Portfolio Recovery Associates

They,can not reveal any information Unless it is to your relatives or place of employment.That is private information.You need to look up Mini- Miranda rights.Look up that information and watch out they look for you on Facebook too.
Hope the hurricane gets them and their families maybe they need to see the down side of America.jerks

Actually under FDCPA a debt collector cannot discuss an account with anyone apart from the alleged debtor or a spouse. Most will balk at talking even to the spouse in an abundance of caution around a sore spot for consumer lawsuits. You are correct that the debt industry is hot to skip trace via social media as a greater portion of communications has migrated online.

The problem is that everyone (consumers) are not following what's entitled to them!!  When PRA does violate the FDCPA debt regulations you can sue them for $1,000 per violation.

I KNOW I have won $8,000 from various debt collectors that are abusing the system!! It works and it's worth about 2 hours of your time!! If you have a computer and a printer, use the US Post office to mail out the letter certified, return request receipt, you're half way there!!

PRA and others debt collectors don't bother fighting the small claims suit!!  Why? It's cheaper for them to pay out the $1,000 fine since they make it back on about 115 others that daily do get suckered into paying them on a monthly basis.  They don't even bother coming to the small claims court hearings and you win a judgment, then collect from their bank!! Plus you include your court filing cost and postal fees in your judgement request, the judge wil honor it.  

I can only say do your homework, look at the various debt collection forums that offers FREE advice, you don't have to pay a dime or subscribe. I KNOW!!

People on these message boards, talk and talk, make threats, etc and get mad on the computer, but you all need to direct that energy to making the debt collectors pay up!



Do I owe the debts? Some I do, but it's 8 plus years old and in CA, that's over the statue of limitation, in some cases, I already paid in FULL (years ago).

I have 3 more on the hook now!!

anyone know how to find info if  a collection agency is licensed to do business
in a state.  am i wrong in thinking they have to have a licanse to  do that?
thank you.

Some states require licensing and/or bonding, some don't demand much of anything. I would look at a given state's laws or consumer regulators for pointers, as this too will vary. Usually you'll also find some form of "mini FDCPA". In some states it merely parrots federal. Enlightened states like California, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Texas have thoughtfully crafted collections laws which are stronger than federal FDCPA and/or apply to original creditors.

why? what is that going to do for us -- i know what it will do for you..... what about us?
i have tried with your company.....  i asked several times over the years to substantiate
i have some contractual obligation to pay you, with my signature on it.
i am yet to get a reply...  but i get phone calls from everybody and their grandmothers
from all over the country in your behalf, on my caller id box.  (i am deaf i don't have
a phone, just service for my computer) which checks back to you....  
well, old darling, knock yourself out.... and if you get me on the phone, let me know
how you did it....

DG, if you're going to dispute and request validation, do so on paper, Certified mail with receipt. The FTC tells you the same thing if you study their material on the FDCPA.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.shtm

Collectors must leave you alone while they gather (or fail to prepare) your validation. In the same letter you can restrict or ban all calls about that account , from that one collector, for good. You might be rinsing and repeating as the account gets bounced around the next collectors in the chain, but the ability to hold statutory fines over the heads of each pesky agency is a real bargain for the USPS fees.

You can send them a certified letter telling them to stop calling you and they have to do so. Check the Laws regarding Fair Debt Collection in your State on how to proceed with a possible lawsuit if they dont and contact an attorney.

They keep calling me for someone who used to have my phone number more than five years ago. I have been polite and told them that the person is not at this number, and they keep calling my phone number regardless.

Here is one way to get back at them. When I get their phone call, I just ask them to hold on and walk away. Let the jerks waste their time and money. Finally, they hang up. I will keep doing this until they get the message to not call my phone number any more.

You're not getting "back at them" and PRA will never "get the message" which you have not delivered. You're only competing to see which side can be the most obnoxious. PRA has hundreds of phone numbers and an autodialer to aim them at your one. I know which side I would choose in a betting game.

High volume debt collectors are notoriously deaf to verbal requests. It's not so much incompetence as the policy of lawbreaking debt collectors across the industry to assume you are a liar until you give an answer which gets one paid. As mentioned very recently here, you can send a ''cease communication'' notice via USPS Certified with return card. This is the method promoted by the FTC and many consumer watchdogs, and the only way to set a legal landmine, as such a notice is ignored at their risk of a lawsuit from you.

on a side note I destroy portfolio recovery solutions collectors.

I particularly do this to the ones that call me and hang up.

1. when a bill collector calls I answer and on my iphone i hit 'add call'

2. on the second line i dial back the # that called me.

3. I then 'merge' the call and put the incoming and outgoing calls in a conference.

4. hit mute.

5 repeat steps 1-4 until you have 4-6 agents all yapping at each other and arguing with each other.

6. put on speakerphone + mute, and amuse your friends. chuckle at the thought that you can tie up 6 employees at a time. mention that it is not cost effective to call this # to their supervisor.

I have been receiving calls from 757-961-3544, yesterday they called and I answered. The rude man I spoke to tried to convince me that I owe Sears National Bank money. Never heard of this bank and the man got mad that I would not give yes or no answers so he hung up. Didn't realize it was a scam until was talking to a friend of mine who received a similar call. They left her a message, calling her by her first marriage last name and said they were on the way to court house to file papers here is your docket number call us now to take care of this. It is very weird that we got these calls within 24 hours of each other!!!!!

Complaints about PRA are massive and covered under https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-757-961-3544
and many others.

FYI: Making the threat they are "On the way to the court house to file papers" on an unvalidated debt is illegal and a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices.

I was just sued by Portfolio  Recovery Assoc. in the court by where I live.  Can anyone recommend a debt defense lawyer that I can use that's in New York.  Thanks, Carrie in Buffalo, N.Y.

} you can sue them for $1,000 per violation

No, you can't. The statutory fine is *capped* at $1K per *action*. Agency violates 894 times, you still get a flat rate award. If you made any more per lawsuit, you got actual damages or a settlement prior to trial.

§ 1692k. Civil liability
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1692k

} debt collectors don't bother fighting the small claims suit!!

Maybe yours surrendered early, but not all will. My own Buffalo Bully fought me for about eight months. Eventually they paid me a fat check when it was clear this pro se plaintiff wasn't scared of their lawyer. I estimate their defense cost at least three times what I had offered to accept for a pre-suit settlement.

This means that if you feel litigious you cannot rely on bluffing. A solid FDCPA complaint is not dashed off within a movie running time. It's carefully drafted with an underlying strategy for handling what the defense could potentially do to wreck your chances.

Cautions aside, your other remarks are correct. We could use many more people suing their collectors into legal compliance. If you can read, write, and reason, you can fight a corporation worth billions and win.