Complaint Review: Midland Credit Management

reading .... not all info on these cut and pasted copies need to be there ...

Your Name
Mailing Address
Your City, State, Zip

Date
Name of Collection Agency
Mailing Address
City, State, Zip

CERTIFICATION NUMBER ________________

Re: Identity Theft Victim Notice to Cease Contact: Case #_________
[If the collection agency has sent written notice, your case number is likely in the letter. If you have not received a written notice from the collection agency, tailor this line accordingly. For example, show the date you were contacted by the collection agency.]
To [person whose name appears on agency's notice to you]:
On [date] I was contacted by [name of person who called you] of your agency, who informed me that [name of collection agency] is attempting to collect [amount of claimed debt].
[OR]
On [date] I received a written notice of the claimed debt, a copy of which is attached.
I am a victim of identity theft. The debt about which your agency contacted me is the result of fraud by someone who used my personal information without my knowledge or consent. I have enclosed a copy of the police report I filed when I learned of the crime. [Instead of the police report, the Federal Trade Commission identity theft affidavit can be provided.] Please provide me with any forms such as a fraud affidavit that your company will require me to fill out to have this account properly investigated as fraud [if the enclosed FTC Fraud Affidavit is not sufficient].
I have enclosed the following documents to prove my claim of fraud:
[List copies of any documents you enclose with the letter that prove your claim of identity theft. Such documents could be a copy of a police report, copy of your Federal Trade Commission's Fraud Affidavit, or correspondence between you and a credit bureau, a merchant, or a bank. Lease agreements and utility bills often help prove you were living somewhere other than where the account was established. Remember: Always send copies and not original documents.]


This is to give you notice to cease all contact with me or anyone else about this claimed debt except the creditor or consumer reporting agency as necessary to clear my name. I understand that under state and federal law, you may only contact me one more time in order to confirm your receipt of this request.
In addition, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives me the right to a copy of applications or other documents your agency has obtained as proof of the debt. Please forward copies of any such documents you now have or later obtain to me at the above address.
I look forward to your acknowledgement that you have received this notice by [date that is two weeks from date of letter].
Sincerely,
PRINT OR TYPE YOUR NAME

Your Name
Mailing Address
City, State, Zip

Date
Name of Collection Agency
Mailing Address
City, State, Zip
CERTIFICATION NUMBER
Re: Dispute of Collection Action: Case # ________
[If the collection agency has sent written notice, your case number is likely in the letter. If you have not received a written notice from the collection agency, tailor this line accordingly. For example, show the date you were contacted by the collection agency and/or identify the creditor by name if you can.]
To [person whose name appears on agency's notice to you]:
On [date] I was contacted by [name of person who called you] of your agency, who informed me that [name of collection agency] is attempting to collect [amount of claimed debt]. This individual is collecting on behalf of [name of creditor]. [OR] This individual would not tell me for whom you are supposed to be collecting.
[OR]
On [date] I received a written notice of the claimed debt, a copy of which is attached.
This is to inform you that I dispute the debt because [insert reason for dispute, e.g. the agency has confused you with someone else or the debt was paid. Include copies, not originals, of any correspondence that proves your point]. I am hereby requesting that you confirm the fact that I owe this debt as required by any applicable state and federal laws. Please contact the creditor to obtain verification.
In addition, under the provisions of state and federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and related consumer statutes, I am hereby instructing you that you are to cease collection of the debt while efforts are made to obtain verification. Until you resolve this error with the creditor, you should neither contact me nor anyone else except the creditor about this collection.
Furthermore, any reporting of this matter to a credit reporting agency is premature. Until you have investigated my dispute, you should not relay negative information to a credit reporting agency. If negative information has already been reported, you will need to notify the agency to remove said report until the investigative process is over so that my credit report remains accurate, or at the very least, my credit report should be updated to reflect my dispute.
Your next contact with me should be either notice that the creditor has failed to provide verification of the debt and that the matter has been closed or that you believe that this debt is valid and are providing proof of my responsibility. If the former, please confirm that I am not being held responsible for the debt in writing and also that if the account has already been noted on my credit report, that you will contact the bureau(s) in question to have the account removed. If the latter, I expect that you will provide me with an explanation as to why you have decided not to remove this account from collections and a copy of all documents relevant to the debt such as the application, bills, records of communications and payments, and any other data that indicates my responsibility.
I am instructing you not to contact any third parties such as my employer, neighbors, friends or family members. In addition, you may not contact me by phone at work or at my home about this collection activity. All future correspondence should be sent to me in writing.
[If you want to still speak to a collector by phone, indicate times when it is okay to contact you or note the name, address, and phone number of your attorney, if you have retained one.]
I look forward to your acknowledgement that you have received this notice by [date that is two weeks from date of letter].

Sincerely,

PRINT OR TYPE YOUE NAME

I decided to call them today 4/30 and see why I got this letter saying I owe them money for a debt that I know I never made. I talked to some guy and he told me I would have to give him the last 4 of my ss to verify that I was not the person they were looking for.

Needless to say it did not match. He said he would take my name off there list. It just dosent make any sense to me that a company can harrass as many people with the same name until they find who they are looking for. There needs to be a law against this kind of crap.

Jan,

SOL can, and should be used as the basis for your frivolous lawsuit countersuit. Here's why.

It is a little thing called "due diligence". Anyone that is preparing to sue someone, thus costing that person the time and money of a defense, is required to have a valid claim before filing. If they do not, it is frivolous.

Therefore, just a small amount of due diligence performed would have indicated the debt was past SOL and therefore LEGALLY uncollectable. That in itself makes the lawsuit frivolous.

And, the lawyer who filed the suit was required under the ethics requirements of the Bar to engage in due diligence prior to filing the suit. You should IMMEDIATELY file an ethics complaint against the "lawyer" who filed this suit with the Bar Association in your state.

Good luck.

Thanks Steve,
I needed that encouragement as I was getting cold feet and wishing I had accepted the fact they want to just dismiss. Because as some of you know I have dealt with these JDB since Dec and lost account of the hours I have spent trying to research, learn and deal with it.
It has taken its toll emotionally.

Something I just remembered recently was when I was trying to find who was suing me
... a lawyer had written me about filing bankrupcy as I had a lawsuit recently filed against me on court records(A SHOCKING WAY TO FIND OUT AND WONDER??) A friend that worked in a layers office started to try to find out for me....she looked first in a neighboring county and found a person with the same last name being sued by Midland and it was filed on the same date.....so now that really makes wonder if they just go after people with same or close name??????

I have the defense of a frivolous lawsuit
as it is obvious they patched work somethings together. I have a question.
Is the fact they aren't license to do
business in this state a major violation
and shouldn't a lawyer(Midlands) have checked into that? Because I didn't address
that in my denial answer to summons their lawyer won't let me amend now. I say
lawyer my lawyer has called numerous times and has never talked to this lawyer
(only a person who refers to herself as a office manager). I believe this has been addressed again in the 2nd request for discovery.

Can the fact that a case is time barred
past the SOL be part of the case to countersue? I was doing some research on a site and someone stated it could only be used as part of defense to get case dismissed..just curious.

Thanks again...not going to give up!!!

Jan,

It sounds like your lawyer has absolutely no experience in collections law or in dealing with JUNK DEBT BUYERS.

Junk Debt Buyers RARELY ever go the distance. They only file lawsuits in hopes of getting the easy default judgement. As soon as you put up a fight, they fold.

You have an ABSOLUTE right to every peice of documentation to support their claims on the account. Your lawyer needs to file a motion to compel.

You have the right to see the proof that they own the debt AND how much they paid for it.

You also have the right to demand to see the original account history and itemization of charges.

You also have a right to examine the ENTIRE chain of title back to the original creditor.

They ALWAYS fabricate "affidavits" to support their claims, and each and every one needs to be carefully scrutinized and challenged. Again, this is your right.

The MUST prove you owe the debt to THEM! You NEVER have to prove that you don't.

Therefore, prove the lawsuit is frivolous, and countersue them for the damages they have caused you. It is your only way to get justice.

Tomorrow I will have to talk with my lawyer and I sure needed the encouragement to hang in there and not give up. I just had to take some time and think about it. Of course, they are NOW ready to drop the suit as most likely they didn't intend to fight it out in court. I don't know why they let it go this far as I had proof I only had SSDI and was unable to work....nothing for them to get judgement on by continuing and not dropping sooner.

My lawyer said it is my call....to go forward or back off but he says he has seen it turn bad before. Right now he gets paid and I get nothing...he has put work into it. He had bombarded them with paperwork and discovery on top of discovery
and I had already sent early one (I got from this site) so far their answers have been few and vague. Their offer to drop suit was before they got the last big stack...so we will see.

They always say evidence will be available in their office at a later date for review(which is 3 hours away)....and then claim some is case barred or not relevant ..like what was paid for the account. They seem to have something that makes them think I made a payment on this account 3 years after it was defaulted on and the employee of Midland commited perjury when she swore that she had all
knowledge of this case. The evidence they
attached has nothing to do with this case. They didn't look at it very closely.

The date they have on affidavit is sort of
a generic one ...can't really make sense out of it....lawyers said this could be against us posibbly..but I think if they
are swearing to something....they can't go back and say..Sorry...just a mistake..I meant
it to be such and such ...if they won't let me amend my answers I don't think that could be changed. The date is 0001-01-01????

I have found that this particular credit card has been under 3 different credit card company names since this account was opened....not to mention that I know Jefferson Capitol had it for collection at one time and Pioneer may have had it but they have not provided the chain of ownership yet...found this out on my own.

I am just venting as I know you guys know what it is like dealing with JDB.
Thanks again.
Jan

Midland Credit Management are debt collectors AND junk debt buyers.

Here's what happens. These bottomfeeders buy very old, usually past SOL and uncollectable debts of this type for far less than a penny on the dollar.

The problem with these old debts, is that they have little or no documentation with them on the actual debtor. This means that everyone with the same or similar name [like you] to the original debtor, gets that same collection letter.

Upon the first collection letter from any collector or junk debt buyer, IMMEDIATELY send a DEBT VALIDATION request by certified mail, return reciept requested. Be sure to put the certified# on the letter itself, and keep a copy for your records. This is very important as it proves exactly what you sent.

DO NOT sign this letter, just print! Very important not to sign anything you send to a debt collector as your signature could end up on a contract!

In this letter clearly deny the debt. Demand to see the original signed contract that created the debt, as well as a full account history and itemization of charges. Also demand proof that they own the debt such as a purchase contract and proof of payment, as well as a full chain of title back to the original creditor.

They would need all of this to beat you in court.

And, all collections activity, including lawsuits must stop until the above requested information is provided.

I would suggest you write them a letter deny the debt is yours and ask for validation...send it certified mail so
you know they get it.

I have been dealing with them since Dec.
and they are suing me for a debt that is not mine and is way past SOL but they have reaged it ..claiming I made a payment years after it was sold to JDB.... Nothing about it makes any sense but that is the kinda of people you are dealing with. They are listed now as one of the
toughest JDB to deal with...moved up the ladder fast. They are going mainly to arbitration which isn't good.

I have countersued and now they want to drop the suit and I give me nothing for
all their violations but it is tempting to
get it over with and settled. The lady
that represents the company said I should have just told them it was identy thief and they would have never pursued it any further. But I think they just pull up a
name and go after you.

This acct was never listed on any of my credit reports but they have my information
SS, address, phone and seems to think that meant I owed it. Never produce much for Discovery so I am curious to what they did have to base case on...if anything.

Good luck...take them on and put a stop to it fast.
Jan