Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC — the Washington collection agency that does business as Genesis — has been sued repeatedly in federal court over how it collects apartment debts, and courts have found it liable under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in several cases. Two class action settlements, one in Washington and one in Virginia, now pay identified former tenants automatically and require the company to remove the collection accounts from their credit reports. Individual FDCPA lawsuits are also active.
Who Columbia Debt Recovery Is
Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC was incorporated in Washington on January 28, 2019, and holds an active consumer collection agency license.1Ricardo Law. Columbia Debt Recovery LLC DBA Genesis It operates as “Genesis” and collects primarily for multi-family housing clients, pursuing unpaid balances from former apartment tenants. A predecessor entity, Genesis Credit Management, LLC, was listed as dissolved on Washington’s Secretary of State site as of 2019, though the Genesis name has continued in use.2ClassAction.org. Columbia Debt Recovery Facing Class Action Over Alleged Violations of Consumer Reporting Law Since 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received close to 100 consumer complaints about the company, most commonly about false credit reporting, attempts to collect debts not owed, and excessive phone calls.3Get Out of Debt. Genesis Credit Management Debt Collector
Class Action Settlements That Pay Consumers
McKay Settlement (Virginia, Final Approval 2026)
The most recent settlement resolves Novlett McKay, et al. v. Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC d/b/a Genesis (Case No. 1:25-cv-00520-WBP) in the Eastern District of Virginia. The suit alleged the company violated the FDCPA by telling consumers they owed interest under Maryland or Virginia residential leases when that interest could not legally be charged under the lease terms or state law.4Lease Interest Settlement. McKay Settlement FAQ
The $200,000 fund is distributed as follows:5Claim Depot. Lease Interest Settlement
- A full refund of any interest paid to the company by class members during the class period, March 25, 2024 through August 1, 2025.
- Roughly $3.27 per class member in statutory damages from the remaining funds.
- Attorneys’ fees up to $66,666.67.
- Service awards up to $5,000 each for named plaintiffs Novlett McKay and Nicole Sherman.
- Removal of collection accounts from class members’ credit reports, and a prohibition on future reporting of those accounts.
Payments are automatic for identified class members and require no claim form. The court granted final approval on January 21, 2026, and payments are expected roughly 35 days after any appeals are resolved.6Lease Interest Settlement. McKay v. Columbia Debt Recovery Settlement
Pierce and Gardiner Settlement (Washington, Final Approval 2024)
The Washington class action, Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC v. Jordan Pierce and Donte Gardiner (King County Superior Court, Case No. 20-2-16403-8 SEA), involved former tenants of properties managed by Thrive Communities. The counterclaimants alleged the company demanded prejudgment interest on unliquidated cleaning and repair charges, in violation of the Washington Collection Agency Act, the Washington Consumer Protection Act, and the FDCPA.7CPT Group. CDR Settlement Agreement
The settlement established an $87,000 class fund for 582 identified class members: former tenants of Thrive-managed properties who paid money on or after November 6, 2016 that Columbia Debt Recovery allocated to prejudgment interest. Three class representatives received $1,000 service awards. The court granted final approval on May 3, 2024, with no class members objecting or opting out.8CPT Group. Order on Motion for Final Approval
Federal Court Rulings Against the Company
Multiple federal courts have found Columbia Debt Recovery liable for FDCPA violations, and the pattern of conduct is consistent across cases.
