Sued by Midland Funding in Arizona? 3 Reasons Trial May Not Be a Good Option

Most of the Midland Funding lawsuits I defend on behalf of my clients end up in trial. It is my experience that Midland Funding often doesn’t give decent settlements offers prior to trial and the odds of winning your lawsuit are high enough that I am of the opinion that trial is often worth the risks that come with taking a case to trial.

That being said, there absolutely are risks in facing down Midland Funding in trial.  Here are three reasons you may want to look into other ways to deal with your debt collection lawsuit rather than push the case to trial:

#1 – You Have Bad Facts

I am of the opinion that the defenses you have against Midland Funding are good.  And in fact, many if not most of consumers who fight Midland have a decent chance of winning their case – the reason being is that the law is often on your side.

That being said if you have bad facts it can lead to a bad result.  What do I mean by bad facts?  In the end the judge in your case will make a decision based upon the specific facts of your case.  And while most Midland Funding cases have a very similar fact patter (i.e., a debt was charged off, allegedly sold, and now Midland is suing on it) if there are facts specific to your case that could potentially result in an adverse verdict it may not be a good idea to take it to trial.

Some examples of bad facts could be if there have been missteps in the case leading up to trial.  For instance once I had a client that represented himself during the first part of his Midland case and had drafted some of the initial court documents on his own, made a mistake, and it ended up costing him at trial.

#2 – Midland Funding Agrees to a Low-Ball Settlement Offer

This doesn’t happen very often, but every now and again I get suprised with Midland agreeing to a low settlement offer.  It usually happens when they know they have a particularly bad case or some other conflict that makes showing up to the trial, either for them or their lawyer, inconvenient.

So what is a “low-ball” settlement offer?  Anytime Midland comes to the table with a settlement of 10%-15% of the amount they are suing for I recommend that my client takes the deal.  For instance, if you were being sued for $8,000 and they agreed to settle for $800-$1,200 that is a good deal and you should take it.

Remember – trial is all or nothing.  At the end of trial you will either owe $0 or you will owe the full balance, plus attorney’s fees, plus interest, plus court costs.  If you can get out of your case for a 10%-15% you should do it.

#3 – You Don’t Have a Lawyer and are Terrified of Going to Court

If you are fighting your battle against Midland without the benefit of a lawyer and the thought of going to trial is keeping you up at night you may not want to push the case to trial – or go hire an attorney.  While these Midland Funding trials are usually relatively short proceedings (1-2 hours) they are still full of rules and procedures that you are likely totally unfamiliar with.  Without a strong background in trial procedures you run a high risk of losing your case at trial.

Photo Credit:  Daniel Oines