Consumer complaint received 2023-07-28
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.
State: GA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: I do not know
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action
Sub-issue: Sued you without properly notifying you of lawsuit

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I became aware of my involvement in a small claims civil lawsuit. The plaintiff, Midland Credit Management , Inc., has filed a claim against me with the Clerk of the Superior & Magistrate courts in XXXX XXXX, alleging a breach of contract with an unknown creditor ( XXXX XXXX XXXX  ) in the amount of {$680.00}. From what I have been able to gather online via a public court record search, this claim was initially filed against me on XX/XX/XXXX. Unbeknownst to me, it appears there was a hearing that I missed sometime between XXXX and present day. Unfortunately, I was not only unaware of this issue but I was also not notified of this lawsuit until earlier this week ( XX/XX/XXXX ). I received my first notice that was forwarded to me on Tuesday via USPS though the envelope is dated for XX/XX/XXXX. This is the only notice that I have received and an online search shows that I am due to appear in court on Monday, XX/XX/XXXX before judgement is made for the plaintiff. 

Though the events leading up to this lawsuit are unclear, I originally noticed Midland Credit Management Inc. on my credit file in XXXX while undergoing a bureau refresher that I conduct every other year. On 3 separate occasions my accountant and I drafted debt validation letters and presented them to this company ( XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX, MI XXXX ). I also made numerous attempts to contact Midland Credit Management  at ( XXXX ) XXXX as this was the only number listed on my credit file. On each occurrence I explained to customer service agents that I have no knowledge of this company or XXXX XXXX XXXX. Due to this company being unable to produce a contractual agreement, an audit trail, my signature, any information about me or when this account was truly established, we were able to successfully have this creditor removed from my file after several rounds of credit disputes. 

In bringing the timeline to present day, Midland Credit Management Inc. has once again applied this debt to my credit file which I confirmed on XX/XX/XXXX. Despite my efforts to resolve the matter on numerous occasions and through multiple streams of communication since XXXX, the plaintiff has chosen to pursue legal action. Once I received a notice earlier this week to appear in court I immediately began working to try and resolve this matter as quickly as possible. For almost 2 years I was under the impression that this issue was behind me. I swiftly moved into action and contacted my attorney as well as XXXX XXXX XXXX  at their listed phone number ( XXXX ) XXXX. After providing personal identifying information, XXXX XXXX XXXX  advised me that they were unaware of any account associated with my name and were unable to assist. I was even offered the option to apply for one of their credit card accounts if I were interested. 

Unfortunately, I do not have much information to offer up in my defense as I do not know much of anything about either of these companies. I now know that XXXX XXXX offers credit cards and other accounts for customers with subpar credit, however, I have never had a need to use them. I do however have credit card accounts with my credit union ( XXXX XXXX ) and XXXX XXXX. At the moment I only have all supporting documentation of debt validation letters sent via certified mail and documents showing the numerous credit disputes from my credit analyst who previously worked on my bi-annual refresher in XXXX. As you can imagine, this is concerning for me in more ways than one. I am not sure if this is an identity theft issue or something else. In looking at my latest report there are no other anomalies that would support identity theft as I would imagine if someone had stolen my identity I would have more than just this one creditor. I am a bit distressed at the thought of now having to face this challenging situation once more but also with having to defend myself so abruptly in this civil lawsuit. 

Upon researching Midland Credit Management they have an extensive history of unethical business practices and history of bullying/suing individuals for balances that are not their own. This company has been unable to provide any tangible proof of ownership of this account, however, continues to attempt to collect an unknown debt belonging to an unknown individual. I do not own this debt and have provided Midland credit with sufficient evidence of such. 

I am now filing a formal complaint not only due to this company somehow applying the debt to my credit file once more but also because it appears they operate their business on the cusp of being outside of the law. Their business practices are truly unethical and they prey on innocent people in hopes to resolve debts that they can not justify.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief