MCM, Midland Funding Sent Wisconsin Consumers Non-FDCPA-Compliant Letters, Lawsuit Alleges

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Four Milwaukee consumers allege in a proposed class action that Midland Credit Management, Inc. (MCM) and Midland Funding, LLC sent them debt collection letters containing validation notices that were not in line with the requirements of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs received collection notices from MCM on behalf of Midland Funding that directed them to either mail a dispute to a given address or call a phone number listed in the letters. The case argues that the defendants did not effectively communicate the plaintiffs’ FDCPA rights in that the companies failed “to inform the consumer that, in order to invoke his or her right to obtain verification of the debt … the consumer must make the request in writing.”

“The instruction in [the letters] that the consumer may submit disputes via telephone is false, deceptive, misleading, and confusing to the unsophisticated consumer because it contradicts, overshadows, and confuses the debt validation notice, and encourages the consumer to forego her verification rights by communicating disputes orally rather than in writing,” the suit reads.