BELLEVILLE – A Mascoutah landlord is being sued for allegedly reporting a fraudulent debt against a former tenant in order to obtain funds for renovations.
Plaintiff Amanda Willim filed a lawsuit in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against the Kunkel Wittenaur Group, Inc. and National Credit Systems.
According to the lawsuit, Willim was a tenant at an apartment located in Mascoutah and owned and maintained by the Kunkel Wittenaur Group, Inc. The rental property has more than five units besides the one Willim resided at. Willim claims the other units were in the process of being renovated.
The lawsuit states that Willim vacated the apartment on March 1, 2022, and was notified subsequently that Kunkel was keeping her $1,150 security deposit for repairs to the apartment. Kunkel allegedly notified Willim that she owed an additional $13,334.00 for further repairs. Willim allegedly informed Kunkel that she did not believe she owed the complete amount. She claims Kunkel later sent the debt to collection agency National Credit Systems.
Willim claims Kunkel manufactured a fraudulent debt in order to get more money from her to help pay for the cost of renovating the other units that she never resided at. She adds that Kunkel never furnished her an itemized statement of the claimed damages to the apartment and that the debt was never adjudicated by any court, as required by law.
Willim alleges she contacted National Credit Systems to inform it that she did not owe the alleged fraudulent debt and requested that the company cease contacting her. Despite her request, National Credit Systems allegedly continued to contact her in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. On July 20, 2022, the agency notified her that if she didn't make arrangements to pay this debt, that she would be reported to the national credit bureaus.
The plaintiff is seeking damages equal to twice the amount of the security deposit due, plus attorney fees, court costs and any other relief the court deems proper. She is represented in this case by attorney Paul M. Storment of Storment Law Office in Belleville.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 23LA0036