Consumer complaint received 2022-02-25
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action — Sued you without properly notifying you of lawsuit
Company: PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES INC (CA)

On XX/XX/2021 we were notified by Portfolio Recovery Associates , LLC of an alleged debt. We responded on XX/XX/2021 disputing the debt and requesting that documentation be provided to validate the debt. Rather than validating the debt, we instead continued to be contacted for purposes of collecting the debt, despite failing to validate it per our dispute request. On XX/XX/2021 after receiving another attempt to collect via mail I sent a second notice to Portfolio Recovery Associates , LLC reiterating our dispute of the debt and notifying them that they were now in clear violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by ignoring our request not to be contacted for purposes of collecting the debt until such a time they could validate it. After this second letter was sent, Portfolio Recovery Associates responded to the dispute by providing some of the documentation we requested to validate the debt and their legal ability to collect on it, but failed to provide satisfactory documentation to validate all of our concerns. Because of this I responded to them via mail on XX/XX/2021 requesting that they provide the additional documents that they had failed to provide and reiterated that we are still in dispute of the debt. Portfolio Recovery Associates responded to this request by re-sending the exact same documentation they had previously provided us while still failing to provide the other requested documents such as proof of their being licensed to collect debts in California and proceeded to threaten us with a lawsuit as a means of intimidation and to prevent having to provide the documentation we requested. Despite being in good faith negotiations regarding a disputed debt, we were concerned over this legal threat and decided to make a payment to Portfolio Recovery Associates as a delay tactic while we decided what to do about our legal dispute requests going ignored while simultaneously being threatened with legal action, despite remaining in ongoing good faith communication with Portfolio Recovery Associates. 

To our surprise, shortly after making this payment we received a lawsuit stipulation for settlement letter from Portfolio Recovery Associates indicating they had sued us despite not informing us that a lawsuit was being filed and despite the fact we were still in ongoing communication with them regarding a dispute that had not been settled. We have already suffered violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by Portfolio Recovery Associates , LLC from other debts that they ultimately were unable to verify and were written off. Due to this past history with Portfolio Recovery Associates we had every reason to be wary and demand documentation validating the debt as well as their legal ability to collect on any debt they could validate. The threatening and filing of lawsuit without notifying us while failing to provide all the requested documentation is exactly why they should be worried about a lawsuit. If they want a settlement, then we will offer on on our terms if they wish to avoid going to court to resolve the issue.