Westerville, OH asked in Collections and Landlord - Tenant for Ohio

Q: Can I file a small claims lawsuit on property management company as they sent me to collections and hurt my credit hist?

I rented an apartment in less than a year there was mold. Maintenance staff informed us that they would have to fix it from outside and then use a spray that would dry up the wall and then paint it back. This didn't happen for almost an year. When I followed up next year with the new property manager he came and took pictures of the mold and sent me a paper notice saying if you volunteerly vacate I will let you for the remainder of the lease if not take legal action. I was greatly relieved and sent an email confirming I will vacate and stopped by to talk to him. He orally affirmed I can drop in the keys and there will be no additional fees. I vacated and handed over the keys in about 30 days. After ~6 months I got a postal mail from collections for about 8K$ charging me for rent for remainder of lease (3 months + lease termination fee + mold charges + along with some other late fees) . I have emailed them couple of times about my deposit which they never replied to. What should i do

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