Johnson v. Columbia Debt Recovery (W.D. Wash., 2021)
Antonio Johnson and Olivia Puloka sued in King County Superior Court in April 2020, and the case was removed to the Western District of Washington. The court found the company had tried to collect amounts in excess of what was owed and had falsely claimed a judgment had been entered, threatened wage garnishment, and told the plaintiffs they had been evicted. After granting partial summary judgment in March 2021 and holding a bench trial on damages in May 2021, the court awarded each plaintiff $30,000 in emotional distress damages, $1,000 in FDCPA statutory damages, and $120 in trebled actual damages, plus $52,381.59 in attorneys’ fees and costs. The total judgment exceeded $114,000.9CourtListener. Johnson et al v. Columbia Debt Recovery LLC
Creager v. Columbia Debt Recovery (W.D. Wash., 2022)
Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein granted partial summary judgment in July 2022 after finding the company had inflated a debt by $1,250 through the unlawful forfeiture of a security deposit. The court held the company violated FDCPA provisions barring false representations about the amount of a debt and the collection of unauthorized amounts, and found a per se violation of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act. The court rejected the company’s bona fide error defense, calling its training manuals and CEO declarations “vague” and “conclusory.”10CaseMine. Creager v. Columbia Debt Recovery d/b/a Genesis Credit Management, LLC
Williams v. Columbia Debt Recovery (W.D. Wash., 2022)
Wakeem Williams, a former tenant of Black Lake Apartments, received a collection letter demanding $3,902.01, which included $283 in attorney’s fees and court costs from a state collection case that was still pending. No court had awarded those fees. In January 2022, the court granted Williams partial summary judgment, ruling that the premature demand for attorney’s fees was a material misrepresentation of the debt. The court emphasized that the FDCPA is a strict-liability statute and a single violation is enough to establish liability.11FindLaw. Williams v. Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC
Gebreseralse v. Columbia Debt Recovery (W.D. Wash., 2023)
In May 2023, a magistrate judge found the company liable for attempting to collect a debt inflated by at least $1,400. The company had failed to credit the plaintiff’s security deposit and instead charged a “Forfeited Security” fee that effectively doubled the charge. Between February and April 2019, letters and emails to the plaintiff contained conflicting principal balances, interest rates that swung between 8% and 12%, inaccurate interest amounts, and expired settlement offers. The bona fide error defense was again rejected for lack of evidence of procedures designed to prevent the errors.12Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor. Gebreseralse v. Columbia Debt Recovery
Pending and Recent Individual Lawsuits
Davis v. Columbia Debt Recovery (W.D. Tex., 2026)
On January 22, 2026, Charity Davis filed an individual lawsuit in the Western District of Texas. She alleges the company tried to collect $2,192.27 for an apartment debt at Pecan Pointe Apartments that she contends was voided under a force majeure clause in her lease after an EF2 tornado destroyed her home in May 2024.13Get Out of Debt. Columbia Debt Recovery Tornado Voided Debt Lawsuit The complaint alleges the company added $115.39 in interest to the voided balance, sent 12 collection emails over seven months, and configured its email system to reject all consumer replies. Davis also alleges that when she reached the company by phone, a representative mocked her and refused to stop collection efforts. The suit brings claims under the FDCPA, the Texas Debt Collection Act, and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. As of early 2026, no responsive filings had been made.14PACER Monitor. Davis v. Columbia Debt Recovery LLC Complaint Filing
Evans v. Columbia Debt Recovery (N.D. Ohio, 2024)
A proposed class action filed in March 2024 alleged the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by reporting a fraudulent apartment-lease debt to Experian and Trans Union and by obtaining the plaintiff’s credit report without a permissible purpose. The complaint also noted that the company was reporting debts under the name of the dissolved Genesis Credit Management entity.15ClassAction.org. Evans v. Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC Complaint The case was dismissed with prejudice on April 24, 2024, about seven weeks after filing, following a notice of dismissal by the plaintiff.16PACER Monitor. Evans v. Columbia Debt Recovery, LLC
Patterns the Lawsuits Have in Common
Two allegations show up in nearly every case. The first is inflated balances: failing to credit security deposits, charging unauthorized fees like “Forfeited Security,” or adding prejudgment interest that state law or the lease did not allow. The second is inaccurate credit reporting on those inflated balances. Courts asked to consider the company’s bona fide error defense have rejected it more than once, finding no meaningful internal procedures to prevent the errors. Both class settlements include credit-report cleanup for class members. The company denies wrongdoing in the settled matters and continues to operate as an active, licensed collection agency.17Genesis. Genesis Credit Management Home Page
If you were a former tenant contacted by Columbia Debt Recovery or Genesis, it is worth comparing the balance they claim against your lease, your ledger, and your security deposit accounting, and pulling your credit reports to check what the company is reporting. If you rented in Maryland or Virginia and paid interest to the company between March 25, 2024 and August 1, 2025, or rented from a Thrive Communities property in Washington and paid interest allocations on or after November 6, 2016, you may be a class member in one of the settlements above.