- Report: #1440118
Complaint Review: Midland Credit Management Inc - Los Angeles CA
Reported By:
Denise -
Kansas City, MO, United States
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
Midland Credit Management Inc
2365 Northside Drive Suite 300 Los Angeles, 92108 CA, United States
Phone:
800-939-2353; 800-321-380
Web:
mcmpay.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Midland Credit Management, Inc "Pre-Legal" Notification of attempt to collect supposed outstanding debt Los Angeles CA
This notification was received by my neighbors, who don't speak English. It was for a former homeowner, and they haven't lived there in at least 10 years. The grandma brought it to me, and I said I would take care of it.
I looked up the company information online first, then called the phone number that was on the envelope's return information. (Note -- they sent it through UPS instead of the United States Postal Service, bypassing the mail fraud laws.)
The gentleman I spoke with was curteous, and the conversation was preceeded with a long verbal notification that we were being recorded and all information could be used in a lawful manner. I explained that I was calling on behalf of the neighbor receiving the letter, and that the intended recipient had not lived there in at least 10 years. I gave him the name on the envelope, and he could not locate the account in their records. I suggested he search for it by the address, and he still could not find it. Then he asked me to write on the outside of the envelope that the person no longer lived there, and to return it. He stressed that they would need it back.
To me, this looks like a phishing scam to get money from my former neighbor. It was sent in a UPS Express Next Day Air envelope, and looking up the rates online, it is showing it would cost over $70. If they invested that much, why would they not have a record of name and/or address?
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Denise
Kansas City,Missouri,
United States
Thank You.
#2Author of original report
Wed, April 25, 2018
Thank you for your comments.
I didn't open the envelope, nor did I think the objective was to get money from the current neighbors. Only the former neighbor. There wouldn't have been any issue with the agent letting me know there was actually an account as long as he didn't share any other information. He initially asked me the account number. I said I didn't have it as I had not opened the envelope since it wasn't mine. Hence, I tried to find more information on the company from the return address, which is how I found this site.
I've worked with the Postal Inspectors before when fraudulent money orders had been sent for "overpayment" of an item. They were limited on what they could do if the sender sent it through a carrier other than the USPS. So, that's why I said what I did, based on my personal experience. Thank you for the clarification.
It just seemed to be unusual for anything to be sent to someone who hasn't lived there for at least a decade. Yes, I know they won't pay anything close to retail for their mailings, but I'm sure it's more than a few pennies' investment to try to get in touch with someone.
Oh, I just did an online search, and had no problems locating her. Then again, I know what she looks like! I'll let the company find her themselves. Thank you again.
Robert
Irvine,California,
United States
Really?
#3Consumer Comment
Wed, April 25, 2018
This is a collection agency, their job is to COLLECT a bad debt. The letter was not even addressed to the neighbors, so how in the world would it be used to scam them out of money? You talk about mail fraud laws. What about the laws about opening mail that is not addressed to you? So hopefully you didn't open it.
Perhaps you should take a look at the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act(FDCPA). Those are specific laws that limit what information can be shared about a person's debt without their permission. In case you wonder what that limit is...the answer is ZERO. This is why they stressed that they needed the letter back, because you have NO legal right to view it. In fact I wouldn't be shocked if the reason they couldn't "find" that name is because you were not that person and they were afraid of divulging too much info.
Don't get me wrong, it is good that you are watching out for your neighbor, and many Collection Agenices skirt the law and are often less than honest. Many will send out letters to all previously known addresses in the hope of finding them. So in that respect it is "phishing", but not to steal their identity..instead to get them to pay their debts. But there is actually nothing illegal about this, and nothing that should have indicated to your neighboors that they owe any money.
This debt was probably bought for pennies on the dollar, in the hope they get something. Oh and the price you saw was the "retail" shipping cost. I can guarantee you that they did not pay anything close to $70 to send that letter.
