POWER OF ATTORNEY

Know all men by these presents, that the undersigned hereby constitutes and appoints J. Brandon
Black, Paul Grinberg, Robin R. Pruitt and Florentino Zamora, and each of them, his or her 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 18th day of May, 2007.



						/s/ Tim Hanford
						_________________________
						By:  Tim Hanford