midland funding

$6,000 Midland Funding Collection Lawsuit Defeated – Alabama Consumer Rights Attorney Judson E. Crump

October 20, 2016 by Attorney Judson E Crump Leave a Comment

Midland Funding, LLC sued my client over an alleged balance due on a Target Credit Card. We went to trial and won.

Like a lot of Americans, my client had suffered some financial setbacks that caused her to fall behind on some of her bills. When she was unable to work out settlements she could afford, she started getting phone calls and collection notices from strange companies she’d never heard of. One of them was Midland Funding, LLC.

Midland is a debt buyer, or as the credit reporting bureaus call them, a “factoring company.” They claim to purchase large portfolios of charged off debts and then seek to collect them. If you don’t pay them what they demand, they might sue you.

Luckily, the law requires that collection companies prove that they have the right to demand money from you before they can get a judgment against you. You can’t just walk up to a stranger and say “Hey! You owe $3,000 to Capital One, and I’m their collection agent. So you better pay up.”

In my client’s case, they were asking her to pay them for a debt she allegedly owed to Target National Bank. We took them to trial and challenged their proof. We won. You can read the Court Order here: Victory Judgment Midland v Delayo.

$11,000 Asset Acceptance Collection Lawsuit Dismissed – Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyer Judson E Crump

March 17, 2015 by Attorney Judson E Crump Leave a Comment

Asset Acceptance Sued Our Client for $11,000. They got $0.00

They sued for over $11,000. They got nothing. Another win for the working folks of South Alabama!

My client, Mrs. Hinson, was sued by Asset Acceptance, LLC. Asset Acceptance claimed that she owed $9,000 to Capital One for a credit card, and that with interest, fees, and court costs, the debt was now over $11,000. Mrs. Hinson answered the lawsuit and hired me to help fight it in court. The case was dismissed just before trial. My client paid $0.00 and the debt must be removed from her credit report.

We were able to save thousands of dollars from being garnished from her paychecks. Asset Acceptance is a debt buyer owned by Encore Capital, the same entity that owns Midland Funding, LLC, which is probably the biggest debt buyer in the country.

Another Midland Funding Lawsuit Dismissed – Alabama Collection Defense Attorney Judson E Crump

October 29, 2014 by Attorney Judson E Crump Leave a Comment

Another collection lawsuit by Midland Funding, another victory for an Alabama consumer. Back in May, my client received a lawsuit summons from Midland Funding, they claimed that he owed them $3,573 for a credit card account with GE Capital Retail Bank.

Midland Funding agreed to dismiss the case when I challenged their evidence.

My client answered the complaint pro se and hired me to represent him at trial. I notified the court and the collection attorneys of my appearance a month or so before trial. At trial, they did not have a witness or the requisite certifications to prove their case, so they agreed to dismiss it on the spot.

Some folks think that you have to have a lawyer to answer the lawsuit. You don’t. And if you answered a lawsuit on your own, only to find later that you may be in over your head, it is not too late to hire a lawyer. I have been hired the day of trial before, though I ask that my clients retain me at least a full week before trial in order to give me time to prepare and to notify the other side of my involvement – something that professional courtesy requires, in my opinion.

Midland Funding Lawsuit Defeated – Mobile, Alabama Attorney Judson E. Crump

October 8, 2014 by Attorney Judson E Crump Leave a Comment

My client was sued by Midland Funding for a credit card account they said he once had with HSBC Bank Nevada, NA. I answered the complaint for him and the case was set for trial. The collection lawyer was there with a stack of documents they said proved their case. I objected to them, and normally I succeed in getting their evidence kicked out. But the judge let them into the record anyway. It didn’t matter.

Went to Trial against Midland Funding and won, again.

The judge considered their evidence, but found that it just wasn’t enough, so we won. I’ve represented consumers sued by Midland Funding 4 times this year and beaten them 4 times. Hopefully I can keep up this streak.

No lawyer can ever promise a victory in court or any result, for that matter. But if you live in Alabama and you have received notice of a lawsuit by Midland Funding or Midland Credit Management, then you may want to give me a call. 251.272.9148.

