What Midland Credit Management is

Midland Credit Management, Inc. is a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group, Inc., which has its principal executive office at 350 Camino De La Reina, Suite 100, San Diego, California. Encore trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market as ECPG.

Encore's 2025 annual report says Midland "buys portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables at deep discounts." It buys them at auction or in private sales, from banks, credit unions, consumer finance companies, and retailers. Midland's website states that it is a debt collector and lists its NMLS ID as 934164.

Why Midland may appear on your credit report

Midland buys accounts that are already in default. If it bought one of your accounts, the company on its notices is Midland, not the lender you first owed. That is why the name can look unfamiliar.

Midland's website describes Encore as "a family of companies: Atlantic Credit & Finance, Midland Funding, and Midland Credit Management."

Public enforcement record

The records below come from the CFPB, a federal court, a state attorney general, and Encore's own SEC filings. Each item lists what the record says, not a finding about your account.

2015 CFPB consent order

Encore disclosed a CFPB consent order dated September 9, 2015. The order settled allegations about practices from 2011 to 2015. Encore's Form 8-K about the order reports a $43.0 million after-tax charge.

2020 federal court judgment

On September 8, 2020, the CFPB sued Encore Capital Group, Midland Funding, Midland Credit Management, and Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (case 3:20-cv-01750). The CFPB alleged that the companies broke the 2015 order and violated the FDCPA and the Consumer Financial Protection Act.

The stipulated final judgment, entered on October 16, 2020, required:

  • $79,308.81 in consumer redress and a $15 million civil penalty
  • new disclosures to consumers
  • no collection of time-barred debt without disclosures
  • five more years of the 2015 order's conduct terms

Encore's 2025 annual report says the judgment "expired in October 2025."

2018 multistate settlement

On December 4, 2018, the Virginia Attorney General announced a $6 million Assurance of Voluntary Compliance between 42 states plus the District of Columbia and Encore Capital, Midland Credit Management, and Midland Funding. The states alleged that the companies signed court affidavits in cases from 2003 to 2009 without verifying what the affidavits said.

The terms include having proof of a debt before suing, reviewing original account documents when a consumer disputes and giving them to the consumer free of charge, and two-year limits on reselling accounts. We could not confirm whether these terms are still in force.

CFPB complaint database

The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database files complaints about Midland under its parent company, "Encore Capital Group Inc.," not under Midland's own name. To read them, search the database for Encore Capital Group. Those complaints cover all of Encore's companies, not only Midland.

How to check a Midland entry against your own records

  1. Find the validation notice. Under 15 U.S.C. 1692g(a), a debt collector must send a notice within five days after it first contacts you to collect the debt. The notice gives the amount, the creditor, and your right to dispute within 30 days. It does not have to send one if its first message already gave this information or if you have paid the debt. A court complaint in a lawsuit does not count as that first contact. Neither does a tax, privacy, or data-breach notice that the law requires.
  2. Ask who the original creditor was. Because Midland buys defaulted accounts, the creditor on its notice often differs from your original lender. You can ask in writing for the original creditor's name and address.
  3. Compare the details. Check the balance, the account dates, and the original creditor against your own statements, payment receipts, and letters.
  4. Compare all three reports. Check whether the same account appears in the same way at each credit bureau, and note every difference.
  5. Note the contact details. Midland's website lists P.O. Box 939069, San Diego, CA 92193, and (800) 296-2657. The site does not describe this address as a dispute or validation address.

How to dispute an inaccurate Midland entry

  1. Dispute with Midland in writing within 30 days of the validation notice. A timely dispute stops collection of the disputed amount until Midland obtains verification and mails you a copy. You can also ask in writing for the original creditor's name and address. A timely request stops collection of the debt until Midland answers it (15 U.S.C. 1692g(b)).
  2. Dispute with each credit bureau that shows the error. The bureau must reinvestigate within 30 days (45 at most if you send relevant information during that time or dispute after a free annual report) and tell Midland within 5 business days. It must delete or modify an item it finds inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a), 1681j(a)(3)).
  3. Expect a furnisher investigation. After the bureau notifies Midland, Midland must investigate, review the information the bureau sent, and modify, delete, or block an item it finds inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable (15 U.S.C. 1681s-2(b)).
  4. Check the disputed status. If you tell Midland directly that the information it reports is inaccurate or incomplete, it may not report that information again without a note that you dispute it (15 U.S.C. 1681s-2(a)(3)).
  5. Keep copies. Keep every letter you send and every response you receive, with the dates.

These rules require an investigation. They do not promise a particular result. For the same rights applied to other companies, see the collection account guides.