Midland Credit Management

On the front page of their website, they openly admit that they thrive on purchasing charge off accounts and other delinquent credit accounts for retrieval. They state that they "employ a dynamic mix of collection strategies to maximize our return on investment."

There's nothing wrong with that - unless it is unethical.

Midland Credit Management, Inc. has loads of angry debtors complaining about them on the Internet. They also have more than their fair share of lawsuits filed against them. All collection agencies experience some degree of disgruntled complaints, but Midland really takes the prize.

In no uncertain terms, they state that they are in business to maximize profits, even if it costs human debtors, who may be experiencing true hardships for any variety of reasons, their dignity. Since December 31, 2004, Midland Credit Management has invested over $387.3 million dollars to acquire 8.9 million delinquent accounts that carry a face value of over $16.2 billon (with a "b") dollars. Is it any wonder why so many call them "vultures"?

Here is how they describe their "collection strategies":

• Outbound calling driven by predictive software. If you had millions of people to endlessly harass, you would develop software apps too!
• A nation-spanning network of collection-specializing attorneys. Must be good money in this. It's hard for most of us "debtors" to ever even hire one attorney!
• The utilization of numerous third party collection agencies. Can anyone say "sickening"?
• In-house generated direct mail campaigns. Hmm, wonder how much those letters are based on honesty and integrity - let alone the standards set forth by the FDCPA.
• The sale of accounts where appropriate. When they can't directly profit, they "take a loss". The loss is to the American public to allow these organizations to continue to thrive.

Just because someone owes a debt doesn't make them an invalid person. They may be trying disparately hard to overcome the burdens that are smothering them, but these companies like Midland Credit Management offer only fear-inducing, stress-causing ultimatums.

Chane Steiner is a credit repair expert and founder of AAACreditGuide.com, the leading source on credit repair. Learn how to remove collections like Midland Credit Management and other negatives items from your credit report.