Midland Credit Management: How do I make them prove they own the debt?
The short answer
Ask, in writing, for every link between the bank you borrowed from and Midland, and then for the link between that purchase and your individual account. The second one is where these files are usually thinnest.
What "owning the debt" actually requires
You did not borrow from Midland. For it to collect, the right to collect had to travel from the original creditor to Midland, and every step has to be documented:
- The original bank charges the account off
- It sells a portfolio, sometimes thousands of accounts at once
- That portfolio may be resold, more than once
- Midland ends up holding it
- Your specific account has to be identifiable inside that portfolio
Steps 1 to 4 are usually provable with bills of sale, because those documents exist for commercial reasons between the companies. Step 5 is the one that depends on records nobody had a commercial reason to keep carefully.
The distinction that matters
A bill of sale saying "Bank sold 40,000 accounts to Buyer on this date" proves a transaction happened. It does not prove your account was one of the 40,000.
What connects the two is usually an exhibit or data file listing the accounts in that sale, with a sworn statement from someone with knowledge tying your account number to that list. That is the document to ask for by name, and the one most likely to produce a thin answer.
What to request
| Ask for | What you learn |
|---|---|
| The bill of sale or assignment for each transfer | Whether the chain is complete or has a gap |
| The account schedule or data file for the sale | Whether your account is actually named in it |
| A sworn statement from someone with knowledge | Whether a real person will attest to the link |
| The original creditor's own records for the account | Whether the balance and dates hold up |
Put it in writing, keep a copy, and note the date you sent it. The response, or the absence of one, becomes part of the record.
Why asking changes the economics
Pulling a chain of title on a single account is work. On an account bought at a steep discount in a portfolio of thousands, it can cost more than the account is worth, which is why the question tends to produce either documents or a conversation about resolving the case.
Either outcome is better than the one where nobody asks.
Gaps are common, and so are complete files
Be careful with the internet version of this. Debt buyer chains do frequently have gaps, and courts do sometimes dismiss on them. They are also sometimes complete and properly sworn, and plenty of these cases are fully documented.
The honest position is that you cannot know which one you have until you ask, and you cannot ask if you did not file a response.