Midland Credit Management (Encore Capital Group)

In short

Midland Credit Management collects debts bought by Midland Funding, part of Encore Capital Group. Dispute for free through Midland's Consumer Resolution Center form or by letter to its Chief Compliance Officer, before the validation period in your notice ends. Midland says it will not sue while you are making payments, deletes its credit tradeline after you pay in full, and does not report accounts if payments start within six months. If Midland does not fix the problem, the CFPB is next; most Encore complaints close with an explanation only.

How complaints actually go

• Midland's Consumer Resolution Center routes concerns to the Chief Compliance Officer through an online form, by phone at (877) 420-0039, or by mail to P.O. Box 939069, San Diego, CA 92193. The form lets you upload up to 10 supporting files. Midland: contact us Midland: disputes
• General account questions go to account managers at (800) 296-2657, 8am to midnight ET every day; questions about inaccurate information go to Consumer Support Services at (800) 825-8131 ext. 32980, weekdays 8am to 7:30pm ET. Midland: FAQs
• If you earlier told Midland to stop contacting you, say in your letter whether it may reply about your concern; otherwise Midland says it cannot contact you about it. Midland: contact us
• A CFPB complaint goes to Encore for a written response; all but 2 of 22,637 responses in the 12 months to June 2026 were timely. CFPB complaint database search

What tends to work

• Dispute in writing within the validation period; Midland must stop collecting the disputed debt until it sends verification, and its online form counts as written if Midland accepts disputes there. CFPB: Regulation F 1006.38
• Use the right category in the form, such as "I requested that validation be sent to me, and I still have not received it" or "Inaccurate credit reporting". Midland: disputes
• If you pay in full or settle, ask Midland to confirm the deletion request; it says the credit bureaus typically take up to 45 days to remove the tradeline. Midland: credit reporting
• Start payments within six months of Midland's first notice and keep paying monthly, and Midland says it will not report the account; while you are actively paying, it says it will not sue. Midland: credit reporting Midland: FAQs
• Cite the CFPB's 2020 court order: after the CFPB alleged that Encore, Midland Funding and Midland Credit Management violated a 2015 order, the court ordered a $15 million penalty and barred collecting time-barred debt unless certain disclosures are made. CFPB: Encore Capital Group et al.

Traps and fine print

• Midland's dispute pages do not say whether it keeps reporting an account while a dispute is open; ask, and dispute with the bureaus too. Midland: credit reporting
• Midland can still sue in some cases depending on the state if you are not paying. Past the statute of limitations, Midland says later letters will tell you it cannot and will not sue, and logging in online does not restart the clock. Midland: FAQs
• Do not send a full Social Security number or bank or debit card numbers in a complaint; Midland asks only for the last four SSN digits. Midland: contact us
• Midland must delete its tradeline seven years after the delinquency date, sooner in some states. Midland: credit reporting

By the numbers

• CFPB complaints received July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 for "ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC.": 22,637. Products: debt collection 18,386, credit reporting 3,843, credit card 241. Data retrieved 2026-10-13. CFPB complaint database search
• Top issues: attempts to collect debt not owed 7,661 (not yours 4,931; identity theft 2,329), threatened negative or legal action 4,635 (threatened to sue on very old debt 354), written notification about debt 2,703, false statements 2,438, incorrect report information 2,187. CFPB complaint database search
• Outcomes: 17,052 (75.3%) closed with explanation, 5,579 (24.6%) with non-monetary relief, 5 with monetary relief, 1 in progress. CFPB complaint database search
• Across all collectors in 2025, 66% of CFPB debt collection complaints closed with explanation and 23% with non-monetary relief. CFPB 2025 Consumer Response Annual Report

Scams that target customers

• Paid "debt dispute" services: Midland says you can dispute for free directly with it and does not recommend paying someone to do it. Midland: FAQs
• Fake collectors may threaten arrest or pose as lawyers or officials; real collectors may not. Do not share financial information until you have validation information. FTC: debt collection FAQs
• Verify a "Midland" contact by calling (800) 296-2657 from Midland's site or signing in at accounts.midlandcredit.com, not through a number in the message. Midland: contact us
• Report fake or abusive collectors to your state attorney general, the FTC and the CFPB. FTC: debt collection FAQs