Last week the CFPB and the FTC held a workshop to address what happens to unpaid debts at different stages of the debt collection cycle. The workshop brought together state and federal regulators, economists, major banks, debt collection agencies, debt buyers, consumer advocate attorneys, technology companies, members of the judiciary, credit reporting agencies, and more. The workshop was aptly titled ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, I had a credit card with Sears back in 1996 and due to job layoff’s I fell behind in payments and the account was sold to a collection agency. Well over time I used other credit cards and I was out of control that I used a credit counseling agency to help me pay down my debt. Well ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, I found attached file hanged on my front door. The debt is a credit card I had with Providian, who was absorbed into WaMu, who was absorbed into Chase. May be Chase sold the debt to Midland funding. Please advise me.” The Answer The first step is not to panic. i read through the suit and of all ... Read More »

Midland Funding Pays Big Fine Over Robosigning Debt Collection Suits One of the country’s largest debt buyers has agreed to overhaul its collection practices and pay the state of Minnesota $500,000 in a settlement that reflects heightened scrutiny of the growing industry. Midland Funding LLC, owned by debt-buying giant Encore Capital Group Inc. in San Diego, faced allegations that it ... Read More »

I just had an opportunity to look at the website for Midland Credit Management and I must say, for a collections agency they certainly appear more like a credit counseling group. Don’t get me wrong, it appear they provide full and apparent disclosure they are a debt collector, “Please understand that this is a communication from a debt collector. This ... Read More »

Date This Problem Happened: January 1, 2011 State You Live in: Kansas Race/Ethnicity: American Indian Age Range: 51-65 Total Amount of Fee Paid: Company Name: Midland Funding Company Address: Company Telephone Number: Website of Company: Consumer Statement: I was told I had joined a class action lawsuit against Midland Funding LLC. As I check some of the websites I believe ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, Court order ignored My bank funds were frozen by midland funding and the small claims court in ct overturned the decision because the funds were exempt.The court ordered funds to be returned to my acct.but midland funding has ignored the court order now i am out of $1,300 + bank fees etc. what recourse do i have? Dennis” ... Read More »

he Federal Trade Commission filed an amicus brief in federal court opposing a class action settlement that would require consumers to surrender protections provided by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and state laws in exchange for minimal payments. The proposed settlement in Vassalle v. Midland Funding would resolve several private class action lawsuits consumers filed against Midland Funding ... Read More »

The following guest post was contributed by Michael Bovee of Consumer Recovery Network. If you would like to contribute a guest post, click here. In the wake of robo-signing scandals involving home foreclosures across the country come the reports of similar behavior by debt buyers who file court actions in order to collect on delinquent unsecured debts such as unpaid ... Read More »

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson today in a legal filing accused one of the nation’s largest “debt buyers” of defrauding Minnesota courts and citizens by filing false and deceptive “robo-signed” affidavits—generated at its offices in St. Cloud, Minnesota—to collect on old consumer debts that it purchased from credit card companies and others for about three cents on the dollar. The ... Read More »

“Dear Steve, In 2006, Midland Funding started mailing me letter about a dept Visa from Target, I advised them another Dept collection had agreed to a pay off and that the Dept was paid. Letter in 2007 they begain sending me bills again, I did not respond. Then I was served to by them for the same Dept. On July ... Read More »

The problem of zombie debts, that’s debts that come back to life, is well known. What is becoming more of a problem is what happens when an old debt has been sold, sold, and sold again. The current debt buyer can’t really prove they own the debt at all. In fact just recently we published an article about this problem. ... Read More »

Midland Funding, a large debt collection agency that also purchased large amounts of debt for 3 to 4 cents on the dollar and then sued debtors, settled a large class action lawsuit and dropped over 10,000 lawsuits against debtors. The case Johnson v Midland funding, filed in Maryland, alleged that Midland Funding, in cooperation with Mann Bracken, knowingly sued consumers ... Read More »