DES MOINES, Iowa- Iowa's part of a national, six-(m) million dollar settlement with a large national debt buyer, Encore Capital Group, and it's subsidiaries- Midland Credit Management, Inc and Midland Funding, LLC. Nearly 150-Iowa consumers could have their debts erased or reduced as part of the settlement.
Forty-three states had accused Midland of signing and filing court papers in large quantities without checking out the details, a practice known as "robo-signing."
As part of the settlement, Midland will eliminate the judgment balances of 97 Iowa consumers, and partially reduce balances of 48 more, for a total of $187,503 being forgiven.
The settlement applies to cases where Midland used an affidavit against them in court between 2003 and 2009. Midland will notify affected consumers by mail of the balance reduction and no further action is necessary from the consumer.
In addition, Midland will set aside $25,000 per state to compensate consumers who may have paid Midland money that the consumer did not owe.
Midland will also pay $96,243 to Iowa’s Consumer Education and Litigation Fund.
“We’ve been investigating Midland’s behavior for years and working with the company to correct it. We’re confident this settlement will reform the company’s practices and protect consumers,” Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said.