wafflesatnoon.com » Consumers » Debt Collector Spotlight: Portfolio Recovery Associates
Debt Collector Spotlight: Portfolio Recovery Associates
Being a debt collector is a tough job, especially if you specialize in collecting very old debt. So today we’re taking a look at Portfolio Recovery Associates, an infamous debt collector who often calls people out of the blue regarding long-forgotten debt.
Portfolio Recovery Associates specializes in recovering old debt, as their website states:
They purchase consumer and small business accounts that have been charged off from the books of major banks, retailers, credit unions, consumer and auto finance companies, telecommunications, utility providers, student loan lenders, and other businesses.
This particular business calls from a variety of numbers (see list below). This allows them to avoid having their number blocked, and helps mask their identity to the unsuspecting person who answers their call.
As we’ve stated in past articles, if you talk to collectors such as this, they may tell you that they’re looking for a friend or relative that you haven’t seen for years. They may try to make you believe they are calling from an attorney’s office. These types of debt collectors purchases old debt for pennies on the dollar in hopes they can collect it to make a profit. They are racing against the clock to collect as they only have 7 years from the time of the original delinquency to legally come after you. In most cases, after 7 years they cannot pursue a bad debt in the courts, but they can call and write to you about it as long as they want – and they probably will. If you made payments on this old debt, it is possible they will have 7 years from the time of your last payment. Just because they purchased the debt recently does not mean they have 7 years to collect. The 7 year time frame begins on the date of the original delinquency.
Portfolio Recovery Associates are headquartered in Virginia, but operate in 10 states and in the UK, and claim to employ over 3000 people (the website claims 3000, but their BBB profile claims 1400). They have been accredited with the BBB since 12/27/1996. Despite the fact that there have been nearly 1200 complaints in the past 3 years, they retain an A+ rating with the BBB.
What to do?
Some people choose to ignore debt collectors, while others prefer to try and clear things up. That’s up to you. Chances are this is an old debt that someone has already attempted to collect and failed. We’ve heard from people who claim they’ve been called about debt nearly 20 years old. If you choose to talk to them, tell them that under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) section 809, you request validation of the debt (this should be done in writing), and give them no other information until they comply. If you choose not to talk to them, watch your mail carefully. Should they decide it’s in their best interest to sue you, you may receive a letter to that effect. Should you receive such a letter, you will want to send a certified letter to them requesting validation of the debt, as required by section 809 of the FDCPA. Below is a link to a much more in-depth article about how to deal with debt collectors.
A good option is to invoke section 805 of the FDCPA, notifying the collector that they are to cease all communications regarding this debt, outside of any legal notifications, such as a lawsuit.
BBB Profile Info:
BBB file opened: 12/27/1996
Business started: 03/01/1996
Type of Entity: Limited Liability Corporation
Contact Information
Principal: Mr. Christopher Lagow (Senior Counsel)
Ms. Judith Scott (General Counsel)
Number of Employees: 1400
Business Category
Distressed Debt Purchaser
Alternate Business Names
PRA III, LLC, Anchor Receivables Management
Phone Numbers Associated with Portfolio Recovery Associates
Here is our working list of numbers for this organization. Please advise of any corrections or additions, as this is not a complete list, and phone numbers change constantly.
- 2055888181
- 2396428598
- 4045925171
- 4073474014
- 4122821420
- 4405800720
- 4433131380
- 5182073602
- 6262092241
- 6616734507
- 6782651568
- 7024107069
- 7276378527
- 7319847690
- 7573212508
- 7573216271
- 7573216279
- 7573216280
- 7573216281
- 7573216282
- 7578474539
- 7579613546
- 7579613547
- 7579613548
- 8004277142
- 8007721413
- 8476789710
- 8599180780
- 8666913568
- 8669090529
- 8669407640
- 8778030008
- 9184420320
Further Reading
Filed under: Consumers
Got a call from these guys. No way I owe anyone anything. They obviously don’t spend much time verifying before they start hounding people.
add
757-864-0020
678-265-1576
800-860-0644
to your list of numbers.
Portfolio Recovery at 1-757-864-0020 keep calling our home number.
Person they are trying to connect to is in state prison but this does not stop them. I finally blocked the above number. I don’t want to waste time sending a fair debt collection letter to ask for proof of debt since they do not read them nor respond.
RalSince is a free country I decided to have my opinion on this matter aired. I’m not a debt collector but work in the industry for years. naive and uninforme naive and uninformed person. I don’t want to get in to child like argument here. But I work for portfolio Recovery Associates through my own company. add that maybe out add that maybe out of the 100 different fax that were given on this article 10 of them were true. The truth is not written just because you say it is by definitio. Please educate yourself before trying to inform un educated . Portfolio Recovery Associates is imports magazines in last 6 years as 1 of the top 100 small businesses of the United States of America. The fact is that this debt legal . You get the statistics on the statue of limitations just because someone can’t be sued after the 7 year period doesn’t mean it magically goes away if you’re full time if you’re full time employees at any job in the United States that’s like this cost each 1 of us every taxpayer in United States 635 dollars per year. just because you can’t be legally held liable for something doesn’t mean it’s dismissed and forgiven pay i pay it back. it doesn’t matter if its been 5 years or 10 years it’s called being a it’s called being an adult. Anyone with integrity would take car are there any respons are there any from the past. borrow 250 dollars for you to tells you they will pay you back tells you they will pay you back next week say it’s a year from now and you run into them. Of course they been dodging your calls not return your voicemail to text are you going to just walk right past them or are you probably going to s I hope everything’s going well that’s good to hea you know I’ve been trying to get ahold of yo you know you did borrow that 250 dollars fo you know you did borrow that 250 dollars for me even though even though it has been quite a bit longer than you told me it would I’d still like to have it back. if you say that you wouldn’t that’s up to you it’s called free will and free will allows us to make consciously morals and sometimes tragically not decisions. There’s a simple way to take care of this pay it move on you about it you still owe it you always owe it and now someone has been carrying your debt for years and you wonder why does a 16 percent interest rate. Take care of your responsibilities people we’re all adults here keep you keep your word it’s a simple i it’s a simple is that. Take care of your responsibilities because its not my responsibility to take care of you get it got it good!
Your response is the one that is untrue, Dept collectors are scavengers and the pray on those who can not pay, and just because you purchase a dept for $200.00 dollars and try to collect $5000.00 doesn’t make the borrower responsible, they owe Protfolio nothing! as Profolio purchased there own loss and knew the account was high risk. It is just a numbers game. The real truth is the original creditor hedge the accounts so when you can’t pay they are covered, the banks lose no money that’s why they write it off. And the fact that the paper trail of ownership is so unreliable most dept collectors can’t even prove their case in court.
Simply lying about debt collections, sir!
Persons did take care of their responsiblities and this agency ignores laws in each state.
Do you have a proof reader or perhaps some one who can go over your posts?
Maybe you should consider that concept that it isn’t a valid debt in the first place.
They are contacting me about a cellular account from 15 years ago that I do not and have not owed anything on since it was closed… My responsibility was taken care of and now I am being harassed. Where is the justice in that?
lol i can tell you work for them … you cannot even speak proper
For almost 2 YEARS I’ve been getting phone calls from Portfolio Recovery.
They would call 2, 3, 4 times a day, 7 days a week from several different phone numbers (all traceable back to them).
They would always – ALWAYS- get my answering machine and not once did they leave a message stating who they were, who they were looking to speak to, what their business was with the person they were calling, or what debt/company they were collecting for. NOT ONCE. So, I wouldn’t ever call them back.
They just kept on calling.
Now, 2 yrs and some months later, they claim they got a ‘judgment’ against me, (I was never notified by mail or otherwise of this)
and have actually GARNISHED MONEY from my personal savings account!! That is OUTRAGEOUS!!
WTH! Can this company get away with this? Who makes the laws that allow this to happen?
I called these lousy rip offs today, and was told they bought a credit card debt from Capitol-1 back in 2010, and they have been unsuccessful in collecting on it… soooo… Garnish time!
Wait a minute, I said, I want to dispute that debt with Capitol-1… I don’t owe them anything, as a matter of fact, I currently have two perfectly good credit cards with them that go back to at least that point in time; no problems, not even late payments! Why in the world would they give me two more credit cards if I still owed them money on another one?
They said, “Oh they sometimes do that – once they write off a debt from the past… but now WE legally OWN that debt and we are collecting on it. ”
I said well I dispute that “old debt” because I don’t believe I EVER owed that money, now, or back then”.
They said, essentially- “Too bad. You should have picked up the phone all those times we called and worked out a payment plan with us. You owe US the money now. It’s too late to dispute that – we got a judgement. You needed to dispute it back when Capitol-1 was trying to collect”.
I said again– “I had nothing to dispute with capitol 1, because I was never in default with capitol-1! Don’t you think it’s POSSIBLE that debt was sold to you or was somehow listed as mine in error?”
“Well, she said, it could have been, but it’s too late now because you didn’t call us back all that time and explain that. Besides, we have your social security number, so it’s you for sure.”
We exchanged a few more words, I saw I was getting nowhere, and her last words to me were:
“The only thing left to do now is pay the approximately $1200 in a ONE-Time full payment – which is the amount of the debt we bought.”
I said really? I’ve never had a credit card from anyone with more than a 500 credit limit. My Capitol-1 credit limit _now_ is only $300 per card. You won’t see a dime.”
And I hung up in frustration. Now I can’t have a savings or checking account (in my name alone) because they WILL steal my money out of it again . HOW DO I STOP THESE PEOPLE???
In regards to the judgement they claim to have, you have a right to get a copy of the judgement (if you can find out what jurisdiction) and dispute it with the court that issued the judgement. More than likely Portfolio did not follow proper service of summons making it possible to rehear the case. You probably should seek the advise of an attorney and sue the sh** out of them! At the very least file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and your State Attorney General’s Office. Should it turn out that there was no judgement, then both your bank and Portfolio can be sued. Theft and fraud on the part of Portfolio and gross negligence and violation of federal banking laws on the part of your bank. Should Portfolio have violated the FDCPA there is a stated punitive damage award of $1,000 for each violation in addition to actual damages.
An attorney specializing in credit law would be an great resource since there are precedents originating from appellate and federal courts in addition to the actual US Code. If you have the time and money you might get great satisfaction out of garnishing their accounts.
In addition to my previous comment:
ALL CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE COLLECTOR SHOULD BE WRITTEN AND SENT CERTIFIED, RETURN RECEIPT MAIL!!!!!!!!!
If you are in a state where recording a conversation that you are a party in is legal, do so. You could argue that recording is legal since Portfolio often states that they were recording, or tell them “I’m recording this call, if you do not agree, hang up!” CHECK WITH YOUR STATE LAWS FIRST!!!!
Every record, every piece of correspondence should be used to lay a paper trail for evidence in court.
Got a letter from these jerkoffs that actually says,
“Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it and we will not report it to any credit reporting agency.”
Okay. So what is the incentive to pay it?
If it’s not affecting credit, and you can’t legally go after anyone for it, WTF?
Substitute “can’t” for “will not” and that’s the actual truth – any debts these assholes have is out of the statute of limitations and is thus uncollectable.
I hope they get so many damn class action suits for calling ppl under false pretense that it puts the buttwipes out of business. They are giant pricks!
These idiots sued me and entered a default judgement in my favor then tried to appeal it. There reason was some made up b.s about their “witness” not being able to show up so they entered it thinking they could get another trial. Baloney, they entered the judgement because I saw through their b.s and called them out on it. They then sent the same photocopied “evidence” and tried to appeal to a higher court so they could run over me and try to get a win off some legal procedure loophole. Their “attorney” who contacted me was Deanna Hackworth, I’m putting here name out there so people see what kind of people work there. She is as dispicable as the rest of their employees. If you are contacted by these ‘people’, MAKE SURE you send a letter to them to get them to verify the debt, and make sure if you go to trial you make sure to tell the judge that you would like to see every transaction, and payment you are said to have made with the original creditor. Don’t allow them to use any of their phony “evidence” and tell the judge it is all hearsay. They only buy the names and account numbers and no real personal information so they cannot prove they own the debts or that they are even the same account that is supposedley yours.
