Consumer complaint received 2025-11-28 00:00:00
Product: Debt collection — I do not know
Issue: Took or threatened to take negative or legal action — Threatened or suggested your credit would be damaged
Company: Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
State: NJ

Complaint narrative:
on XX/XX/XXXX I received the following letter from Portfolio Recovery Associates , LLC threatening me with legal action, a CLEAR violation of the FCDPA, Dodd-Frank and a host of other state and local cosumer laws. attached to this complaint will be the document as well as a debt validation letter that was sent to them via certified mail with return receipt. 
XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX ( VIA CERTIFIED MAIL XXXX XXXXXXXX W/ RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED ) Portfolio Recovery Associates , LLC XXXX : Compliance / Disputes Department XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX and XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX Re : FORMAL DISPUTE, DEMAND FOR DEBT VALIDATION, AND DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE CREDIT REPORT DELETION PRA Account No. : XXXX XXXX XXXX : XXXX XXXX XXXX. ( Acct ending XXXX ) Alleged Balance : {$2500.00} ________________________________________ I. Purpose of this correspondence I am writing regarding your correspondence dated XX/XX/XXXX, captioned Account Transferred to Litigation Department, in which you state that the above-referenced account has been transferred to your litigation department and you offer several payment options while stating that, upon final payment, you will request deletion of your tradeline from the XXXX major credit reporting agencies. 
I hereby dispute this alleged debt in its entiretyincluding the existence, amount, legal enforceability, ownership, and your right to collect or report itand I expressly invoke all rights afforded to me under : The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ( FDCPA ), 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq. ; The Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ), 15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq., including 1681e ( b ), 1681i, and 1681s-2 ; The Consumer Financial Protection Act of XXXX ( CFPA / Dodd-Frank ) , 12 U.S.C. 5531, 5536 ; XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX et seq. ; and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  under XXXX. XXXX, where applicable. 
This is a timely written dispute, a demand for full validation, and a demand for immediate deletion of all related credit reporting. 
________________________________________ II. Cease-collect requirement FDCPA 809 ( b ) / 15 U.S.C. 1692g ( b ) Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1692g ( b ), once a consumer disputes a debt in writing, a debt collector must cease all collection of the debt ( or any disputed portion ) until it has obtained verification of the debt and mailed it to the consumer. 
Accordingly, effective upon your receipt of this letter : 1. All collection activity must cease, including, without limitation, phone calls, letters, texts, emails, collection lawsuits or threats thereof, and any transfer or sale of the account to other collectors ; and 2. You may not resume any collection efforts until you have provided complete, documentary validation as set forth below. 
Any failure to fully honor this cease-collect requirement will constitute a violation of the FDCPA. 
________________________________________ III. Required scope of validation To satisfy your validation obligations and to permit any meaningful review, you must provide legible copies of each of the following categories of documents and information : 1. Underlying contract and account records o The original signed credit agreement, application, cardmember agreement, or other contract allegedly binding me ; o All amendments, change-in-terms notices, and governing terms in effect at the time of any alleged default.

2. Itemized accounting of the alleged balance o A full and itemized breakdown of the {$2500.00} you claim is owed, including original principal, interest, late fees, penalties, and any other charges ; o The contractual or statutory basis for each category of fee, charge, or interest assessed.

3. Complete transactional history o A chronological account statement from account opening through charge-off, and from charge-off through the present, showing all debits, credits, payments, adjustments, and transfers ; o Identification of the date of first delinquency that led to charge-off and the date and amount of the last payment or charge on the account.

4. Chain of title / assignment documentation o All bills of sale, assignment agreements, and transfer schedules evidencing each transfer of the specific XXXX XXXX XXXX. account ending XXXX to Portfolio Recovery Associates , LLC ; o Documentation clearly identifying my account, either individually or as part of a specific pool, and demonstrating that Portfolio Recovery is the current legal owner with authority both to collect and to furnish credit information.

5. Litigation and judgment information ( if any ) o If you allege any judgment exists, a certified copy of the judgment, including court, docket number, date of entry, current balance, and all post-judgment interest/fee calculations.

