Well I have a personal story. The greedy bastard property management company I have been fighting for months turned me over to a debt collector. Missed the court hearing due to slow USPS Mail handling times.
I moved out at end of my lease in March. Gave 30 day notice in February so I though per the renewal requirements. Complex office closed mid-February due to coronavirus. So wrote a letter saying not renewing my lease. Put it in lockbox by office door. When I moved out 1st week of March, left my keys in same lockbox. Complex not offering move-out walkthroughs due to virus.
Stopped all future ACH payments from March on after my March rent was taken. Fast-forward to May. Got a letter from a debt collector. Allowed to take no other action. Claimed I owed April rent, April utilities, and late fees ($1300 rent plus $100 utilities plus $1500 late fees). Disputed it.
Repeat in June and July. Each month adding $2900 in added bills. Finally a Key replacement fee, a cleaning bill, a re-painting bill and a repair bill for ceiling damage totaling about $3000. the upstairs apartment from another renter toilet overflowed while I was moved out. I have pictures of the pristine ceiling and apartment condition before I left, which I submitted with my keys upon move out. Again, due to the office being closed until August and denied a move out walkthrough. Luckily I has a Walgreens receipt and time stamps on the photos. All told, $11700 was now owed. Been calling and disputing the amount since April with every new collection notice.
Now WTF does this have to due the the USPS? Got a email notice of a credit report change last week. New derogatory information on my credit report and a new public record on my credit report on August 11. Well I have USPS informed delivery. Just got the mailed legal notice picture of the certified envelope on August 20 on informed delivery. The court date set for August 10. Today is August 22, nearly 2 weeks after. Forwarding mail from the Longmont Colorado old apartment address to Loveland Colorado (20 miles) shouldn’t take that long.
That is rough. I seriously wish you a lot of luck in getting a resolution to the problem. It’s never fun fighting through something like that in normal times and this is anything but normal. Like dominoes falling - one problem leading to another and all the time adding up to horrendous bills!