Consumer complaint received 2019-06-04
Product: Debt collection — Credit card debt
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action — Collected or attempted to collect exempt funds
Company: PORTFOLIO RECOVERY ASSOCIATES INC (NY)

To start your site doesn't offer clear options for many circumstances. So I will do my best to explain what the issue is. I will also being added many scanned documents to support what I put forth here. 

Sometime around XXXX of XXXX I heard someone in my driveway. We are on the second floor and there are two doors to get to our apartment ( both are locked ). I looked outside and saw a XXXX  male around XXXX to XXXX years of age walking back to a minivan. There was a XXXX  female in the front passenger seat that seamed to be the same age. I yelled down asking him who they were looking for and didn't get a reply. So I went downstairs and said hello at which point the man handed me papers. He didn't say I was being served in fact he said nothing. So I looked at the papers and said " I wonder what this is '' and his response was " It's probably a mistake and you should just throw them away. '' The papers were in fact from the law firm of XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX NY. It was a notification that they were suing me on behalf of their client Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC. There was an index number listed of : XXXX. 

I only had a few days before the date I had to answer so I had to do my best to answer so that a default judgement wasn't issued. In this case had I done what the process server suggested I would have had a default judgement against me. The process server should never be telling someone they serve to throw the papers away. I downloaded a from from the County Website and created my response on XX/XX/XXXX of XXXX. My answer contained three defenses : 1 ) I did not do business with Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC and thus challenged their standing. 

2 ) In the original documentation there was not enough information for me to know if this was or was not an account that ever belonged to me. 

3 ) Please take notice that my only source of income is Social Security XXXX which is exempt from collection. 

After I filed my answer I eventually received a packet in the mail from XXXX and XXXX which they said I had requested. There was a cover letter which said inside I would find my account documentation and it was signed by a XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX is said to be an Associate Attorney with XXXX and XXXX and is the one who has signed all the paper work to this point. 

The CPFB is likely well aware of the fact that Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC is under sanctions from the CPFB. There is a 60 or so page document on the CPFB which is a consent order that was signed on XX/XX/XXXX and is to be in effect for a minimum of 5 years. This is where the bulk of my complaint is going to come from. 

I am not sure how many documents I will be allowed to attached. So I will just describe the issue and add as many documents as I can in the step that allows that. 

In the packet of documents that XXXX XXXX XXXX sent me was a claimed Bill of Sale, A screenshot of an account page which I am not really sure what the point of it is. Along with a Credit agreement which I couldn't say is or is not one I would have read and/or agreed to. There is certainly nothing included that shows I agreed to it. Along with Account Statements from XXXX of XXXX through XXXX of XXXX. 

The Bill of Sale is just a vague statement. That says there was an agreement " the agreement '' as well as a reference to the Notification Files ( as defined in the Agreement ). More importantly " the agreement '' was entered on XX/XX/XXXX and the Notification Files were to be delivered to the Buyer ( Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC ) by XX/XX/XXXX. There is no specific identification of any supporting document to be attached to the Bill of Sale which would allow Portfolio Recovery Associates to attach any document and claim it was part of The Agreement. 

All of the documents I have received will be attached to this complaint. From a legal stand point the Bill of Sale is not sufficient. However, in this case Portfolio Recovery Associates is also under sanctions by the CFPB. Under item 119 (  which is on page 33 of 60 ) of this agreement Portfolio Recovery Associates is not allowed to initiate any Debt Collection Lawsuit unless in possession of certain documents. In item 119 part C to be specific this includes : A certified or other properly authenticated copy of each bill of sale or other document evidencing the transfer of ownership of the Debt at the time of Charge-off to each successive owner, including Respondent. Each of the bills of sale or other documents evidencing the transfer of ownership of the Debt must include a specific reference to the particular Debt being collected upon, which can be done by referencing an exhibit attached to each bill of sale or other document transferring ownership of the Debt that is represented or warranted by a Seller to be a list of all Debts acquired in that Portfolio. 

To this point the bill of sale and documents provided do not meet standard requirements and thus obviously do not meet the stricter sanctions imposed by the CFPB. Since Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC is not allowed to initiate a debt lawsuit without being in compliance with the above section. It would seem they have violated their agreement with the CFPB by doing so. 

The dates in the bill of sale are also something I would bring to the attention of the CFPB. The bill of sale states that the agreement was reached on XX/XX/XXXX. The random account screenshot which was included has a box defined as last payment date and that date is XX/XX/XXXX. The Account Statements that were provided which cover XX/XX/XXXX through XXXX of XXXX. Show an account in good standing with the payments being made. Until the XX/XX/XXXX Statement which shows a past due amount in the same total as the minimum payment due in XX/XX/XXXX. Per my understanding an account is considered in default 30 days after a payment is not made. Per Federal Guide Lines a " charge off '' would happen after 180 days. Which would make sense as to the last statement being from XXXX of XXXX. 

The point of the previous paragraph is that Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC has provided a bill of sale which per their " under penalty of perjury '' statement was agreed to be purchased on XX/XX/XXXX. The account in this complaint per their provided paper work was an account in good standing at that time. As far as I know Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC has not been approved to be a money lender or bank. So I would have to question how they were in the process of allegedly buying an account in good standing. 

Another section of the CFPB agreement with Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC is the Compliance Plan. Which is Section XII and to be specific in this case pages 39 to 41. Part of this to be specific was that Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC had to submit a plan of how it would comply with all applicable federal consumer financial laws and the terms of this Consent Order ( compliance plan ). Part C of the Compliance Plan section of the Consent Order as provides certain requirements for Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC in regards to Law Firms. For example Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC must set forth to Law Firms that represent them : the law firm 's specific performance responsibilities and duty to maintain adequate internal controls, the Law Firm 's duty to provide adequate training on compliance with all applicable Federal consumer financial laws and Respondent 's related policies and procedures.

The reason I am including the proceeded statement is that per the Consent Order any Law Firm that represents Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC must  not only be aware of Federal Consumer Financial Laws. They are also aware of the Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC policies and procedures which are laid out in the consent order by the CFPB. 

This goes specifically to a document filed on XX/XX/XXXX. Where XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX filed a motion for a Preliminary Conference. In that document under penalty of perjury XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX makes the following statements : 1. I am an associate attorney with the law firm of XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, attorneys for Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, ( hereinafter the " Plaintiff '' ), I am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances of this case. Further, I attest that I have made a review of the legal file maintained in our office, documents provided by the Plaintiff, and all documents in the proceeding herein. 

2. That I make this affirmation in support of Plaintiff 's request for a Preliminary Conference. 

There were two more statements which will be on the scanned document. For this specific part this is what I am taking issue with. 

Due to the CFPB Consent Order Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC is required to make the law firm of XXXX XXXX XXXX aware of the procedures and policies laid out in the Consent Order. XXXX XXXX XXXX claims under penalty of perjury that they are fully familiar with the facts and circumstances of this case. That they have made a review of the legal file maintained in their office and provided by Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC. 

If XXXX XXXX XXXX had in fact reviewed the legal file. XXXX XXXX XXXX would have known that the documents provided do not meet the Consent Order enforced by the CFPB on their client Portfolio Recovery Associates. That bringing such a lawsuit would in fact have violated the CFPB consent order. There are only two assumptions I can make here. Either Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC also violated the CFPB Consent Order by not informing XXXX XXXX XXXX of these requirements. Or XXXX XXXX XXXX in fact did not review or have full knowledge of the documents. Since Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC is also required to send documentation to the CPFB. The CPFB should in fact have a record of whether XXXX XXXX XXXX are aware of these policies. Which would then allow a much easier conclusion to this issue. 

As to the reason I am filing this complaint at this time beyond what I see as multiple and willful violations of the CFPB Consent Order. Monday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX was the preliminary conference of this case. This included Judge XXXX XXXX law clerk who I believe said his name was XXXX and a Lawyer from XXXX NY that I did not catch the name of. ( Was that lawyer required to be aware of the CFPB Consent Order? ). In that meeting I felt overly pressured to agree to a settlement. That pressure did NOT come from Opposing council. I was asked at least 7 times in different ways by the Law Clerk if I could accept a Settlement. Opposing Council was allowed to accept a 60 % settlement and the clerk multiple times brought up 50 %. This was after I clearly stated that I am on XXXX and every month have no money or am slightly overdrawn at the end of the month. That if I accepted a settlement I would obviously not be able to abide by the settlement and thus would have negative action taken against me. Even after stating this I was told I should take settlement multiple times all while being told the clerk was a neutral party and could also not give me any legal advice. I did not see the conversation as being neutral and instead saw it as something that would negatively impact me if I took that advice. Also in this discussion was that I should have an attorney even if I couldn't afford on. Which for a lay person implies that you will lose without one and should just agree to the settlement. The CFPB Consent Order with Portfolio Recovery Associates is full of paragraphs talking about what statements imply or how they may be taken by a consumer. At one point I asked if there would be a discovery period and was told by the clerk he couldn't give me legal advice. Perhaps being a layman there is something I missed. However, asking if there is a discovery period is not asking for legal advice. So I am filing this complaint because after the preliminary conference I feel forced to. As I have to look out for my best interest as no one else seems to be. 

*Note* I am not going to include the claimed card agreement documents because they should not be relevant to my complaint here or the violations of the CFPB Consent Order, However, if needed I would be glad to send those as well. The Bill of Sale, Account Screenshot and Statements are the documents I was provided by XXXX XXXX XXXX. There were extra pages to the Statements that were not part of my complaint. I included the Statements XXXX XXXX XXXX sent to me. From XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX in order to show account status. I then included the final statement provided which was from XXXX of XXXX. This is relative to the date of the agreement on the bill of sale that is part of my complaint. As well as the Bill of Sale being insufficient under normal standards and obviously not sufficient per the CFPB Consent Order.