Consumer complaint received 2018-03-16
Company: PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES INC
State: IL
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Attempts to collect debt not owed
Sub-issue: Debt is not yours

Complaint:
XXXX and XXXX is harassing me for a debt that is not mine. I have disputed this with them and they sent a response back filled with lies. 
I am rejecting their response because it contains lies and does not contain 100 % truth. 

Thank you for responding XXXX. Your company did send me 3 letters for 3 different alleged accounts dated : XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. The importance of these will come into play shortly. 2 of your dates are correct, 1 is not. I have all the original letters. 

The original letter I received addressed me as, " Dear Sir or Madam ''. Your company threatened to sue and get a judgement against me. I disputed these 3 accounts with your company within the first 30 days of receipt. In my first letter I sent to your company I stated " I believe this may be a result of Identity theft, similar name issue, or someone using my info as a co-signer, or it's just a result in error. I conditionally agree to pay this debt if it turns out to be mine. '' Your client Portfolio Recovery Associates has been known to sue the wrong people. ( XXXX XXXX vs Portfolio ). XXXX won a six figure  judgement from Portfolio Recovery for not properly investigating her disputes. She had to hire a lawyer who discovered the account belong to someone with a similar name. Because Portfolio has a history of not investigating consumer disputes, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau signed a consent order against them in XX/XX/XXXX, requiring them to provide a Authentic Bill of Sale, with a specific reference to the alleged consumers account. The one I have been provided is generic and contains no specific reference. 

You claim your company has provided me verification. I have never received any proof your company or Portfolio Recovery owns this debt and that this debt is mine. I have requested a Chain of Title, Assignment, Consideration for the assignment, A signed Contract, Bill of sale which references me. I have received zero of these items. If I was claiming you owed me money, and you had no knowledge of the debt, wouldn't you want proof as well? These items are required in the court of law and in the Illinois Collection Agency Act. You call this a laundry list?? Please explain. 

I did receive a handful of photo copied statements and terms to a contract with no signature on it. Who do the terms belong to? For the statements I requested signed merchant receipts or proof I used this card or had any knowledge of these accounts. I have received nothing. 

After I sent my first Letter to your company, the 2nd letter you sent back on XX/XX/XXXX says, " Dear Sir or Madam ''. That right there lets me know that know one has looked into my disputes. 

For your opening remarks on your response to this complaint. You state " As support XXXX XXXX alleges that XXXX  XXXX is not reporting the accounts on his credit report and that XXXX XXXX has an internal policy which only allows for 2 credit cards per consumer. '' You are correct. XXXX XXXX is not listing these 3 alleged accounts on my credit report. If they were on there, you would have provided proof of such. Negative information stays on one 's credit for 7 years. That is a fact. And XXXX XXXX does have a policy of limiting consumers to 2 directly issued cards. They have had that policy since XX/XX/XXXX. Which I sent you proof of that claim. You never mention if you called XXXX XXXX and verified or disproved me?? You never mention if these alleged 3 accounts are on my credit reports by XXXX XXXX? I have proof they are not. Can you provide proof of your claims? 

I have no records of these accounts, nor do the 3 major Credit Bureau 's. Your company hasn't provided me any proper documentation on your alleged claims. 

As far as your licensing requirements, you are not acting as a Law Firm in XXXX County, IL. Many other markets as well. Please provide me 1 case your firm as taken in this county that doesn't involve debt collection. I have documented evidence your company turns down jobs here if they are not debt collection related. And your web site states you practice that area of law. You are a 100 % a debt collection agency. 

You state that the letter you received from me on XX/XX/XXXX, was now stating I was alleging identity theft. You are being dishonest XXXX. My first letter and 2nd letter both state that I have no knowledge of these accounts and " I believe this may be a result of Identity theft, similar name issue, or someone using my info as a co-signer, or it's just a result in error. My 2nd letter also states that I will conditionally agree to pay this debt, if it turns out to be mine. 
You did send me a fraud investigation form. And in my 3rd letter to you I told your company, " until you provide me with documentation of your claims. I would have no way of knowing if this is an error, similar name issue, or identity theft. I would be more than happy to fill out any forms you need. But I need proof these are my accounts, that Portfolio owns this alleged debt, and I need to see if someone has forged my signature. Or if you have the wrong person etc. I don't appreciate the picture you are trying to paint of this matter. 
I have everything documented and can back up 100 % of what I say. 
Your company and Portfolio Recovery do have multiple violations against you. That is a true statement. 
You stated that I wrote to your company saying the alleged accounts are invalid for collection. I have never once said that. I have never used the word rendered, rendering, or stated invalid for collection. Please provide me proof of this letter? I have copies of what I sent your company, and emailed Identical copies the same day. So if a situation like this presented itself, I would be able to show the truth. 
You further state, I am now claiming Identity theft. Read my first letter. It states that exact same thing as my 2nd and 3rd letter. Nothing has changed. Please provide me proof of your claims on this statement? 
Finally you state this account is on hold pending a resolution of the allegations. If you have already verified theses alleged accounts like you claim, why would this lawsuit be put on hold?? That does not make sense. 
My 4th and final written letter to your company and to Portfolio Recovery states '' I would like you to move forward with your threats of a lawsuit/judgement. I request that you file suit on or before XX/XX/XXXX. Otherwise I will conclude that you have threatened a lawsuit and you weren't capable of following thru. And if you do file suit and it is dismissed by you after my request for Production and subpoena 's. Or it is dismissed for failure to adhere to the Illinois Collection Agency Act. I will conclude you had no intention to prove this debt if I contested it. '' I never said this debt was un-collectable, I never changed my statement to later add Identity theft. Your company has violated the FDCPA laws. That is a fact. Portfolio Recovery has violated a consent order from the CFPB. That is a fact. 
Your company and Portfolio Recovery have been notified of your harassment abuse towards me. After my 4th and final written letter to both companies, I received letters from Portfolio Recovery from XX/XX/XXXXt thru XX/XX/XXXX. Over a course of 4 days. I received 21 letters from them. With many of them duplicates of each other and all of them generic responses that I have already received in the past. Out of the 21 letters there was not 1 unique letter or new piece of evidence provided to me. ( I previously stated it was 19 letters, I found 2 other letters in between a folder. I have probably around 80 total letters, and I apologize for stating 19. It is 21 letters from Portfolio Recovery over a course of 4 days. 
And XXXX, your company did send me a letter on my birthday, XX/XX/XXXX threatening to sue and get a judgement against me. 
I realize they were sent with the intent to annoy, abuse, and harass me. You have destroyed my credit, given me intentional infliction of XXXX XXXX, defamation of character, slander, economic loss, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, inability to sleep well at night, reduced work performance, and I have suffered humiliation. 
I want your company to move forward with your threats of a lawsuit. You do not have the option of putting this on hold. You can't just now begin to investigate my disputes. It is too late for that. Too much damage has been done. 



Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief