apply to renters. AGs and DAs are responsible for ensuring compliance with these laws. There is no down-side to raising the stakes by filing complaints.
go to your state's website. You will have to find the department that issues licenses. In Michigan it is the department of labor and economic growth. Then you can do a search by business name or the owners name if you know it. When I searched I first looked for their general business license. That gave me the owners name. I was able to search for the collectors license under both the business name and the registered owners name.
