Advise please- Is Midland Funding trying to create false activity on an account?

[js400021]

I hope someone here can help me figure this out. Recently, I've been trying to resolve some old collections showing on my credit report held by Midland Funding and Portfolio Recovery. All of these collections are accounts with last activity in 2015. PR was very nice to deal with and we settled in one day and everything was paid. Midland Funding was very unpleasant and did not want to settle but ultimately accepted about 50% after a lot of back and forth.  However, they have one account in their "legal department" and when I called that number they would not budge on the amount owed. They wanted 100% of the total so I said no and hung up.  When I first logged in to their web site to address these collections last week, this separate account in the legal department was not showing up at all on the main page-only the other accounts. Today I logged in to check the status of the paid accounts and this account is now showing up under available accounts again. What concerns me is that in the payment summary box under this account there are 11 payments showing between 2014 and 2018. Most are for the same amount $54.25 but some are less. I never made a payment to them or anyone else on this account! I went back and searched my bank account to see if I had missed something and these amounts definitely were not from me.  The last activity on this original account is showing as 3/2015 so it is definitely outside of the SOL now. Are they trying to pull a fast one and keep this account active by posting false payments? I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into this and what you suggest I do next. 

[Acc-Risk]

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will chime in but this is exactly what disputes are created for. They wouldn't risk something shady, that'll get them pulled faster than their heads can spin. Sounds more like a squirrely paperwork mixup than something underhanded. Luckily you have the paperwork to back up the misreport.

[FireMedic1]

What amounts are we talking about?  Midland does have as you know I hope that anything PIF or settled for less they will delete it from your reports. Outside of what the website says. If you can afford it. Save yourself the stress. Just pay them off and rid yourself from all this mess if you can. Good Luck!

[js400021]

The amounts total over a few hundred dollars in "payments" made 6-7 x year in both 2017 and 2018.  This case was in litigation but the case ended up being dropped by the court this month. I suspect maybe they knew they were at the end of the SOL and maybe tried to make it look like payments were being made to keep it active. I plan to call again today and try to get more info. They are really hard to deal with and I've called a few times this week already.  I swear the same man with a heavy accent that I can barely understand is the only one answering their calls.  You may be right about just having to pay it off but I can't afford the full amount they are asking right now. 

[RobertEG]

There have  been numerous posts here in the forum over the last couple of years regarding their reporting of payments to the CRAs that were never made by the consumer, so it appears to be a recurrent problem with them.

While posting of payments does not extend the credit report exclusion period for collections, which is fixed under FCRA 605(c) based only on DOFD, it can, in some states, reset running of the SOL.  

I would not proffer any opinion as to why they are apparently posting payments never made, as it could be a simple computer error with no willful intent to deceive, you could file a dispute under the FCRA for inaccurate reporting and get it corrrected, or you could bring civil action for misleading collection practices under the FDCPA, or file a formal complaint with the CFPB, who compiles a database of complaints and sometimes brings its own civil action if they see a pattern of violations.

Personally, if I were concerned that this was a wilful practice on their part, I would pursue via formal complaint to the CFPB, who will make inquiry with the debt collector as to why this recurrent practice is occuring.

[js400021]

Today, I logged in to MF and got the pop-up message that I would not be sued on this account just like I saw on the other accounts last week which were past the SOL. (At that time, this particular account wasn't showing at all as it was still in their litigation dept.) The other accounts are now showing $0. because they accepted my settlement. But this account is now showing as an open with the full balance due plus a list of these mysterious payments. So I called their office to inquire and the MF employee only responded: "this account has been closed".  I tried to ask a different way and she just said the same thing. It was obvious that she was not going to talk to me or offer any other explanation so we hung up.  Now I'm more confused than ever. What does this mean? Will it be deleted now or just stay in some sort of closed status forever?