I’m dealing with a lease dispute in Virginia and would appreciate any advice, especially from anyone familiar with landlord-tenant law, collections, or credit disputes.
In May 2025, I electronically signed a lease for an apartment because I was planning to start school that fall. The lease and pre-signing emails stated that certain items were required, including:
- Security deposit / administrative fees due at application
- Income verification or guarantor documentation
- A fully completed lease package before occupancy
Here’s what happened:
- I never paid the security deposit, admin/application fees, or any rent
- I never submitted income verification or guarantor documents
- I never picked up keys, moved in, or stepped foot in the unit
- Management did not follow up with me for 2+ months about missing documents or payment
- Right before move-in, they suddenly emailed saying I could pick up keys
- I responded that the lease appeared incomplete because the required conditions had never been satisfied
- They later said I was responsible for the full lease unless I “relet” the unit
Months later, they sent a balance of $20k to collections for what appears to be the full 12-month lease.
My concern is that:
- I never occupied the unit or took possession
- Some lease requirements were never completed
- The apartment had several months to re-rent the unit, and I’m questioning whether they properly mitigated damages before charging me a full year of rent
This collection is now hurting my credit, and it’s currently the only negative item on my credit report.
My questions:
- Would you first dispute the debt with the collection agency / credit bureaus, or speak with an attorney before doing anything?
- Is this something that can just be handled through the collections agency?
Virginia apartment sent $20k lease balance to collections for a unit I never moved into — can this come off my credit?
byu/SaltyStrain9544 inpersonalfinance
Posted by SaltyStrain9544
9 Comments
You signed a legal contract and then ignored it.
You need someone in your state to answer, because laws can be so different. Where I live, this wouldn’t fly. They can only charge you until they find someone else to move in. Do you think they kept the unit vacant the whole time while you were not paying rent? They didn’t.
Contact a tenant’s union in your area, or at least in your state.
Yes you can dispute the validity of the debt over a failure to mitigate damages. In writing, dispute the amount owed and cite a failure to mitigate damages as the reason. Request itemization of the damages claimed and a timeline and evidence of attempts to re let the apartment.
Send whatever you signed to an attorney in VA and ask them whether or not you are liable for this debt. Prob cost a couple hundred bucks. If they say you aren’t, dispute it. If they say you are, dispute it anyway. Maybe offer to settle it for a few k through your attorney. Prepare to be sued but this happens a lot so I’d be shocked if they wouldn’t settle for a fraction.
You signed the lease, so you are responsible for the entire 12 month rent. When you decided not to move to that apartment, did you notify the property manager? If you did, do you still have documentation (emails) that you notified them?
The only way to mitigate your cost is to take them to court and have them prove that that apartment remained vacant for the entire 12 months. If they had rented the apartment or turned down potential renters, then you owe them less money.
It’s unclear, when exactly did you notify them that you no longer wanted to complete the full lease agreement? You said you e-signed it in May, never paid the deposits, and the property manager didn’t reach out for over 2 months before offering the keys.
Once you signed that the apartment was always going to take this route. Even if you dispute it and win, worst case for them is no money and some lawyer fees, best case is $20k. Likely will be you settle with them for a smaller amount to avoid full court and lawyer fees of court.
Either way. Send this to a lawyer to see if you can get a quick clean dispute. If a lawyer says you’re screwed, then he’ll be worth every penny to help you settle.
You need an attorney to read the contract language to determine if you are obligated to pay. This should not cost $2500 just to read.However, if they do more like send a response – then yes it will cost $2500.
What you are failing to understand – when you signed the lease – most likely you are obligated to pay – even if you do not complete all the steps – even if you back out of it etc. The apartment is under no obligations to follow up if you complete the steps or not. That is normally the language in the contract. Get a lawyer and find out your liability – then you can decide the next steps.
NAL, but I know a little about contract law and im in OH. This contract sounds invalid since all the conditions weren’t met. I say dispute the validity of the debt. Then id send a certified letter to the apartment owners requesting them to prove you owe the debt. Then of course requesting them to remove it