Are you getting calls from 844-766-8319? This is a number used by Midwest Recovery Group to contact consumers.
They are calling you because a debt was sold or placed with them under your name, and 844-766-8319 is one of several numbers they use to make first contact.
The question is, does the debt exist? Does it belong to you? Does the credit report information stand up to a challenge?
RoboKiller has received reports of over 115,000 calls from this number, with hundreds of consumer reports on platforms such as ShouldIAnswer, Tellows, 800notes and YouMail. The reports all tend to follow a pattern: Robocalls that do not leave a message, callers who will not identify themselves, and daily calls for months or even years at a time.
Full Legal Name: Midwest Recovery Systems, LLC
Company Type: Third-party debt collector and debt buyer
Headquarters: 514 Earth City Plaza, Earth City, MO 63045
Founded: May 18, 2012
Industry Verticals: Medical, payday loans, credit cards, student loans, telecom, auto
Company Size: Private, small regional agency; less than $5 million annual revenue
Principals: Brandon M. Tumber (President), Kenny W. Conway (CEO), Joseph H. Smith (COO)
BBB Status: Not accredited; currently listed as out of business (known or suspected), with over 909 historical complaints
Current Status: Defunct after an FTC enforcement action in November 2020.
A Federal Agency Had to Step In and Stop Them
Midwest Recovery Systems is not a company that quietly disappeared from the scene. In November 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed its very first enforcement action against “debt parking,” which is the practice of placing a debt directly on a consumer’s credit report without ever contacting the consumer first. The target of that action was Midwest Recovery Systems.
According to the FTC’s allegations, Midwest Recovery reported debts totaling more than $98 million and collected $24.3 million from consumers even though the company’s internal review found between 80 percent and 97 percent of the debts they reviewed were invalid.
As a result of the action, the FTC required Midwest Recovery to delete every single debt they had placed on a consumer’s credit report. The state of Connecticut took an additional step, banning the company from doing business within its borders.
Why is Midwest Recovery Group Calling Me?
The Debt Buyer Pipeline
Companies like Midwest Recovery Systems make their money by buying debt portfolios from the original creditor. If a bank or a hospital or any other lender decides that an account is a lost cause and will never be paid, they write it off as a charge-off and sell it for pennies on the dollar. The original creditor has already absorbed the loss and moved on.
Then, the debt buyer attempts to collect the full amount from you, even though they paid only a few pennies per dollar. You are now facing a charge-off that the original creditor has already written off, but the new owner has a financial incentive to collect it whether it is valid or not. That is the first red flag you should recognize.
What the Call is Really About
These are not courtesy calls. This is not Midwest Recovery reaching out to inform you that there may be a problem with your credit report. This is the first step in a campaign to pressure you into acknowledging a debt or providing information before you have time to verify any of it.
One complainant to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) described the experience like this: “I have received over 10 calls from this company in regards to a debt. When I call them back they tell me they can’t find my information in the system and to call back the next day.”
That consumer went on to say: “I return the call every time and speak to a different agent. They look it up then inform me they can’t find my information in their system.”
The calls kept coming. When a debt collector describes their calls as “follow-up,” what they are really describing is a pressure campaign designed to wear you down.
Red Flags That Should Stop You in Your Tracks
Dates That Don’t Add Up
Go to your credit report and look at the “date of first delinquency” for any debt that Midwest Recovery has placed there. If that date is more recent than the actual missed payment, it is possible that the debt has been “re-aged,” which means the clock has been reset to make the delinquency look more recent and therefore keep it on your report for a longer period of time.
This was a common experience with Midwest Recovery Systems. As one reviewer on WalletHub put it: “This company is horrible. This collection is over 10 years old and they put it on my credit as if it was new.”
If the dates on your credit report do not match the dates in your records, this is a red flag that may help support a formal dispute.
Missing or Vague Account Details
If a collection is valid, you should see the name of the original creditor, an account number, a balance and a date of first delinquency. If any of those fields are blank, vague or do not match your records, that is a signal that the entry may not stand up to a challenge.
As another WalletHub reviewer put it: “They’re debt scavengers. They fraudulently place zombie debt on your report. It’s usually not valid debt.”
If you cannot verify the account details on your report, that is not something you should ignore.
What Consumers Are Reporting About 844-766-8319
Robocalls That Never Leave Messages
The most common complaint about this number is that it rings but does not leave a voicemail. On the website 800notes, one consumer reported this: “Calls never leaves a message. Unauthorized number will not accept if unknow. Now blocked.”
Another consumer reported that the call came up as “account services” on their phone, but did not leave a message and did not send a follow-up email.
This is not an accident. If a collector leaves a voicemail, you have a record of the call you can reference later, document and maybe even use in a dispute. If a collector calls you repeatedly but never leaves a message, they create a sense of urgency without leaving any paper trail.
One consumer on YouMail reported months of calls like this, saying: “They have been calling me over and over again for the past month and not once have I picked up.”
Callers Who Refuse to Identify Themselves
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) requires a debt collector to identify themselves and the purpose of their call. Consumer reports about 844-766-8319 suggest this is not always happening.
On the website ShouldIAnswer, a user named Alan reported this: “Did not want to identify themselves. Hung up after I kept asking them over and over.”
Another consumer reported finally answering the phone after repeated calls: “Some shrill voice said a name unclear, stated we were on a recorded line, and then asked for me by name. I hung up because she never identified where or who she was calling from.”
If someone is calling you and refusing to state their name or the purpose of the call, that may be a violation of the FDCPA.
Why You Should Never Pick Up the Phone
Verbal Communication Leaves No Trail
Every time you answer a call from a debt collector, you are engaging in a conversation that only exists on the collector’s recording device, not yours. There is no trail on your end, and you are creating an opportunity for the collector to extract information or manipulate the contents of your conversation.
Anything you can do on the phone, you can do more safely in a letter. One complainant to the CFPB received five robocalls per day and asked Midwest Recovery to communicate only by mail. The agent, the consumer reported, “then started to threaten.”
If you are communicating in writing, you have a paper trail you can use in a dispute, a complaint to a regulator or as evidence in a potential lawsuit.
Persistence is a Strategy, Not a Courtesy
Debt collectors do not call you five times a day because they have something new to tell you. They call you five times a day because that is a strategy that works.
One consumer on 800notes described years of calls about someone she does not know: “Have been calling me for a couple of years about someone who I do not know and had not had this number in at least several years. Now they have started calling again about the original person I DO NOT KNOW. They refuse to stop.”
This is harassment with a suit and tie, and it costs the collector almost nothing to keep calling. What does cost the collector money is responding to a formal debt validation letter, responding to a credit bureau dispute or defending against a complaint to a regulator.
A debt collector will not spend more money than a debt is worth. Every formal action you take raises the cost of doing business for that collector.
What You Can Do Right Now
Pull Your Credit Reports and Activate Your Red Flag Radar
Start by requesting your credit reports from all three major bureaus. Scan those reports for any entry from Midwest Recovery Systems and look carefully at the date of first delinquency, the balance, the name of the original creditor and the account number. If anything is missing or inconsistent or unfamiliar, make a note of it.
You have the right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to dispute any entry you believe may be inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable. The credit bureau has to investigate, and if the entity making the report cannot verify the information, the entry has to come off your report.
Given that the FTC found that between 80 percent and 97 percent of the debts Midwest Recovery Systems reported were invalid, an entry from this agency may not stand up to a well-documented dispute.
Do not call Midwest Recovery. Do not engage with 844-766-8319. Every single action you take should be in writing, should be on your terms and should be aimed at the credit reporting infrastructure, not the collector.
Let FightCollections.com Handle the Dispute
If Midwest Recovery Systems is appearing on your credit report, you do not have to navigate the dispute process on your own. At FightCollections.com, we specialize in identifying collection entries that are inaccurate or illegitimate and disputing them on your behalf.
The company behind these calls was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission for reporting debts they knew were not valid. Contact us today for a free consultation.
The calls from 844-766-8319 are designed to pressure you into reacting. Your best response is to react strategically, in writing, with professional help on your side.
