SEC Form 3

FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* ECKHARDT RON J (Last) (First) (Middle) ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP, INC. 8875 AERO DRIVE SUITE 200 (Street) SAN DIEGO CA 92123 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 07/05/2005	3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol ENCORE CAPITAL GROUP INC [ ECPG ]
		4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) Director 10% Owner X Officer (give title below) Other (specify below) Executive Vice President	5. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)
			6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock	0	D

Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Explanation of Responses:

	/s/ RON J ECKHARDT	07/11/2005
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
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POWER OF ATTORNEY

Know all men by these presents, that the undersigned hereby constitutes and appoints Paul Grinberg, J. Brandon Black, Robin R. Pruitt, and George Brooker, and each of them, his true and lawful attorney-in-fact to:

(1)

execute for and on behalf of the undersigned in the undersigned’s capacity as an officer and/or director of Encore Capital Group, Inc. (the “Company”), any and all reports and forms required to be filed by the undersigned in accordance with Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules thereunder, including but not limited to all Forms 3, 4 and 5;

(2)	do and perform any and all acts for and on behalf of the undersigned which may be necessary or desirable to complete and execute any such report or form and timely file the same with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and any stock exchange or similar trading market; and

(3)

take any other action of any type whatsoever in connection with the foregoing which, in the opinion of such attorney-in-fact, may be of benefit to, in the best interest of, or legally required by the undersigned, it being understood that the documents executed by such attorney-in-fact on behalf of the undersigned, pursuant to this Power of Attorney, shall be in the form and shall contain such terms and conditions as such attorney-in-fact may approve in his or her discretion.

The undersigned hereby grants to each such attorney-in-fact full power and authority to do and perform all and every act and thing whatsoever requisite, necessary, and proper to be done in the exercise of any of the rights and powers herein granted, as fully to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or could do if personally present, with full power of substitution or revocation, hereby ratifying and confirming all that such attorney-in-fact, or his or her substitute or substitutes shall lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue of this power of attorney and the rights and powers herein granted.

This Power of Attorney shall remain in full force and effect until the undersigned is no longer required to file reports or forms pursuant to Section 16 with respect to the undersigned’s holdings of and transactions in securities issued by the Company, unless earlier revoked by the undersigned in a signed writing delivered to the foregoing attorneys-in-fact.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused this Power of Attorney to be executed as of this 5th day of July, 2005

/s/ RON J. ECKHARDT ——————————— By: Ron J. Eckhardt