I think I'm being sued by Midland....help!!

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2015

I keep getting voicemails from an automated message saying hes an investigator from CPM and that there's a civil matter in the office with my name and social security number attached. It says my case is scheduled to go in front of the review board and if me or my atty want to file an answer before a decision is rendered, contact their legal department, but no phone number is given, just a reference number. After alot of reading on these boards and Google searches, im pretty sure it's Midland. What should I do? I cannot have a judgement on my credit. Im trying to get ready to buy a house in January and this will ruin everything. Im working with a credit repair company. Should I contact Midland? The credit repair company? Please help!! Thank you!!

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2015

So... They say to contact them, but don't tell you how to do so? Seems a little strange....

They have to serve you with papers prior to getting a judgement. If they fail to do that PROPERLY under Texas law, any judgment they get could be vacated. Texas law requires either personal service - meaning a process server comes to your home and personally hands you the papers, or you get them via certified, Return Receipt Requested mail. Until one of those things happens you're not being sued..

Have you pulled your reports to try to figure out what this could be about?

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2015

Yes, no phone number was given. I quoted the voicemail almost word for word. I've listened to it so many times, I pretty much have it memorized. The only thing I left off is that after it says to contact their legal department, it said "or press any key now to be connected to the plaintiff." So obviously I can't do that if it's a voicemail message. I would have to answer the call. I have googled CPM, the guys name and the phone number on my caller ID so many times but I can't find anything. If this is about Midland, the address they have is my old address. Not sure how they got my phone number. I havnt been served any papers and haven't spoken to a real person. This is weird, I just don't know what to think of it.

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2015

Credit repair companies are helpful in making reports look good, but in doing so, can open a can of worms. Screen all your calls. Be wary even saying hello to such debt collectors. Caller ID is easily, and frequently faked - don't trust anything the display says. They're likely fishing right now, hoping you panic and pay up.

As for what to do...

First, pull up one or more your free credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com, and look for the Date of First Delinquency (DOFD) for each of your baddies. The paid services generally don't provide DOFD information.

Second, determine the statue of limitations (SOL) in your jurisdiction (state) for credit card / revolving debt. 4-6 years is typical, but some are short as 3 (ie. Delaware) and some upwards of 8-10 (ie. Montana, Rhode Island). If all your debt is outside of SOL, then odds of being sued are slim to none; easily defended / vacated / removable.

Even if all your baddies are out of SOL, they may still appear on your credit reports beyond that up to 7.5 years total from DOFD. For example, in Pennsylvania, SOL is 4 years, but the negative TLs can remain on credit reports upwards of 3 additional years beyond that...

So even if a creditor has no viable legal options to collect the debt, a lender may still insist the debt be settled to qualify for a loan. That's likely the situation you're going to run into, and debt collectors take advantage of this - they watch for signs one's financial situation is improving / shopping for a mortgage.

In short, check credit reports, determine DOFDs of baddies, determine what SOL is in your jurisdiction, and approx dates the TLs drop off...

You may need to settle some debt to qualify for a mortgage. If doing so, proceed carefully to ensure you're truly paying on a valid debt and that the agreed payment will truly settle it; steer clear of payment plans - pay in one lumpsum to avoid SOL reset and other problems.

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2015

The SOL for cc debt in Texas is 4 years. If it hasn't been 4 years yet, it's probly getting close. Do you think whoever is leaving these messages is full of crap and just trying to scare me or are they really going to try to get a judgement? And if they don't successfully serve me papers, they can't get a judgement? If I receive a notice of certified mail addressed to me (would be in my mailbox notifying me to retrieve our from the post office) I should ignore it? Thank you all so much for helping me. It's much appreciated.

gdale6 · ‎03-28-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
The SOL for cc debt in Texas is 4 years. If it hasn't been 4 years yet, it's probly getting close. Do you think whoever is leaving these messages is full of crap and just trying to scare me or are they really going to try to get a judgement? And if they don't successfully serve me papers, they can't get a judgement? If I receive a notice of certified mail addressed to me (would be in my mailbox notifying me to retrieve our from the post office) I should ignore it? Thank you all so much for helping me. It's much appreciated.

I would keep an eye on the activites of the court in the county you reside in to see if someone files papers prior to the SOL expiration. SOL is figured from the DoFD of the account that was COed. A lot of times this is a bunch of bluster, as Norman says there is no possible judgment until one is served to appear in court. If this were to happen you would want to settle out of court thus avoiding the judgment.

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2015

You should pull one or more your free credit reports and check the DOFD. That's what many creditors will go by when determining whether to sue or not.

There are many debt collectors who will say pretty much anything to intimidate one into paying. Heck, some will go beyond that, such as faking their caller id to display something like county sheriff, the police, attorney general, etc. Misleading paperwork is another way, and not necessarily illegal. A common tactic is sending a debt collection letter with a law firm shown on the letterhead.

As for ignoring a summons, yep, that can work. But not full-proof. If the amount being sought is relatively small, such as under a few thousand, they may just move on. However, for a large amount, they'll likely go to plan b and contract with a personal server to hand deliver the complaint. And if still no good after a few tries, alternative means of service may be used, such as publishing a notice in the local newspaper(s) and/or even serving it via electronic means, such as Facebook. For numerous reasons, alternative service is uncommon.

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2015

I tried to pull my reports from annualcreditreport.com. It won't let me because I have open disputes. It's telling me to wait for the disputes to conclude and then I will be mailed a copy. So, I guess it's a waiting game now.

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2015

I believe that as debts approach their SOL some collections agencies will refer cases to a law office to make some phone calls and send letters to threaten legal action, I am not sure how often they actually sue but I was in a simlar situation so since I did owe the money I negotiated a settlement for about 30% of the origional amount to reduce my risk of being sued and to get them to stop updating on the collections. I have one more collection to go and I can't wait till I don't have to worry about these tactics again.

Anonymous · ‎03-29-2015

I keep getting voicemails from an automated message saying hes an investigator from CPM and that there's a civil matter in the office with my name and social security number attached. It says my case is scheduled to go in front of the review board and if me or my atty want to file an answer before a decision is rendered, contact their legal department, but no phone number is given, just a reference number. After alot of reading on these boards and Google searches, im pretty sure it's Midland. What should I do? I cannot have a judgement on my credit. Im trying to get ready to buy a house in January and this will ruin everything. Im working with a credit repair company. Should I contact Midland? The credit repair company? Please help!! Thank you!!

First off, it sounds like scare tactics, most likely if you did answer when they called and hit the button to be connected with their "legal department" you would simply be connected to one of their reps that will try to scare you into paying. It is most likely the debt collector pretending to be a "law office" or other scary entity.

Secondly, they are most likely violating the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) and the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act). SAVE all the messages from them, take digital pictures of the caller id they have called from. Keep a record of all communications from them as well as evidence (messages, photos of caller ids, etc) Call a consumer law attorney right away, many will work on contingency (no cost to you).

Other than that, I guess you will have to wait until your disputes close to see exactly what they are reporting and what the date of first delinquency first was to see if they even have the legal grounds to sue you. As of now do some googling on "what debt collectors are not allowed to do" and "debt collector violations". If they do call again, I would not answer, but if you feel the need to talk to them, make sure that you record the conversation and of course let them know initially that you are recording the conversation, but I strongly advise against speaking to them. Save any paper work you get from them as well.