Midland Credit Management (MCM), a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group, is one of the largest debt buyers in the United States — and one of the most active filers of debt collection lawsuits in Texas courts. If you’ve received a lawsuit from Midland Credit Management or Midland Funding LLC, act immediately. Texas Debt Defense has fought MCM lawsuits across Harris, Travis, Dallas, Bexar, and Tarrant counties. Many of these cases have clear defenses.
Who Is Midland Credit Management?
Midland Credit Management, Inc. is the servicing arm of Midland Funding LLC, both subsidiaries of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: ECPG), a publicly traded company headquartered in San Diego. Encore/Midland is the largest debt buyer in the United States by portfolio volume.
MCM purchases charged-off consumer debt — primarily credit cards from major banks including Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Capital One, and Discover — for pennies on the dollar, then attempts to collect the full balance. When collection efforts fail, Midland Funding LLC (not MCM itself) is typically the plaintiff named in lawsuits. Local Texas collection law firms file these suits on Midland’s behalf.
MCM’s History of Regulatory Problems
Midland Credit Management and Encore Capital have faced substantial regulatory scrutiny for their collection practices:
- 2015 CFPB Consent Order — Encore Capital Group (MCM’s parent) paid $42 million in a landmark CFPB settlement for suing consumers on time-barred debts, using robo-signed affidavits, and making false representations in collection lawsuits. The consent order required Encore to reform its litigation practices.
- FTC Investigations — MCM has faced Federal Trade Commission scrutiny over collection practices.
- State Attorney General Actions — Multiple state AGs have taken action against MCM or its affiliates for violation of state debt collection laws.
This history is relevant to your case. MCM’s documentation practices have been challenged successfully in courts across the country — and Texas is no exception.
Your Defenses Against a Midland Credit Management Lawsuit
Statute of Limitations
Texas’s 4-year statute of limitations (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.004) bars lawsuits on credit card and open-account debt that is more than 4 years old. MCM buys old accounts. If the last payment on your account was more than 4 years before the lawsuit was filed, the claim is time-barred and must be dismissed. We check this first on every MCM case.
Chain of Title / Proof of Ownership
Midland Funding (the named plaintiff) must prove it owns your specific account. That requires documentation of every assignment from the original creditor through any intermediate buyers to Midland Funding. MCM acquires portfolios in bulk transactions — the individual account documentation is often incomplete or missing from what they can produce in court.
Affidavit Challenges
MCM’s lawsuits are typically supported by an affidavit from an MCM employee claiming knowledge of your account. Post-2015, MCM reformed some practices, but affidavits can still be challenged on foundation, personal knowledge, and the completeness of underlying records. We scrutinize every MCM affidavit.
Amount Disputes
The balance MCM claims includes interest and fees accruing since the original charge-off — sometimes years of additions that may not be authorized by your original credit agreement. We demand an itemized accounting and challenge inflated amounts.
FDCPA Counterclaims
If MCM or its collection attorneys made false statements, threatened consequences they couldn’t carry out, or otherwise violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you have federal counterclaims worth up to $1,000 in statutory damages plus actual damages and attorney fees.
How We Fight Midland Credit Management in Texas
- Free case review — We assess the statute of limitations, the amount claimed, and whether MCM can document its ownership of the account. Same-day consultations available.
- Answer filed on time — We respond before your deadline (14 days in Justice Court; 20 days + next Monday in County/District Court).
- Aggressive discovery — We demand the complete chain-of-title documentation, the original credit agreement, full payment history, and the affiant’s qualifications. MCM must produce what the 2015 CFPB order requires them to have.
- Motion practice — We file dispositive motions when the limitations period has expired or when MCM’s documentation is insufficient to meet its burden.
- Negotiation from strength — When MCM knows it will have to litigate, settlement terms improve dramatically. We negotiate reductions of 25-60% below the claimed amount.
- Trial — We take MCM cases to trial when the facts support it.
What Happens If You Do Nothing
If you fail to respond to an MCM lawsuit by your deadline, the court enters a default judgment. MCM then has a court-ordered right to collect. In Texas, they can:
- Freeze and levy funds from your bank account
- File a judgment lien on real property
- Conduct post-judgment discovery to locate assets
- Renew the judgment every 10 years
The judgment also appears on your credit report, damaging your score for years. Default is avoidable. Call us immediately after being served.
Geographic Coverage
We defend against Midland Credit Management lawsuits in courts throughout Texas. Our attorneys are licensed to practice in Justice Courts, County Courts at Law, and District Courts across the state. We serve clients in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, and counties statewide.
About Our Attorneys
Texas Debt Defense is led by Finis Cowan, Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, with an LL.M., CPA credentials, and 30+ years of consumer debt defense experience. AV Preeminent 5.0 rated (Martindale-Hubbell). We focus exclusively on debt defense — MCM lawsuits are exactly what we do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Midland Funding LLC is the legal entity that owns the debt and is named as the plaintiff in lawsuits. Midland Credit Management, Inc. is the servicer — the company that actually contacts consumers and manages the accounts. Both are subsidiaries of Encore Capital Group. When you receive a lawsuit, the plaintiff name will typically be “Midland Funding LLC,” not “Midland Credit Management.”
Do not ignore the lawsuit. Even if you don’t recognize the debt, a default judgment will be entered if you don’t respond in time. Call us immediately. We will review the petition, demand documentation from Midland, and determine whether this is your debt, a case of mistaken identity, a time-barred claim, or an inflated balance.
The 2015 CFPB consent order against Encore Capital Group is relevant context. It established that MCM’s documentation and litigation practices had systemic problems. While the consent order doesn’t automatically win your case, it informs how we approach discovery and what we demand MCM produce to prove its claims.
Yes. MCM purchased your account for a fraction of what they’re claiming. When you contest the lawsuit with an attorney, MCM’s settlement calculus changes. We regularly negotiate settlements of 25-50% of the claimed amount — sometimes less, depending on the strength of your defenses.
In Texas Justice Court: 14 days from the date of service. In County Court at Law or District Court: 20 days plus the following Monday. These are hard deadlines. Call us the day you receive the lawsuit.
Free Consultation — Call 832-501-0966
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