Who Called Us

I do not waste my time answering unknown numbers; no message was left.

Cate must be talking about my CMRR advice. Twelve days earlier I'd made reply to her in another PRA thread explaining that control of sending that mint green card rests with USPS, and not the mail recipient. (I also have a fairly dense reply to Lou there, but let's stay on topic.) The only way PRA could interfere would be to bribe a postal clerk to ''lose'' the card. This is not unheard of in the rumor mill but quite rare. One should try finding an alternate address for PRA if this game is suspected.

whocalled.us

Replying only to the AG was perhaps a means of saving face and applying an abundance of caution. After a request for debt validation, or ''DV letter'', the collector gets one freebie contact to the alleged debtor to express a ''specified remedy'', or what it plans to do next. If the PRA stooge wanted to waste that contact on an indirect letter in support of his employer's position, that's PRA's problem. The mailing was evidently prepared in a sloppy hurry, the way a high volume collector always does things.

The important thing is PRA's next move. ''Continued collection activity'' is banned by statute until that validation comes in a proper form. Depending on the collector's hunger, that unanswered demand could silence one forever. Having the AG on the same page (somewhat literally) may provide needed support later if PRA does anything stupid. The ground is less solid than a returned USPS card would provide, but better than the quicksand most people stand in when facing collectors.

Sending cease and desist legal notices does not work! File a complaint with your State's Attorney General, along with documented times/dates of calls or contact. You can also file complaints at FTC.gov but don't expect a reply from them.
Contacting your State Representatives to request new law enactment against these "loop holers" is the only way to prosecute them for their actions. (State of Missouri has already done so).
Contacting them will only provide proof that you are indeed their target debt holder, even if it was "charged off" years ago.
Be proactive and push for laws against them in your State. The old ones allow them to continue their harassment.
DON'T TALK TO THEM!!!

These vermin called on Good Friday! As usual, we do not pick up on their calls, ever. Never have in two years of being harassed by these bottom-feeders.

A previous comment here referred to sending a certified first class letter with return receipt requested. Guess what? I sent Portfolio Recovery such a letter on the 29th of March. And guess what? They STILL have not returned the post card. Can you believe it!

We have proof it was sent, and proof it was received, via the USPS online records, and another certified letter we sent a the same time to the state Attorney General's office had the postcard returned within a few days.

The dope who works in the Portfolio Recovery legal department (he was hired to be the company liason with state Attorneys General) never replied directly to me. He replied to the Atty. Genl's office, and sent me a copy of his letter to them. I believe PRA simply throws certified letters away unread.

I had demanded verification of their claims against me. All he did was make a personal assertion regarding those claims, which he has to know is not legal verification. My faith in this lawyer was further eroded by the fact that the copy he sent me was firmly glued to the inside of the envelope, and could only be read by pulling out the folded part, and reading via a strong light through the envelope.

Never mind, the Atty General office sent me a good copy of his letter. These people are a comedy of incompetence. Too bad they are such thieving vermin, or they would be lovable.

Class Action filed Against Portfolio Recovery Associates
lawyersandsettlements.com

A Class Action Lawsuit has been filed against Defendant Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (

Read more about Portfolio Revovery here: budhibbs.com

I don't answer these calls, they are after the person who had my phone number before it was issued to me 5 years ago! I think there are also dopes who try to avoid collection agencies and they act fraudulently by giving out a number (working or not) belonging to unsuspecting victims. Then these collecrion clowns are duped into harassing rhe wrong person for the charged off debt. Seriously, how many people keep the same phone number, landline or cell, after 15 years??? There is too much invasion of privacy anymore. And... I don't owe any debt, that any judge ordered someone else to pay in a divorce decree. Portfolio RA are unlawful idiots.

Barbara: Collectors are not in sales and thus NOT telemarketers, a distinction the FTC has made quite clear. There is no “list” in the sales call sense, only a belief your number has some connection to a debt. If Dominion was ever a creditor of yours, expect a dunning letter within a week of first contact. This you can dispute per FDCPA regs and meantime likely catch PRA on costly violations. Failing to dun you within five days of the first call is itself a violation, unless it’s not you they want.

Elizabeth: I’ve seen reports of claims for yet older accounts. Yours should be safely past SoL in any state. Send the cease-comm as discussed, in this case known colloquially as the FOAD, or “Expletive Off and Die”. The very next call would generate a debt for _them_ you may prosecute to collect.

They just called here and my husband answered before looking at the number. They have called many times I just know it is a telemarketer....They tried to get my social security number from him and said we owed a Dominion Hope gas bill which we don't..We called their 800 number and tried to get our name taken off the list and they won't...

This is the 8th different number this company has called from. They are pursuing what they claim is a 17yr old debt that I do not even recall.

To answer "A thought", here is "a fact". Find any batch of complaints about one of these large volume debt collectors. Pick PRA or NCO or Allied Interstate or any one you like. In ten minutes or less you will see a comment more or less like the following: "I have told them x times I am not the person they want but they will not stop calling." The same comment may go on to say that the call campaign goes on for days, weeks, or even months. You may find multiple similar comments from separate sources. I feel it is statistically impossible for all of them to be mistaken or lying, not that a consumer posting anonymously has anything to gain by deception.

The one point shared by all but a handful of those complaints is that people tried to enforce a no-call demand by voice alone. You are correct that the FDCPA and I'm sure many state level Fair Debt laws demand that collectors obey a cease-comm, and without specifying the form it takes. The fact is that collection agencies already comfortable with deceptive and illegal practices will disobey verbal demands from a consumer. This may be the most common problem cited across the debt industry.

It's so common that the FTC _itself_ recommends the notification method echoed by informed watchdogs and consumers. That is to send the collector a simple written cease-comm letter via USPS Certified with the mint green return card. Nothing less tells a collection agency how serious one is about this demand, and nothing less will stand up so easily before a judge or arbitrator should the demand be ignored and require litigation.

It is also known widely that conversing with debt collection reps can be a frustrating exercise for a consumer unprepared for their badgering and misdirection which often ensues. Kat is rightfully suspicious of the multiple foreign numbers piling into her Caller ID records, and for all you know has already tried answering. Underlying the phone shyness is the critical difference between a customer service rep and a debt collector. It is a mistake, a sadly common one, to assume the latter will share the polite protocol and human decency generally observed in the former.

If you're not the debtor, why not just answer it once (or call them back if it's a Toll Free Number) and ask them to stop calling.

They have to do it.

And it works.

Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA) has called 14 times from 8 different numbers, in the past two weeks. They leave no message, so I have no idea who they want to speak with. One day they called my home at 7:59 AM, 1:30 pm, 6:45pm and again at 8:30 pm., from three different numbers. Grrr!! I have no debts, and do not use Credit Cards. I just keep blocking their numbers, and do not answer. With my Panasonic Phone System, their number will still show up my Caller ID, letting me know they called again, but my phone will not ring, and gives them a busy signal. Nice Feature!!

never answer these calls