Consumer complaint received 2019-05-21
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.
State: NC
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
Currently, MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT is reporting several accounts that is misinformation, account number XXXX reporting as XXXX XXXX. XXXX reporting as XXXX XXXX,XXXX, and XXXX.These accounts have been disputed both under FEderal and under North Carolina law . 
Special Rules Governing Debt Buyers North Carolina was the first state in the nation to enact legislation to protect consumers against the abusive practices of debt buyers. The Prohibited Practices by Collection Agencies at N.C.G.S. Chapter 58, Article 70, governs debt collection agencies operating in North Carolina. As of XX/XX/XXXX, this Chapter also governs the activities of debt buyers operating in the state. 

A. Who is a debt buyer? N.C.G.S. 58-70-15 ( b ) ( 4 ) categorizes a debt buyer as a type of collection agency, meaning that it must comply with the same regulations as collection agencies under Chapter 58 : A debt buyer. As used in this subdivision, the term " debt buyer '' means a person or entity that is engaged in the business of purchasing delinquent or chargedoff consumer loans or consumer credit accounts, or other delinquent consumer debt for collection purposes, whether it collects the debt itself or hires a third party for collection or an attorneyatlaw for litigation in order to collect such debt.Critics claim that junk debt buyers clog court systems throughout the United States with complaints based on inadequate and incomplete information. XXXX XXXX, Automated Debt-Collection Lawsuits Engulf Courts, XXXX XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX ; XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, Haunted by XXXX Debt, XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX. 
Case law documents instances where junk debt buyers have sued North Carolinians who merely had a similar name as the actual debtor on the account. 
See, e.g., XXXX v. XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX. XXXX, XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX. XXXX XXXX ( M.D.N.C. XXXX XXXX, XXXX ) ). Debt buyers have also sued persons who were the victims of identity theft on identity theft accounts. See XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX ( XXXX ) ). 
Such wrongful lawsuits occur because debt buyers purchase accounts for pennies on the dollar, often with little or no documentation of actual amounts owed, the terms of account agreements, or meaningful identification of account holders : The problems resulting from this overall lack of proof or accuracy are myriad, leading to thousands of dubious judgments entered by default. XXXX XXXX, Defending Junk XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, Vol. XXXX, XXXX. XXXX, XXXX XXXX. Complaint Requirements for Debt Buyers : Unfortunately, many consumers may not receive the required pre-suit notice or may mistake it for just another collection letter on an  account that they do not believe they owe. Therefore, the XXXX also subjects debt buyers to heightened pleading requirements. N.C.G.S. 
XXXX. 
This standard addresses the public policy concern that a debt buyer should show prior to obtaining a default judgment that it is the rightful owner of the account in question and that the amount claimed due is accurate in terms of actual charges incurred, as well as late fees, overlimit fees, interest accrued, attorneys fees owed, and the like. 
Under the XXXX, a debt buyer must attach certain materials to any complaint that it files : ( 1 ) A copy of the contract or other writing evidencing the original debt, which must contain a signature of the defendant. If a claim is based on credit card debt and no such signed writing evidencing the original debt ever existed, then copies of documents generated when the credit card was actually used must be attached.

( 2 ) A copy of the assignment or other writing establishing that the plaintiff is the owner of the debt. If the debt has been assigned more than once, then each assignment or other writing evidencing transfer of ownership must be attached to establish an unbroken chain of ownership. 
Each assignment or other writing evidencing transfer of ownership must contain the original account number of the debt purchased and must clearly show the debtor 's name associated with that account number. 
To date MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT has not provided any proof under XXXX tthat would constitue any validation as a matter of record MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT continues to operate in the state of North Carolina with complete disregard to its general statues MIDLAND has not provided any documentation on the account level as well as any documents with my signature to say these accounts are mine and still report themto the bureas

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation