Who is Midland Credit Management?

Midland Credit Management, also known as MCM, is one of the largest debt collection companies in the United States. 800-251-3164 is one of its confirmed numbers. If you’re here reading this article, you’ve probably noticed this number ringing on your phone more than once. You may have answered and heard nothing, you may have gotten a voicemail from someone named “Mike” or “Kacen,” or you may have just watched as your phone rang without any explanation.

You are not crazy, and you are not alone. According to call-tracking platform RoboKiller, there are over 39,000 calls documented from this single number, with 276 consumers reporting it as a scam. Nomorobo ranks the call traffic from this number as “Severe.” Knowing who’s on the other end of the phone is the first step to making the calls stop.

Company Name: Midland Credit Management, Inc. (MCM)

Company Type: Debt buyer and collector

Parent Company: Encore Capital Group, Inc.

Headquarters: 350 Camino De La Reina, Suite 100, San Diego, California 92108

Founded: 1953

Employees: Approximately 4,000 (MCM); 7,350 (Encore Capital globally)

Industry Focus: Primarily credit card debt; also unsecured personal loans and store-branded credit cards

Geographic Reach: All 50 U.S. states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico

BBB Rating: A+ (not accredited); 1.04 out of 5 consumer review stars; over 1,000 complaints in the last 3 years

Why Is Midland Credit Management Calling You?

They bought someone’s debt

MCM doesn’t issue credit cards or originate loans. It’s a debt buyer and collector. This company purchases defaulted debts from the original creditors (e.g., JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Capital One, and Synchrony Bank) for pennies on the dollar, sometimes as little as three to 20 cents per dollar of face value.

Once MCM owns a debt portfolio, the original creditor is out of the picture. Then, MCM will attempt to collect the full amount owed. Every dollar collected above the purchase price is pure profit, which is why the calls can be relentless. Each time you answer, it’s a potential money-maker.

They may have the wrong person

Here’s where the debt-buying business model can become a problem for consumers. MCM purchases debt portfolios in bulk, typically 15,000 to 25,000 accounts at a time. The information accompanying those portfolios is only as good as the original creditor’s records, and when debts are sold in bulk, nobody is sweating the details.

Here’s what one consumer reported on UnknownPhone: “I received a call from this number claiming to be a debt collector. I have no debt. They knew my name.”

This isn’t an isolated incident. Collection agencies prioritize quantity over quality, which means everybody is subject to the same barrage of calls, even if some of those people don’t owe a dime.

What You Can Do

Don’t panic. Don’t ignore it. Educate yourself. Understand the business model behind these calls and your rights under federal law. Knowing why the calls are happening and where your leverage is can make all the difference.

This is not a faceless robocall outfit operating out of a basement somewhere. MCM is a publicly traded company (with a 73-year history and more than $100 million in cumulative regulatory penalties for collection practices). If you’re fielding calls from 800-251-3164, it’s essential to recognize there’s a documented pattern behind those calls.

Midland Credit Management’s History

MCM isn’t a new company. It was founded in 1953 and is one of the largest debt buyers in the country. In 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) penalized MCM for making harassing calls, including calling consumers more than 20 times within a two-day period and calling consumers before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m.

The CFPB ordered MCM to provide up to $42 million in refunds to consumers and pay a $10 million civil penalty. In 2020, MCM was ordered to pay an additional $15 million penalty for violating the terms of the 2015 consent order.

MCM has also paid $20.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company used automated dialing systems to robocall cell phones without consumers’ consent.

How Does Midland Credit Management Work?

The debt-buying machine

To understand why you’re getting calls from 800-251-3164, you have to understand MCM’s business model. In 2024, MCM spent a record $998.9 million on debt purchasing in the U.S. alone. The debts MCM purchases have gone at least 180 days without payment before the original creditor charges them off and sells. Sometimes the debts have changed hands several times before they reach your phone.

When MCM calls you, the original transaction could be years in the rearview mirror. Account information may be corrupted, balances may have been inflated with fees and interest that weren’t part of the original agreement, and documentation to prove you owe the debt may be incomplete or altogether missing.

Predictability is your advantage

MCM is using both live agents and automated robocall systems from 800-251-3164. Transcripts of voicemails captured by YouMail include messages from named MCM representatives like “Mike with MCM” and “Kacen Scott with MCM.” An estimated 54% of the calls from this number are robocalls, while 46% are live agents.

Here’s how one consumer described the calling pattern on RoboKiller: “Routinely calls my home between 8 - 830. No one is on the line, just dead air. They use many different numbers but the ‘MCM’ ID is always the same. Very annoying.”

Another YouMail user reported getting calls “at least 3-4 times per day” with no voicemail message left. This is not a random calling strategy. It’s a deliberate volume play designed to force consumers to engage.

What Are Consumers Saying About 800-251-3164?

Calls to people who owe nothing

Perhaps the most disturbing complaints are from consumers who claim they don’t owe any debt. Here’s what one RoboKiller user had to say: “Scam. I have no debt and they keep calling.”

Another YouMail user reported: “Calls from numerous different numbers!! We don’t owe anybody anything!!”

On WalletHub, one consumer described how MCM called their family member: “A man from Midland Credit Management called my granddaughter and asked if she was my emergency contact. She immediately went into panic mode, thinking something bad had happened to me.”

That consumer filed complaints with both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and CFPB.

Threats and dead air

Consumers are also reporting automated threats of legal action. Here’s what one CallFilter reviewer experienced: “Debt Collector Robot caller. Threatened me to face legal actions if I don’t respond.”

Others are describing answering calls only to be met with dead air, which can be both disorienting and intimidating. The reality behind those legal threats is worth understanding. Before a collector decides to file a lawsuit, they perform a cost-benefit analysis. Most debts aren’t worth the cost of litigation. While MCM files thousands of lawsuits, the percentage of consumers in their portfolio who actually face a lawsuit is in the low single digits. Threats of litigation are primarily psychological tools.

Your Rights Under Federal Law

Debt verification is your first line of defense

Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), you have the right to demand verification of any debt a collector claims you owe. This includes the amount of the debt, the name of the original creditor, the date of the last payment, and documentation showing the collector is authorized to collect.

You have this right because the law recognizes what the data proves: As debt information passes from hand to hand, it degrades. Here’s what one Trustpilot reviewer described when they called MCM back: “They would not answer anything without our address and last 4 digits of SSN. Fortunately I would not give that to them.”

You should never give personal or financial information to a caller you didn’t initiate.

Time is your silent ally

Every debt has a statute of limitations, which varies by state and type of debt. Once that clock runs out, the debt becomes time-barred, which means a collector can’t sue you successfully.

One RoboKiller user flagged this issue directly when they reported that MCM “buys and try’s to collect debt too old to report.”

Older debts get progressively less scary from a legal standpoint. Collectors know this. The sense of urgency in their calls is designed to apply pressure before you realize just how little leverage the collector has. As time passes, you gain power. They lose it.

Red flags that a collector is crossing the line

Warning signs of illegal behavior

Not every collection call is legit, and even legit collectors can break the law. Watch for immediate demands for payment before providing debt details in writing, threats of arrest, wage garnishment, or lawsuits through robocalls, refusal to provide written verification of the debt, abusive or threatening language, calling before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m., and continuing to call after you’ve requested they stop.

All of these behaviors are violations of federal law. If a collector is pushing you to pay by wire transfer, prepaid card, or cryptocurrency, you’re almost certainly dealing with a scam.

When persistence becomes harassment

There’s a legal line between collection activity and harassment. The CFPB said MCM crossed it when the company called consumers more than 20 times in a 48-hour period. Forty-two state attorneys general said MCM crossed it again when the company used robo-signed court affidavits to file mass lawsuits without verifying the underlying debt information.

If you’re experiencing any of these behaviors, the calls you’re getting may represent violations that afford you rights you can enforce.

How to Stop Calls from 800-251-3164

The credit report dispute strategy

The single most effective way to deal with an unwanted collection account is to attack it at the source: your credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you have the right to dispute any item on your credit report you believe is inaccurate, unverified, or incomplete.

When you file a dispute, the credit bureau must investigate, and the collector must verify the account information is correct. If they can’t, the item must be deleted.

Given that MCM buys debt in enormous volume with documentation that may degrade over time, many of these accounts can’t survive a properly executed dispute. This strategy uses your credit report as the point of origin, not the phone call. It shifts the burden of proof back to the collector and utilizes the legal framework already built to protect you.

Let FightCollections.com Handle It For You

At FightCollections.com, we specialize in pushing back on debt collectors like Midland Credit Management. We dispute erroneous collection accounts on your credit report using the full force of the FCRA and FDCPA and help consumers understand the tactics debt collectors use to push people into paying debts they may not even owe.

If 800-251-3164 won’t stop calling, you don’t have to go it alone. Visit FightCollections.com today to find out how we can help you take back your credit report and end the calls for good.