Sued by Midland Funding or Midland Credit Management in Texas

If your citation names Midland Funding, LLC or Midland Credit Management, Inc., you are being sued by a company that bought a charged-off account, usually from a bank or card issuer. The two Midland names are related but not interchangeable, and the difference matters: the plaintiff has to prove that it, and not just a related company, owns your account.

This guide explains how the Midland companies describe themselves, what the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered in 2015 and 2020, what Midland must prove in a Texas court, and what to do before your answer deadline.

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Midland Funding vs. Midland Credit Management

Midland's own website draws the line between the two companies. It says Midland Funding owns accounts that were charged off by the original lender, and that Midland Credit Management (MCM) services accounts for its affiliate Midland Funding. The site adds that MCM services accounts owned by Midland Funding as well as accounts owned by MCM itself, and that the name on your credit report tells you which one owns the account: Midland Funding if it reports as Midland Funding, MCM if it reports as MCM.

MCM describes itself as a subsidiary of Encore Capital Group, a company traded on the NASDAQ as ECPG, and identifies its website as a communication from a debt collector. The customer number it lists is (800) 296-2657, with a mailing address of P.O. Box 939069, San Diego, California 92193.

In practice, this means:

• Letters and calls often come from MCM, even when Midland Funding is the plaintiff.
• An affidavit in your case may be signed by an MCM employee acting as servicer for Midland Funding.
• The plaintiff named on the petition is the company that must prove ownership. If the documents show a sale to one Midland entity and the suit is brought by another, that is worth raising.

Some accounts serviced by MCM are owned by other Encore affiliates; our guide to Atlantic Credit & Finance covers those.

Texas Debt Law is not affiliated with Midland Funding, Midland Credit Management or Encore Capital Group.

Midland's Texas Bond Filings

A third-party debt collector must file a surety bond with the Texas Secretary of State before collecting in Texas (Finance Code § 392.101). On November 3, 2026, the Secretary of State's debt collector search showed three active Midland bonds, each filed March 6, 2017, with Old Republic Surety Company, at 350 Camino de la Reina, Suite 300, San Diego: Midland Credit Management, Inc. (file 20170046), Midland Funding NCC-2 Corporation (file 20170047) and Midland Funding LLC (file 20170048). Earlier Midland bonds from 2002 and 2006 show as canceled in April 2017. You can run the same free search to confirm the exact entity in your case.

The 2015 CFPB Consent Order

On September 9, 2015, the CFPB issued an administrative consent order (File No. 2015-CFPB-0022) against Encore Capital Group, Midland Funding, Midland Credit Management and Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. According to the CFPB's announcement, Encore was required to pay up to $42 million in consumer refunds and a $10 million civil penalty, and to stop collecting on debts with a face value of over $125 million.

The CFPB described conduct requirements that went to how debt-buyer lawsuits are filed and proved. Among them:

• no lawsuits to enforce debts unless the company has specific documents;
• no affidavits unless the statements in them accurately reflect the signer's knowledge;
• no suing or threatening to sue on time-barred debt, and a disclosure that it cannot sue when collecting such debt;
• information about the debt and an offer of original account documents before suing or threatening to sue; and
• no reselling of debts to other debt collectors.

The 2020 Lawsuit, Judgment and Termination Order

On September 8, 2020, the CFPB sued the same four companies in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (No. 3:20-cv-01750), alleging they had violated the 2015 order and federal consumer law. The court entered a stipulated final judgment on October 16, 2020. As the CFPB describes it, the judgment required $79,308.81 in consumer redress, a $15 million civil penalty, specified disclosures, no collection of time-barred debt without certain disclosures, and compliance with certain conduct provisions of the 2015 order for five more years. Our law update on the 2020 judgment summarizes the CFPB's allegations.

Four days later, on October 20, 2020, the CFPB's Director signed an order terminating the 2015 consent order. That order explains that the 2015 order had been set to expire on September 8, 2020, was extended by the filing of the 2020 suit, and was superseded by the 2020 judgment, which imposes continuing obligations to give consumer disclosures, substantiate collection activity, and not sue on time-barred debt.

These orders are enforced by the CFPB. They describe the CFPB's findings and the companies' obligations in those matters and say nothing about whether your debt is owed or how your case will turn out.

Your Deadline

Confirm the case with the clerk of the court named on the citation, using a number from the court's official website. Then file a written answer on time:

• Justice court: by the end of the 14th day after you were served (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 502.5).
• County court at law or district court: by 10:00 a.m. on the Monday after the 20th day following service (Rule 99(b)).

Calls or letters from MCM do not extend the deadline. Our answer deadline calculator will give you the date. If a motion for summary judgment is filed in county or district court on or after March 1, 2026, the response is due 21 days after it is filed (Rule 166a).

What Midland Has to Prove

Midland was not your lender, so it must prove both the debt and its right to collect it. In justice court, a debt buyer's suit is a debt claim case: Rule 508.2 requires the petition to identify the original creditor, the account number, the date of assignment and the names of prior holders, and Rule 508.3 requires proof, even for a default judgment, that the plaintiff owns the account and how it acquired it. In county or district court, the same questions arise through the rules of evidence and summary judgment.

Debt buyers generally offer their records through a business records affidavit under Texas Rules of Evidence 803(6) and 902(10), which may be signed by a servicer employee and attach the original lender's statements and sale documents. Points worth checking:

• whether the bill of sale and any account list identify your account, not just a portfolio;
• whether the balance matches your last statement from the original lender, with any later interest or fees explained;
• whether the person signing can lay a foundation for records created by the original lender; see what is a business records affidavit?
• whether the named plaintiff is the entity the documents show as owner; see lack of standing in a debt buyer case.

Old Accounts and Limitations

Texas generally allows four years to sue on a debt (Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.004). Finance Code § 392.307 bars a debt buyer from suing or starting arbitration on consumer debt after limitations has run, and a payment does not revive the right to sue. Regulation F prohibits debt collectors from suing or threatening to sue on time-barred debt (12 C.F.R. § 1006.26(b)). MCM's own FAQ states that logging into your account online does not restart the statute of limitations. You still have to raise limitations in your answer. Read more on time-barred suits by debt buyers.

Talking to Midland or Its Lawyers

MCM's FAQ says that MCM will not sue a consumer who is actively making payments, and that in some circumstances it may sue and enforce a judgment through garnishment. Once you have been sued, though, the court deadline controls. File your answer even if you are negotiating, get any settlement in writing, and read it for the words "agreed judgment," which is still a judgment against you. Once you have a lawyer, a debt collector covered by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act generally must communicate with your lawyer instead of you (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(2)).

If a Collector Breaks the Law

The FDCPA and the Texas Debt Collection Act (Finance Code chapter 392) prohibit false or misleading statements, threats of action that cannot legally be taken, and other unfair practices. If the facts support a claim, we bring it as a separate lawsuit in federal court, not as a counterclaim in the collection case, and it is a separate legal service from defending your debt suit. FDCPA claims generally must be filed within one year (15 U.S.C. § 1692k(d)). See our Texas FDCPA attorneys page.

How Texas Debt Law Can Help

We file your answer, identify which Midland entity is suing and what the sale documents actually show, test the servicer's affidavit, check the dates against limitations, and negotiate in writing when that is the better course. Most cases are handled by phone, email and e-filing, so you rarely need to visit our Frisco office. We speak Spanish, and our phones are answered seven days a week.

Debt defense is a flat fee based on the amount of the suit, starting at $400, with payment plans available:

Call or text for a free case review, or read more about our Texas debt defense attorneys.

Sources

• Midland Credit Management, About MCM (Encore subsidiary, contact, debt collector notice)
• Midland Credit Management, Midland Funding LLC (ownership and servicing)
• Midland Credit Management, FAQs (lawsuits, statute of limitations)
• Texas Secretary of State, Debt Collector Search (search "Midland")
• CFPB enforcement action: Encore Capital Group, Inc., et al., File No. 2015-CFPB-0022
• CFPB press release, September 9, 2015
• CFPB enforcement action: CFPB v. Encore Capital Group, Inc., et al., No. 3:20-cv-01750 (S.D. Cal.)
• CFPB, Order Terminating the Consent Order (October 20, 2020)
• Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules 99, 166a, 502.5, 508)
• Texas Rules of Evidence (Rules 803(6), 902(10))
• Texas Finance Code ch. 392 (§§ 392.101, 392.307)
• Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code ch. 16 (§ 16.004)
• Regulation F, 12 C.F.R. § 1006.26
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692–1692p

General information, not legal advice for your case.