PRA has a 'gay' agenda. 30% of the collectors in the Tenn call center are transvestites and cross dressers.

Word is that Steve Frederickson the CEO is gay and promoting the gay agenda.

Good news is that many states are passing laws to limit 3rd party collection companies like PRA to only collect a maximum of what they paid for your defaulted loan. This removes the extreme profit potential of suing you for the full amount plus expenses.

Portfolio Recovery Associates, third party debt collector. I worked for them for 3 years.

They will negotiate down to 25% of owed balance but check your state laws as some states like Florida limit the amount they can collect to the amount they paid for your defaulted loan. But PRA will not tell you that and you must know your state laws before negotiating to get the best deal.

Always get a letter of Paid in Full, Negotiated Balance prior to paying your negotiated balance. Should PRA not report the transaction to the Credit Bureau you will have a letter showing that you paid in full.

Hello...I sued another bottomfeederagency in federal court and got them to agree to not make me pay and never send me correspondance regarding the debt again..get a good consumer law atty to file suit.  Federal law trumps state law everytime, get the case on public record name names-give them bad press....tell em to shove it.  They bought the dismissed debt for chump change and will proceed to ruin your report if they aren't dealt with swifftly and with hard financial penalties.  They need to be put out of business for good.

CALL THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION AT 1-202-326-2222 OR ON THE WEB GO TO www.ftc.gov  THEN THEY WILL STOP. BE SURE TO HAVE THE TEL # THEY CALLED YOU FROM AND THE NAME OF THE PERSON THAT CALLED YOU, DOCUMENT EVERY WORD THEY SAID TO YOU. THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION DOES NOT TOLERATE THIS ABUSE, EVEN IF YOU OWE PORTFOLIO MONEY.

They are such Wall St. SCUM....Portfolio Recovery Associates has been named to the Forbes 100 Best Small Companies in America annual rankings list for five consecutive years (2007 - 2011). It was ranked as one of BusinessWeek's 100 Hot Growth Companies in 2003, 2005 and 2007, and was recognized by Fortune as one of America's Top Small Businesses in 2006 and 2007. The Company's shares are publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "PRAA." Additional information about Portfolio Recovery Associates is available at www.portfoliorecovery.com.

Here's how to contact them: 120 Corporate Blvd, Suite 100, Norfolk VA 23502 888-772-7326 ask for CEO Steven D. Fredrickson.

CHECK YOUR STATE'S STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON CREDIT CARD DEBT. MANY EXPIRE AFTER 3 YEARS WHICH MEANS YOU WILL WIN ANY LAWSUIT THEY BRING. THEY MAY NOT STOP CALLING BUT AT LEAST YOU CAN LAUGH IN THEIR FACE!

I told them repeatedly to f**k themselves and that they will never receive a penny from me...I also started laying into every woman that called with some WAY over-the-top triple x-rated stuff about what I wanted to do to their mother why they watched. After a few calls from them, with this as my response, the calls ceased completely. Now I'm not encouraging anyone else to do the same here but this worked for me.

These maggots operate on the premise that most people can be intimidated but as soon as they realize you aren't having it, or could care less, they move on end of story.

The twisted part is...I actually miss the calls now. It relieved alot of tension being able to tear into them on a regular basis.

THE    PORTFOLIO   RECOVERY   KEEPS     CALLING    ME    AT    MY  HOUSE   I   AM   DISABLED   SAYING    I    HAVE    A    BILL     OUT.     NOT    TRUE    I     HAVE     GOOD   CREDIT>THE   NUMMBER   THEY    CALLED    ME   ON   IS)  1-702  410  7076  &   NORFOLK  VIRGINIA<  1-914  513  01630) these   people  are   scam  artists    they   are   no    good)  they    are   taking    money    from   the   poor   people)   why   dont    they   just   STOP   IT !!!!    NOW.   THIS   IS    VERY   UNLEGAL.   THEY  NEED   TO   DO   SOMETHING    ABOUT    THESE   SCAM  
ARTISTIS  OUT   HERE   IN   THIS   WORLD   AMEN!!!!!!

call from 702-410-7076  caller ID just says les vegas NV I know it is a number for call from 702-410-7076  caller ID just says les vegas NV I know it is a number for Portfolio recovery.
never leave message. but call several times a day using different numbers. i don't answer land line phone. i GOT THIS NUMBER A YEAR AGO, WHAT EVER IT IS IT IS NOT FOR ME, several other collection co have called left message for a jennifer M, that is not me, i call them back ask them to stop calling, because i now have jennifers number and the dedt is not mine, this loser company still

                                            call from 702-410-7076  caller ID just says les vegas NV I know it is a number for______ Portfolio__________ recovery.

If you dont answer their automated system will just continue to call.    It has been suggested by other harassed people that a loud whistle may help to correct the problem.   If you do answer whatever you do dont identify yourself by name.

Call Blocking services vary considerably depending on the service you have and where you live.   Usually 800 numbers cant be blocked and some areas dont have long distance blocking or limit the number of long distance calls you can block.

Some people suggest putting your number on the  FTC  DoNOT Call list which me limit the number of callers but bot eliminate the problem.

Having a unlisted number can help some but will not totally eliminate the problem.   Being more careful as to who you provide personal information too can help a lot to protect your identity.  For example, when purchasing items you dont need to provide your telephone number.   Many oif these numbers and your identity find their way onto lists that are sold to telemarkers and other annoying callers.

As mentioned by other people in numerous forums of of harrased people it helps if you are careful about your identity, i.e. have your number unlisted, use caller ID, no number on your personal checks,  dont use your name on your e-mail address etc.

I hope this is helpful.

Unfortunately we have Centurylink Telephone (originally QWest) service which doesnt provide long distance call blocking services in our area.  Many of the telephone companies dont allow 800 and 900 numbers to be blocked.

Our only protection is Caller ID and using a loud whistle as suggested by many other forum people who are equally harassed..

A big protection for some type of callers is not to give out ouy telephone number to anyone who doesnt really need it, especially salesman, etc. who then just sell your number to call lists.   After changing our telephone number we dont list it on our checking account eeither,  since public information is obtained from utility companies and  other companies you buy products from.   It is also a good idea to not have your name as part of your e-mail address, which just provides more information about your identity.

Here's the best piece of advice that I can give anybody who is having issues with companies like this.  Go get a free number from a service like Google Voice.  Set it up to forward to your normal number so that you can get calls from it if you need to.  From that point forward, ALWAYS use your Google Voice number whenever doing anything where your number goes into a system attached to your name, from a credit card, to dropping your number at a store.  Use it EVERYWHERE!  If you actually need to get a call, then great, it forwards to your phone.  Then you sit and wait.  It takes time for the new number to circulate, but eventually, it'll show up in the databases where it is important and these companies access it.  Once they start using it, you can monitor which calls come through it and you can block the number.  Google actually has a block list that covers a lot of places like this, you don't even need to manually block them.  If the calls are really bad, once your forwarding number gets out there, you can change your primary number if you need to and just never use it outside of your friends and family.  Google Voice is just a great service, even acts as a call screening service.  Just a suggestion.  It takes time to get those numbers out there, but when it does, it is WELL worth it!

Wow! We went from January 25 until today with out any call from Portfolio Recovery ! Bright and early, this morning they back at it. Since the US Justice Department and the FTC filed a 30-page civil suit in a US District Court in Florida about recently against Asset Acceptance Capital Corp, another bottom-feeder, for things like "re-aging" time-barred debts, for training their employees to "go after" time-barred debts, by "encouraging their victims  to make at least a "partial Payment" (and thus setting the clock running again and allowing them to sue the debtor) , for reporting time-barred debts to credit bureaus in order to harass the debtor, and for not informing the debtor that they have no legal obligation to pay time-barred debt, Portfolio has been laying low while the lawyers huddle, that's what it looks like.

The FTC "declined to specify which debt collection companies might be targeted next." We can always hope  -- Portfolio Recovery is real handy, right there relatively near Washington, D.C. Go get 'em, boys!

Have been getting several calls over the past few days from this number. I pick up the phone, but no one is on the line.

They like to harass us. This morning, I played them some Country Musume when they called. :) I hope you guys like Jpop!

I looked at missed calls on my cell phone and this number came up, but no message was left!
Thanks for all the information.  I will not answer any calls that I don't know who it is.

What I found out that you can write them and ask them not to call your number and explain your not that person or even if you are that person and owe a bill if you put in writing you do not want to be called at work nor home they have to comply. In this state you write to State of _ _ department of commerce. I had to do this because: I didn't owe this company and they had the wrong info and even after I wrote them the calls didn't stop. So I wrote to the Commerce Senior Investigator, Enforcement Division. And they stop coming. Try it works!

Here something you should know: if the collection company offers 60% off the original bill and you decide to pay the debt, the 60% that you did not pay is considered income.

