Debt collector drops more than 10,000 cases

Debt collector Midland Funding LLC plans to drop more than 10,000 cases against Maryland consumers as part of a class action settlement in Baltimore federal court. The dismissed claims were worth about $10.2 million, The Baltimore Sun reports. Consumers sued the company in 2009, claiming Midland was operating in the state before it obtained a Maryland license. Encore Capital Group, the company that owns Midland, said it was pleased with the outcome because the court had not found any wrongdoing by either business, the paper reported. Midland also agreed not to refile the lawsuits or resell the debts, the newspaper reports. The company will be allowed to contact debtors for payment if it observes debt collection laws. Under the settlement, the company will also set up a $200,000 fund for the class and pay $130,000 in legal fees, The Daily Record reports. In another case, a New York man recently won the right to charge a debt collection law firm with violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York, reports. In that case, the plaintiff alleged that the collector did not observe the FDCPA rule that mandates any debt lawsuits must be filed in the judicial district where the debtor lives.