Virily Editor
When you are in debt and struggling to keep up, it might feel as if you are never going to turn your situation around. There are plenty of different programs available that might be able to help you negotiate your debt to a lower amount or make the payments such as you can afford them. However, while you are trying to figure out those options, you might hear from Midland Credit Management. Do you have to pay Midland Credit Management?
Here are some pieces of information of which to be aware.
What Is Midland Credit Management?
MCM, or Midland Credit Management, is a collection agency situated in San Diego. The company will buy accounts from credit unions, banks, and other lenders if they are delinquent. They buy the debt for about 3.1 cents on the dollar and they will then go after the debtor to try to collect as much funds as they can on those debts. If you are behind on your debts, your lenders might give up on you and sell the debt to MCM. When you get calls from the company, it’s good to know how to handle the collection agency.
Understand Statute of Limitations
You are going to want to know the age of your debt to help you figure out how to respond to the agency when they start to contact you. You will want to know when your account became delinquent in the first place. To figure that out, look to see when you made the last payment on that account. You can also get a copy of your credit reports and see what the collection agencies reported. Use your records as a guide to when the delinquency date began.
Once you know when your debt became delinquent, look into the state statute of limitations to figure out how much time is ticking on your clock for that particular clock. That clock starts when the account becomes delinquent. If your limitation time is already past, you are in luck. Collection agents likely won’t file any lawsuits against people who have debts that have expired. They can ask you to pay the account, but there won’t be any court cases.
When you learn that your statute of limitations has expired, you can write a letter to the MDM, asking that they cease communications so they won’t call you any longer.
Validate Yor Debt
If you get a phone call from Midland Credit Management, you are going to want to validate that debt, and they will give you 30 days to do so. Collection agencies can’t validate just under half of the accounts they buy when they are less than 3 years old. If the debts are older, they can validate even fewer of them. When the company can’t validate the debt, they don’t have a legal basis to collect from you. If the debt is validated, you will want to try negotiation. Learn about Midland Credit Management and how they validate debts.
Negotiate A Settlement With The Collection Agency
Since you know that the collection agency likely bought your debt for much less than it was worth, there might be wiggle room on how much you will have to pay for them. Collectors are paid on commission and they get incentives to make deals. Talk to the collector about negotiating the debt down because they likely have flexibility in the settlement process. If you aren’t sure you feel comfortable with that process, debt settlement companies can help you with the process.
When A Lawsuit Is Filed
MCM is known for filing lawsuits against customers who may have the money to pay their debts, but still don’t. If you have no assets and your income is limited, you are gong to want to let them know that. You will have to file an answer if you get notice of a lawsuit being filed.
