Rental property evictions settling collections arising from “damages” to the property or early termination of the lease can be very detrimental to your score. They can hinder your ability to get a home loan in the future and put you in a difficult situation. Challenging these types of accounts for removal can be difficult, but not impossible.

Property Management companies

They are notorious for keeping poor records and making errors in the way they report collection accounts. Also, they often violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in their efforts to collect on the debt. With a keen eye, you can identify inaccuracies and challenge them for removal. If you do not have it, request a copy of the original lease you signed. Then, get your hands on a copy of an itemized list of what you supposedly owe from the property manager.

Be sure that any fees, penalties, damages, and other charges are accurate and jive with the original contract/lease you signed. If the debt has been sold or transferred to a third-party collection agency or law firm be sure they provided legal proof (dunning letter/debt validation letter) that they have the right to collect on the debt. They must also provide a detailed summary of how they calculated the amount they are claiming that you owe. After identifying any discrepancies, inconsistencies, or errors — dispute the debt with the 3 credit bureaus. Here is the dispute letter you should use to challenge the evictions settling collections.

Always remember, simply paying a collection does not improve your credit score. Oftentimes, paying a collection can actually lower your credit score. Why? The algorithm used to calculate your credit score is an imperfect system. A collection is given a coding such as “O-9” or “I-9”.

Two-digit coding
This tells the algorithm “we have something bad”, and in order to determine how bad it is (how much it negatively impacts your credit score) the algorithm looks at the “date of last activity” on the account. The more recent the date of the last activity, the more the account will negatively impact your score, and the data can only be reset by you making a payment.

Our membership website offers an easy-to-follow guide on what to do if you have collections that you would like to pay and in the “Handling Collections” an online course I will walk you through exactly what to do to ensure you properly handle your collections.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR