Apartment complex charging for carpet replacement and back rent?

The landlord has 30 days from the date you moved out to send you a certified letter at the new address you have given them making a claim on your deposit, using the form provided by statute and stating with specificity the reasons for the claim. You then have 15 days to dispute the claim in writing. The judge settles the dispute. However, you don't mention a deposit. You state that the landlord is demanding payment and that a collection agency has already contacted you. This would indicate that there is no deposit. I suppose that in that case the only way the LL can collect is by suing you in Orange County Court where it has to produce evidence of its claim and where you can testify to the facts you mentioned above. (Hopefully you took photographs when you left). They have to sue you if they are not taking it from a deposit. It is rare for an apartment complex to sue anyone over $700 for a carpet because they have to hire an attorney to represent itself. Managers cannot represent corporate landlords in court. Only attorneys can represent corporations and institutional landlords. Thus, it may be just a case of the collection agency harrassing you. If that's the case, after you get the collection agency's address, the next time they call you tell them this: "Pursuant to the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act I am demanding that you stop calling me or contacting me in any fashion. If you call again, expect that your telephone call to be recorded." Then you should send a letter to this collection agency stating the same thing. It is illegal to record someone's telephone call in Florida without first telling them that they are being recorded so, if the collection agency calls again, immediately tell them they are being recorded (even if they are not). They will invariably hang up. If they continue to harrass you after you instruct them to stop by phone and certified mail, then seek out a debt collection attorney specialist. If you win a suit under the FFDCPA you get a minimum of $500 damages plus the payment of your attorney fees. The foregoing is offered for informational purposes only and is not legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship but if the answer was helpful, kindly check the thumbs-up box below.

Your welcome. Just as mentioned above, send them a certified letter instructing them not to contact you again pursuant to the FFDCPA (Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act). After such a letter they either have to leave you alone or file suit against you. As for your credit: There is no telling what an alleged creditor might be able to report but a claimed or alleged debt usually does not get reported because it isn't established. If it were a credit card debt or other revolving account debt, then yes. But this is an alleged debt and if it were reported to a credit reporting agency and it was bogus or they failed to obtain a judgment in court, then the creditor would be liable in civil court for "slander of credit." So when you send your letter to the collection agency you might mention a "slander of credit" action as well as the FFDCPA. If they have any brains they will realize that you have been consulting an attorney. The foregoing is offered for informational purposes only and is not legal advice nor does it create an attorney-client relationship.