Some time ago, I noticed a delinquency on my credit report by James River Payment Solutions, acting for Peartree Property Management, in the amount of $328.00.in July of I went into their office accompanied by my sister looking for a one bedroom apartment in a safe neighborhood. I stressed to Debra Swain, the agent I dealt with, that as I was a young female college student and at the time, I was waiting tables and would often not be home until after 10PM, so safety was vital to me. She gave me several keys and my sister and I looked at all of the available apartments before settling on the one at 301 E. Harney St. Upon returning to her office, I again asked if this was a safe area of ElizabethCity as I was unfamiliar to the area. She again stated it was as safe as anywhere else in the area, so naively trusting her word, I signed the contract. Upon leaving her office, I called my Grandfather in Maryland to let him know that I had found an apartment. Despite me assuring him that Ms. Swain had told me the neighborhood was safe, he asked me to call the Elizabeth City Police Department to confirm the safety of the neighborhood. I honored his request and called. The lieutenant whom I talked to said that it was not a safe area and asked me if it was near a green house, I stated that I could not remember, he said that he was on his way out the door he would drive over to the address to make sure. He called me back 15 minutes later and said that the apartment I was looking at was in the green house that he was talking about, and that they had made several arrests relating to cocaine-dealing out of that very house. He also stated that you could not pay him to live there and he carried a shotgun and a handgun with him at all times! He said that he would never, under any condition, ever allow his daughter, who was the same age as myself, live there. I immediately (under 1 hour of signing the contract) called Peartree Property Management, and after informing the receptionist of the reason for my call, she stated you were on the other line, I then told her that I was rescinding the contract and for Ms. Swain to please call me. That same afternoon, I mailed a notarized certified letter to their office that stated the above and reiterated that due to her misrepresentation, I was withdrawing from the contract. The next morning I called again as my previous call was not returned and left another message. Ms. Swain finally called me back later that morning and stated that I needed to come in and fill out a form. I came in immediately (that morning) and filled out the requested paperwork. While I was there, a couple came in and returned the key for that very same apartment, as they had been looking at it that morning. I have never heard anything since, until the before-mentioned delinquency was filed on my report, despite the mailing address that I had given for my parents, who live 10 minutes away, and with me still having the same cell phone number that I had at that time. If I had been notified of the debt, I would probably have paid it simply to preserve my credit since I have always worked hard to maintain excellent credit, despite the debt being invalid. I sent a certified letter to Peartree Property Management asking them to remove this from my report, she responded stating that they were not willing to work with me, and mailed me a statement, along with a copy of my lease agreement (which I already had). I noticed from the statement that I was sent that they had been sending my bills to the 103 E. Harney St apartment, which I never took possession of, nor received a key. Since I had never moved there, I naturally did not receive mail at that address, thus explaining to me why I had not received any notice of my supposed debt. I was able to get it removed from 2 of my 3 credit reports due their fraudulent behavior. If you are dealing with thembeware!
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