Midland Credit Can Suck It

[skylow22]

I sent off my first debt validation letter to Midland Credit Management on 08/13/2013. They responded a week later with this letter

Dear (customer), 

The purpose of this letter is to request your assistance so that we may reach a quick resolution to your dispute made to the credit bureaus. You have indicated in your dispute that the above-referenced account contains inaccurate information. 

Midland Credit Management, LLC became the servicer of the above-referenced account on May 14, 2012. Information provided by the seller at the time of acquisition indicates this account was originated on July **,2008, as a GE MONEY BANK account with the account number listed above, in the name of **** *******, The last four digits of the social security number on the account are ####, Subsequently the account was charged off as an unpaid deliquent debt on August 25, 2009. The balance at the time of purchase was $2,989.01

Please contact our Consumer Support Services Department as soon as possible at 800-825-8131, Ext. 32980 so that we may discuss your dispute and work together to reach a resolution. In the interim, we have requested that the three major consumer credit reporting agnencies change the status of this account to "Disputed."

Sincerely, 

Consumer Support Services

SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR IMPORTANT SIDE FOR INFORMATION

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION 

Please understand this communication is from a debt collector. This is an attempt to collect a debt. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose. 

Calls to and/or from this company may be monitored or recorded (I already sent them a cease and desist letter) 

They included a copy of two statements from GE Money Bank - Sent to two different addresses (both of which I did not reside). 

[skylow22]

I responded with a settlement offer. 

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to inform you that the validity of this debt is disputed. I requested a full validation of the debt your company claims I owe on 08/13/2013. In response, I received a letter noting the amount that I allegedly owe and a copy of two statements mailed to two different addresses (both of which I did not reside) in 2009. Consumers have the right to request a validation of debt to ensure that the company collecting the debt has not made an error. Sending me notice of the amount I supposedly owe does not prove that I owe the debt, it merely proves that your company seeks to collect the specified amount. Please provide the following information:

Proof that MCM owns the debt/or has been assigned the debt.

Copy of the original signed loan agreement or credit card application.

How did MCM calculate this debt? What fees/interest has MCM tacked on to this debt and how did MCM determine these fees/interest?

A complete payment history, starting with the original creditor.This requirement was established by the case Fields v. Wilber Law Firm, Donald L. Wilber and Kenneth Wilber, USCA-02-C-0072, 7th Circuit Court, Sept 2004

Quoted directly from the Encore Capital Group website “We purchase portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables at deep discounts to face value and use a variety of operational channels to maximize our collections from these portfolios”. “From inception through December 31, 2011, we have invested approximately $2.1 billion to acquire 40.1 million consumer accounts with a face value of approximately $66.4 billion.”

2,100,000,000/66,400,000,000 = .03 or 3% = An average of 3 cents on the dollar.

Per the statement provided by GE Money Bank – the alleged charged off amount was $2,838.02. That means MCM paid approximately $85.14 to acquire the rights to collect this debt.

My liability to this alleged debt, and your right to collect this alleged debt, hasyet to be proven in the court of law. Please not that I am prepared to defend myself in the court of law.There will be no default judgment. I am prepared to file suit for FDCPA violations and reporting fraudulent negatively damaging information to the credit reporting agencies.

In the spirit of compromise, I am willing to pay $610 (15%) of the alleged debt if you agree to immediate deletion of this account from any and all credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). The purpose of this settlement is merely to have this item removed from my credit files. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of liability for this debt in any form.

If you agree to the terms and accept this agreement, certified funds for the settlement amount of twenty-five dollars ($610.00) will be sent to MCM in exchange for full deletion of ALL references regarding this account from my credit files and full satisfaction of the debt. As certified funds will be used for payment, there shall be no waiting period regarding the deletion of this account from the credit reporting agencies

MCM agrees to delete all information regarding this account from the credit reporting agencies within thirty calendar days following receipt of payment as specified above and will not discuss the terms of this settlement with anyone, excluding your client on this account. If contacted by any third party, including credit-reporting agencies, MCM will not acknowledge that any settlement offer was made, accepted or executed and will, in fact, deny knowledge of any such account.

If you agree to the above terms, please prepare a letter on your company letterhead explicitly agreeing to the same terms as the above settlement offer and have it signed by an authorized representative of Collection Agency. It will be implied that this letter shall constitute a legally binding contract, enforceable under the laws of my state.

Your response must be postmarked no later than 15 days from your receipt of this settlement offer or this offer will be withdrawn and I will request full validation of this alleged debt, as provided for by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Please address all correspondence regarding this account to:

Name
Address
City State Zip

[guiness56]

They responded to you with what is required of them per FDCPA 809.  They were under no obligation to furnish any other information.  The only person that can compel them to do so would be a judge.

The settlement letter is pretty demanding, telling them to do things they don't have to do.  A PFD is more of a GW letter and should be a little softer, not quote case law, and tell them who they can and cannot talk to.

Midland can be a hard nut to crack.

[fixmycred14]

Wow! Midland is giving me a headache as well. I offered a PFD for a $151 debt to be PIF. They haven't replied via snail mail. Then I get an email to call them. Hasn't gone anywhere...left a message and nothing.

[Dapper_Dan]

What's the SOL in your state?  If they are outside SOL, then yes, they might as well suck it because they can't win in court.  If SOL is 3 years, they are too late and I, personally, wouldn't respond.