i just call them over and over harrasing them all day when i can :D
 makes me feel bette anyway..

Asset Acceptance pays $2.5 million to settle case over debt collection tactics

http://www.cleveland.com/consumeraffairs/inde ... s_25_milli.html

OMG! They are just relentless

I have seen a couple of posts saying that you cannot be sued for a debt that is past the Statute of Limitations (SOL). THIS IS NOT CORRECT.  You can in fact be sued for a debt that is past the SOL. If you ignore the summons and do not go to court, the collection agency can, and most likely will, get a summary judgment. Once that happens, it is almost impossible to get it overturned. To even have a chance at getting it overturned you are going to need a lawyer, which may cost more than paying the judgment.
So if you get a summons saying you are being sued, be sure to respond to the summons and make absolutely sure you show up for the court hearing. When you get there you can point out the fact that the statute of limitations has expired.  This is called an ?Affirmative Defense?.
By the way, if the debt is legitimate, you still owe the money and they can still report it to the credit bureaus for up to seven years (some cases ten).

THEIR STOCK IS WAY DOWN SINCE THIS CAMPAIGN STARTED. FAR WORSE THAN THE DROPS ON WALL STREET. EVERYONE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

Reverse boycott. Together we are destroying their cost/benefit ratio by consuming their service. Their legal model is less vulnerable than their business model. Individual efforts against their legal model have failed for years. This united effort against their business model is succeeding.

When a company can repeatedly call with the intent of getting money their customers can repeatedly answer or call back with the intent of not giving them any. They need people to pay with as little talk as possible. They don't want to talk with people who know they are never going to pay. Be all talk and no pay. Answer when convenient. Call back. Give no information. Verify nothing. Ask as many questions as you can. Answer none.

Don't ignore/block/report them. It doesn't work. These folks want you to ignore them for as long as you can stand to or until you give them something valuable like money or information. Ignoring them is being their good customer. Sending a cease and desist is giving information. It lets them know you are still alive and remain their good customer. Preparing to initiate unlikely individual legal battles is being their good customer.

Be their bad customer. Make them talk to you fruitlessly for as long as they can stand to or until they stop selecting you as their customer. These companies cannot spend seconds much less minutes on the phone with every person who will never send them a dime. But they don't know who that is. You do. That knowledge is power. Every second you can keep their staff on the phone will render their business less profitable giving them a reason to never call you again.

Calling will not reset your SOL. Making a partial payment will.

I like to ask general questions they should but usually won't answer, "May I have the name and address of your agent for service of process?" Calmly and slowly ask them to spell every word in the address. Read it back for verification. Control the pace. If they are rushing then politely ask them to slowly repeat. "Are you a corporation and if so in which state are you incorporated?" Repeat your questions when you don't get direct answers. When they won't answer a question ask, "Would you like to comply with the business and professions codes of your state?" That is usually the point when they hang up on me but if they say they want to comply then begin your questions again.

Repeat while you have the spare time. These folks have many victims and few operators. If everyone calls back but pays nothing the mass auto-dialer business model becomes unprofitable. Don't aide and comfort the enemy by ignoring them. Call! Have a nice long slow friendly chat! Make them hang up first.

Press 2 for Spanish.

For any business, customers who consume the most resources but don't pay (or otherwise add value) become the least desirable. Most businesses will stop (cease and desist) soliciting an undesirable customer. Those that don't stop remain knowingly vulnerable to the actions of their undesirable customers. Few companies can afford to let everyone take a piece of them whenever they want endlessly. For instance they must pay staff to answer everyone's telephone calls which can be placed at your convenience for the joy of it. Call and consume their operator time without paying or giving information. Be a bad customer. The worst customer. Inspire them to invoke their right to refuse you service by not soliciting you.

There are certainly enough victims to take down this company so ignoring/blocking seems downright Orwellian to me. Really? We're just going to passively submit and go with a block list or however we manage ignoring an endless stream of unwanted phone calls day after day? Hell no! Unite or remain conquered. Answer/return every call - become well practiced at keeping these folks on the phone - or count yourself not amongst the free.

You owe too.  So why don't you pay your bills?

Here's some "MORE P.I.T.A." numbers to block:
978-826-1081
978-826-1297
978-535-3030
888-234-6273          
888-234-6548          
866-251-0200          
866-363-3744
866-977-7568          
866-200-9343
866-622-2027
866-233-0397
866-520-2678
866-516-8448
800-337-1836
800-524-4180
800-383-5558
770-234-0101
702-410-7069
678-265-1568
626-209-2241
404-612-2512
404-592-5171
205-588-8181

Another call, it's only been a few days since they have called.

App blocked ya.

Dont know who this is but they call several times per day - never leave a message - dont answer if I call back - there should be a law against these calls - waste of my time.

Got a call from this number and google voice helpfully gave them the tritone out of service message. They never leave messages, and my credit report is clean so I don't know why they are calling me. However I have a really common name and it just may be the only reason they call. I have blocked a large segment of their phone numbers due to their relentless pestering.

