Posted on: 15th Dec, 2009 11:45 am
Hi. My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a house with his VA home loan. Everything has gone smoothly and it look like we are going to close earlier than we originally thought. However, a slight problem has come up today and I don't know what to do about it.
There is an item on his credit report from an apartment complex we lived in back in 2002/2003. We had problems with the complex when we were moving out. Every day they would come up with something new we owed them for. The final straw came when we had been moved out for over a month and we got a call from the manager telling us we still had an amount on our bill. My husband left work, went to the apartment office and wrote them a check with the stipulation that we receive something that said that was ALL we owed. The manager photocopied the check and wrote a receipt that stated we our account was paid in full. A month later, we get a letter in the mail from the company telling us that we owed them $400 dollars (Pet fee, trash removal, and cleaning charges).
I was furious. They knew we had a cat and I had paid a pet fee when we moved in. The apartment was spotless when we moved our last piece of furniture out and I have witnesses that can attest to that fact (they helped us clean and move the place). The reason we were moving was because the apartment has a mold issue that they would not take care of and I was convinced that was what they were trying to charge us for. I called the company and complained. I told them we had a receipt that stated we were paid in full. I faxed a copy of it to them. I even faxed a copy of the rental agreement that showed I had paid a pet fee. They ended up apologizing and saying that the bill must have been made in error. That was the end of it... Until now.
When the VA loan officer pulled my husband's credit we were miffed to see a collection amount from the apartment complex on there. I sent a copy of the receipt to the loan agent and told her that it needs to be disputed and I explained the situation to her. She is now telling me that the apartment complex (she apparently called them) is insisting that the charge is ours-that the $400 was not assessed until after we received that receipt. (We had been moved out for almost TWO MONTHS when they charged this fee!!!) The loan officer is now telling us that we have to settle that account and pay the charge for the VA to approve everything.
I feel like this is a matter of principal. I do not want to pay these crooks (the apartment complex) even more money. Not to mention the fact that they are under new management and have been for years. At the same time, I don't want something like this to get in the way of us getting this house. Do we have any kind of action we can take other than paying the charge? Isn't there some sort of dispute system we can go through to take care of this? Wouldn't paying the $400 dollars at this point be like an admission of guilt?
There is an item on his credit report from an apartment complex we lived in back in 2002/2003. We had problems with the complex when we were moving out. Every day they would come up with something new we owed them for. The final straw came when we had been moved out for over a month and we got a call from the manager telling us we still had an amount on our bill. My husband left work, went to the apartment office and wrote them a check with the stipulation that we receive something that said that was ALL we owed. The manager photocopied the check and wrote a receipt that stated we our account was paid in full. A month later, we get a letter in the mail from the company telling us that we owed them $400 dollars (Pet fee, trash removal, and cleaning charges).
I was furious. They knew we had a cat and I had paid a pet fee when we moved in. The apartment was spotless when we moved our last piece of furniture out and I have witnesses that can attest to that fact (they helped us clean and move the place). The reason we were moving was because the apartment has a mold issue that they would not take care of and I was convinced that was what they were trying to charge us for. I called the company and complained. I told them we had a receipt that stated we were paid in full. I faxed a copy of it to them. I even faxed a copy of the rental agreement that showed I had paid a pet fee. They ended up apologizing and saying that the bill must have been made in error. That was the end of it... Until now.
When the VA loan officer pulled my husband's credit we were miffed to see a collection amount from the apartment complex on there. I sent a copy of the receipt to the loan agent and told her that it needs to be disputed and I explained the situation to her. She is now telling me that the apartment complex (she apparently called them) is insisting that the charge is ours-that the $400 was not assessed until after we received that receipt. (We had been moved out for almost TWO MONTHS when they charged this fee!!!) The loan officer is now telling us that we have to settle that account and pay the charge for the VA to approve everything.
I feel like this is a matter of principal. I do not want to pay these crooks (the apartment complex) even more money. Not to mention the fact that they are under new management and have been for years. At the same time, I don't want something like this to get in the way of us getting this house. Do we have any kind of action we can take other than paying the charge? Isn't there some sort of dispute system we can go through to take care of this? Wouldn't paying the $400 dollars at this point be like an admission of guilt?
Hi Glitch!
Welcome to forums!
You've mentioned that you faxed them the receipt saying everything was paid off along with the rental agreement stating the pet fee has also been paid. They have even apologized for their mistake. In that case, they should not have reported that amount to the credit bureaus. You can definitely dispute the issue. I would suggest you to contact an attorney and get his opinion in this regard. The receipt stating that you've paid the dues in full will go in your favor.
Feel free to ask if you've further queries.
Sussane
Welcome to forums!
You've mentioned that you faxed them the receipt saying everything was paid off along with the rental agreement stating the pet fee has also been paid. They have even apologized for their mistake. In that case, they should not have reported that amount to the credit bureaus. You can definitely dispute the issue. I would suggest you to contact an attorney and get his opinion in this regard. The receipt stating that you've paid the dues in full will go in your favor.
Feel free to ask if you've further queries.
Sussane
bear in mind that automated underwriting software has been updated to exercise caution when a "dispute" shows up on a credit report. there are so many bogus disputes across this country (thanks to all those wonderful morons who opened "credit clean-up" companies), that legitimate disputes are being held to a higher standard. in fact, it has been said that lenders are now likely to decline loans with disputes on credit because approval from automated underwriting cannot be obtained. be careful - i know how you feel, but you want to make sure you still get your loan.
