According to the Washington Post, Midland Funding is one of the largest debt buyers in the country. What does this mean? Midland Funding is making A LOT of money. By some reports, around half a billion a year. (https://www.californiacollectiondefense.com/sued-by-midland-funding/)
If Midland Funding is making that much money, you can bet they have the resources to take you to court and to put forth a solid case. This is why hiring an attorney is the number one thing you can do when facing a Midland Funding lawsuit.
That attorney should do two things: 1) develop a negotiation plan; and 2) develop a litigation strategy. Both levers must be working at the same time for a good defense. In order to develop these plans, the attorney will need information such as: if you recall the account, when you made your last payment on the account, how you were served with lawsuit paperwork, if you have a record of phone calls, if any such phone calls were harassing, etc. A good debt attorney will also ask you about financial hardship issues. Together, all of this information will inform the attorney’s negotiation and litigation strategy against Midland Funding or any of the other debt collectors that may be harassing.
Negotiation with opposing counsel can occur before engaging in litigation. Litigation requires extra costs that do not exist if you settle outside of court. If your litigation leverage is not strong, one should highly consider settling outside of court. Again, it is recommended that you hire an attorney to handle the negotiation. The reason being: you do not know your leverage as well as an attorney does. Also, you do not negotiate these types of deals on a day-to-day basis, so your understanding of a “normal” settlement amount under the circumstances may be off. Find a debt attorney who specializes in this work and does it on a day-to-day basis.