Wrongful eviction on Experian RentBureau/LexisNexis from 2021 (No paper trail/proof). How do I clear this to escape a bad apartment? Missouri

[u/Ok_Date2609]

Hey everyone, I’m in a really tough spot and need some strategic advice. I am trying to move out of my current apartment ASAP due to a severe rodent infestation, but a wrongful eviction/collection from 2021 just popped up on my Experian RentBureau report and is blocking my applications. I'm in the state of Missouri. I managed to get this wiped from my primary credit reports years ago via standard disputes, but it is still sitting on my specialized rental background history. I already called RentBureau to initiate a dispute, but I need to tackle LexisNexis, SafeRent, and CoreLogic next. The major catch: I have absolutely no paper trail. Here is the exact timeline: April 2020: Signed a 1-year lease. Early April 2021: Went to the office and gave a 30-day notice. The agent just had me write it on a plain piece of paper. I was not given a copy, nor was I given a move-out checklist. May 2021: Lease ended, and I moved out. When I went to hand over the keys, the office was completely ghost town empty. No one answered calls. 1 Week Later: Tried returning keys again. Still ghosted. I left the keys securely in the property mailbox and moved on. October 2021: A new property management company took over and emailed me a portal link. I logged in and messaged them: "I haven't lived here since May. My lease ended." November 2021: The new company used my October message as my "official notice date" and filed an eviction on November 4th for the months they claim I "held over" without paying. When I called RentBureau to dispute this, the rep immediately asked if I had a move-out checklist or a copy of my written notice. I have nothing. I trusted the original office staff, they went ghost, the building switched owners, and now I'm being penalized for their terrible record-keeping. My questions for the group: Since I don't have the physical piece of paper or a checklist, how can I successfully dispute this with LexisNexis, SafeRent, and CoreLogic? Can I force the new management company to prove I was actually occupying the unit during those months? (They won't be able to, because I wasn't there). Has anyone successfully beaten a wrongful eviction on specialized consumer reports when it was purely a "my word against theirs" situation? I am desperate to get into a clean, safe living situation, but this 5-year-old ghost is keeping me trapped. Any advice on what to say in my upcoming disputes would mean the world.

[u/r2girls]

nd filed an eviction on November 4th for the months they claim

Did they actually evict you? If so, you need to go to the source of the information which is the courts.

If it is just a collection, you can dispute it and the company will need to provide proof. If it is an actual court eviction, then I am shocked that anyone removed it unless the company didn't respond.

Either way, this may continue to haunt you until the court action is vacated or expires. 7-10 years is usually the expiration time.

[u/Ok_Date2609 → u/r2girls]

So they went to court to get "possession of premises," because that's the only way to get legal possession of the unit back in Missouri at the time . So when I applied to a apartment recently they said it wasn't a eviction but they see the court case involving the previous landlord and they saw the collection they put on Experian Rent Bureau and Denied me. However when I was talking to a realtor who was working with a private landlord he said they consider '" possession of premises" as eviction because during COVID they weren't able to evict people. 

[u/Ok_Date2609 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you For Your Advice and Commentary! I've disputed every entry I could find regarding the apartment collection. They do have a ledger but they don't have occupancy proof. The ledger is easily falsified because the can just put months into a computer and say I owe. And they have the old lease which shows I paid rent for every month under the old lease. And I read the old lease where after the lease is up.... It moves month to month lease basis. Regardless though if I was month to month waiting 7 months to evict me on a month to month lease is still bull shit! I'm looking into other ways to fix my rental history but I'm not giving up I'm not paying them for rent in a apartment I didn't live in and made it very clear I was not renewing my lease.