If your phone is an Android :) go to the market or google (Extreme Call Blocker) If your phone is rooted get (Root Call Blocker) Install setup and these leaches will be blocked and sent straight to voicemail
.... enjoy....

This was Portfolio Recovery trying to collect a 20 year old CC debt.  Yes 20 year old.

You are incorrect.  The statute of limitations on contracts in california is 4 yrs. and had been for as long as I practiced law - 35 yrs.  It runs from the time you first stopped making payments.  4 yrs. later and no payments in between, it is barred by limitations unless, as you correctly indicated, you have restarted the running by making even a small payment.  There is a 10 yr. period for enforcement of a judgment which runs from the date the judgment is first entered.  The period for enforcing a judgment can be extended by filing before the 10 yrs runs to extend the judgment for another 10 yr. period.  If no judgment is entered in a timely filed suit, the 10 yrs. is of no concern.  Just tell them to go f*** themselves if they get through to you on the phone.

The head of there legal department lobbies congress for sweet laws for them. He does not want any restriction on how often they can call, or if they should inform you of the fact if you make any payment that you re start the clock on legal action against you. His private email is
clagow@portfoliorecovery.com His name is Chris Lagow. You can email him and let him know what you think. I do. I email many of them to let them know to stop all the calls.

These people have called me for over a year, often every day.

yep. i just got the call today 678 265 1568  and the caller id is (Marietta) GA. they are a collector. she asked to speak to me i said he is not here can i take a message. she said Non it's ok. and hang up.
They call me 2 times every morning with a 800 service then they try one more with a different number.

They call me almost daily too. Isn't there a way to file a suit like you can with the do-not-call list? They continually change their phone number to make it difficult to nab them. We need to work together to whip these alpha hotels.

Someone just called me from that number. I said hello and there was no immediate response so i promptly hung up. I don't know how to "block" numbers from my cell phone :(  Great!

Portfolio Recovery.  They bug me over a debt from 15 years ago.  Every time I find a number, I either block it fom my home phone, or mute it on my cell.  They just don't ever give up

I like you! You are so funny yet so right.

GOT CALL THIS MORNING.  NO ID ON PHONE, EXCEPT LONG DISTANCE.  DIDN'T ANSWER

Portfolio Recovery...These phantom phone callers wont give up. Will not leave messages, and has started calling my nieghbors as well. DO NOT ANSWER list!

I never pick up but today I felt like conversation lol anyways when i pick up say "Hello" no one speaks say "Hello" again no one speaks so i hang up they call alot but no one is ever there and they never leave a message.

Got call this morning, no message. They also use 847-994-2540.

I dont know who this is...they dont leave a message

I'm not sure who this is but the female aslked if I was interested in a reach around. Told her I was happily married but would keep her number just in case, never know!

@Bill Collector Avenger:

Not quite. I live in CA and I've checked the statutes. The limit was raised to 10 years many many years ago. They can bug you to death about this stuff up until that point.

The original company that held the debt is long ago disinterested and won't give a rat's a** if you pay it off once they've sold it to collections. You are correct though, NOBODY should pay these jackals a dime. It won't help your credit rating.

In my case, they're on me for a defaulted account that's been dead and buried for 14 years and counting. They don't seem to realize I'm 4 years past the statute of limitations on it. It doesn't even show up on my credit reports anymore, yet these guys have spent the better part of the last 5 years trying to collect on a measly $800. Yes, I could pay the entire thing off right now, but I refuse to suffer the consequences of some mysterious account from my ancient past suddenly returning from the grave.

This makes 12 numbers I've blocked from these people btw. Don't they ever run out?

yeah i owe a credit card from years ago and they bought the debt,it comes off my credit report soon so why pay it! plus i did try to pay it but they did not want to nego..... so oh well!

Please have this caller told not to call

I've received calls from different numbers for this company -they never leave a message.  I've called them back, and they don't have my phone number in their database so I can't even have them remove it.
I asked the representative, who was very nice and helpful, what my options are if this keeps happening.  She asked which number they called from, spoke with her supervisor who said they would contact their "Georgia" office and have my number blocked.  We'll see what happens.

One word if I may, the person you get on the phone is not the person harassing you so "don't shoot the messenger."

I have been getting calls for the past couple of months from these people that show up as "PORTFOLIORECOV"
However, neither my husband nor I have ANY debt. We rent a home and own all of our cars. The only credit cards we have are American Express that have to be paid off at the end of each month. So beware of anything they tell you as they are obviously scam artists.

I usually let the fax machine grab it, but after so many calls I decided to answer. I didn't let the lady say much and she listened to me yell at her for several minutes before she hung up. I kind i wish I had let her say why she was calling. Oh well.

The numbers they've used include:
702-410-7069
678-265-1568
858-346-2240
440-580-0720
440-580-0720
412-282-1420
440-580-0720
443-313-1380
407-347-4014
412-282-1420
Caller: PORTFOLIORECOV