Apartment Review for Colonial Village At Chase Gayton - Richmond, VA

I signed a 1 yr lease with Colonial Village at Chase Gayton in June 2008 for a 2BD/2BA apartment. The unit provided was a mess. The appliances were outdated, unlike those shown in the model. Common areas were constantly dirty and unmaintained. I photo-documented (pictures here: http://photobucket.com/chasegaytonapts) all problems and presented them to the property manager. Only a handful of the issues were ever fixed or even addressed. During the course of my lease, Chase Gayton opted to include Basic Cable with monthly rent. I was given the option to utilize this service and informed the office that I did not want to do so, but later received several emails from Chase Gayton, requiring me to pay them $50/mo for cable. Upon moving out in June 2009, I spoke with a leasing consultant to settle my final bill. I asked if there would be any other charges, and was told no. I wrote a check and left. I was never offered a final walk-through. In October 2009 I received a bill from a collection agency, claiming that I owed Chase Gayton $180. The collection agency wouldn't explain what the $180 was for. I called Chase Gayton several days in a row with no answer. It took 18 consecutive attempts to reach someone in their office during normal business hours. No one would expain what the debt was for, or return my calls. Finally I called the corporate office for Colonial Properties and spoke to an account manager. He said the $180 was for a final bill and utility transfer, which I had paid upon moving out. I sent him a copy of the check I wrote, and a copy of my bank statement showing where the check cleared. I heard nothing from him afterwards. The collection calls stopped and I assumed everything was resolved. In April 2010 I received more collection calls regarding the same debt. I spoke to the account manager again and resent him the copy of the check and bank statement. The issue is still unresolved, a full 12 months after moving out, and the false claims have severely damaged my credit report.