Maple Ridge

Review: On Friday, May 3rd, 2013, I signed a lease to move into a unit at the Maple Ridge Property. On Monday, May 6th 2013, I signed the notice to vacate the property after never having moved into the property. Over that weekend, many factors played into my decision to vacate the property. One of my reasons to vacate was the local news stories and co-workers negative portrayal of Maple Ridge Apartments. I was rushed to sign a lease; I did not have enough time for my due diligence in research about the place I was going to live. Once I had a better picture of the Property, I was fearful to move any of my belongings in to the property. There were other factors that contributed to my vacate notice, but none weighed heavier than the latter.On Monday, May 6th, I spoke with the Assistant Property Manager, she was very helpful and understanding through the process, though I did not share with her all of my reasons for not moving in my belongings. I wanted to speak to the property manager, but he was on vacation. I was waiting for him to contact me upon his return to discuss the financial ramifications of vacating the property. I did not hear from the Property manager, instead, I received a phone call from a collections agency about owing ~$1887. As you can imagine, this was very shocking to me as I was never given a total that I owed, I do not have a breakdown of why I owe these charges. As of now, my June rent is not even due and I am being harassed by a collection agency, how is this any way to run a business?Do they not have a policy about length of time before sending a person to collections?Do they not have a policy that ensures a discussion about the amount owed and reasons?Do they not have a policy that would allow a person to pay before instantly sending them to a collection agency and potentially impacting my credit?Desired Settlement: Overall, I would like a fair settlement for never taking posession of an apartment. If the above is not possible, at the least, I would like the following to happen:1. I would like a detailed explanation of the exorbanant amount of money they sent me to collection for.2. I would like the answers to their policies about collections as asked above.

Business

Response:

Thank you for bringing the above-referenced complaint to our attention. The management team at Maple Ridge Apartments prides itself on providing our residents with quality homes in a wonderful community. We place the highest standard on customer service, conducting business with integrity and abiding by the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. I appreciate the opportunity to address this concern. The complainant signed a lease with Maple Ridge Apartments and then requested to terminate the lease early. The terms related to early termination are well disclosed in the lease. The reasons the complainant is now providing for requesting to terminate his lease are vastly different from what he provided to management when he broke his lease. In conversations with the assistant manager and me, the complainant stated his personal situation had changed and he desired to vacate early. On May 6, he was provided with a written copy of the required notice to vacate and early termination cost as outlined in his lease agreement. When I spoke with the complainant on May 24, he acknowledged this had been provided to him and stated he had hoped the manager could reduce the early termination costs. I explained that the manager did not have the authority to alter the binding lease contract and that all accounts with balances upon closing them out are sent to our collection agency. The complainant stated he would have paid the amount due prior to his account being turned over to a collection agency if he had realized the manager did not have the authority to change the terms of the lease. It is unfortunate that the complainant's personal situation resulted in these unexpected changes in his residency. Prior to an email he sent me on May 28th and this complaint to your agency, there was no indication from him that he was not pleased with Maple Ridge Apartments. It is certainly our goal to provide quality homes to our residents and quality service to current and former residents. Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance. Sincerely, [redacted] Regional Property Manager

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. Is there not a business practice that requires a written invoice for amount owed before sending a person to collections? How am I supposed to pay a collections agency for an amount that was never submitted to me for payment? I never once saw an invoice detailing the amount I owed Maple Ridge, can they send me a detailed invoice? Regards,[redacted]