I’ve been sued by Midland Credit Management (MCM) for three credit cards that I stopped paying in 2021. The paperwork says to contact their lawyers to settle outside of court.
Should I respond to the lawsuit first and try to settle, or should I reach out to them before responding?
You have to respond to the lawsuit. Don’t let them handle everything. Even if you settle, MCM might not send you the settlement paperwork after the defense response date, which could lead to a default judgment.
You can contact the court and get a free form to file a response (general denial). After that, you can use a service like SoloSuit to ask for arbitration with each creditor separately. I’d also recommend asking the court to dismiss the case, since each debt is different.
@Wilkie
Would the plaintiff be considered unique if it’s the same company that bought the different card debts? I’ll definitely respond, it’ll give me more time to look into my options. Thanks for your help!
@Sonny
Unless MCM bought all three debts and somehow combined them, they shouldn’t be a single plaintiff. MCM might be grouping them together to save money. I haven’t seen this before, except in class action cases.
It might be a good idea to hire an attorney.
Also, did MCM do anything last year that would go against the FDCPA? You can look up some FDCPA regulations online. If they did, reach out to an FDCPA lawyer right away. They won’t help with your case directly, but they might sue MCM for violations, and that could work in your favor when you go to court.
@Wilkie
Midland buys debts and sues in its name. It doesn’t sue on behalf of other creditors.
It’s likely that Midland bought the accounts and instead of filing three separate lawsuits, they combined them into one.
The person who posted this should talk to a credit defense attorney to see if Midland was allowed to combine the accounts into one lawsuit.
Three cards in one lawsuit or separate lawsuits? Who were the original creditors? How much is owed?
Ash said:
Three cards in one lawsuit or separate lawsuits? Who were the original creditors? How much is owed?
Yes, they’ve combined three debts into one lawsuit.
One is from Capital One for $4500, another is from Synchrony for $2000, and the last one is from Comenity for $1500.
@Sonny
One lawsuit for all three?
Forget about settling. Answer the lawsuit using SoloSuit or another template, then demand separate arbitration cases for each. That could cost Midland over $6,000. There’s a good chance Midland might back off.
@Ash
Capital One doesn’t have arbitration, so court is the only option for that account.
Cameron said:
@Ash
Capital One doesn’t have arbitration, so court is the only option for that account.
Thanks for reminding me about that.
Cameron said:
@Ash
Capital One doesn’t have arbitration, so court is the only option for that account.
Thanks for reminding me about that.
You’re welcome. I think Bank of America removed its arbitration option too.
@Cameron
I thought so too, but someone here recently got a BofA case moved to arbitration, so it might depend on the card or when the debt was acquired.
Ash said:
@Cameron
I thought so too, but someone here recently got a BofA case moved to arbitration, so it might depend on the card or when the debt was acquired.
You’re right. That could be the case.
@Ash
Is it common to have one lawsuit for three different cards even if they were bought by the same company?
I was reading about arbitration, but I’m a bit worried about having to pay arbitration fees if I lose, though from everything I’ve seen, that’s not an issue.
Thanks for the advice!
@Sonny
It’s rare, but Midland probably wants to save on costs. Their whole business model is based on getting default judgments when people don’t respond. Simply responding to the lawsuit is already a big step. I forgot that Capital One doesn’t offer arbitration, but you should still answer the lawsuit and demand separate arbitration for the other two cards. That could get the whole thing dismissed. (I’m not sure if you’d demand arbitration before court or once it’s moved there.) Good luck.
I’ve been sued by them before. They will take you to court, so try to make arrangements with their lawyers. If that doesn’t work, just show up for your court date. I was able to pay $35 a month for a $3000 Discover card by showing up at court. The fees and interest were waived. Midland always wanted me to pay more than I could, so I let the court decide.
Do the allegations in the complaint mention that Midland bought the accounts or is the current owner of the accounts? Something like that?
Cameron said:
Do the allegations in the complaint mention that Midland bought the accounts or is the current owner of the accounts? Something like that?
Yes, it has letters from the previous creditors saying that some accounts were sold to them. But there are no details on the accounts.