Consumer complaint received 2019-08-04
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.
State: NY
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was result of identity theft

Complaint:
Midland Funding LLC DBA In New York As Midland Funding of XXXX LLC had filed a default judgement against me and also a lien against my property for a credit card that was a result of identity theft and was disputed years prior to them filing the judgment. I was never served a summons for court to defend myself. Included in the default judgment are Interest charges at 9 % claimed from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX for {$1500.00} before there was even a judgment filed. No contract from the original creditor XXXX XXXX XXXX or from Midland has been produced to show a signature or even to prove what interest rate Midland is allowed to charge by law before the judgment was entered. I was a victim of identity theft in XXXX of XXXX. There were credit cards opened in my name as well as credit cards used that I had opened and also my banking information was compromised. I didnt find out the full extent of the theft until later down the road. But immediately after the identity theft occurred I notified the 3 major credit bureaus, XXXX, XXXX  and XXXX. There was a fraud alert placed on my credit. I also initially filed a police report as well reporting the identity theft. I filed affidavits of fraud with all know creditors at the time and with my bank. Im not sure when Midland Funding LLC obtained this XXXX  XXXX XXXX credit card, but when I seen them report on my credit report, I contacted the credit bureaus. The credit bureaus had already removed the XXXX  XXXX XXXX debt off my credit report prior because of the fraud, prior to Midland Funding LLC reporting on there. Midland Funding LLC could not verify that the debt was valid and it was in dispute so the credit bureaus promptly removed them off of my report again. I have attached the record of dispute with Midland, with XXXX  from XX/XX/XXXX before the judgment was filed. Further details of the credit reporting investigation could only be accessed for a limited time after it was completed. On XX/XX/XXXX Midland Funding has claimed to serve me with a summons and complaint which they say was affixed to the door of a property that I owned with my ex. At that time I was not living at the property because I was in a XXXX XXXX situation and was residing with my parents. My ex who also owned the property was living there. It was a temporary situation that was even documented by the courts. I can send over those records as well of my address at my parent 's house if need be. I lived with my parents for about a year but did not put in for a change of address at first because I didn't know that I wouldnt get my mail, I didnt want it to look like I was abandoning the property I owned, and I didnt think I was going to be staying away for very long. A few months later I changed my address. Due to the domestic  situation I would have not received any type of correspondence at the property that I owned, and I now believe that my ex could of had some involvement with the identity theft. Even when I did live at the property I was not getting my mail. Midland also claimed to have mailed a copy of the summons and complaint on XX/XX/XXXX to the same property. I obtained a copy of the summons and complaint from the courthouse in XXXX of XXXX, and it is dated XX/XX/XXXX and states that I have 30 days to answer. Also the records that I obtained from the court do not included any type of Bill of Sale, or ownership information on how they obtained the debt or how it was assigned. To a person who is not familiar with a summons and complaint, they would most likely assume that their time was up to answer the summons. I think that this is another tactic used by Midland to obtain default judgments. But I did not see the summons until XXXX, so obviously I did not answer. On XX/XX/XXXX Midland Funding LLC DBA In New York as Midland Funding of XXXX obtained a default judgement for the amount of {$8400.00}. I then started receiving calls XXXX XXXX XXXX, Midlands attorneys. I did not receive any type of phone calls prior to the judgement being filed. They were calling from different phone numbers telling me the sheriff was going to come to my work. They were calling my family. I gave them my updated address at my parents and once again told them that this was not my account. They told me it did not matter, they already have a judgement. They sent papers to do an income execution. I told them I never got paperwork on a judgment being filed and that this was disputed already on numerous occasions. Finally, because I didnt know what else to do, and I didn't want to go to jail or have the sheriff come to my work, I asked my mom to lend me the money. When I went to the bank to deposit the check the bank told me to make sure that this wasnt a scam. I looked up Midlands attorneys on the internet, XXXX XXXX  XXXX and there was a lot of things on there saying that they were a scam and not to pay them. After already going through what I had gone through with the identity theft I didnt know what to believe. I got scared and didnt know what to do. I didnt know how to check to see if there was really a judgment. I didnt know if this was a legit company or not because how would they sue me for something that was disputed years ago. I was not informed on the phone calls that it was an attempt to collect a debt. So I basically avoided the situation. XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX on behalf of Midland Funding LLC started sending letters of the judgment to any address they thought I lived at, including my grandmothers address that I have never lived at. I couldnt afford an attorney and didnt know of resources available to help me at the time. In XXXX of XXXX I contacted the new attorneys collecting the debt, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX and once again told them that this was disputed. To this day I still have never received any correspondence from Midland,  XXXX XXXX  XXXX, or XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX stating that they are investigating my dispute. They want me to provide all the proof that I didnt do this, and they have supplied me with nothing. They also told me I would have to send them a copy of my license and social security card. I do not feel comfortable doing this. I have many forms of proof from fraud affidavits to police reports and apparently that is not good enough. They sent me a letter saying that judgment is now {$14000.00}. The public record of the judgment says it is {$6200.00}. I just had XXXX XXXX  and can not refinance my house to help pay for my medical costs unless I pay them these funds because of the lien on my property. They are going to force me into losing my home, for something I didn't do. In XX/XX/XXXX I tried to file a motion to vacate the judgment and I was not able to submit all of the proof I had because I had to first somehow prove that I wasnt served properly. I was representing myself and unfamiliar with the process. They would not vacate it so I could reopen the case and provide all my documentation that this was fraud. XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX came with their expensive attorneys and failed to mention that the account was ever disputed. For the last 2 years Midland has  sent letters to my grandmother including the most recent in XX/XX/XXXX. My grandmother received correspondence from a Midland class action lawsuit. She had received 4 postcards. Midland Funding LLC has my updated address and I have never lived with my grandmother. The other issue I have is that Midland also said there is another credit card with XXXX  XXXX XXXX for the amount of XXXX XXXX.They sent me a letter XX/XX/XXXX saying that they filed a lawsuit against me and they were offering a settlement. This account was disputed as well and I believe that they dropped the lawsuit because of the dispute. There is no record of me being served for this account or any judgement on file with the county. I have also attached this letter in the documents with the index number included. I have not received any type of correspondence from anyone saying that a judgment was obtained on this account. It is strange that they would stop one lawsuit because of the dispute but not the other when Midland was handling both accounts. I have never received any notification on a judgement on the other account but I was told in phone calls With XXXX, after the fact that there were two judgements against me and if I paid them it would stop the Sheriff from coming. But Midland has not mentioned any of this to the courts. I believe that Midland Funding LLC DBA In New York as Midland Funding of XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, and XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX  are overlapping information from both of these accounts and merging records to try and get as much money as they can, for debts that were disputed and I thought that it was against the law for companies to do this. I have uploaded as much documentation I could find for now, being that this was years ago when the identity theft occurred.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation