The two largest debt buyers in the US, Encore Capital Group (owner of Midland Funding, LLC) and Portfolio Recovery Associates spoke with officials at the CFPB for over a year, a fact repeatedly mentioned by Encore and PRA in calls with their investors. In September, the results of those talks were announced by the CFPB.
Encore and PRA will both pay penalties, return millions of dollars to consumers and cease all attempts to collect further millions in consumer debts. The consent orders with Encore and PRA are available. The misdeeds described by the CFPB are extremely broad, from robo-signing and collecting statute barred debts to Fair Credit Reporting Act violations.
In addition to the financial terms of these settlements, Encore and PRA will both be prohibited from a long list of activities, mostly mirroring the misconduct the CFPB found. And, both companies were required to stop reselling debts to third parties.