What I found out that you can write them and ask them not to call your number and explain your not that person or even if you are that person and owe a bill if you put in writing you do not want to be called at work nor home they have to comply. In this state you write to State of _ _ department of commerce. I had to do this because: I didn't owe this company and they had the wrong info and even after I wrote them the calls didn't stop. So I wrote to the Commerce Senior Investigator, Enforcement Division. And they stop coming. Try it works!

I know a great lawyer that's sues them over and over. Hes in Florida as well

702-410-7076

Yep.. just got a call from this peolpe. And I didn't answer the phone either. I don't know why port folio recovery would be calling me and what really upsets me is that my home phone is unlisted. So, how did they get this number? Hey quit calling people this makes the 5 time you have called my house. Jack***es.

They call my fax number and they still call every day.

'!STOPPP~NOW!'

Alfalfa, how do you know what the IRS did in response to your complaint? We never received any feed back at all, from the IRS. The fraudulent 1099-C was not enough to cause us any harm on the tax return, so no refund was involved.

Actually, though, the 1099-C is not an attempt to collect, so much as it is another scam. The company gets a tax write-off for it, if the IRS accepts it. In other words, the taxpayers are forced to subsidize Portfolio Recovery's profits.  They sent out thousands, maybe tens of thousands of those fraudulent claims of business loss. That is a gigantic loss claim they make each year using these slimy tactics.

That same lawyer, Brian Pearson, also stated that the law requires them, compels them, to file a 1099-C for every loss over , I think it was, $600.00. The catch here is that these vermin actually paid way less than $100, probably about $60, for that particular line on a printout. If they "paid" anything at all -- the are owned by Capital One bank, and perhaps the bank they claim the debt is to, Providian,  was bought up by the predatory Capitol One. So, actually, the whole claim my be an in-house charade. I asked them in my certified letter to show how they arrived at the amount due, but they chose to ignore that part in the reply the Atty. General's office coerced out of them.

Extortion scams conducted via harrassment by bottom feeding predatory vermin ought to be illegal.

My phone rang afterwards I did *69 and 702-410-7076 was there.  They ddn't leave a message.

I keep getting phone calls from this number: 1-702-410-7076

Cate--
Your point is well-taken, especially regarding the 1099-C they sent in exchange for ceasing collection efforts. Well, if turning over a time-barred debt over to the IRS is not another collection attempt, I don't know what is. Anyway, the IRS nailed PRA when we disputed a 1099-C on a previously disputed and beyond-SOL debt and they failed to respond.

Alfalfa (Dec. 28) wrote that complaints were up to the FTC in 2011, and that Portfolio Recovery was one of the offenders most often mentioned. He gives a link to the Wall St. Journal article  -- I had read that one too. In fact, it inspired me to make another complaint to the FTC, in addition to the one I made last year. Maybe we should do it monthly, leaving a list of the phone numbers these vermin have used since the last report?

Alfalfa asks: do they care? No, nobody "cares." But, why not up the pressure on them? It distracts them from their mission of getting the unwary to submit to their extortion scam, raises their costs of doing business, etc. After all, the lawyer who told me they sent out the 1099-C after they "decided to CEASE collection efforts" (162 calls over 15 months later) was hired by Portfolio Recovery specifically to deal with all the complaints coming in from state attorney general offices -- imagine, they had to hire a lawyer just to do that. Maybe more than one lawyer.

Anyway, Pres. Obama did in fact go ahead and appoint Mr. Cordray to the new Consumer Protection Bureau. Maybe it will help. We can always hope. Meantime, do not go to Virginia for any reason whatsoever. Go to the beach in New Jersey, Delaware, South Carolina, but leave NO tourist dollars in Virginia, so long as this outfit is permitted to operate out of Norfolk.

They called me today and said that my husband owed a debt from 2006 for $84.00.  Really?!

1.  We have moved twice, how did they get my work #?
2.  When I asked for proof of the debt in writing he said you know you owe it, what more do you want?  I asked for written proof of the debt since it was ***6 years ago*** and my husband and I weren't even married at that time.
3.  Since I would not give him my credit card right away he started telling me how I don't like to pay bills and he can see what kind of person I am.

These people are a-holes.  I will be calling them back to tell them how I feel.

SCUM BAGS!!

this number keeps calling my grandma's and asking for me and they keep hanging up on her and then keep calling back and want stop calling her and she is really sick and i would really like for them  to stop calling her house up

How about we all plan a date and time and start calling these numbers? Also if you have a magic jack phone its even a better way to call them back...