Consumer complaint received 2023-10-21
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.
State: TX
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged

Complaint:
Company has selectively provided and omitted specific information on an alleged debt. 
They have listed alleged debt on my credit reports and have not provided me with documentation required by law. 

The Debt Buyer is not familiar with Virginia law, the state that governs my original agreement.Debt Buyer must provide original agreement or provide affidavit attesting to lost or destroyed agreement. XXXX Virginia Midland has dumped a patchwork of documents trying to prove a bill of sale from creditor to debt buyer. There is nothing that specifically references my account in a bill of sale. The bill of sale is deficient and is just a portfolio of random debt that Midland purchased at different dates. One document here is a certificate of conformity related to the state of NY that has absolutely nothing to do with my account. 

I have requested multiple times the original contract between XXXX and myself as it is my legal right. They either do not have this information or refuse to give it to me. Instead they send robo signed affidavits with debt sales from XXXX files that preceded my alleged default with Creditor. Again, I demand Proof that the buyer actually purchased this specific account ; and The terms and conditions of the sale of the account. In Midland 's attached response documents, they list affidavits. Do these people who have sworn affidavits have personal knowledge of the facts of my account if they can not locate the original contract?

Debt Buyer also claims the statute of limitations will not expire until XX/XX/XXXX. The debt buyer is again providing inaccurate information to me and on my credit reports. The statute of limitations starts tickingon the date of the last activity of the original credit account and not the datea debt buyer arbitrarily chooses.

Debt Buyer has a history of flagrant violations of consumers rights and has been successfully sued multiple times by the CFPB for millions of dollars. In XXXX, Midland was found guilty of violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Act by suing consumers without proper documentation, attempting to collect on debts that were too old, and failing to provide consumers with legally required disclosures. That same year, the company was sued by 42 states and the District of Columbia for engaging in illegal debt collection practices, such as filing lawsuits without proper documentation and attempting to collect on debts that were too old. Midland paid a {$6.00} XXXX settlement to resolve that lawsuit. 
In XXXX, the company paid {$12.00} XXXX to resolve allegations made by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that it had engaged in deceptive and unfair debt collection practices, such as filing lawsuits against consumers without proper documentation, collecting on time-barred debts, and harassing consumers with excessive phone calls.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation