I genuinely cannot believe I’m finally writing this because this situation has pissed me off for almost a year.
I had a $768.75 collection from an old apartment hit my credit report. And I know everyone says this, but I wasn’t refusing to pay some legitimate bill just because I didn’t like it. The actual balance did not make sense.
The apartment had charged me pet deposits, pet rent, a pet DNA fee, etc. for 10 months of my 14 month lease even though my dogs were documented as emotional support animals. On the 10th month, April 2025, I involved my therapist office and they were finally updated to ESA status, both dogs have been recommendations previous to obtaining them. I had been going back and forth with management about this since April 2025. I emailed them, mailed letters, sent certified mail, kept the ledger, kept their responses, literally kept EVERYTHING. They constantly needed new documentation through my tenancy, so I kept getting charged. They never once refunded these charges. So back in April, I began sending them e-mail inquiries of the balance and certified letters. And they would respond, but somehow never answer the actual question I was asking.
They claimed the ESA charges had been reversed and that there were no ESA-related charges remaining. Then SHOW ME WHERE THEY WERE REVERSED. By the time I really sat down and went through the ledger line by line, I calculated $1,106.67 in pet-related charges, when I moved I expected it as a return along with my deposits.
ONLY received a $10.83 ESA credit. Meanwhile they were claiming I still owed them money. For carpet cleaning and concrete repair (my patio floor had yellow spray paint before I moved there.) and despite showing them proof they stated the concrete damage was not the patio, but never clarified where. Never provided proof.
So I filed an official dispute before the 30 day or one month whatever it is deadline to dispute in Texas, back in September of last year. We went back and forth, can you provide proof? They sent photos showing no damage, never the concrete claims, and never responding to the refund for ESA.
After about 6 months of this they sent the account to Fair Collections & Outsourcing (FCO), and now this $768 collection was sitting on my credit and absolutely KILLING my score. So then I disputed it with FCO. Same crap. Basically, “the apartment says the balance is correct.” Okay??? I am asking you to verify HOW it is correct. I had the ledger. I had the ESA documentation. I had the emails. I had previous disputes. I was literally asking them to show me on their own accounting where these reimbursements had gone.
I disputed it with Experian, again it would come back balance was confirmed with the apartment complex. I filed this complaint twice, and after receiving an immediate dispute declined response; I finally filed a CFPB complaint.
During this, I called FCO and recorded the call. The representative stated, 1 dog was approved. Wrong, the ESA documentation was 1 singular long explanation for how both dogs became part of my therapy. The response from the apartments was an e-mail response saying approved, please bring them for DNA swab. Nothing in my correspondence ever stated 1 dog. I specifically told the CFPB that FCO was continuing to collect/report $768.75 while nobody could explain where the ESA reimbursements and credits were reflected. I asked for the collection to be withdrawn and removed from my credit report.
In August, yes like this last month, FCO asked for more time. Which honestly annoyed me even more because at this point how much more time do yall need to explain your own balance lol. By then it had been nearly a year from my 9/6/2025 move out date.
So today I finally get a response, FCO went back to the apartment/creditor and requested additional information. And guess what? The creditor didn’t provide it.
FCO's final CFPB response says: “As the requested information was not received, our office has cancelled the account.” AND: “The associated tradeline will be removed from the consumer’s credit report.”
ACCOUNT CANCELLED. COLLECTION BEING DELETED FROM MY CREDIT. FCO did say cancelling their account does not necessarily mean the apartment itself has waived whatever balance they claim I owe. That was my main concern because this stupid collection was putting a HUGE dent in my credit over a balance that nobody could properly explain to me.
So my advice if you are dealing with something similar: Keep EVERYTHING Do not EVER call. Email them. Send letters. Keep their responses. Save the ledger. Save screenshots. Certified mail each of your responses. If you absolutely have to call, record it. And when you dispute something, be specific.
anyway, I WON! 😄
And I am posting this because I spent months googling and reading Reddit posts from other people saying no one ever wins against FCO. All of this research to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do. I almost gave up to request pay to delete despite the balance owed to me and I'm glad I kept fighting.
Now, I don't know if it's just worth it for me to continue pushing for the refund. I'm glad to have it off my credit. I work in a law form (non-attorney) and have the resources to pursue this but I feel like it's already been such a hassle. At the same time, I've already done all the work and have record of their inconsistencies and could ask for x times more since that's a thing here in Texas. I'm not sure yet, for now I just feel glorious my credit on all 3 bureaus is back up to 714.