866-580-4780

caller identified self as debt collector for T-mobile.  since we are using Sprint my husband just hung up.

They call all hours day and night including Sunday morning. I have them blocked, but still shows up on the TV caller ID. Low life a$$ wipes.

I kept getting calls from this number, and I just ignored it. I just got another one and I answered it. I got a man with an Indian accent. He said that he was from Midland Credit Management. He claimed that my wife owed money on a credit card from Sears. I informed him that my wife does not have a credit card from Sears. He then asked what my wife's birth date was to verify. I told him that I am not going to give that information out. He then rattled off a birth date and asked if that was the correct date. I said no. He apologized and said that he will take my number off the list.

I hope they call back again. I will inform them that I used to work for a legitimate collection agency. If they call again, I will sue the [***] out of them. Then I hope they do call again.

MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT AKA ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP
Looks like the CFPB has slapped them big time:  https://800notes.com/forum/ta-ceba95f52112a47/cfpb-settles-cases

Posted in:  https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-822-9054
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-214-283-1316/59#p837778307746240527
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-411-5551/32
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-265-8825/47
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-808-0414
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-800-783-4936#p875170819127893235
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-789-8625
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-891-8849
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-844-236-2750
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-434-3695
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-855-488-1524
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-580-4780/23
I always have to wonder why an allegedly “legitimate” company needs so many different numbers to call out from.
Per Tamianth
MCM contact page with a location in California:
https://www.midlandcreditonline.com/contact/
The also go by the name Encore Capital Group:  http://www.encorecapital.com/contact-us
BBB Page is being updated:  http://www.bbb.org/sdoc/business-reviews/fina ... diego-ca-101104
However this was previously on their page-note the government action against them:

BBB Accredited Business since 5/1/2000 (1227 complaints and a government action and they are accredited?)
Midland Credit Management Inc
Phone: (800) 825-8131
Fax: (877) 414-0961
8875 Aero Dr #200, San Diego, CA 92123
http://www.mcmcg.com
View Additional Web Addresses
Additional Web Addresses
http://www.midlandcreditonline.com

BBB® Accredited Business Seal
BBB® B+ Rating

Complaint Type Total Closed Complaints
Advertising/Sales Issues 5
Billing/Collection Issues 1105
Delivery Issues 1
Guarantee/Warranty Issues 3
Problems with Product/Service 113
Total Closed Complaints 1227

Government Actions

Swanson V Midland Funding
Date of Action: 12/12/2012
On December 12, 2012, Midland Funding, LLC settled a lawsuit filed by Lori Swanson, Minnesota's Attorney General, against the company last year for filing unreliable “robo-signed” affidavits in collections lawsuits and sometimes targeting the wrong people for payment of old bills that it purchased from credit card companies. The lawsuit alleged that Midland filed thousands of collections lawsuits against individuals in Minnesota courts, often supported by unreliable “robo-signed” affidavits generated at Midland’s St. Cloud, Minnesota offices. Several Midland employees admitted in sworn testimony to signing up to 400 affidavits per day, either without reading them, without personal knowledge of their contents, and/or without verifying the accuracy of the information contained in them.

The Consent Judgment requires Midland to: provide individuals with validation of the debt; verify the identity and address of an individual claimed to owe money at the outset, before any collection effort is made, investigate the matter and, if it cannot substantiate the debt, close the account; take steps to correct any adverse credit reporting, and not later resell the debt; not file affidavits w/ the court unless the person has: a) read and understood them, b) confirmed the authenticity of any documents filed w/ the affidavit, c) only based the affidavit on the signer’s personal knowledge, and d) signed the affidavit in the presence of a notary who acknowledges the affiant’s signature in accordance with law; implement standards to ensure it does not sue people on debt that is beyond the applicable statute of limitations; implement procedures to ensure it does not sue people on debt that it does not own; may not pursue a default judgment without giving the person written notice that their response does not constitute a legal answer and waiting 30 days so the person can seek legal counsel or otherwise respond to the lawsuit; include added specificity about the facts supporting its claims in its lawsuits so that individuals can meaningfully respond to the suits against them; at least 10 days before it pursues a default judgment against an individual, send a copy of the judgment request to the individual.

Under the Consent Judgment, Midland will also resolve outstanding and future consumer complaints made to the Attorney General’s Office and pay $500,000 to the State of Minnesota.
Other complaint Sites:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/directory/midland-credit-management
http://collectionagencydebt.blogspot.ca/2011/ ... management.html
They are a Kansas Corporation.  Information from the Kansas Dept. of State:
Current Entity Name    Business Entity ID Number
MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT, INC.

    0048421

Previous Names:
MERCHANTS FINANCE CORPORATION, INC.
Current Mailing Address: 3111 Camino Del Rio North Suite 1300, SAN DIEGO, CA 92108
Business Entity Type: KANSAS FOR PROFIT CORPORATION
Date of Formation in Kansas: 09/09/1953
State of Organization: KS
Current Status: ACTIVE AND IN GOOD STANDING

Resident Agent and Registered Office
Resident Agent: CORPORATION SERVICE COMPANY
Registered Office: 2900 SW WANAMAKER DRIVE SUITE 204, TOPEKA, KS 66614
Bizapedia has this on Encore which is a Delaware corporations:
http://www.bizapedia.com/nc/ENCORE-CAPITAL-GROUP-INC.html
And this on the address these criminals are located at.  Seems they have a lot of different names:
http://www.bizapedia.com/addresses/8875-AERO- ... O-CA-92123.html

This is a letter telling them that they are obligated to follow the FDCPA:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20580
Division of Credit Practices
Bureau of Consumer Protection
~
Clarke W. Brinckerhoff
Attorney
December 22, 1993
Ms. Kimberlee Arbuckle
MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT
500 West First Street
Post Office Box #576
Hutchinson, Kansas 67504
Dear Ms. Arbuckle:
This responds to your letter dated December 2, 1993, inquiring whether Midland Credit Management, Inc. ("MCM") is a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA" or "Act"). You report that MCM "purchases portfolios of delinquent accounts receivable for the purpose of profitable recovery, resale and cure. These accounts are owned solely by MCM . . ."
Section 803(6) of the FDCPA defines the term "debt collector" as "any person who uses any instrumentality of interstate commerce or the mails in any business the principal purpose of which is the collection of any debts, or who regularly collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, debts owed or due or asserted to be owed or due another." In our view, a party that purchases delinquent accounts from the party to which the debts were originally owed and attempts to collect them from the consumer debtors fits clearly within that definition. The party is attempting to collect debts that were "owed or due another" and the fact that title to the accounts is passed to the collector in no way changes that fact.
In the leading case on point, involving a company whose business included the purchase of large volumes of checks that had been dishonored and subsequent collection of the checks from their makers (in the same manner as MCM buys defaulted accounts and thereafter attempts to collect from the account debtors), the court wrote persuasively that the purchaser is covered by the FDCPA. It gave short shrift to the fact that the party had actually purchased the checks in question:
By use of the language "owed or due another" Congress was attempting to exclude those entities that extend credit from the effects of the Act. Congress intended to protect borrowers from "third persons who regularly collect debts for others." (Italics by court; citation omitted). (The purchaser) is a third party collecting a debt originally owed to another. . . . It cannot escape the spirit of the Act by the technicality of purchasing the debt upon default so that title technically rests in itself.
Holmes v. Telecredit Service Corp., 736 F. Supp. 1289, 1293 (D. Del. 1990)
The only theory for exclusion of a party such as MCM from the "debt collector" definition (and thereby from coverage under the FDCPA) is that it is a "creditor."(1) Section 803(4) defines "creditor" as "any person who offers or extends credit creating a debt or to whom a debt is owed, but such term does not include any person to the extent that he receives an assignment or trans-fer of a debt in default solely for the purpose of facilitating collection of such debt for another." Since the accounts that MCM buys are delinquent when purchased and are being transferred for the purpose of collection, we believe that MCM is within the class that the "creditor" definition expressly "does not include."(2) The words "for another" at the end of the clause excepting assignees from the definition of creditor in no way changes this result:
(T)he excluding factors in the exception are that the debts are the result of an assignment or transfer and that the debts were already in default at the time of assignment or transfer. With the phrase "for another" at the end of the exception, Congress merely intended that the debts should have originally belonged to another and that the creditor was therefore in effect a third-party or independent creditor. (Italics by court)
Kimber v. Federal Financial Corp., 668 F. Supp. 1480, 1485 (M.D.Ala. 1987). Accord, Holmes, supra, at 1293.
In sum, it is our view that a party that obtains consumer obligations in default for the purpose of collection is a "debt collector" under the FDCPA, even if that party actually purchases the accounts from the original creditor.
The views set forth in this informal staff opinion letter are not binding on the Commission.
Sincerely yours,
Clarke W. Brinckerhoff
________________________________________
1. Section 803(6)(A) only specifically exempts creditors' officers and employees. However, it "seems clear from the legislative history of the Act that Congress intended that this exclusion cover creditors themselves as well as their employees." Holmes v. Telecredit Service Corp., 736 F. Supp. 1289, 1291n.3 (D.Del. 1990), citing Kimber v. Federal Financial Corp., 668 F. Supp. 1480, 1484 (M.D.Ala. 1987).
2. See the comment on this subsection in our Staff Commentary on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 53 Fed. Reg. 50097, 50101 (Dec. 13, 1988.)

