Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson finally got to file that suit against Encore that she has always dreamed of.

Back in March, Swanson began making noises about the suit, in which it’s alleged that Encore subsidiary Midland Funding LLC used “robo-signed” affidavits as proof that consumers owed debts for which they were being sued.

Swanson’s suit would be in addition to a suit filed in Ohio, Brent v. Midland Funding LLC, alleging similar violations.

Encore responded to Swanson’s threat in a press release, saying, “We want to be extremely clear that Encore Capital and its subsidiaries, Midland Credit Management and Midland Funding, fully addressed these issues in 2009. We are committed to working with our consumers to help them regain their financial footing, as evidenced by our recent enactment of the Consumer Bill of Rights that goes well beyond what is required by law. We look forward to having substantive discussions with the Attorney General’s office and establishing Encore as a model for doing business in the State of Minnesota.”

Regardless of the moves Encore made — including the introduction of the industry’s first Consumer Bill of Rights — Swanson pushed on with her suit, finally filing it last Thursday, 19 May.

“Midland has perverted the justice system by filing robo-signed affidavits in court and hounding citizens for debt they don’t owe,” Swanson said. Her suit further alleges that “workers testified under oath to having signed up to 400 affidavits a day without reading them,” according to a Reuters article.

We’ll have more information on this suit as the case progresses.


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