The mailman knocks at the door. You answer and he says “sign this please”. Hesitating, you sign the green card. It’s a letter from your local District Justice. You open it to find that you are being sued by Midland Funding, LLC (or its alter ego Midland Credit Management). Who in the world is that? You’ve never received a letter from them, nor a phone call. Wow, what do I do now?
For many people, panic sets in. It seems that 50% of you say “I better pay this right now because I don’t want to go to jail.” The other 50% seem to say, “good luck Midland, I’m broke, you can’t get blood out of a stone.” We’re here to tell you that neither of these responses is a good one. The only proper response is to call a consumer attorney. It’s a phone call, it doesn’t hurt. Go ahead and do it. I’ll even give you the number… it’s 412-348-8600. There is NO CHARGE and NO OBLIGATION to hire us. It’s a free legal consult. Guess what, some other attorneys offer the same thing. Take advantage of a free consultation. Listen, take notes, then ask questions and take more notes.
Who is Midland Funding?
Just to let you know who Midland Funding is, they are what’s called a “junk debt buyer”. They are a HUGE organization. They buy tens of thousands of credit card accounts each month for pennies on the dollar. They ARE NOT working for the credit card company, they are the owner of the account.
First Steps if Sued by Midland
In a perfect world, the first step that you should take if you are sued by Midland Funding is to get a current copy of your credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com. Do not use the sites that you see on TV or hear about on the radio. Those sites offer garbage… purely useless “credit reports”. You want the truth, you want accuracy. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com.Now that you have the report, look at it. Find the Midland Funding entry (it could be listed by Midland’s servicer, Midland Credit Management). Check for the date of the last payment. Check for the final amount on the report. Check to find the original creditor entry on the report. What you’re doing here is trying to see if everything matches up. If it does, fine, move on. If it doesn’t match up, well, there may be a debt collection violation here.
Don’t Go It Alone
In any event, now that you have the credit report, call us for the consultation. You should not call Midland, ever. They are the opponent, they have only their best interests at heart, not yours. You wouldn’t believe how many calls that we get from consumers who’ve tried to work with Midland (or their attorneys) on their own and make fatal mistakes. Please don’t turn a winner of a case into a loser by handling it yourself. Think about it, Midland and its attorneys are in the business of debt collection and that is the specific issue that you are facing. Are you experienced at debt collection? or defending debt collection cases? I’m pretty sure that you’re not, otherwise you wouldn’t be here reading this page.
We’ll go over your options, what you should do and what you shouldn’t do. In most cases, we are going to recommend that you defend the case rather than settle. The main reason for this is because Midland lacks the proper evidence to beat you in court. I’ll say it again…they lack the proper evidence to beat you in court. How can I make such a bald assertion? Well, our firm handles about a dozen or so Midland cases each month and we have done so for years. We’ve NEVER seen them produce enough documentation to win a case.
Why Midland Sues Without Evidence
You might ask, “why do they sue if they don’t have proper evidence?” Go back to the second paragraph that I wrote above. They know that you are either going to pay them or you are going to put your head in the sand and do nothing. Only a small fraction of people are bright enough to contact a consumer attorney on these cases. Midland knows this and it’s a numbers game. File 100 lawsuits, have 40-45 people get scared and pay, have another 40-45 do nothing, have 10 more who try to represent themselves in court (good luck with that) and finally 5 or so who hire a consumer attorney. Pretty good odds for Midland in the big picture, don’t you think? Especially when they’re paying 2-3 cents per dollar to purchase these accounts. Their return on investment is phenomenal.
How to Beat Midland Credit Management in Court
If you hire our firm, we’ll go to the hearing and you will not. You DO NOT want to be present at the hearing. If you do show up, Midland’s attorney can cross examine you and use your testimony to prove its case against you. Think about that… if you show up, you are hurting your own case. They cannot cross examine us, they cannot ask us questions. So, with their limited “evidence” that they historically bring to these hearings you have a fantastic opportunity to successfully defend a credit card lawsuit.
The key is having an experienced consumer attorney represent you. We have taken on Midland Funding/Midland Credit Management countless times and know all their tactics. We can poke holes in their shoddy evidence and documentation. Without adequate proof of the full chain of title and the full outstanding balance, their case crumbles. We know how to leverage the burden of proof against them.
Midland Funding LLC Garnishment Phone Number
If you do get a judgment against you from Midland, they will likely try to garnish your wages or bank account. This is why it’s so crucial to defend the initial lawsuit properly. If you need to call them about a garnishment, their phone number is 888-726-6535. But don’t try handling this alone – speak to a consumer lawyer first.
Does Midland Funding Show Up to Court?
One of Midland’s strategies is to have their local attorneys appear at hearings, rather than sending a corporate representative. This allows them to avoid damaging testimony under oath about their lack of documentation and shady business practices. An experienced consumer lawyer will be ready for this tactic.
Midland Funding LLC Judgment
If Midland does somehow manage to get a judgment against you, either because you failed to respond or didn’t have proper legal representation, it’s not the end of the world. You may still be able to vacate or re-open the judgment by showing you were a victim of fraud, misrepresentation, or other defenses. But you’ll need the help of a skilled consumer attorney.
Midland LLC Lawsuit
Midland files thousands of lawsuits per year against consumers. Their business model depends on bullying people into paying or getting default judgments when people fail to respond. Having a lawyer who understands Midland’s playbook is crucial to fighting back.
Will Midland Credit Management Sue Me?
If you have an outstanding debt that Midland has purchased, the odds are high that they will eventually sue you, especially if you fail to respond to their letters and calls. The best defense is being proactive – get a free consultation from a consumer lawyer to understand your rights.
Midland Credit Management Suing Me
If you’ve already been served with a lawsuit from Midland Credit Management, don’t panic but do act quickly. Respond with the help of a lawyer to avoid a default judgment. We’ve helped many people in this situation successfully defend against Midland’s lawsuits.
With proper legal representation, you can effectively defend against Midland’s lawsuit. Their cases often rely on weak evidence that an experienced lawyer can dismantle.
