Consumer complaint received 2018-09-21
Company: PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES INC
State: MD
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt was paid

Complaint:
Around XXXX or XXXX of XXXX, the debt in question was still held by XXXX XXXX. I had contacted XXXX XXXX to settle the charged off debt. I was transferred to what I assumed was an attorneys office. The agreed upon settlement was made and I was assured that the debt would actually be deleted from my credit report. I figured that this account was taken care of. On my XX/XX/XXXX credit report, the account was reporting as closed by XXXX XXXX. On my credit report dated XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX had been removed from XXXX   and had a last reporting day in XX/XX/XXXX. I assumed that this was removed as part of my agreement made. 

I have been in the process of purchasing a new home since XX/XX/XXXX through a builder. At the time I put my deposit down, I was pre-approved for my mortgage. The settlement of the XXXX XXXX account was one of the conditions that I was required to satisfy my contractual agreement with the builder and the mortgage company who is owned by the builder. 

My credit had been pulled multiple times during this process. In XXXX my lender had informed me that XXXX XXXX was still reporting. He directed me to contact XXXX XXXX and ask for a settlement letter. When I contacted XXXX XXXX, I was provided with a number to contact number. I contacted your company on XX/XX/XXXX. I was under the assumption that this was the same place I initially made my payment with. You had provided me with an amount in which I assumed was the difference of what was owed. In order to not jeopardize my home purchase, I scheduled a payment. Where I became perplexed was when you provided me with an old address. I had contacted you back and asked you to cancel my scheduled payment. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I had called back and disputed the debt was owed due to the fact that I made and satisfied a payment with XXXX   XXXX through the attorneys office I was transferred to. 

After multiple calls from you, and no proof furnished to me, I reluctantly settled the alleged debt again to avoid anything that would damage my ability to purchase out first home. Upon final review of my credit profile, I noticed that there was now a debt with a XXXX  balance reporting on my credit report which was never there in the first place. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted your company again and spoke with a XXXX XXXX. I had my loan specialist on the line with me for us to try to clarify the situation. XXXX acknowledged the timeline of events as follows : -Portfolio Recovery acquired this debt on XX/XX/XXXX. 
-Portfolio sent my debt validation notice to an incorrect address on XXXX. 
-I had contacted you ( per the direction of XXXX XXXX ) on XX/XX/XXXX and setup a payment. 
-I called back within 30 minutes of the call and cancelled my payment ( because something didnt match up ) -On XXXX I called you back to dispute the validity of the debt ( again, because I paid it already ) -On XX/XX/XXXX you deemed the debt was valid based on a letter that was allegedly sent to me via my correct address from XXXX  XXXX directly on XX/XX/XXXX. 
-You allegedly had attempted to contact me and/or made contact with me on multiple occasions and I held my stance the I wanted this account disputed because it was paid already. 
-On XX/XX/XXXX I setup a payment arrangement because the fight over losing my home and dreams was not worth the headache of a couple hundred dollars. 
-On XX/XX/XXXX my payment was made and the account was settled. 

I feel this is a complete UDAAP violation. 

Its unfair because Ive now paid two creditors for the same debt. This is a violation of FCRA. Furthermore, after speaking with XXXX, I was transferred to a supervisor by the name of XXXX XXXX who clarified that he thinks a payment couldve been made since the original debt was {$460.00} and the charged off amount sent was {$340.00}. XXXX, who is not an employee of nor collecting on behalf of XXXX XXXX stated it would be highly unlikely that they would settle for {$120.00}. The only documentation that Portfolio Recovery has from XXXX XXXX is a statement dated from XXXX to XXXX of XXXX and the alleged letter that was sent to me from XXXX  XXXX. Per XXXX, the statement ending balance on that statement was {$460.00} which supports my claim that I had settled this dept. 

Its deceptive because they only stated that this debt is valid and didnt provide me with any proof of their findings. It wasnt until the XX/XX/XXXX phone call when XXXX stated it was deemed valid because of the alleged letter from XXXX XXXX. I feel like Ive received multiple different answers on multiple phone calls with nobody truly addressing the issue at hand. 

Its abusive on the grounds that I risk losing a {$5000.00} deposit through the lender for not being able to maintain my credit. Furthermore, we have already informed our landlord that we will be vacating our property and it has already been rented out. I now risk trying to find a place to live that will be around the cost of my proposed mortgage payment. This is why we are buying in the first place. The rent our current place is considered low and if not easily manageable with a large family. 

Your acts are in clear violation of FCRA and your business practices have done nothing to physically prove to me there wasnt a payment made, that fact that you can clearly see different balances, had I not called XXXX XXXX on the direction of my lender ; this couldve been worse as I wouldnt have had an opportunity to dispute the validity of the debt. As soon as you collected money from me, you have washed you hands of everything since you have got paid.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation