Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

Midland is one of the largest debt buyers out there. I generally never recommend that a client settle with them, they are easily beatable in court. Your claim is rather small though, so that is a decision for you to make.

I woudl never give any debt collector permission to make auto-withdrawals from my account. NEVER. I would never settle a case without a signed written settlement agreement.

As an attorney, I also wonder whether this claim is even within the statute of limitations? When was the last payment on this account?

Contact my office, or the office of another consumer attorney, before you make any agreements with a debt buyer.

NO! Don't do a payment plan! Midland is legitimate - they are a junk debt buyer.

Attorney Artim and I have slightly different perspectives on this - he is a litigator and focuses on litigation. My experience is not to litigate these things but to try to resolve in a non-litigation context. Which approach you take depends on your circumstances, your income, your assets, your other debts. Neither Attorney Artim or I or any other attorney knows about this without speaking to you so its not possible to recommend one approach or the other.

.Assuming that the Fingerhhut debt is indeed your debt and was truly purchased by Midland, I could resolve it for you for approximately 40% to 45% of the balance on the debt if you are able to come up with a lump sum payment of that amount and want to get this resolved..

If you don't have the funds or if warranted by other circumstances, I would take more of the approach outlined by Attorney Artim. I agree that you should not give them your bank information. Pay the money to yourself and wait and see. If Midland sues, then contact Attorney Artim and prepare a defense. If Midland does not sue in another 2 years (they only have a 4 year period which begins to run from the time of your last payment to Fingerhut), then you are free and clear. The debt might be reported on your credit for awhile longer, but chances are Midland might simply delete this account and not try to collect. That has happened to several of my clients.

However, I totally agree with Attorney Artim that you should never enter into a settlement agreement or payment arrangement without first getting a written letter outlining the essential terms. Once you have that, I would recommend that any payments be made via money order or certified check. Payments should be sent to Midland at their physical address (not mailing PO Box) via UPS/FedEx or certified mail, return receipt requested. You should always make a copy of each money order or payment you send. This all takes work but if you do it correctly, you will protect yourself in case the debt ever resurfaces as often happens.

If you are interested in resolving the debt in a non-litigation context for a reasonable fee, please email me at [email protected].