Consumer complaint received 2023-01-21
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.
State: MS
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from my credit monitoring service. I saw that my XXXX XXXX had dropped a tremendous amount of points. I logged on and found that Midland Credit had illegally posted an alleged collection account to my credit profile. Prior to the email, I have never heard of nor had an account with this company. My report shows that it is an open account and was opened on XX/XX/XXXX with a balance of {$300.00}. I have no knowledge of this company, nor this alleged debt. I have never had any dealings with this company. By federal law, a debt collector is supposed to make contact with an alleged debtor and give them 30 days to validate or dispute before they move forward with collection attempts. I never receive a letter in the mail that gave me 30 days to validate or dispute this account. I never received a letter stating that I have an alleged debt with this company and owe a balance on that account. Again, I have absolutely no knowledge of this account with them. I, a consumer defined under 15 USC 1692a ( 3 ), understand that, under the FDCPA guidelines for collection agencies, they have to provide ( 1 ) legitimate proof that they are the original holder of this debt and can legally hold me responsible for paying this debt and ( 2 ) contractual proof of obligation or an assignment SIGNED from an officer from the original creditors corporation that I am supposed to pay them. 15 USC 1692g Sec. 809 ( b ) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ) grants me the right as a consumer to request validation of this alleged debt they say I owe. I did not receive notice of right to dispute nor did I receive any information to verify that the alleged debt belonged to me. If I would have gotten anything in the mail or phone call from this company before they illegally reported to my credit report, I would have respectfully requested evidence that I am the person they are asking to pay this debt and a contractual obligation that legally binds me to pay them this debt. Upon them receiving my validation letter by certified mail with return receipt, they would have to legally cease from collection calls, letters, and efforts and delete the account from my credit reports until they can validate this debt. But again, I never received such a letter about this account or phone call ever in the mail because it was never sent. In order for them to prove that I received it properly, the proper letter should have been mailed certified mail with return receipt or by some form of proof of postage that would require my signature. And if the company did mail anything to me, where is the legal proof of my signature stating that I received it? Where is the return receipt or postage signature showing that I received it and signed for it?

But again, I never received any sort of mail or package because it was never sent. They have illegally posted and reported to my credit file without adhering to the FDCPA laws. Im not sure if this company is a scam, but I know that this company has broken FCRA and FDCPA laws by reporting an alleged account to my credit report without informing me through mail or phone and I did not receive notice of right to dispute nor did I receive any information to verify that the alleged debt belonged to me. My credit score has dropped tremendously in the middle of making a major purchase.

Please help me get this account removed immediately. As a consumer, Im publicly publishing this descriptive complaint on consumerfinance.gov so that others can learn from my experience and so that this government agency can use this information to help work with other violations and complaints from consumers regarding this company. As a consumer defined under 15 USC 1692a ( 3 ), I'm also preparing to sue under the FCRA and FDCPA because of the numerous consumer law violations committed by this company, damages to my credit and opportunity costs with making a major purchase, and business ventures that must be delayed until this illegal account is removed. It should not my responsibility to submit proof that this debt does not belong to me. It is the responsibility of the debt collector to submit proof that they can legally collect on the alleged debt and legally report to the credit agencies. As of this date, they have failed to do so. MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMEN XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief