Short answer
Midland Funding LLC buys defaulted credit card debt and Midland Credit Management collects it. Both are part of Encore Capital Group. The cheapest time to resolve one of these accounts is early, before it reaches a collection attorney, and acting early can keep the account off your credit reports altogether.
Key points on this page
- Midland Funding is the debt buying arm. Midland Credit Management (MCM) is the collection agency. Same owner, different jobs.
- Resolve the account soon after Midland buys it and they may not report it to the credit bureaus at all. This offer is real, and few other collectors make it.
- Midland removes its credit reporting once you pay or settle. Deletion has been seen to take up to 60 days.
- A “Pre-Legal Notification” letter is not an empty threat. It means your file has been selected for collection attorney placement, and you still have time to settle before that happens.
- Settling after a collection attorney has the account commonly costs 20 to 40 percent more than settling before it goes to court.
- Sending a debt validation letter is your right, but it is counterproductive when you already know the debt is yours and your goal is the lowest possible settlement.
I recently spoke with a woman who had just been sued by Midland Funding LLC for a debt they bought from Citi bank. The amount she is being sued for is a few thousand dollars. She is being sued by a debt collection attorney in her state after collection attempts were first made by Midland Credit Management (MCM). Both Midland Funding and MCM are part of Encore Capital Group, which is one of few publicly traded debt buying companies in America, and one of the largest in the world.
I want to share the facts of her situation because they may help if you are getting collection notices and phone calls from Midland Credit Management, or if you are being sued by Midland Funding. Many of you reading this can prevent escalated collections from Midland in the courts, and anyone already in the courts will want to know how best to navigate things from here.
There will be many a reader just looking for why Midland Funding is appearing on your credit reports. Once you know why Midland is on your credit, many of you will want to know some things you can do to improve your credit.
Be certain to read the updates regarding Midland Funding on your credit reports that I posted at the end of the article. They have set themselves apart from any other debt collection company in the country by developing a consumer friendly credit reporting policy.
Credit card bills that go unpaid are packaged up in large bundles and sold off to bad debt investors in the normal course of lending. A portfolio of debt being bought by companies like Midland Funding could include your account, and thousands of other unpaid credit card bills.
Having your credit card debt bought by a debt buyer like Midland Funding is not unusual. And depending on how the debt collection and debt buying landscape changes in the next year or three, it could become even more common than we see today.
Midland Funding LLC and Midland Credit Management are Different
While Midland Credit and Midland Funding LLC share the same ownership under Encore Capital, each company does something different, and those differences matter to you. Midland Funding is the debt purchasing arm, while MCM will be recognized as the active debt collection agency, similar to how you would view any other debt collector.
Midland Credit Management sent a debt collection letter to the woman I reference above. Receiving a debt collection letter from a collection company you don’t immediately recognize is a normal occurrence. Collection agency letters and phone calls are the 2 primary ways a debt buyer, or the debt collectors they hire, will try to get you to pay.
You have options for handling the collection efforts from Midland Credit. If you are in a position to work out a settlement for less than what is owed on the now purchased account, doing so after the first phone call or collection letter you receive, is something to consider.
Understand that making arrangements to pay a debt buyer the full amount for a debt they bought is not going to go to your original creditor. The debt buyer is not a lender, but an investor. They are risking money to buy up bad debt to turn a profit.
Midland Funding is willing to accept less than the face value of your debt through its debt collection arm Midland Credit Management. How much less will vary. You are welcome to call me at 800-939-8357, ext 2, in order to get help settling with them.
Midland Funding generally shows up on your credit reports. Once on them, you cannot pay Midland to delete the derogatory in the first 2 years they have your account. You can negotiate a lower payoff and Midland Funding will update your credit reports to show the account is resolved and a zero balance owed. This will help you get a home loan through, and benefit you in other ways too.
There is a delay between Midland Funding buying your debt, and them reporting to the credit bureaus. Midland Credit Management will often start off the collection process by sending you a collection notice, or make collection phone calls that you may pick up. In the letter or phone call Midland may offer you the opportunity to settle or set up payments on your account in order to prevent the credit reporting of the collection account from occurring at all. As of the most recent update to this article, you have three months from the date they get your account to take advantage of this offer. If you can afford the money to settle, or set up payments you are confident you can pay each month, there are immediate and long term benefits to doing this. It is not a trick, they actually do this, and may be the only debt collectors making this type of offer.
If you want to settle with Midland Credit Management for less than the balance owed; can afford 50%; and sometimes spread out over 24 months; click the get debt help tab at the top of this page and create your user profile.
You can get help settling with MCM and have a deal done within days (as long as MCM has not already sent your account to a collection law firm). The Network I helped build has many negotiators, and we all charge 15% of savings. No savings, no fee.
Debt Validation Request Letter Sent to Midland Credit Management
The woman I refer to in this article sent Midland Credit a validation request in response to a collection letter MCM sent her. Sending a debt validation letter to a debt collector is your right. If for any reason you question the nature of the debt being collected, requesting validation from a collection agency or debt buyer will accomplish a couple of things:
- Triggers an obligation under federal law on the part of the debt collector.
- A written response from the debt buyer should include the original creditor, the amount owed, and these days, we are seeing some form of documentation to back up their claim (not simply a reference to their own spread sheet of debts they purchased).
- Debt buyers and debt collectors do not always respond to your request for validation, but the response is often sufficient to meet the standard that would allow them to continue to collect (the federal debt validation standard is low enough to trip over, your state law standard may be a little tougher).
- Debt buyers may never respond to a debt validation letter. The account may end up with a different collection agency, or sold off to a different debt buyer (Midland has not been much of a debt reseller of late).
Midland Credit Management did not respond to her validation request to her knowledge.
It is not uncommon for a debt buyer to ignore a validation request. The reason validation of debt requests are ignored by Midland Credit Management, and other debt collectors and debt buyers, is that sometimes no meaningful information was included when the debt was purchased. There are sometimes options to acquire detailed information from the original creditor at an additional cost, but that is not always the case. And you may not appear all that collectable to a debt collector, and they just may not bother if they see a low probability that you will pay anything.
When debt validation requests are ignored, Midland Funding may still send your account to a collection attorney.
Many years ago, I came to the conclusion that sending debt validation requests to a debt collector like Midland Funding, when you already recognize the debt as yours, and your goal is to resolve the debt by settling with the collector for the lowest amount possible, is counterproductive.
Midland Credit Management Sues in Order to Collect
The woman who inspired this post next received a collection letter from a well known and very active debt collection law firm in her state. She sent a new validation request to the attorney debt collector hired by Midland Funding. The collection attorney responded to the validation request with some basic information about the original account including monthly billing statements from Citibank. Shortly after receiving the debt validation response in the mail from the Midland Funding attorney she was served with a lawsuit.
Debt buyers will target accounts they buy for aggressive collection. Midland Funding is part of the largest debt buying collection brand in the nation. Lawsuits to collect can play a big part in how a debt buyer like Midland Funding will look to turn a profit on their investment in defaulted credit card debts.
The debtor, in this case, shared with me that she knew the sister of the process server that showed up at her door to serve the lawsuit. With that connection, a friendly enough conversation took place. The process server shared the fact that she had a list of Midland Funding lawsuits to serve… about two hundred of them. She lives in a county with a small population. Two hundred or so lawsuits on debts bought by Midland Funding is not unremarkable given the amount of people there are in the area.
Midland Credit Pre-Legal Notification Letter
Update February 2023: Like many creditors, Midland Credit will often send a letter telling you of their intent to escalate collections by taking you to court. These mailed notices will typically include the words “Pre-Legal Notification” in larger and bolder letters.
A Pre-Legal notice from Midland Credit should generally not be construed as an empty threat, or just a collection tactic. They are telling you that your file has been selected for collection attorney placement, which is the precursor to a lawsuit being filed to collect. And you can prevent this.
Always open your mail from Midland Credit. If you see a pre legal notice, you typically have time to negotiate a settlement with them for a much better savings than when it goes to the attorney. The main reason I am posting this 2023 update is that I am seeing Midland send out their first collection notice, that they then follow up by sending a pre-legal notice only a few weeks later. There is often more time between their first collection notice and the legal placement letter. But they are accelerating collections with many accounts. And because they give you a timeline to resolve the debt before they take that step, your next move is important if you intend to try to settle the account
Go here to schedule a call with me to talk about settling with Midland. I can often get these accounts settled for fifty percent of the balance or lower, and the settlements can often be paid over a couple years if you need time.
I can help you settle once the account goes legal too, but the deals after attorneys get your account, or an action has been filed in the courts, are not as good, and the process is much more formal.
What to Do About Midland Funding LLC Collecting Your Debt
If you are contacted by Midland funding LLC, or by Midland Credit Management, or some other Encore debt collection brand (Atlantic Credit and Finance, Asset Acceptance), consider the following:
- Are you able to come up with a plan to resolve the debt for half of what is owed? If you can afford to settle with MCM or Midland Funding you can contact them and work toward getting a deal negotiated, a written agreement on the collectors letter head outlining the terms, and pay it off. While it is recommended to negotiate and settle with MCM or Midland Funding in a single lump sum payment whenever possible, you can also look to set up monthly payments that you are confident you can afford and follow through with to completion. Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding both offer different methods to resolve debts they are collecting while giving you time to pay.
- If you are not familiar with the debt they allege you owe, request the debt be validated. Send your request in writing via certified mail. If you do not hear back from them do not assume they went away. I do not recommend this approach if you want to resolve a debt that you know to be yours.
- Be certain you are aware of how long it has been since you last paid on the account and compare that to the SOL (statute of limitations) for being sued on your type of debt in your state. You may learn that you cannot legitimately be sued for the debt as it has passed the SOL. That does not mean the debt can no longer be collected, or that you should ignore it. The account is likely showing up on your credit report. If you have a goal of buying a home, or refinancing an existing home, you may find you are forced to settle collection accounts in order to qualify for a loan later on. And settling later on may come at a higher price. Avoid applying for credit of any nature just prior to negotiating with Midland Credit and other debt collectors (it makes you look more collectable)
Depending on your current financial situation, looking for affordable settlements and paying off debts with Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding will set you up for less stress and the ability to achieve later financial goals.
The woman who inspired this article was someone I worked with a few years ago. She was laid off from work and struggled to find a new job. She could no longer afford to make payments on her credit card debts and was referred to me by her accountant. I worked with her and her husband to develop a plan to settle her unpaid debts, rather than file bankruptcy (they had filed in the 90’s and did not want to go through that again). She was able to knock down her largest 6 credit card balances by settling with her original creditors using money she was able to borrow from a family member. Her husband’s hours were then cut back at his job, and it became impossible for her to follow through with the plan, leaving a couple of her smaller balance accounts unresolved, the Citibank account Midland Credit Management began collecting was one of them.
She did not reach back out to me for feedback on dealing with the Midland Credit Management collection letter she received. Instead, she went to the internet and found what she said was the consistent advice to send a debt validation letter to MCM. She thought the collection account was behind her when she did not hear back from MCM. When she received the attorney collection notice in the mail for the same debt, she simply repeated her debt validation request again. She did not know how, or what, to respond to the collection attorney with, once they mailed back evidence of a debt she already knew she owed. She only contacted me again after she was sued by Midland Funding.
Settling with Midland Funding LLC When Sued
I suggested she connect with a local consumer attorney about her options to handle the lawsuit. After that consultation, she decided to settle the lawsuit from Midland Funding. We got a good deal, to be sure, but she was settling on a total balance that had increased due to attorney costs. We could have settled directly with Midland Credit Management early on, and for a much better savings, and less stress.
There is, often enough, also going to be a difference between the amount you can negotiate and get approved to settle for, when you are dealing with a debt collection attorney. It is not uncommon to see a 20 to 40 percent premium to settle a Midland Funding debt once sued for collection, compared to negotiating before the account lands in court.
If you are just not in any shape financially to follow through with any strategy to resolve the debt with Midland, you may end up with a judgment against you. Judgments can be settled for less down the road, so keep that in mind. But you may want to consider defending against any collection lawsuit too. There are good resources that can help you, but you will want to assess the costs and time involved in any effort to defend collection lawsuits.
What You Can Do to Resolve Debt with Midland
You may be reading this and in a situation where you cannot possibly think of how you can resolve a debt being collected by MCM or Midland Funding LLC. I understand that. The situation is what it is, and sometimes all you can do is wait for things to improve before tackling old debts. However, you may want to at least learn about the options available to you to tackle debts Midland is collecting. You may be surprised by some of the flexibility that is available. You may even be able to avoid being sued later, by taking action today.
If you have received collection notices from an attorney for Midland Funding, or have been sued by an attorney for collection, you will want to contact the attorney directly. You should also consider speaking with an experienced collection defense attorney of your own.
If you are trying to resolve an existing judgment from Midland Funding, you have options for that as well.
There will be additional pressures on Midland Funding, Midland Credit Management, Encore Capital Group, and many other collectors and debt buyers, as a result of new federal regulatory supervision. The CFPB has already had a huge impact on Midland Funding. I will keep the article updated as things develop.
Midland Funding LLC on Your Credit Reports
I am updating this article as of 1/10/17 to include information about Midland Funding credit reporting policy changes that are way ahead of the curve when it comes to providing you the ability to meet your current and future personal credit goals. Be sure to click through and learn more about how Midland Funding will handle credit reporting when it comes to accounts you have with them.
- Midland Funding will not show on your credit reports if you are able to make payment arrangement, or settle with them for less, in the first 180 days after they purchase your account. This is obviously ideal when you can commit to resolving accounts with Midland Funding early on.
- Midland Funding will remove all credit reporting if you pay or settle a debt with them. This is an obvious benefit to those of us who had financial setbacks that lingered longer, and who could not take advantage of the opportunity to keep Midland off our credit reports from the beginning, when they sent their first collection notice.
- I have seen it take up to 60 days for the Midland Credit account to be deleted from your credit reports.
There are many examples of people in the comments below, and who I have spoken with on the phone, who are taking advantage of Midland’s credit reporting policy.
Midland Funding is leading by example with this credit reporting policy.
Updated 2/20/20 – Three additional debt buyers have since followed the example Midland set for credit reporting.
If you would prefer to get help settling your Midland Credit Management debts, let us know by scheduling a phone call using the box below, or the help tab up top. We can help you and typically for a fraction of what most companies charge.
Hi Michael,
I have been sued by Midland and their attys for an old Chase account, for close to 8,000. I never knew about the judgement until my work sent me the garnishment letter. I called the attorneys, and they will not provide me with any information on the account, other than the Chase account number.. This account was closed, I think, in 2009. I thought that in 2009, I made a settlement directly with chase, but do not have paperwork at all from then. In addition to not providing details, , they state that they are unable to settle for any less than the value on the garnishment. Is there anything I can do here, or am I stuck? They have already been garnishing me for several months.
What state are you in?
When did the garnishment start?
Who is the law firm involved with collecting for Midland? Is that the same law firm listed with the court as having first sued you?
How many months is several?
I received a certified letter from Monroe County NY with a judgement execution for $2324 to be paid in full by 1/9/16. If payment is not made to the County interest will start and my wages will be garnished. The interest is $1104!! How can this be legit?? The letter I received from the County is date 12/7/15 and I got it today on 12/26/15!! What can I do?
Call in for a consult about your options. I can be reached at 800-939-8357, choose option 2.
Depending on your situation, Midland may not be able to collect anything from you right now.
Michael, I want to thank you for all the insight you provide. Just reading through all the work you put into your responses, there is so much valuable information there that you are sure to be helping many people.
1. I have received a collection notice from Convergent Outsourcing claiming I owe $2,307 ($1,562 Principal + $745 Interest) the current owner is listed as Midland Funding, and the Original Creditor is listed as Providian. I spoke to Convergent and they alerted me that this is in reference to a credit account from 2001. I am 99% positive this isn’t my account, I have never had a credit card with any limit over $300 (sad at my age). The 1% possibility that this is my debt would only be if Providian provided credit services other than credit cards, (I did have an account through Dell back around 1999-2000-ish) but I do not know what company might have provided credit for that purchase. I did tell the representative I would be sending a request for validation, that I did not believe the debt is mine. They did mention it is too old to sue for the debt. If I cannot be sued for the debt, it isn’t on a current credit report, if somehow the validation proves it is mine, can this still be put onto my credit report, thus bringing my score down? How should I proceed?
2. I am looking into purchasing a home with my VA home loan benefit. I know I need a minimum score of 620, and I’m currently around 570 (up 50 points in the past 3 months as I have been cleaning things up). There are two accounts with Enhanced Recovery 1 for T-Mobile, 1 for Sprint totaling $508. First the T-Mobile account is not an account number that I recognize, and on my current credit report there is no data available for the past 2 years (I am considering asking for validation on this account as well; the Sprint account is mine. Long way to get to the question but I have been advised that these accounts are old enough that paying them off will not have much bearing on my score at all. I fully intend to pay these off, but I have a shorter term goal of doing what is necessary to try and raise my score quicker for a home purchase. Should I dispute the T Mobile account? I know that by paying off both (or just Sprint if that’s the only valid account) that I will prevent future credit damages, but could paying off actually work against me in the short term?
Based on what you shared I do not see anyway this old of a collection account could be placed back on your credit reports. If Midland Funding were to somehow show up again for this account it would be in error and an easy fix.
If it were me I would dispute anything I was uncertain about and pay or settle anything I know is mine. Your loan could get hung up if you have ANY unresolved collections on your reports. That will having nothing to do with your score, and it is better to get a lead on the settlements so the updates can season a bit.
I owe Target National Bank $449. Charge off date shows 10/1/2011. This shows on my credit report as TNB – TARGET. Also showing on my credit report for this same debt is Midland Funding for $579. If TNB has turned this over to a collection agency, why are they both showing on my credit report? If I pay the amount owed to one, will they both be removed from the credit report? Who should I contact to pay it? Thanks!
Target shows your charged off collection account in the normal course of credit reporting. Midland Funding is showing up for the Target account after having bought the legal rights to collect your account, and that is normal too. Be sure that Target is showing a zero balance owed them, and that Midland is the only one showing a balance due as of today.
You cannot pay one of them and have anything removed from your credit reports. Target will not remove anything in these situations (unless by accident or oversight), and Midland Funding does not do pay for delete.
You can contact Midland Funding to pay the collection balance off (or settle for less than the balance owed). Once you resolve the account Midland will update the credit bureaus that the account is now a zero balance. That is often the best you can do in these situations, which is fine, because that is often all you need in order to make progress with your financing goals.
Does Midland sell the debts they buy?
In the last few years Midland did not resell much of the debts they bought. As of a couple of weeks ago Midland is prevented from reselling any debts at all due to the consent agreement they entered with the CFPB.
What is your situation?
What a helpful website! I’m reading through all these posts regarding Midland now. I do have a question. I have received a couple of letters from an attorney (I’m in NC) regarding a debt that Midland apparently purchased from Webbank/Fingerhut. The most recent letter states an intent to file a lawsuit in my county. I will probably contact them and see if I meet their hardship forgiveness requirements, so I’m good with that, and if they get a judgment, they get it. I’m in my retirement house and rarely use credit anyway.
When I go to the original creditor’s website, my account is still showing as due and payable there with the demand and option to make a payment on the account online. Is that typical, or legal, if the debt has actually been sold? It is Midland Funding, LLC that has claimed ownership of the debt, It is not their collection arm. By having the debt still on the original creditor’s website AND being pursed by Midland, it appears that two different entities are trying to collect the same debt.
Thanks for any clarification you can offer regarding this.
I would not say it is typical to have the original creditor accept payments after they sell the debt. But you have not really tried to follow through with it, so it could simply be a glitch on the website that would not result in a payment getting through.
Look on your credit report and see if more than Midland Funding is reporting a balance owing as of today? You should only see Midland reporting that, and any other credit entry showing a negative/charged off account, but with a zero balance owed them.
I owed midland 1500.00 . I know its not alot but to a person that has no job its kind of hard.. i had made payment arrangements of 100. A month. Even that became too much. After the second month i called them and told them i was not gonna be able to make any more payments. The only income i had was childsupport for my kids. This morning i woke up to see my whole acct was at $0.00. I had 600 which is my only childsupport income.. My question is can they do that?? Garnish my childsupport??
With a judgment against you debt collectors like Midland Funding have extra ordinary options to collect. This can include a bank account levy for most.
Certain funds on deposit in your bank account can be protected, such as social security, and other sources. Your state may have dollar amounts that are exempt too. You also may meet certain exemptions for bank levy that could see those funds returned to you.
What state are you in?
In November of 2011 my husband lost his job we are in our late fiftys and we are both under employed we had a debt with citi which originally was with Amex we couldn’t make payment today I received a letter from citi saying the debt was sold to midland what can I expect from this notice?
Now that Midland Funding owns the legal rights to collect on your Citibank account you will have to resolve the debt with them if that is consistent with your goals and abilities.
What is your goal with this account? Working with Midland Funding to resolve the debt is not complicated. Do you have other collection accounts besides this one?
Yes we do. I also just worked out an offer in compromise with the irs so our cash flow is really stretched to its limit any advice is welcomed and appreciated
Give me a call for a consult Helen. I can dig more into your situation and recommend some steps to resolve the debt with Midland Funding based on what you share with me.
I can be reached at 800-939-8357, choose option 2.
I. Am in New Jersey is their a time difference where you are?
I am in Sandpoint Idaho, which is the northern part that is on pacific time. I can be reached most weekdays until 9 pm eastern.
I requested debt validation for a debt I am unaware of on my credit. They responded with letter stating the debt is correctly mine with attached documents of proof. The proof they sent was not what they reported on my credit report. It had my name with an address in a state I never resided, amount was not what they reported, creditor was not what was Beeing reported, phone number that I never had and clearly another persons debt. I’m confused why they are validation a debt that is not mine and not what they reported on my credit. They apparently got information from another person who had my name and sent that to me as validation but reporting differently than what they sent me by ma
Is this a credit reporting dispute with Midland Funding? Was your dispute sent to Midland or the credit bureaus? Do you have unpaid debts that potentially could have been sold to Midland Funding?
I have feedback but it will vary on the answers to those questions.
I am schedule to appear in court on the 24th being sued by Midland Funding (3rd debt collector)on behalf of Creditone CC (2013).I sent a debt validation letter to both the Attorney and the Court. I haven’t heard anything back; the debt listed is near $1,456.00 which is double the amounted owed. I have attempting to reach out to Attorney office listed and they are sending me over to what I assume is their collection agency. I have called 8 times in past weeks and no spoke to someone but never a returned called. Is this a tactic to stretch it out in hopes I don’t show to court. I am willing to pay the debt off and can do so in a one lump sum payment, but I don’t want to be stuck with the inaccurate amount. Should I consult an attorney in the 11th hour sort of speak?
It is typically a good idea to talk with an experienced debt collection attorney (that represents consumers) when you have been sued.
You can reach an agreement to settle with Midland Funding between now and the 24th. If that were my goal I would keep calling, and without regard to their having enough time to return my message from 30 minutes ago. I would also call the law firm and tell them of your difficulty. The amount you agree to settle for should be consistent with what you can afford, or what you believe is owed.
Having said that, you can also get this settled at the court house on the day of, or challenge the amount they claim is owed.
Thanks for the speedy reply. Finally got through to a case manager and the reduce amount they are requesting is pretty close to what I believe the real totaled owed is. I never intended to not pay the debt but was laid off and now in a better position. The hiccup in this that the case manager states they will not provide a letter to remove from my credit report even though I can settle in a lump sump payment? The case manager told me to reach out to Midland Funding to try and obtain better deal and letter, spoke today and they instructed me that they can’t touch the account it has to be handle by said attorney firm. Should I try and reach out to Creditone or in this late effort just settled account? I notice that Midland never sent any documentation to show proof of any debt, do they have to in this case?
Regards
It is common to have to negotiate and document the deal through the attorney for Midland Funding. You do not stand much of a chance at getting Midland Funding to delete any credit reporting once they have already appeared on your reports. The attorneys collecting for Midland will have nothing to do with credit reporting (unless you are resolving a court judgment).
Contacting Credit One will lead nowhere as the debt is sold.
You cannot send a debt validation to the attorney for Midland Funding, like you would normally send one to a debt collector, after your sued. Once sued, the process for seeking validation of a debt is much more complete, but it is also formalized through the court process (referred to as discovery).
If your goal is resolving the debt with Midland, I would make progress with that at this point.
hi,
I had a judgement placed on a credit card account. It was originally Capital One and then Midland Funding, LLC bought and turned it over to Suttell & Hammer, P.S.
The debt was $10305.31. I paid $1910.00 in installment payments and then had a financial hardship and couldn’t pay anything. My balance should have been $8395.31.
I called Suttell & Hammer, on February 25, 2013 and had a verbal agreement from a legal assistant of the firm. She stated that everything would be the same as long as I made on time payments of $270 a month starting in March of 2013. She also said that the judgement would be withdrawn as long as I didn’t default. I asked for a letter summarizing our chat and it stated that my balance as of
February 25, 2013 was $8734.
The judgement was entered on February 22, 2013 stating that there would be a 12% annum interest on $9284. I received the judgement in the mail a few days after the verbal agreement was made.
Should they honor the verbal agreemt?
Thanks for your time.
Did you sign a stipulation or consent to judgment before you started making the initial payments?
It sounds like the person at the law firm may have been sincere enough, but that their systems had already kicked in after your having missed an agreed upon payment.
Regardless, you have what appears to be a he said she said situation. And if you signed off on the prior stipulated agreement to make installment payments, everything that happened after missing payments is fairly normal.
Should Suttell and Hammer honor the verbal agreement? Probably. Will they? I am highly skeptical. Have you called and asked them to look into the matter? Can they see any notes made by the collector you spoke with prior who said everything would be fine? Do you know the exact day, time, person and phone number you called? It could help them review your file (collection calls are often recorded and archived for a period of time).
Oh, I want to add that I sent Midland a letter and asked them to verify all the info on the account the say is mine. I am waiting to hear from them.
What do you mean by asking Midland Funding to verify all the info on the account is yours?
I received a notice stating I owe $4577 for Synchrony Bank. I never opened an account with Synchrony bank, but I researched to see that Pay Pal was bought by them.
The letter says, unless I pay $$$$ right away, they are sending my account to a lawyer in my state who will sue me.
Won’t the suing lawyer be required to prove I had an account and that he has the right to sue me? This account was mine before I was married and my spouse can’t be required to pay for it. I no longer work so if they sued and won…they would get zilch-nada.
The collection attorney for Midland will have to prove their case if you defend against it. If your case is defended well, or the other side is unable to prove their claims to the satisfaction of the court, you would get a lawsuit dismissed.
I understand coming to the conclusion that once a judgment is in place you can avoid payment, and that your spouse will not be affected, but that is often not the case in my experience. Judgments can be renewed for a very long time in some states. An unresolved judgment could require you and your spouse to live separate financial lives… forever. That is not always a bad thing, but is something that should be pointed out.
Here are some things a judgment against you can lead to:
No joint bank accounts.
Your name kept off property.
Keeping the value of your personal stuff lower than your states exemptions.
It can be a drag on both of you.
What state are you in?
Are you open to the idea, and able to pull together resources, in order to negotiate a reduced lump sum pay off with Midland?
I hired an attorney in Arizona against Midland Funding and somehow lost last year…this includes the appeal in which he stated he has a 100% appeals win rate. Anyways, I just got two separate copies of a subpoena that an attorney has served my personal bank on behalf of Midland Funding.
I have reached out to my prior attorney who told me that if anyone attempts to contact me or collect on this debt to contact him but it has been two days and he has not responded.
I am wondering if they can really get my bank to give them private information.
It is not like I am rich…I make $13.00 an hour and only have a part-time job….what are they going to do with this information and why are they allowed to do this?
Any suggestions as to what my rights are at this point…or what I can/should do in response to this subpoena made to my bank.
Arizona has long been a tough state to defend collection lawsuits.
The attorney for Midland will be able to access any and all information allowed for by state law in order to collect from you. This can sometimes culminate in having you appear for an asset discovery hearing (your essentially under oath answering questions about assets and income).
The information requests are designed to assist in the collection efforts. I would consult with the attorney you have about your rights and options, if any, for dealing with the bank subpoena.
I am curious if you do not mind answering a few questions. It could help later readers.
How much were you sued for?
Did you lose at trial or in motion practice (summary judgment granted)?
What collection law firm handled this for Midland Funding?
HI,
We received in the mail a “Request for Income Information”form from our states department of treasury. They are holding our state income tax refund for a debt. Through some research we found out it may be from a credit card my husband had thru Citi bank .Just a little back ground: We had lost our home due to bad information from Countrywide and Bank of America and reduced income. While fighting for our home our attorney said these companies will not come after us when we talked about bankruptcy. We hadn’t filed and we lost the home 3 1/2 years ago now. We are going paycheck to paycheck and have gone through our savings and 401k trying to save our home.(what a mistake). So now no one has contacted us and this is how we found out about it. We are not totally sure who its from. other than Midland Funding LLC. and it says garnishment on the form as well. Obviously they can do this but how do we know its legit? And they didn’t contact us. So what do we do now? Contact the attorney for midland funding? or let it go through the channels through the state treasury?
Thanks
Give me a call tomorrow Teri. You can reach me at 800-939-8357, choose option 2. I want to dig into the details and timelines with you some more. It will help if you can print out the docket summary for your case if your court provides free online access.
I appreciate reading all these comments and have a few questions regarding my dealing with MIdland Funding.
I had a Chase cc back from 2007 with the first default date being in March 2009.
I am recently looking to purchase a home and cleaning up my credit. Many of the bad debt should time out early 2016.
Anyways, Midland contacted me about owing them $1800. So I asked for validation. They sent me a validation letter including a final judgment from April 2013 in Texas. This was the first I had ever heard of any lawsuit from them so I check court records online and don’t find anything regarding the cause no listed or my name. I haven’t had any wage garnishment or other legal documents stating risk of liens.
Would this final judgement document be legit even if I can’t find information online about the judgment?
Also, they are stating my last payment date before default was November 2009 which is not correct.
If I do pay the judgment amount would it restart the length the negative information another 7 years on my credit report? I am willing to pay it if the judgment is legit, which is unfortunate because I don’t recall being served or anything, but I don’t want to have the collection account extended another 7 years on my credit report. It shows expiring next year currently.
I wanted to add there is no public record showing on any credit report either.
All the more reason to call the clerk to see what is what.
Call the court that the judgment was issued from in the morning and ask why you cannot see it online, and if they can see the judgment on their end. This could be an error on the courts end, or with Midland Funding.
Reaching a settlement with Midland Funding, and then paying it, will not add any time to how long they will stay on your credit reports.
Thanks for the response.
I will call the JC in the morning.
One question though, if the judgment does check out as real and I pay Midland the judgment amount do I have to worry about it magically showing up on my credit report or public records now or in the future?
Yes you would, but that is no different than the judgment being legitimate and it showing up next month even if you did nothing.
Michael, My husband and I recently decided to purchase a home, prior to contacting a loan officer I pulled our credit reports. My husband’s showed 2 collection accounts, the 1st being an old Chase credit card. Our reports from 3/13 show Chase reporting a last payment date of 6/2008., and charged off with no date, although at that time any payment history prior to that date shows only an *. Chase is no longer reporting on the current report but Midland Funding is with a date placed for collections as 11/21/2013. It shows as a an open account and was just updated on 6/25/2015. It also states estimated month to be removed 11/2015 on Transunion and 9/2015 and 10/15 on Experien and Equafax respectively. The second was a 13 year old cell phone bill reported by New Millennium and it was only showing up on the Transunion report, we have disputed it with Transunion and it has already been removed, at least for now.
We live in Florida so we have determined that the SOL has expired on both, I have spoken with an attorney to find out what we could do about this as I felt that the debts had been re-aged and he agrees. He wants to file suit but really all we are wanting is to get it removed. He did inform me that while the reporting is 7 years and we should be at the drop off point or close to, that they being Midland can continue to report it indefinitely if there was a possible future loan I.e. Like a mortgage on the horizon exceeding 150,000.00, which there is.
The attorney did say he works on a contingency basis and would recover his fees from the suit if we sued. We are just really unsure of how to proceed, again all we want is to find out how long this can effect our mortgage pursuit. If in fact the 150,000.00 is true and I did look it up and saw the paragraph he referred to, can this really go forever? Let me finish by saying until we found it on the current credit reports we have not ever been contacted by either of these collection agency’s, and while the Chase now Midland was on both of our reports in 2013 it is now only showing on my husbands. Any insight you have would be great as we are so confused!
No it cannot go forever like you are thinking. You should cover your concerns with a senior loan officer or a mortgage broker that has been involved in home loans for many years (10 or more).
If at one time Chase reported your last payment as being in June 2008, and your own records jibe with that, than the drop off dates for Midland Funding showing on your credit reports seem correct. The reporting time is 7 and one half years from the date of last payment (not 7 years even). That would put the drop off date around December of this year. Your saying that the drop off dates a re 1 to 3 months earlier than that. I would just wait that out if I had too. But there is nothing to sue Midland about in my opinion. There does not appear to be a reaging.
Hi. I recently got served papers from Midland Funding sueing me for $650, I know that’s not huge but I know it’s my debt from 2012, it was written off so I thought it was over, I know now that’s not true. Anyways, I offered to settle for $500 in a lump payment and they declined. Said I could make payments and court costs and sheriff’s fee for serving me would be added making it $775. I do not work, I’m a stay at home mom. We are not wealthy by any means. I have a court date in August. What would it take to get these guys to settle and what do I say in court? Thanks for any advice!!!
Small balance debts are harder to settle sometimes. Settling once sued is also not a breeze. When you combine the two you get… where you are.
You will likely open up a better debt negotiation opportunity with Midland if you contest the lawsuit and defend it. You are being sued in small claims court?
Yes, I am being sued in small claims court. I did my answer and appearance online. You say to contest and defend it, but I know the debt is mine, so what does contest mean? Can they take money from our checking if it has my husband’s and my name on it? We rent, don’t own, and get government assistance as far as Iowa Medicaid. I didn’t know if there is nothing they can put a judgement on why they wouldn’t just settle and take the $500.
Generally speaking, defending against a debt collection lawsuit will cause there to be some additional flexibility in the amount you can settle for, or even whether you can negotiate a lower pay off at all.
That will not always be the case. You may have already admitted to the debt, or said or filed something in the case that suggests the attorney for Midland should hold out for every penny, and there is still the issue of this being a low balance account.
You may find you settle this the day of court or just before.
I tried emailing the attorney and it went to his secretary of course and they are staying strong at settling at $615 and not a penny less. So my question is I’m going to go ahead and settle, but what do I do to protect myself. They said this offer is good for 20 days. What do I ask them for in writing to ensure once I’ve paid this $615 it will not come back to bite me and I’ve fulfilled all my duties? Will they notify the court system so I don’t look like a no show if we settle this before? I just want to go by the book. Thanks so much!
Get them to send you the agreement in writing and follow what I outline in this article to look out for.
You do want them to confirm that they will dismiss the action upon receipt of funds. Getting all of this done prior to any hearing date, answer or filing deadline, is normally good enough.
A friend of mine is being sued by Midland Funding for a credit card that she doesn’t own. They continued to harass her non-stop. Is that legal? How can I help her?
I can help you with better feedback if you were more descriptive with what has happened.
I moved to new York over 10 years ago from New Jersey. In this time I have had a judgement filed against me in 2008 by Midland funding on behalf of Providian for a credit card I had in 2001 with a balance of 800.00. I was never served with a motion to appear in court and have only recently been receiving correspondence about this matter at my New York address from Pressler and Pressler by phone, and the last letter I received was from the Court Officer of the New Jersey Civil part stating they could Levy my bank account, wages , assets etc. unless I contact them to make arrangements to pay a balance they say I owe of 2900.00. Any guidance would be appreciated as I woud have made arrangents with the debtor prior if they contacted me at the address I reside at.
Can you come up with money to fund a settlement? If you can, and are motivated to resolve the debt by negotiating a lower pay off, I would target 50% as being realistic. There are reasons accounts will settle for a bit less, or a bit more.
Are there any other debts outstanding that show as unpaid on your credit reports? How many pays on time and current credit reporting entries are there compared to collection accounts?
I could certainly scrounge up some money to shoot for the targeted 50% to negotiate for a lump sum payoff. Currently the Midland funding is the only one on the CR showing as public record. I currently hold 5 credit accounts that have all been paid on time. Should this be negotiated with Midland funding Directly or through the Court Officer who has mailed me the letter? Once again any walkthrough on this process would be appreciated as this matter is a skeleton that has wandered out of the closet.
I have a post up where I cover all of the basics of settling a judgment debts. There is a ton more detail covered in the comments of that page.
You can call Midland Funding to negotiate a lump sum payoff. If they have the account out with an attorney you may find you have to deal with the collection attorney.
My Fifth Third card has been sold to Midland in the amount of $799. I got a settlement offer in the mail of 60%, or $480 or so. From what I’m reading this is a great deal. I didn’t think so at the time. Now I’m concerned that if I show that I’m interested in repaying the debt or settling that the figure will go up.
How can I best use the settlement offer they have already sent me? Can I send them a check for the settlement amount with a letter that states by cashing it they agree to honor the original offer? I desperately want to log in to their website but am afraid that would put up red flags as well.
Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.
I would not send Midland Credit a check for the amount they offered to settle for if the offer letter they sent you has expired. I would probably call them and tell them it took you this long to round up the money, and even then you needed a little help, and if they mail or fax you a new letter, you can pay it. Get a 10 day to 2 week window for payment if they are mailing the letter to you.
I would call, and not log into the website. Until I hear a good bit of feedback about resolution and documentation coming from individual people when settling using automated tools with debt collectors like Midland Credit, I suggest the phone.