Encore Capital Group, Inc. Consumer Action

Mason v. Midland Funding, LLC et al.

Frank llp has filed a class action lawsuit against Encore Capital Group, Inc. and wholly-owned subsidiaries Midland Funding, LLC, Midland Credit Management, Inc., and Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. (collectively, “Encore”), and Cooling & Winter LLC, formerly known as Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, P.C. (“C&W”) (together with Encore the “Defendants”).

The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, is brought on behalf of all persons whom Defendants threatened to sue or sued, in connection with efforts to collect consumer debt, despite lacking admissible evidence or the ability to obtain admissible evidence of the consumer’s alleged debt. The officers and directors of any Defendant, members of their immediate families and their legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns, and any entity in which any Defendant has or had a controlling interest are excluded from the Class.

Click here for the current complaint.

Encore is one of the largest buyer and collectors of consumer debt in the nation. Encore purchases charged-off credit card accounts, loans, and other purported debts from originating creditors at a substantial discount from the purported debts’ face value. It then attempts to collect on these alleged debts, in part through debt-collection lawsuits that C&W and other law firms file in state and local courts on Encore’s behalf.

In September 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) penalized Encore approximately $52 million in conjunction with a consent order with Encore for Encore’s numerous violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).

In December 2015, C&W and its operators paid a civil money judgment of over $3.1 million following the CFPB’s successful prosecution of Frederick J. Hanna & Associates, P.C. for numerous FDCPA violations.

Among the class action’s allegations is that the Defendants, in connection with Encore’s debt collection efforts, have submitted false or deceptive affidavits to state and local courts, in order to fraudulently obtain default judgments against consumers for alleged debts as to which the Defendants lack sufficient evidence to properly obtain default judgments. In so doing, the class action alleges, the Defendants violated the FDCPA, as well as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), and were unjustly enriched.

If Midland Funding, LLC, Midland Credit Management, Inc., and/or Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. has ever filed a debt collection lawsuit against you, and you have any questions or wish to discuss your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us.

Contact:
Frank llp
Gregory A. Frank
(800) 497-8076
(212) 682-1853
investigations@frankllp.com
www.frankllp.com