Consumer complaint received 2019-07-26
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.
State: NV
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
I had an old account through XXXX XXXX that was sent to collection and eventually purchased by the debt collection agency Midland Credit Management. The original amount of the debt was {$1500.00}. By the time MCM had the account they were trying to force me into paying upwards of $ 2800.00+. They hounded me FOR YEARS. Repeatedly I asked them to negotiate a lower amount or to quit harassing me. At the peak they probably called me 75-100 times a week!! 

Eventually in XX/XX/2019 a collection agent by the name of XXXX XXXX was willing to negotiate. MCM offered me a one time deal supposedly oF 40 % off the {$2800.00} they had been trying to collect unfairly for years. By this point my FICO  score was pretty much ruined, but rather than file for bankruptcy ... I WANTED to pay for my past debts. XXXX XXXX promised me that if I paid the agreed upon amount, MCM would send me a PAID letter and DELETE the info off of ALL 3 of the CRAs. So on Friday XX/XX/2019 I authorized a bank drank /eft in the amount of {$1700.00} to MCM. I had documentation of XXXX XXXX promises as well as copies of the eft transaction once it cleared my credit union. However, MCM never sent me the promised PAID IN FULL letter. In fact since XX/XX/2019 they have continued to harass and threaten me. 

Over a month after the agreed upon payment of {$1700.00} MCM was STILL REPORTING my collection account was open and unpaid to all 3 CRAs. Those being XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX. I disputed this with all 3 CRAs. After which Midland threatened me verbally that the deal we made was off. The various collection agents asked me if I could prove I had paid MCM or that I had enough money in my account to even make the payment. Because they supposedly had no record of my payment. Or even knew where the money went?!?! They also told me because of my CRA disputes that 40 % off settlement deal was null and void and I now owed the full $ 2800+ again. 

Within 2-3 weeks of my online disputes where I provided substantial proof of all the above stated transactions, names, receipts, and dates both XXXX  and XXXX XXXX deleted the incorrect information from my individual credit reports. XXXX however has been another uphill battle. At least two separate times they have deleted the incorrect info from MCM only to add it back on! I have emailed & sent certified documentation to them to validate all of my above claims. I have spent hours on the phone being harassed yet again by THE EMPLOYEES OF XXXX!! The mailing address for XXXX is in GEORGIA, I believe. But I think the call center is routed through the XXXX? Because the phone agents all sound like they are speaking to you from a script and are incapable of holding a conversation in ENGLISH that deviates in any way from their prepared statements. On at least 2 separate occasions they have refused me the opportunity to speak to a supervisor and one phone agent kept me on hold / answering questions to verify my identity and THEN disconnected the call! 

I have read the complaints online about the data breaches involving XXXX. Of which I am sure my info is probably part of. It is my sincerest hope that the FTC can help me in my quest to endeavor XXXX  to do their jobs correctly. I have supplied my supporting documents to XXXX  over and over and over. Even now my info is being disputed AGAIN with MCM because in XX/XX/XXXX XXXX deleted the incorrect information. And then in late XX/XX/XXXX ADDED the incorrect information from MCM BACK on to my XXXX credit file. The MCM account is still listed as Open as of late XX/XX/2019, when in fact it was Paid per our agreement on Friday XX/XX/2019! Please hold both MCM / XXXX accountable ... the way they have held so many Americans hostage with their predatory and illegal practices. Only please be better than them. Do your job better than these 2 companies. Thank you in advance for reading all this. I have any / all copies of supporting documents to provide proof if need be. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation