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Southern Management Systems

Southern Management Systems review: Apartment Rentals 1

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9:20 am EDT
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My daughter move into an apartment complex in the Orlando area in the fall of 2007. She used my name as a contact and provided my cell phone number to the rental agency. After 2 months of living there, she could no longer afford her electric bill. She would turn everything off in the morning, including her air, and her bills were running between $350 and $400 a month. She contacted the rental agency and told them she wished to move. She paid up the electric bill (with help from her parents). They (the rental agency)told her as a lease break penalty, she would have to pay for 2 months rent and forego her security deposit, which she did. About three months after that (March 2008), she and I both began getting phone calls from Southern Management Systems. The 1st gentleman who contacted me seemed nice. He stated he was trying to get in touch with my daughter, and left their phone number for her to call. I had no idea what was going on. When I contacted her about the message, she proceeded to tell me how they were hounding her for some (unspecified) fees she owed to her former rental agency. She told them there was no way she owed anything. They proceeded to berate her, saying she had to get the money from her parents, friend, boyfriend, or maybe she should consider "knocking off a bank". She needed to pay this money. After she told me that, I instructed her not to take their calls anymore. She ended up changing her phone number, and they proceeded to call me just about every week. I would leave it go into my voice mail. Finally, I got tired of this routine and I wrote SMS a letter. In the letter, I stated that I had read about their collection tactics on various internet complaint boards. I told them I would not deal with them. I stated that I wanted a letter from whoever they were representing stating their name and address, phone number and a contact person. I also wanted a detailed list of what she owed and why. Haven't heard from SMS or the rental company. The last person contacting me from SMS was Willie Garza. Anyone in the same situation needs to do the exact same thing. How many people paid without really knowing what they owed, or why. Demand to know what, why, to who and how much. Shut them up real fast!

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montevistasucks
orlando, US
Aug 20, 2009 1:28 pm EDT

I had a similar situation except I could pay my bills. I had my apartment broken into and watched car brake ins nightly. Any one who lives in Orlando knows Dr. Philips area is Supposed to be good. Monte Vista was the name of who I rented from and the lady was really nice when I told her I needed to leave because I didnt feel safe basically told me to not worry about the fees. Well 2 months later i received a bill from southern management stating my parents (who were also on the lease) and I owed them money for leaving the lease early. Now its on my credit report and I am having a huge problem trying to get my own apartment because of them.