They are such slime, and they do not reply to letters. I wrote in April or May of 2009 to ask them to verify the so-called debt they had first called, then written (unsigned) and then called about. They refused to reply to my inquiry, but kept calling. After about a year, I complained to the state attorney general’s consumer protection office. They wrote and got a reply from a lawyer named Pearson, who wrote to them and to me, and the gist of his letter is that they cannot verify the debt, it is a line in a printout. After the attorney general’s office contacted them, they “decided to cease collection efforts” in Pearson’s words on the letter, and so they sent me a 1099-C, to the IRS, even though the debt is not and never will be verified to even exist, much less that it is mine. Despite their “decision” to “cease collection efforts” at the beginning of September 2010, they have called 303 times since then. The most recent call was Sunday evening. The attorney general’s office had forced them to start identifying themselves on the caller ID three years ago, but recently, they have started calling from 800-772-1413 without any name in the caller ID. Most recent call Sunday night, 3-17-13.
First of all,
When these people call, ask them if they’re licensed to collect in your state. Some states demand that the company be on file to send mail, call phones, etc. If they are not then they are in violation to the collections laws of that state and probably are on the way of breaking some federal ones as well. They cannot call before 8am or after 9pm in your time zone. They sometimes will call on sundays but if this encroaches on your religious worship time, then they can’t call ( freedom of religion violation ).
They can’t call your cell phone should it be on a minute plan because they are not to make you spend anything by doing so. They can’t threaten you with court actions over the phone, the fact that they do shows they don’t want to spend the money doing so. I’m disabled and on Social security and have been threatened with such actions. I have told them that since most states, $5000.00 and below are small claims court jurisdiction, so file away but good luck in garnishing social security income bank accounts, they’re protected by law. They only ones who can do that is the IRS.
Any collector worth his/her weight will try to get you to recognize the debt, acknowledge the need for solution and make solution to the problem. They will try to redirect you if you stray from this course of conversation. All you are to them is a number to make their monthly goal for their small sum of a commission. They don’t care about why the debt was made, was has happened since then but they will continue and continue and continue to beat a dead horse or get blood from a turnip.
Also be minded that that they can’t put messages on a bulletin board for you otherwise breaking the confidentiality of your debt. If they have a verified mailing address, then they are not allowed to contact your neighbors to bring you a message to call them. The only way to publish your name for your debt is to sue you and that usually happens in the daily record of your local paper. By then, you will have been getting letters from all the bankruptcy attorneys asking to represent you in your bankruptcy.
Personally myself, I was in the Collection Business from 1985 to 2007. I was medically unable to handle work or the BULLCRAP companies that made bad loans. All the things above are samples of what my experience has been in the last 7yrs., Up to my health issues, I had a high credit rating and paid my bills, then my health problems came along and living became a priority not having new this for new that. I’ve paid what I’m able to pay as I make the doctors bill ( $418,000.00 ) the chief bill other than rent, phone, net, food, ins., medicine, etc…
I’ve had calls from these vultures for the past few months. They call & hide the company they are calling form. I had a woman call today from portfolio recovery associates & just mention her first name.When I asked who she was & where she was calling from she got upset & was asking me if I knew “such & Such”I told her 1st you need to identify your self…who are you & where are you calling from. You never openly answer questions from someone who you don’t know especially if they are looking for someone you may or may not know until you positively identify the caller. And even then you don’t give them answers…Anyways she got very defensive & was evasive and unprofessional at that.I hung up on her & called the main office & told them the person they are calling for no longer lives here & to remove my number from the call list.
Hello this John Smith…is Blah Blah there?? <—These are the sort of calls that these crooks are known to. You then must ask well "Who are you" "And where are you calling from" watch them get defense & evasive with you. You have Positively Identified a Goon from "Portfolio Recovery Associates"
I am 18 years old, and have never had any debt due to the fact that I have never had credit cards, loans etc. They call just about every two or three days or so. What could they possibly want from me?
Are they asking for you by name, or just leaving a generic message? It could be that they have an old number, or perhaps you have the same name as someone else. Both have happened to me more than once.
I was served last night (Sunday pm)with a summons stating that I owe a little over $800 on an old credit card. I had totally forgotten about this and honestly I don’t remember receiving any phone calls from Portfolio or any other collection company regarding this debt, until this summons. The credit card company did call to try to collect but this was like 2 years ago. I’m wondering if you have any advice on what to do. Is it too small to fight off? If I ignore it, will I really get sued for $800? Please help!