510-355-1780

heck no..avoid them. use your caller i.d....do not answer 866, 877, 800, or any other 8** number.
use google to find out who is calling you before you answer...these toads will use any means to intimidate you into paying them.

They are calling me on a 10 yr old Ford repo it has already ruined my credit and been charged off my report and now the bottom feeders are trying to collect. if they are given money it will not show on my credit or be of any benefit, except to them

I get calls from Portfolio about 4 times a week. I have never answered and do not plan to. I have good credit. Sooner or later (more like later) they will stop calling. I hear if you answer them they will call you all the more and get info from you so they can collect old debts. Also they want your address so they can send you a 1099-c tax bill. Do not ever give them info.

I don't use the phone very much.  These days the vast majority of calls are from people trying to sell me things or people like this portfolio recovery leech outfit trying to collect non-existent debts.  I have simply stopped answering the phone unless I recognize the caller number/ID and it's someone I want to talk to.  If an unknown caller leaves a message I want to respond to I call back.  If it's not someone I want to talk to I don't call back.  The portfolio leeches  have been calling for years and, for most of that time, have not rached anyone.  Another leech outfit is Sirius Radio.  I used to have several AM and Sirius radios when I lived where there was no NPR reception.  Several years ago I discontinued all of them except one.  For some reason they have taken to calling me several times a day to tell me my agreement is or has expired.

This kind of foolishness is just another by-product of joblessness in the US.  I sort of respect the people's attempts to earn a living but what they are doing amounts to criminal behavior and I don't approve of that.  

The mortgage scams that bankrupted all the participants who were then bailed out with tax money paid by the people who had been swindled is just typical US business in action.  

I spent my childhood with the propaganda of how wonderful the US is and have spent my adulthood recovering from all that hogwash.  The portfolio recovery scam is just another US business, another scam to beware of and avoid.

in my previous messsage, AM should have been SM.  Sorry

my typing sucks.  Not AM, not SM. It is XM.

This is a continual call, daily. it needs to stop

I have been getting periodic calls from these weasels, and have no fear of them, and there is no legitimate possible reason for them to be contacting me.  I was divorced several years ago -- and then, now, and all years between I have had very FEW debts, and ALL CURRENT -- so there is no basis for these people to contact me.  Either they have erroneous data, say an old  long-paid item at time of divorce (handled by my attorney)  which mistakenly showed as due on some schedule, or simply mistaken identity, an phone number listing error, etc.  Whatever, I don’t give a rat’s ass, because I owe nothing and gain some amusement from the occasional message left on my voice mail.  As evidenced by the written items entered on this site by obvious PRA employees or shills - these verbal messages also sound as if they were created and delivered by mentally-challenged 14-year-olds for whom English may be a second language.  These outfits buy old portfolios of accounts receivable listings, far beyond period of legal collectability - even if once legitimate - for ¢’s on the $’s.  They auto dial thousands of times daily, from a host of originating phone #’s.  As others who know more of the technical aspects than I, their “CSRs/scamsters,” can detect a “live” answer, connect with this individual, and then attempt to coax or threaten the person into paying something.  If one doesn’t answer (I never do, and now get a call from them about twice a week), usually appears as “missed call,”  but sometimes leaves a voice mail message.  Latter usually pre-recorded, but sometimes a “live” person, who grammar, syntax and general verbal demeanor is quite limited - like someone who flunked his/her GED exam.  Whatever --- just be certain you engage in no dialogue or correspondence which would indicate any acknowledgement of the legitimacy of their efforts, because even a long-uncollectable item can be placed back into a legal/current status if the alleged debtor gives indication of this.  And if the amount is significant, you can bet these guys have lawyers who are just as smarmy as their “collectors!”  (Please pardon the redundancy of using “smarmy” and “lawyers” in the same sentence.)

I would like to stop receiving phone calls from this number...

This number has been calling me almost every day and I hate to say this, but they also send me things in the mail.

I DO owe this debt and they are well within their rights to try and collect it from me. I know it's frustrating guys but honestly, sometimes they do get it right.

In this economy every dollar counts and they are just doing their jobs. If you don't owe then do what these people say, tell them its not you, you paid it off, write a letter, whatever but don't sit here and complain.

They are just people like you and I and sometimes they get it wrong. Calm down, breathe and get over it. It could be so much worse.

Depending on Your state, No one can collect on a debt the is more than 7 years old. Check your credit.

I receive on average 2-3 calls per hour from this debt collector 7 days a week, lol. However it makes no difference to me since the phone is on silent and is a phone that our household no longer uses but we have Comcast Triple Play (Cable, Internet and Phone)  and disconnecting the phone would cost me more per month so I keep it plugged in and they don't bother me at all , I love knowing that they have been wasting their time for the last 2 years, hahahaha

Everything you need to know about the SOL in every state can be found at:

http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/statue-limitations-explained.html

Receive numerous calls from different numbers for someone named Arthur Bradshaw.  He apparently had the phone number that I now have.  I repeatedly tell the person calling that I am not Arthur Bradshaw and please remove my number.  They say OK and then the next day, they call from a different number but it is the same company each time.

LA--
If they continue to call you after they have been told they person they want no longer owns your number, you can take them to court and sue them for TCPA (Do Not Call) violations. Intentional violations of the TCPA bring up to $1,500 PER violation:

Generally, the TCPA does not apply to debt collectors making collection calls to debtors. However, if you are subjected to calls from a debt collector and you are not the debtor, you may file a lawsuit against the debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the TCPA.

This right was recently recognized by Judge Legrome D. Davis in a case called Watson v. NCO Group, Inc.  NCO Group is a debt collector that uses automated prerecorded collection calls.  In this case, Mr. Watson alleged he was getting hundreds of calls from NCO Group after he got a new phone number. Mr. Watson claimed he owed no debt to NCO Group, Inc.  Mr. Watson filed suit under both the FDCPA and TCPA.

David Israel, defense lawyer for NCO, argued that the TCPA should not apply to debt collectors.  Judge Davis rejected the argument made by David Israel. The judge ruled that Mr. Watson had a right to sue NCO Group Inc under the TCPA for $500 for each call.  Judge Davis wrote;

[The] Court is convinced that a non-debtor's rights are in fact violated when he is subjected to repeated annoying and abusive debt collection calls that he remains powerless to stop.

Judge Davis' ruling was based upon his interpretation that collection calls to non-debtors violate the privacy rights provided by the TCPA.  

So what can you do if you receive "wrong number" calls from debt collectors?

1. Sign up for the Do-Not-Call registry.
2. Save the calls captured by your voice mail or answering machine.
3. Contact a consumer lawyer.

http://consumerlawyer.typepad.com/blog/2008/02/the-do-not-call.html

Collections
TCPA: What Is It & How Does It Affect You?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) does many things - including prohibiting debt collectors from calling your cell phone without your permission. Each unauthorized call could result in the debt collector paying you up to $1,500. Here's some helpful information on the Act and how it might affect you.
What is the TCPA?

The TCPA, which was signed into law in 1991 under the first Bush Administration and codified under 47 U.S.C. 227, prohibits calls using any automatic telephone dialing system or artificial or prerecorded voices to:

•Emergency telephone lines
•Telephone lines of any guest room or patient room at a hospital, health care facility, elderly home or similar establishment
•Telephone numbers assigned to paging services, cellular telephone services, specialized mobile radio services, other radio common carrier services or any service for which the called party is charged for the call
•Any telephone call to a residential telephone line
•Send unauthorized faxes
The only way that a caller won't violate the statute is if express consent has been given - and violations of the TCPA are steep. An unintentional call carries a damage amount of $500; an intentional call carries a damage amount of $1,500. That's per call and regardless of the purpose of the call. In other words, if they call you using an automated dialing system without your consent, they've violated the Act and you are entitled to damages.

How does it affect you?

Most debt collectors use automatic telephone dialing systems to contact debtors. You'll recognize this when you go to pick up the phone and there is a slight hesitation on the other end. In fact, most debt collectors are calling nearly 100 people at a time just waiting for someone to answer. Although many have stopped calling landlines, cell phones are another story. Since more and more people are using cell phones either instead of, or in addition to, traditional landlines, debt collectors are finding their cell phone numbers using skip tracers, calling them and hoping that they don't realize that the TCPA has been violated.

http://bankruptcy-law.freeadvice.com/collections/tcpa_how_it_works.html

Send the letter certified mail so that they have to sign for it.

Stop posting garbage that can get people into trouble.  There is NOT a statute of limitation on DEBTS.  There is a statute of limitation on bringing suit to collect a debt you owe.  That means they can call FOREVER if they have any proof at all that you owe it.  What is "proof"? A company like Verizon tells them they are owed money.  They are allowed to collect on that forever. You can only get them to stop contacting you - they can then sell it to someone else and try again.  THEY ARE OWED EVERY PENNY THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR WAS OWED.  It does not matter what they paid to purchase the debt or how long it has been.  If the debt is yours, Pay it! The rest of us don't like that we have to pay and you get yours for free.  But if you do admit it is yours or promise to pay it, you may renew the statute of limitations on collection action for the debt (meaning a lawsuit).  In some states this must be done in writing, and over the phone promises are not enough - Check your state's laws.  If you listen to people like this one below, you risk losing your assets.  I encourage everyone to not listen to any idiots on this place - not even me. LOOK IT UP under the actual set of laws, I cannot stand seeing good people get tricked.  The statute of limitations on debt collection begins to toll from the date of first delinquency, and the statute limits the amount of time a creditor may then initiate a suit against you to recover the debt.  It does not have anything to do with whether it is still owed, it will always be owed and someone can technically call you forever about it.   Please learn the facts.

They CAN collect.  And they can call forever.

Finally.  Yes, look at that page, it's great.  It DOES NOT say they can't collect! It shows the statute of limitations if for court enforcement - how long they have to sue over it.  They can call forever.

Statute of limitations does not run out on debts.  Learn the law you idiot.  Just b/c the time limit runs on how long they have to sue you over it does not mean the debt is expired and they may call you about it forever - if you give them a C&D letter they can sell it to someone else who can start all over.  Pay your bill or fight it, whatever, but don't be an idiot on here.  People need the right info.