MIDLAND CREDIT MANAGEMENT, INC. CONTINUES TO COLLECT FROM ARIZONA CONSUMERS AFTER CONSUMERS FILE BANKRUPTCY

Midland Credit Management, Inc. Continues Collection of Accounts from Arizona Debtors after Receiving Notice of Bankruptcy Filing.

Midland Credit Management, Inc., the sister company to Midland Funding, LLC, seems to have made it a regular practice to ignore the notices it and Midland Funding, LLC receives from the bankruptcy court so that it can continue to collect against Arizona consumers. Midland’s actions are illegal.

Arizona Debtor Sues Midland Credit Management, Inc. in Arizona Federal District Court for Harassing Phone Calls.

In December 2010, I filed a suit under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA against Midland Credit Management on behalf of an Arizona consumer who, after filing bankruptcy, continued to receive numerous harassing telephone calls from Midland.  Midland ignored the consumer’s efforts to tell the collector that she had filed bankruptcy and that she had an attorney.  Midland continued to collect on a debt that she had included in her bankruptcy.

Before the calls began, Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding, LLC had received two notices from the bankruptcy court of the consumer’s bankruptcy filing.  One notice was mailed to Midland by the bankruptcy court, and the other was electronically send by the court.  Both notices informed Midland that the debtor was represented by a lawyer, and thus it was illegal for Midland to directly contact the consumer and to attempt to collect the debt.

Arizona Consumer Sues Midland Credit Management, Inc. in Arizona Federal District Court for Contacting Her after She Had Filed Bankruptcy and Knowing She Was Represented by a Lawyer.

In the second case, Midland Credit Management, Inc. had received two electronic notices from the bankruptcy court in early November 2010 of the consumers’ bankruptcy filing.  Despite these notices, Midland sent two letters, one in November and one in December, directly to the wife demanding payment on an account it claimed was owed.  Midland also directly sent the husband a letter in January 2011 on another account that was in his name only.

FDCPA Prohibits Direct Communication with a Consumer it Knows Is Represented by a Lawyer.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA protects Arizona consumers from debt collectors communicating directly with them once they have hired a lawyer.  So, any Arizona debtor who files bankruptcy using a bankruptcy lawyer should not receive any direct contact from a debt collector.  And, if a debt collector does contact the consumer directly, then the creditor would be in violation of the FDCPA.

If you are an Arizona consumer who has filed bankruptcy using a lawyer, and has been contacted by a debt collector after the bankruptcy, please call Floyd W. Bybee at the BYBEE LAW CENTER, PLC (480) 756-8822 for a free phone consultation to see if I can help you.