Midland Funding, LLC Consumer Action

AGOADO ET AL. V. MIDLAND FUNDING, LLC ET AL. CONSUMER ACTION

FRANK LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Midland Funding, LLC, Midland Funding, LLC DBA in New York as Midland Funding of Delaware, LLC, and Midland Credit Management, Inc. (“Midland”), and against Rubin & Rothman, LLC, Forster & Garbus LLP, Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP, and Pressler and Pressler LLP (the “Attorney Defendants”) (together with Midland, the “Defendants”).

The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, is brought on behalf of two classes (referred to collectively as the “Class”):

1. All persons who were or are residents and consumers in the State of New York from September 19, 2008 and continuing through the present (the “Midland Class Period”), against whom Defendants obtained default judgments for the collection of consumer debt for which Defendants had insufficient evidence of the consumer debt. Excluded from the Class are the officers and directors of Defendants at all relevant times, members of their immediate families and their legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns, and any entity in which Defendants have or had a controlling interest. Also excluded from the Midland Class is any claim in which a Class Member who was sued by Midland before March 11, 2011 seeks relief on the ground that an affidavit used in a debt-collection lawsuit brought by Midland was executed by a person who lacked personal knowledge of the facts stated in the affidavit; and
2. All persons who were residents and consumers in the State of New York from May 16, 2008 through the present (the “Attorney Defendant Class Period”), against whom the Attorney Defendants obtained default judgments for the collection of consumer debt for which the Attorney Defendants had insufficient evidence of the existence of the consumer debt, or failed to conduct a proper investigation under the circumstances. Excluded from the Class are the partners and employees of the Attorney Defendants at all relevant times, members of their immediate families and their legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns, and any entity in which the Attorney Defendants have or had a controlling interest. Also excluded from the Attorney Defendant Class is any claim in which a Class Member who was sued by Midland before March 11, 2011 seeks relief on the ground that an affidavit used in a debt-collection lawsuit brought by Defendants was executed by a person who lacked personal knowledge of the facts stated in the affidavit.

Midland is one of the largest buyers and collectors of consumer debt in the nation. Midland purchases charged-off loans, credit card accounts, and other debts from originating creditors at a substantial discount from the debts’ face value. It then attempts to collect these debts, in part through debt collection lawsuits filed by the Attorney Defendants on Midland’s behalf.

In September 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau penalized Midland’s parent company, Encore Capital Group (“Encore”), approximately $52 million in conjunction with a consent order with Encore for numerous violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, by Encore and its subsidiaries, Midland and Asset Acceptance Capital Corp.

The class action alleges that the Defendants submitted deceptive and misleading affidavits to New York State Courts in relation to debt collection lawsuits in order to fraudulently obtain default judgments against consumers. The class action further allege that the Defendants knew that underlying documentation sufficient to show the existence of the alleged debt was unavailable, and that the Defendants’ affidavits were generated and filed without meaningful review by the person who made the affidavit or the law firm filer. The Defendants’ conduct, the class action alleges, violated the FDCPA, New York General Business Law § 349, and circumvented New York State’s rules of evidence. The case index number is: No. 14-cv-18 (WFK) (AKT) (S.D.N.Y.).

If you are a consumer and resident in New York State, and the Midland Defendants have filed a debt collection lawsuit against you, and you wish to discuss your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact us.

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