Consumer complaint received 2020-01-04
Company: ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.
State: OR
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
I received a letter in XX/XX/XXXX from the XXXX XXXX XXXX Sheriffs Levy Office regarding a court ruling for a debt that was unfamiliar to me. The Sheriffs office provided me with Midland Fundings contact information but were unable to provide further information on the debt. 

I called Midland Funding and was informed that the debt was for a credit card with a {$2800.00} balance and {$1300.00} in interest, totaling {$4200.00}. They informed me that a judge ruled on the credit card debt and they were going to start garnishing my wages. They stated that since the ruling had already taken place and the process to garnish wages had begun that there was little I could do to resolve the matter. I asked Midland Funding why they were just now notifying me regarding this debt and they said that I had been served with a notice to appear. I replied that I never received a notice to appear and requested more information such as date, time, and location where I was supposedly served and they provided an address that was unfamiliar to me. After I informed them that I was not familiar with the address they told me that they didnt actually have to serve me or to provide proof that I was served. ( To which I have since found a lot of contrary information online. ) I informed Midland Funding that I did not believe this credit card debt was my debt and requested documentation to prove that this debt belonged to me. 

Shortly after I received notice from my employer that they were contacted by Midland Funding regarding a wage garnishment. I was a 1099 employee at the time and was informed by my employer that they were unable to divert the funds to Midland Funding. I called Midland Funding to inform them that my employer was unable to process the wage garnishment. I again asked for information regarding the debt to prove that the debt belonged to me. 

After several requests I had still not received proof that the debt was mine and incorrectly assumed the situation was resolved. In XX/XX/XXXX I began work as a W2 employee in XXXX. On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX I received a notification from my bank that my account balances were at XXXX. I logged into my online bank account and saw a hold on my personal and joint checking accounts. I called XXXX XXXX and was transferred to their Hold and Levies Department. XXXX said the only information they could provide was that the account hold was from Midland Funding and provided their contact information and a case number. 

I called Midland Funding and spoke with someone in their legal department who identified himself as XXXX XXXX, as best I could hear. He informed me that the levy was placed on my accounts by them for a debt from a XXXX credit card which was ruled upon by a judge in XX/XX/XXXX and that there was nothing I could really do to reclaim those funds. In order to remove the hold he could put the charges on a credit card instead but they do not release funds that they claim via levy. The person that I spoke with was very cold and seemed not to care about my situation at all. He was not able to provide any helpful information such as the amount owed or date of original debt. 


I called XXXX XXXX back to verify past accounts on file. They informed me that I had a previous XXXX Financing account for a car loan which was closed with a XXXX balance and in good standing. This account information was correct. They also stated that I had record of a XXXX XXXX Credit Card. I did not request nor authorize this credit card. I requested further information on this account, such as when the account was opened and when the debt originated. They informed me that the department that provided that information was not open until Monday, as it was now XXXX on Friday. I requested previous statements and XXXX stated that they could mail that information to the address on file. I did not however, verify if the address on file was my current address or a previous address held by me or if it was in fact the address used by Midland Funding to serve me notice to appear in court. 

I was now certain that this situation was the result of identity theft. In previous interactions with Midland Funding I was not provided information on the credit card debt and was unable to determine that this stemmed from identity theft. The fraudulent account is so old that it does not appear on my credit report, which I reviewed after my first interaction with Midland Funding. In XXXX the statue of limitation for debt is four years. It is unclear why Midland Funding is pursuing this debt from a ruling from XX/XX/XXXX. They also did not provide the proof of debt that I had requested. 

Midland Funding does not appear to be helpful in resolving a case of identity theft and is instead mainly interested in claiming funds. I requested that they show proof that the debt they were claiming was mine but they failed to provide that proof. I did not receive any information necessary to research this fraudulent account and attempts to contact them would result in a voicemail or unanswered call. They did not answer the phone until I removed the caller ID information from my calls.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation