Portfolio Recovery Associates

Any attorney recommendations made here are bound to be suspect. Several high volume consumer law firms like to spam boards like this.

You could start shopping through the National Association of Consumer Advocates database. (NACA.net) Be advised it's largely a promotional directory like the phone book and most of its members are bankruptcy paper pushers who make lackluster consumer defenders. But you'll have some names to start with and plug into searches of your state court dockets. Ideally you want to find someone who has actually left her office for debt defendants *and* FDCPA plaintiffs, and has fought the collectors to a standstill.

Admittedly you don't have a lot of time for attorney shopping, but the wrong choice could literally cost you thousands of dollars you could presumably use for rent and groceries. Consider working pro se if the available counsel choices are underwhelming.

related discussion here:
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-691-3568/10#p425079016913867006

Carrie - I was sued in Buffalo City Court by Portfolio Recovery Assoc.  
I hired Consumer Lawyer Jason Shear, Esq. in Buffalo, N.Y.  We got PRA's debt collection case dismissed!
Hope this helps.  Jen in N.Y.

If you saved your voicemails it is worth contacting a consumer lawyer especially if they are on your cell phone.  Wrong calls placed to a cell phone in the connection to collect  a debt may be worth between 500-1500 dollars

Hi Jen - Do you have a telephone number for attorney Shear?  
I need to get in touch with a lawyer right away!  Thanks, Carrie.

Great news that you won.    I hope you'll keep us informed if this debt turns up again down the road, in the future.  While I suspect the judge dismissed "with prejudice," meaning PRA can't sue you again for the same debt, I suspect they might "pass it along" to another junk debt collector for a few pennies, even though they are precluded from doing so because of the dismissal--hey, their debt collectors, what do you expect?

Yes, Consumer Rights Attorney Jason Shear's phone number is (716) 566-8988.  As I stated above, we got PRA's debt collection case dismissed with prejudice!  Hope this helps!  Jen in N.Y.

Re: A debt collection
I have no idea who or what you are I deny this as a case of fraud, I'am not employed I do not have an income, I'am 60 years old trying to get disability, this debt you keep at me about I deny it.

Might help if you direct your statements to PRA.    Nobody here has anything to do with them.

Wendel's right. While a PRA employee started this thread (and many like it on other sites) and stupidly named it after his company, no part of this site is controlled or managed by any collection agency. The true name and URL of this site are not hard to find.

You've also demonstrated how *not* to dispute a debt. Your personal problems with finance are not relevant. If you're sure the account isn't yours, they don't need your life story. "Not my debt, stop contacting me" is enough, and best said on paper in a Certified mailing. Nothing you say online or on the phone will be taken nearly as seriously.

My long form advice for "not me" cases is found here:
https://800notes.com/forum/ta-34af6a034ba34b6/unending-collection-calls

Thanks so much for the referral Jen!  We got the Answer out to the Buffalo City Court before I defaulted.
I got a load taken off my shoulders.

Isn't it great when this site works like it should?  Sure beats the heck out of the "how do I claim my lottery winnings" and "warring Canadian motorcycle dealer" posts.

Good for you both, Carrie and Jen!

This portfolio recovery assoc. sent me letter.  I don't understand it.

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0149-debt-collection

Don't pay them anything unless they prove they have the right person, the right amount, that the debt is not outside the statute of limitations and that they have the right to collect it.  They have to give you enough information for you to verify that the original creditor is someone you really owe.

Yeah when I showed up for the first court date PRA scoped out all the poor soles in the crowd that was being sued by them.  If you looked like you didn't know what you were doing, they would pull you outside before the actual court started to try to settle something small with you or threaten you one and then you would settle with them.  If they thought you knew what you were doing, they would tell the judge that they wanted to continue the case.  Well I got my next court date couple months later my name wasn't called even though I got a letter from the court saying it was removed from the calender on the date of the first court date session and continued.  Then another place was checked that said this action shall be calendered on the second court date and my name wasn't even called by judge and when I went to the clerk's office she told me it was because PRA issued a judgement against me and I asked her why I wasn't able to fight it on second court date and she said because of the judgement.  I just don't think something is right here.  I didn't get time to ask Judge if I could get to prove that this was my true debt or not.  Any advice?

My initial caution is that you won't get the help you need until you articulate your problem. That means clarifying the timeline of events, avoiding run-on sentences, and learning where to set paragraph breaks.

What should and should not happen in your case must be weighed first against your local court's rules of procedure. No one of us trying to diagnose at a distance can give any firm answers. What follows is all shot from the hip.

Evidently sewer service was not an issue. If PRA won a default judgment, it means you failed to do what the rules provide as your response to the summons. In some places you file an Answer, in others you attend a hearing. If it's summary judgment, whatever you did was not enough to raise a "material issue" of dispute. PRA told the judge there was nothing left to argue and she was forced to agree. Any other scenario may indicate faulty process, thus a possible chance for you to vacate the judgment.

What concerns me is that you seem to be letting the plaintiff's counsel do all the driving on this bus. You have to think offensively when fighting as a debt defendant. Why do you want to "prove that this was my true debt"? That's not your job. You instead have to frustrate the plaintiff's job. As a junk debt buyer, PRA is likely not to have or obtain proof, nor present a live competent witness supporting its claim, and may try bluffing with robo-perjured documents. I might add that your story lacks any thought toward FDCPA violations PRA was prone to have given you. Stop trying to beg from the judge and start attacking your opponent.

In a couple of hours I expect a comment from "Consumer" making a vague warning that I'm a fraud and chanting at you to "talk to a lawyer, talk to a lawyer". I'll agree with the latter part. You may believe you "know what you were doing", but if your pleadings look like your remarks here, you need serious help. You can start shopping on NACA.net and your own court dockets and find someone local, not from a bankruptcy mill, who fights and wins Fair Debt cases.