Beat Midland Funding (Again) – $2,000 collection lawsuit in Baldwin County – Alabama Consumer Credit Attorney Judson E Crump

June 6, 2014 by Attorney Judson E Crump 3 Comments

Another trial against Midland Funding. Another victory for the consumer.

On Friday, May 30th, I tried another collection lawsuit against Midland Funding – this time in Baldwin County, at the Fairhope Courthouse. For those who aren’t familiar with Alabama’s largest county, Baldwin County actually has three separate courthouses. The main one in Bay Minette is at the northern end of the County, and for people who live down at the beach, the county seat is over 60 miles away. That’s a 1.5 hour trip for people living in Fort Morgan. So a few years back, the county opened a satellite courthouse in Foley for the beach folks, and a satellite courthouse in Fairhope for those who live in the more heavily populated Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay.

This case was about an old computer purchase. They claimed that my client bought a Dell computer from a company called WebBank, who was at the time in charge of financing options for Dell computer sales. Dell Financial Services was the “servicer” of the loans. And WebBank at some point sold the account to Asset Acceptance, who sold it to Midland Funding, who then sued my client for $1900 plus court costs.

Midland actually took the case seriously: about a month before trial, they subpoena’d my client to appear in court. This is something they don’t do unless there’s an attorney involved. If you answer pro se, they’ll expect you to appear on your own. Some lawyers instruct their clients to answer pro se and then the lawyer appears on the day of court to ‘ambush’ the collector, and that’s fine, as long as no “ghostwriter” pleadings are involved, but I’ve found that isn’t even necessary. Now, sometimes a client really does call me the day before a trial and I’ll appear for them, but I prefer to let the collector know that I’m coming from a long way away. It usually doesn’t affect the end result.

When they send you a subpoena, it just means that you have to show up and testify. The idea is to try to get you to prove a) that you owe money and b) that their statements and assignment documents are true and admissible as evidence. So in this case, my client had to show up for trial and Midland’s lawyer called her up to testify. It didn’t matter though, because I convinced the judge to exclude their other evidence and without it, there wasn’t enough to prove their case. So we won.

Debt Settlement on the Courthouse Steps: 75% Discount – Alabama Consumer Credit Attorney Judson E Crump

May 2, 2014 by Attorney Judson E Crump 2 Comments

At 8:30 on the morning of April 23rd, I got a phone call as I was getting ready to go to work.

“Mr. Jones” was sued in Small Claims Court by a debt buyer called Midland Funding for $2,000, and he had a trial date at 2:00 p.m. The suit was allegedly for a credit card balance that had been unpaid back when the client had gotten audited by the IRS and hit with a huge tax bill. He tried to settle it with the original credit card company, but he couldn’t keep up the payments. He couldn’t afford to pay the $2000 they were asking for, so he hired me to defend the case.

It was Small Claims, which means that depending on the judge, bad evidence can possibly be allowed into the record, unlike in higher courts. The collection lawyer was there with a lot of documents and some past statements. But I pointed out a few weaknesses in the way they’d brought the case, and I offered $500, which was what my client said he could afford to pay. After reviewing the evidence and considering the possibility that they’d get nothing at all, they agreed to accept the offer.

Another Victory: Beat a $13,000 lawsuit by Midland Funding today. – Alabama Consumer Credit Attorney Judson E Crump

April 16, 2014 by Attorney Judson E Crump Leave a Comment

Our continuing efforts to save the families of South Alabama from credit card debt have born another ripe fruit today. In Mobile County Circuit Court Case No. CV-13-901687, I appeared in court today to defend my client from a lawsuit demanding $12,967.43 + $260 Court Costs for an alleged Sears Mastercard account. The Plaintiff, Midland Funding, was represented by Holloway & Moxley of Montgomery, Alabama and they did an unexpectedly good job of proving their case. Midland sent in a witness from St. Cloud, Minnesota to testify as to the accuracy of Midland’s records.

After a 1 1/2 hour trial, we won a judgment for the defendant.

Here’s a copy of the order:

Beat Midland Funding at Trial

The South Alabama debt relief stimulus package continues…