Consumer complaint received 2023-02-01
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.
State: MD
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a suspicious email from Midland Credit Management XXXX XXXX ( MCM ), a debt collector stating they were trying to collect on a XXXX XXXX  debt allegedly owed to MCM. According to MCM, an XXXX Card Account through XXXX XXXX  was sold to Midland Credit Management on XX/XX/XXXX. As a result, MCM, a debt collection company, would be collecting on and servicing my account. Per MCM, a XXXX XXXX  ( XXXX ) account was charged off on XX/XX/XXXX. However, according to my records, I received a credit card statement on XX/XX/XXXX, from XXXX indicating that a minimum payment of {$260.00} was due on XX/XX/XXXX. A payment of {$140.00} was made on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged into my XXXX Credit Card account through XXXX. I received the following message, " It's critical that you make a payment soon to prevent your account from being closed, charged off, and reported as a bad debt. We offer payment options that can restore your account to good standing, but it is critical that you set up a payment option immediately. '' I was provided several payment options, including making a stay payment of {$18.00} to prevent further collection activity. I made this payment of {$18.00} and received the following confirmation, " This is a confirmation of your one-time payment authorization made on XX/XX/XXXX to XXXX XXXX  . Please save a copy of this for your records. XXXX XXXX  will apply this payment to your XXXX Credit Card account and, pending final authorization from your bank, a single XXXX electronic debit in the amount of {$18.00} will be deducted from your bank account on XX/XX/XXXX. It XXXX take XXXX additional business days to complete the funds transfer. '' However, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from MCM indicating that my Express Credit Card account had been charged off on XX/XX/XXXX, and sold to MCM on XX/XX/XXXX ( a day after the payment authorization of XX/XX/XXXX for the stay payment of {$18.00} ). On XX/XX/XXXX, I logged into my XXXX Credit Card account through XXXX  and again received the following message, " " It's critical that you make a payment soon to prevent your account from being closed, charged off, and reported as a bad debt. We offer payment options that can restore your account to good standing, but it is critical that you set up a payment option immediately. '' My options were to make a past-due payment of {$150.00} or the minimum due of {$180.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. I scheduled a payment of {$180.00} to be deducted from my bank account on XX/XX/XXXX. I closed my Express Credit Card account on XX/XX/XXXX, due to the economic impact of XXXX and the difficulties I encountered with obtaining account protection benefits through Account Assure. A previous complaint was filed with CFPB against XXXX ( XXXX ) and the Account XXXX program. Last XX/XX/XXXX, I again encountered difficulty making payments through the XXXX website due to technical issues on their end.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief