I’ve got a problem with a lawyer firm trying to collect a debt that’s already been paid. Here’s the (somewhat) condensed version:
May 1998. Wife & I get jobs in a different state and end our apartment lease. A walkthrough reveals damage to carpet by our pets. The apartment manager keeps our security deposit and says that they’ll refund any left over after the repairs. They will notify us if any additional funds needed for repairs (90 days by the contract).
September 1998. After calling a couple of times to the manager (in June & July) to see if anything else was assessed, we are contacted by a collection agency that an additional $791 was needed for the remainder of the repair bill. I dispute it because of the contract and ask to see a copy of the bill detailing what was done (we suspect they recarpeted the entire apartment instead of just the one room where there was damage). They verify the amount with the apartment manager/owner but say they don’t have to provide a copy of the bill by law. We had just purchased a house in our new state and since we had come into some money, we decide to settle for a lesser amount ($500) and get it out of our hair. The debt is settled as far as we’re concerned.
Fast forward to November 2003. We receive a call from an attorney’s office in the old state (Texas) that they are attempting to collect on the $791 and tries to verify information so a summons can be issued. I tell them that we’ve already paid it, but my wife and I realize that we’re not entirely sure that we recieved a receipt for the already paid debt and cannot remember the name of the first collection agency. We’ve searched through our mess of paperwork but can’t find one scrap of paper identifying them. So we essentially have no proof that we paid it (although I’m working with my bank and searching for a record of a cashiers check or money order that we most likely purchased through them to pay off the debt).
A friend suggested looking up the statute of limitations for debt collection in Texas. It turns out it’s 5 years, but web sites are contradictory or vague on when the time frame begins. One said that it was when the debt became delinquent (which I would assume would be when it was turned over to the first collection agency even though we were never told we owed anything by the apartment manager herself until we verified that the collection was for real. From that point on she said that we had to deal with the collection agency since it had been turned over). Another web site said it begins when the last payment was made (by my reckoning it would be when we paid off the collection agency, but since I can’t prove that, it would at least be when they kept our security deposit). All of the web sites said that although we could be sued for the amount, if it’s past the statute of limitations then we can request the judge to dismiss the case. Both of those dates are past 5 years, but just barely.
The lawyer’s office said that since the debt was turned over to them in July 2002 that that’s when the statute starts as far as they’re concerned. Another wrinkle is that the apartment ownership changed hands between the time we left and the time the first collection agency contacted us. Apparently their recordkeeping system got all screwed up during the change. Why they waited another 4 years before turning this over (again) for collection is beyond me. I’m not about to pay for a debt twice, especially under the circumstances it was assessed in the first place.
Bleh. Can anybody shed some light on when the statute of limitations starts on debt collections or point me to an information source?
