Midland Credit Management - Has anyone been ripped off?

What is in a validation letter? MCM sent me a letter that has the signature of a cell phone company's Senior Manager that looks like it was phisically copied, cut, and pasted on an Arbitration claim. I'm not sure if I should pay MCM any money at all. I have until 8/06/08 to pay them. What should I do?

it should have info on the arbitrator,contact them to see if that is legitimate.it sure doesn't sound like it is.if there is no info on the arbitrator,then it is a phony document.i would send
it and a complaint to your states AG and the FTC.

Midland C. Management is wanting debit card to secure payments and a payoff amount in the future; however, they will not send a letter of agreed payoff amount until agreed payoff is due, is this normal procedure?

PLEASE HELP ME SETTLE THIS ACCOUNT THANK YOU

Stanley, please post more details in order for the forum to assist you.

I have been rec'ing calls from MCM for the last month. My wife started asking them questions and as soon as she did, they would hang up. The bill they are trying to collect on is 10 years old. This morning when they called, she informed them we were going to the Attorney General and again, they hung up. We rec'd two more calls this afternoon. The last time, she said she was me and needed the street address to mail in the payment. They refused, said we could do it over the phone. She told them she would not make any payments over the phone and if they wanted their money, it would be delievered by certified mail. They then wanted her to verify who she was by giving them my SS# and birthdate. When she refused to give them that over the phone, they hung up. This is ridiculous and they shouldn't even be allowed to be a legal company. I have turned this over to my lawyer to handle.

Just want to say thank you for the very helpful information of safety precautions. I received a call from MCM this morning and I know I owe debt to the company they mentioned. Instead of giving her my account info right away to clear this debt, I decided to take time to check them out first, came to your site and because of your helpful information decided to verify first that the company they say I owe is on my credit report and verify the summons letter they say they sent me before paying them any money. I must say, though the operator was eager to offer me several options of payments, she was very pleasant in doing so. Thank you.

Look at all the paper work carefully they are known to use false documents

I've read everyone's comments and talked to a friend about it online. My husband got a letter today from MCM that says they want money for some old verizon bill from like 6-7 years ago. Now to be fair my husband never did pay that bill off, he was a stupid teenager and I dont want to have to go through a long story so I'll leave it at that. My friend suggests ignoring them because if verizon wanted it paid they would have done it themselves and way sooner.

Now he was sure the bill was like 600+ dollars from verizon but MCM lists it at 538 (not including fees they will add on for nonpayment). They of course give him tons of options on paying, few installments here or just one large lump sum to never hear from them again! Oh but mind you, only if you pay via check or credit card! I dont plan on paying them; as from what I've read that doesnt even fix things half the time.
I'm sure, from looking at the comments, that this is already on his credit. But my friend says that if his credit was already splotched by Verizon the first time around and I shouldnt worry.

To be honest we're young and at a loss at what to do. Should we worry? Like I said obviously we wont pay but what do we do? It seems like just ignoring this isnt going to make it go away.. if they 'bought' this debt does that mean its open for another 7 years? ):

to answer your last question.no buying a debt doesn't re-start the SOL.beware of MCM,as stated on posts before they are a complete bottomfeeder.get everything in writing before paying.what state are you in?the SOL might be near on this and they are trying to get money on it before it is past the SOL.just an FYI,while buying a debt doesn't re-start the SOL.making a payment on it does.

Easy way to find out is pull your credit reports. www.annualcreditreport.com

What state are you in? There are 17 states where a payment does not re-start SOL unless the consumer acknowledges the debt and makes a written promise to pay.

17?wow!!!!!!!!!! it just seems 6-7 yrs for that kind of debt the SOL has to be close.it depends on the state the poster is in i guess.

I had a house fire about 3 years ago and it put me behind the 8 ball so to speak. These people have been calling my parents at their home office (they are self employed) 3 or four times a day looking for me. how do i get them to stop calling their house please?
thanks for the help!
david

thank you for the response paulmergel and NASCAR_Devil, to my questions. To answer yours, I live in Minnesota and from what this website says the SOL for bills in MN is 6 years. My husband swears that he had that cell phone OVER 6 years ago. So that means the SOL is up and that they are trying to get free money right?

If that's the case what do I do now? Send them the CCRRR 3 times? Then inform the credit bureaus when (from what it sounds like) they dont respond or respond with letters asking ME to proove that I owe the debt? I already know to keep all correspondance with them through letters only- as it seems that once they get your phone number they'll harass teh crap outta you via phone.

is it on your credit report?i would send DV and C&D letters to MCM asap.then dispute the entries if they are on your credit report.check your state laws in regards to recording calls.try not to talk to them until they validate.which should never.

Hello, its me again- So I talked to friends and family today, a friend told me that my husband is still going to have to pay the bill anyhow even if its past the SOL. She said that due to the fact its a valid debt they might be able to provide the DV. And that should have what on it exactly? The arbitors name (Verizon) and proof that this will take care of the old debt?

Also, when I talked to my mom she said that my husband was a minor when he got this phone (he couldnt have been more than 17 at the time) so does that factor in at all? She says to ignore it, but I still think the DV CMRRR is the best route. Any ideas?