So remember, when dealing with these scumbags remember that you have rights:
Federal law (FDCPA) requires them to send you a letter (US MAIL ONLY) within 5 days of their first contact that contains their name, physical address, the creditor’s name, and the amount of the alleged debt.  It also must contains “mini-Miranda” telling you that it is an attempt to collect a debt and that all information will be used for those purposes.  The one other important thing that this letter must also have in it is that you have a right to dispute the debt within 30 days of the receipt of the letter and if you do so, all collection activity must be stopped until the debt is verified.
Read up on your rights here, get template letters to send and also make a complaint at this government site:  http://www.consumerfinance.gov/
Also file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office and the California AG’s Office:   http://oag.ca.gov/
List of State AG’s offices:  http://consumerfraudreporting.org/stateattorneygenerallist.php

called Sunday 1:00pm...  did not answer - left no message....

Calls up to 10 times a day!

Called by this company on Sunday morning (and day and night during the week). With no reason for them to call, and no way apparently to stop them, despite it being unlawful.

They called my do-not-call private number today, like most days, and today they called on Sunday morning. They seem to think they are immune from law, morality, and consumer protections, as "we are debt collectors" and/or "we can call on 800 numbers". Now they've taken to not only violating law and order, but they hide their identity as well, on caller ID, which is new since their 60 days to comply with CFPB went into effect.   They have no legitimate reason to harass and disturb my privacy, nor any basis on which to (legally) contact me at all. No debt. No relationship to their company. Long-time phone#.

If they call you, weekends, days, nights, whatever - and you are unable to stop them, despite having no debt to collect nor any business relationship with them, PLEASE REPORT TO CFPB and keep evidence and logs for when they inevitably are held accountable for their violation of both law and direct orders to cease and desist. They only ratchet it up, smugly citing their immunity to "do not call", etc. They were ordered to stop, and to make sure all their levels of harassment are told so.

They've harmed thousands of lives. Is yours one? This is a uniquely evil and arrogant company who believes they can just continue on ignoring law, and ignoring the CFPB too. REPORT IF YOU'RE AMONG ITS MANY VICTIMS!!

COMPLAINTS TO CPFB (online) :     http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/

CFPB order to pay huge damages and fines - and cease and desist, by now (short link):
http://bit.ly/1GyA2w1

We get one or two calls a day from this number 866-580-4780. We are not behind any payments of who we have credit from. I have blocked the number but it rings one time . HOW DO WE STOP THIS PERSON FROM CALLING? When We answer no one is there.

They call everyday, when I answer they hang up and I try calling back,and get a busy signal, why can they call me but I can't respond

Why do you even care?  Don't waste your time or energy and certainly don't call back.    Use your head, if they had a valid reason for calling, they would leave a message and a valid phone number.

Didn't answer.   Don't know number

They call here all different hours as well never leaves a message

They keep calling my fax machine... ugh! I tried calling them back, but it isn't even their number that answers They want me to change my pin on a vp service...

I'm receiving calls from this number at an unusual amount of times. Today I received 12 calls its only noon. They want something for which , that I don't know what it is .

Just Checked my AT&T call log.They have called 10 times in the last 24 hours. Number is blocked, so I'm not disturb.

Leave no message

After 3 calls on Sunday (morning, afternoon, and evening) it's started again on Monday. Called to an unlisted, do-not-call registered phone, with no debt here to collect, no relationship to this company nor any of their clients. Worst bunch of crooks in the history of phone abuse. A plague. Will report to state and CFPB.... again. They're not complying with an order to stop.

This number started to call me every day. It called me 7 times yesterday when I was out of office. Also it calls my home phone on Sunday morning 8am. I don't owe any debt and it is annoying. I signed up for donotcall before but it cannot block this kind of caller, right?

The DNC laws are not intended to block callers. They apply to legitimate telemarkers and not debt collection agencies.

Calls 4-5 times per day including Sundays.  No one there when I pick up.  Others in this thread say it's a debt collector which confuses us b/c we don't owe anyone anything.
Wish I had a way to block these SOB's.