Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding
Midland Funding buys defaulted consumer accounts, and Midland Credit Management collects them; both belong to Encore Capital Group of San Diego. If Midland is calling or writing, it says it owns or services an account that began with another lender, often a credit card. The CFPB has entered public orders against Encore, which are summarized below with their sources.
Midland is one of the names New Yorkers see most often on collection letters and on lawsuits in civil court.
Who Midland is
- The family. Midland's site says Encore Capital Group "includes a family of companies: Atlantic Credit & Finance, Midland Funding, and Midland Credit Management" (midlandcredit.com).
- What it does. The CFPB described Encore and Portfolio Recovery Associates in 2015 as the two largest debt buyers in the country, companies that buy defaulted accounts and collect them, often by suing (CFPB).
- Where it is. Midland's consumer mailing address is P.O. Box 939069, San Diego, California 92193.
- Phone. The number listed on Midland's contact page is (800) 296-2657 (checked September 29, 2026).
How to check that it is really Midland Credit Management
- Get the validation notice. A debt collector must give you written validation information in its first communication or within five days after it: the amount, the creditor, and your right to dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1692g(a); 12 C.F.R. § 1006.34). If none came, read no validation notice.
- Ask who the original creditor is. The notice should name the creditor and itemize the balance. If you dispute in writing within the validation period, the collector must stop collecting until it mails you verification (15 U.S.C. § 1692g(b)).
- Call back on a number you looked up yourself. Do not pay a caller on the strength of a number the caller gave you. Look the company up on its own website. The number we found there is listed above.
- Look it up in the CFPB database. The link is in the public record section below.
- In New York City, look up the license. The city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) issues debt collection agency licenses, and its issued-licenses list is public on NYC Open Data.
What Midland Credit Management cannot do
These limits apply to every debt collector covered by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. They are the law, not a statement about what this company has done.
- Sue or threaten to sue on a time-barred debt. Regulation F bans both (12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b)). See zombie debt.
- Keep collecting after your written dispute without sending verification. Collection must pause until verification is mailed (15 U.S.C. § 1692g(b)). See ignored dispute.
- Add amounts the agreement or the law does not allow. Collecting any amount not expressly authorized is an unfair practice (15 U.S.C. § 1692f(1)). See wrong amount and fees.
- Report a disputed debt without saying it is disputed. Failing to communicate that a debt is disputed is a false credit statement (15 U.S.C. § 1692e(8)). See debt you do not owe.
- Call you more than 7 times in 7 days about one debt. More than seven telephone calls in seven consecutive days, or a call within seven days after a phone conversation about the debt, is presumed harassment (12 C.F.R. § 1006.14(b)(2)). Texts and emails do not count toward that number. See too many calls.
- Tell your family, friends or boss about the debt. A collector may contact other people only to find you, and may not say you owe a debt (15 U.S.C. §§ 1692b, 1692c(b)). See calls to family and employer.
Log calls in the call log and save voicemails, letters and screenshots.
If Midland Credit Management sues you
Suits on Midland accounts are usually filed in the name of Midland Funding, LLC, through a law firm. If you have been sued, do not ignore the papers. The deadline to answer is short, and a missed deadline can lead to a default judgment. Read sued by a debt collector first.
- New York. Most consumer credit suits must be filed within three years, and a later payment does not restart the clock (CPLR 214-i). The complaint must name the original creditor and attach the contract or charge-off statement (CPLR 3016(j)).
- New Jersey. Contract actions generally carry a six-year limit (N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1).
- Florida. Five years on a written contract, four on an oral one or an open account (Fla. Stat. § 95.11).
- The right court. A collector's suit must be filed where you live or where you signed the contract (15 U.S.C. § 1692i(a)(2)). See sued in the wrong county.
Public record
Only public, sourced facts appear here. Where we quote an agency or a court, the words describe what that agency or court found, alleged or decided.
CFPB complaints, as of September 29, 2026. From September 1, 2025 through September 1, 2026, consumers filed 23,691 complaints naming "ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC." in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaint database, 19,430 of them about debt collection; 4,837 of the 23,691 came from New York, New Jersey and Florida. See the complaints in the CFPB database. Complaints are unverified consumer reports, not findings of wrongdoing.
- CFPB consent order, September 9, 2015. The Bureau found that Encore and its subsidiaries filed robo-signed affidavits, sued or threatened to sue on time-barred debts, and collected without the documents to back their claims. It ordered up to $42 million in refunds and a $10 million civil penalty, and required Encore to stop collecting more than $125 million in debts (CFPB).
- CFPB stipulated judgment, October 15, 2020. The Bureau sued in federal court in San Diego alleging Encore violated the 2015 order; the case settled for $79,308.81 in redress and a $15 million civil penalty (CFPB).
- New York Attorney General settlement, January 9, 2015. Encore agreed to seek to vacate more than 4,500 New York judgments totaling nearly $18 million and to pay $675,000 in penalties and costs (NY AG).
- Supreme Court, 2017. In Midland Funding, LLC v. Johnson, 581 U.S. 224 (2017), the Court held that filing an obviously time-barred claim in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is not a false, misleading or unfair practice under the FDCPA. The ruling does not reach collection suits outside bankruptcy. See the case page.
More detail is on Encore and PRA: the CFPB orders.
New York City license. DCWP's list shows active debt collection agency licenses for Midland Credit Management, Inc. and Midland Funding, LLC (for example 1140603-DCA and 1312658-DCA, expiring January 31, 2027) as of September 29, 2026.
In New York, New Jersey and Florida
New York consumers can also sue under General Business Law § 349 for deceptive practices (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 349(h)), and since September 1, 2026 New York City's DCWP rules limit a collector to three communications or attempts per account in seven days, across calls, texts and emails. Florida's consumer collection law reaches anyone collecting a consumer debt, including original creditors, with statutory damages up to $1,000 (Fla. Stat. §§ 559.72, 559.77(2)). New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act allows treble damages for an ascertainable loss (N.J.S.A. 56:8-19). See New York, New Jersey and Florida.
The FDCPA requires a company found liable to pay the consumer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The deadline to sue is one year from the violation (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d)).
Common questions
Is Midland Credit Management legitimate?
Yes. It is a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group, a public company. That does not mean every account it collects is accurate. Ask for the validation notice and check the original creditor, the balance and the dates.
What is the difference between Midland Funding and Midland Credit Management?
Midland's own site lists both as members of the Encore family. In lawsuits, Midland Funding usually appears as the owner of the account, and Midland Credit Management as the company that collects it.
Midland sued me in New York. What should I check first?
Check the date of your last payment or default against New York's three-year limit for consumer credit, whether the complaint names the original creditor and attaches the required documents, and whether it was filed in your county. Then answer before the deadline.
Tell us what they did.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which laws the collector or the credit bureau broke, which deadline runs first, and what to save this week. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510The FDCPA and the FCRA require a company found liable to pay the consumer’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Our fee arrangement is confirmed in a written retainer before we begin. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language.