The CFPB Just Took Action Against the 2 Biggest Debt Buyers — Here's What It Means for Your Account

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The two largest debt buyers in the United States — Encore Capital Group (Midland Funding) and Portfolio Recovery Associates — have both been the subject of formal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement action. Twice each.

Combined, the two companies have been ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in consumer refunds and federal civil penalties. The CFPB's findings establish a regulatory baseline of what the country's largest debt buyers have actually been doing — and what consumers being chased by them have a right to push back on.

This page lays out the CFPB cases in plain English, what was specifically alleged, what the settlements provided, and what it means if your account is currently being collected by either company or any debt buyer that follows similar patterns.

The Short Version

In 2015, the CFPB took its first major enforcement action against the two biggest debt buyers in the country. Both companies entered consent orders that included consumer refunds and civil penalties. The CFPB found that both had engaged in deceptive collection practices.

Years later, the CFPB filed follow-up enforcement actions against both companies for violating those original consent orders. The 2020 Encore follow-up resulted in a $15 million civil money penalty plus consumer redress and a five-year extension of the original consent order. The 2023 PRA follow-up resulted in $24 million total ($12 million in consumer redress plus a $12 million civil penalty), with the CFPB labeling PRA a "repeat offender."

The pattern matters. The two largest companies in the industry were each cited twice for similar conduct. This is not isolated. It is the documented baseline for what the largest debt buyers in the country have been found to do.

The 2015 Encore Capital Action

The 2015 Portfolio Recovery Associates Action

The two cases were filed together as part of what the CFPB framed as an industry-wide signal. The largest two buyers in the country, both publicly traded, both ordered into the same consent terms on the same day. The message was that the practices alleged were not anomalies — they were industry-wide and the federal regulator was naming them.

The Follow-Up Actions: The Pattern Continues

After the 2015 consent orders, both companies remained under specific compliance obligations. Years later, the CFPB filed follow-up enforcement actions against both, alleging the original consent orders had been violated.

Two companies. Four enforcement actions across roughly eight years. Not bad apples. Pattern.

What This Means for Your Account

If you have an account being collected by Midland Funding (Encore), Portfolio Recovery Associates, or any other debt buyer that follows similar patterns, the CFPB's findings give you specific things to watch for and demand.

1. Demand Validation in Writing

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act requires the collector to validate the debt within 30 days of your written request. After the CFPB findings about insufficient documentation, this matters even more. Send the validation request by certified mail. Keep your copy. If they cannot produce sufficient validation, the collection effort weakens — sometimes substantially.

2. Check the Statute of Limitations in Your State

The CFPB found both major buyers had attempted to collect on time-barred debts. Each state has a statute of limitations on consumer debt collection — typically 3-6 years from last activity. If your debt is past that, the collector still has limited rights to attempt collection but cannot use the courts. Per the CFPB's findings, suing on a time-barred debt is itself a violation.

3. Watch for Affidavit Issues if You're Sued

If a debt buyer files suit against you, the affidavits supporting the lawsuit have to be based on actual review of the records. After the CFPB findings on robo-signing, courts and consumer protection attorneys watch these affidavits closely. A consumer protection attorney can review the affidavits in your case for the issues the CFPB cited.

4. Document Every Communication

Save every letter. Note the date, time, and substance of every call. If a collector violates the FDCPA — by misrepresenting the debt, by calling outside permitted hours, by threatening action they can't legally take — you may have an FDCPA claim worth statutory damages plus attorney fees.

5. Take Settlement Offers Seriously, on Your Terms

Debt buyers often settle for far less than face value. The CFPB cases also establish that any settlement should be in writing, should clearly state the amount that resolves the account, and should result in the account being reported as "settled" or "paid in full" on your credit report per the agreement. Don't pay a debt buyer without a written settlement agreement.

How to Check If Your Account Is Affected

Some consumers may have received refunds directly from the CFPB enforcement actions. Most did not — refund eligibility was tied to specific time periods and specific account categories.

To check whether your account is currently being held by Encore, PRA, or another major debt buyer:

1. Pull your credit reports. Free annually from each of the three major bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. Look at the "current creditor" line for each delinquent or charged-off account.
2. Match against the major buyer names. Midland Funding LLC, Midland Credit Management, Asset Acceptance, Portfolio Recovery Associates, LVNV Funding LLC, Cavalry SPV I LLC, Resurgent Capital Services. Any of these names indicates the account has been sold to a debt buyer.
3. Check letters and call records. The collector identifying themselves on the call is usually working for the buyer. The letter heading often shows which buyer owns the account.
4. If a lawsuit was filed against you, check the named plaintiff. Court filings name the entity suing you. That entity is the current owner of the debt.

Other Major Federal and State Actions Against the Industry

The Encore and PRA cases are the largest, but they're not alone. Federal and state regulators have taken action against the broader debt collection and debt-buying industries repeatedly.

FTC Industry Studies

The Federal Trade Commission published "The Structure and Practices of the Debt Buying Industry" in 2013, which collected detailed data from the nine largest debt buyers in the country. The report documented the pricing structure (debt buyers paid roughly 4 cents on the dollar on average), the documentation gaps that travel with sold portfolios, and the patterns of consumer harm.

State Attorney General Actions

State attorneys general in states like California, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington have brought their own enforcement actions against debt buyers and collection agencies over the past decade. These actions often address in-state violations and can result in restitution to consumers in those states. (For specific case-level detail, see your state AG's consumer protection division docket.)

CFPB Regulation F (2021)

The CFPB's Regulation F, which took effect in late 2021, modernized the federal debt collection rules under the FDCPA. Key provisions include limits on call frequency, required disclosures in initial communications, and rules around electronic communications. Regulation F applies to most debt buyers and third-party collectors.

The Bigger Pattern

The CFPB and FTC findings establish a regulatory baseline. The largest debt buyers in the country have been found to engage in patterns of conduct that violate consumer protection law. Their settlements documented those patterns. Their follow-up actions documented that the patterns continued.

For consumers being chased by debt buyers today, this is the credibility floor. The collection effort starts from a position where the federal regulator has already established that the industry's largest players have a track record of:

• Trying to collect on debts the law no longer allows them to sue on
• Filing lawsuits with documentation that doesn't meet the standard
• Misrepresenting the legal status of debts
• Pursuing collections without sufficient evidence the debt is valid as claimed

This isn't a reason to ignore a debt buyer. It is a reason to know your rights, demand proper documentation, and not pay anything that hasn't been validated and put in writing. It is also why debt resolution paths — debt forgiveness, statute-of-limitations defense, FDCPA claims — work as effectively as they do. The leverage is real. The math is documented.

The Bottom Line

If you have an account currently being collected by Encore Capital (Midland Funding), Portfolio Recovery Associates, or any other major debt buyer:

• The federal regulator has formally found the two largest companies in the industry guilty of practices including time-barred collection, robo-signed lawsuits, and misrepresentation
• You have specific rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and state law
• The buyer probably paid pennies on the dollar for your account, which means substantial settlement room
• Documentation gaps in sold debt portfolios mean validation demands have real teeth
• Lawsuits filed without proper documentation can be challenged, sometimes successfully

You are not powerless against a debt buyer. You are dealing with a regulated industry whose largest players have been formally found to engage in patterns the regulator has documented and named.

What To Do Next

1. Pull your credit reports. Free annually at AnnualCreditReport.com. Identify which accounts are with debt buyers.
2. Demand validation in writing. Send the FDCPA validation request by certified mail within 30 days of any first contact.
3. Check your state's statute of limitations. Old debts may have aged out of legal enforceability.
4. Document everything. Save letters, log calls. FDCPA violations can be worth real money.
5. Take the Free Debt Relief Assessment. A senior specialist will tell you how the regulatory landscape applies to your specific situation. No cost. No obligation.

Common Questions

If the CFPB took action, why are these companies still operating?

Federal enforcement actions resulted in consumer refunds, civil penalties, and consent orders requiring changes to practices — not shutdowns. Both Encore and PRA continue to operate as the largest debt buyers in the country. The follow-up actions in 2020 and 2023 indicate the conduct issues did not fully stop after the original 2015 orders.

Did I get a refund from these enforcement actions?

Possibly, if your account met specific criteria from the relevant time periods. Most affected consumers received refunds directly from the companies as part of the consent order administration. The CFPB has historical records on payouts. Most current consumers being chased by these companies are dealing with active accounts unrelated to the historical refund pools.

Can I sue Encore or PRA directly for FDCPA violations?

Individual consumers can file FDCPA claims for violations affecting their specific case. Statutory damages are up to $1,000 per case plus attorney fees. Many consumer protection attorneys handle these cases on contingency. A case requires documentable violations — not just the general regulatory history.

What about debt buyers other than Encore and PRA?

The same legal framework applies. The FDCPA, Regulation F, and state laws cover all debt buyers and third-party collectors. The CFPB's findings against the two largest buyers establish a credibility baseline for what the industry has been found to do, but the rules apply equally to LVNV, Cavalry, smaller buyers, and any contract collection agency.

Should I hire a consumer protection attorney?

For serious situations — a lawsuit filed against you, repeated FDCPA violations, large balances — yes. Many take cases on contingency. The National Association of Consumer Advocates maintains directories of member attorneys at NACA.net. State bar associations also maintain referral services.

Does this affect the validity of the debt itself?

The CFPB findings are about how the debt was collected, not necessarily about whether the debt was originally owed. If you genuinely owed the original card debt, that obligation may still exist. The findings give you tools to push back on improper collection methods and to negotiate from stronger ground — they don't automatically erase a valid underlying debt.

Sources & References

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, enforcement actions: In re Encore Capital Group, Inc. et al. (Sept 2015 — $42M consumer refunds + $10M civil penalty; Oct 2020 follow-up — $15M civil penalty + $79K redress + 5-year extension). In re Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC et al. (Sept 2015 — $19M consumer refunds + $8M civil penalty; April 2023 follow-up — $24M total / $12M redress + $12M penalty). Federal Trade Commission, "The Structure and Practices of the Debt Buying Industry" (2013). Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. Sections 1692-1692p. CFPB Regulation F (12 C.F.R. Part 1006). State statutes of limitations vary.

This article is for consumer education only. It is not legal advice. Your Debt Advocate is not a law firm. Federal and state laws on debt collection are complex and case-specific. A consumer protection attorney can advise on your specific situation. A senior debt specialist can review your situation through the Free Debt Relief Assessment.

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