6. Statute of limitations analysis o Your written analysis of the applicable XXXX XXXX  statute of limitations for this alleged debt ( including citations to XXXX. XXXX and any other statutory authority you rely upon ) ; o The date you contend the limitations period began, and your basis for asserting that any threatened litigation is lawful and not time-barred. 
XXXX. Licensing / authority in XXXX XXXX o Proof that Portfolio Recovery Associates , LLC is duly authorized, registered, and, where required, bonded to engage in consumer debt collection in XXXX XXXX 
Unless and until you provide all of the foregoing, the alleged debt remains unsubstantiated, and you may not lawfully continue collection efforts. 
________________________________________ IV. Misleading Litigation Department language and settlement offers Your XX/XX/XXXX letter states that the account has been Transferred to Litigation Department, while simultaneously stating that no attorney within the Litigation Department has personally reviewed the particular circumstances of your account. In contextwith a bold heading, a payment deadline, and we are not obligated to renew this offer languagethis is reasonably understood by the least-sophisticated consumer as implying that litigation is imminent or already in motion, even though no attorney has reviewed the file and no lawsuit has been filed. 
That representation implicates : FDCPA 807 / 15 U.S.C. 1692e, prohibiting false, deceptive, or misleading representations ; and FDCPA 807 ( 5 ) and ( 10 ), prohibiting false threats of legal action or use of any false representation or deceptive means to collect or attempt to collect any debt. 
In addition, your statement that the account will be considered paid-in-full for less than the full balance and that upon final payment you will request deletion of your tradeline conditions credit-report relief on payment of a disputed, unvalidated account. Conditioning removal of potentially inaccurate or unverified negative information on payment of a debt that has not been adequately validated may be considered unfair or deceptive under the FDCPA, FCRA, CFPA, and XXXX when the underlying information is inaccurate, incomplete, or can not be verified. 
________________________________________ V. FCRA duties as a furnisher demand for deletion If you have reported, are reporting, or intend to report this account to any consumer reporting agency, this letter constitutes a direct dispute of the completeness and accuracy of that reporting under the FCRA.

Under 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 ( a ), furnishers may not report information they know or reasonably should know is inaccurate and must correct or delete information they later learn is inaccurate, incomplete, or can not be verified. Upon notice of a dispute from a consumer reporting agency under 15 U.S.C. 1681i, you must conduct a reasonable investigation, review all relevant information, and promptly modify, delete, or block any information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable.

Given : 1. The absence, to date, of any competent validation ; 2. The inherently incomplete and one-sided nature of typical debt-buyer data files ; and 3. Your own representation that you will request deletion of the tradeline upon receipt of final payment, there is no legitimate justification for continued reporting of this tradeline while the debt is disputed and unvalidated. The only FCRA-compliant course is immediate deletion of Portfolio Recoverys tradeline from all consumer reporting agencies. 
Accordingly, I demand that you : Immediately instruct XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( and any other consumer reporting agency to which you have furnished data ) to delete the Portfolio Recovery tradeline associated with XXXX Account No. XXXX ; and Provide written confirmation of such deletion, including copies of your deletion requests or automated universal dataform ( AUD ) submissions. 
________________________________________ VI. Dodd-Frank / CFPA Unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices As a covered person and furnisher of consumer credit information, Portfolio Recovery is subject to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, which makes it unlawful to engage in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices ( UDAAP ) in connection with any consumer financial product or service. 12 U.S.C. 5531, 5536. 
Continuing to : Threaten litigation based on stale, incomplete, or unsubstantiated data ; Condition tradeline deletion on payment of a disputed and unvalidated debt ; and Furnish or maintain negative credit information that is incomplete, inaccurate, or incapable of verification, would expose Portfolio Recovery to potential regulatory and civil liability under the CFPA in addition to FDCPA and FCRA exposure.

________________________________________ VII. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  and state-law rights XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. XXXX, declares unlawful : any unconscionable commercial practice, deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, or the knowing concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely upon such concealment, suppression or omission Any misstatement or omission regarding : The existence, amount, or enforceability of the alleged debt ; The age or time-barred status of the account under XXXX. XXXX ; Your ownership or chain of title ; or The conditions under which credit reporting may be corrected or deleted, may constitute an unconscionable commercial practice or deception under the XXXX, exposing you to statutory treble damages, attorneys fees, and costs. 
To the extent this account is at or beyond XXXX years from the date of default or last payment, any suggestion that litigation is a realistic option would be materially misleading and actionable under both the FDCPA and XXXX. 
________________________________________ VIII. Required actions and deadlines Within 30 ( thirty ) days of your receipt of this letter, please : 1. Provide full validation.

o Mail complete documentation responsive to Section III above ; and 2. Delete all credit reporting.

o Submit deletion requests to all consumer reporting agencies concerning Portfolio Recoverys tradeline for this account ; and o Provide written confirmation to me. 
Pending your full compliance : All collection activity must remain ceased ; Any credit reporting must, at a minimum, be clearly and conspicuously coded as disputed by consumer ; and You must not initiate or threaten any lawsuit relating to this account, particularly if it is time-barred under XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
Failure to comply will result in my exploring all available remedies, which may include : Filing complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, and XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  ; and Consulting with consumer-rights counsel and pursuing civil claims seeking statutory, actual, and punitive damages, plus attorneys fees and costs, under the FDCPA, FCRA, CFPA, XXXX, and any other applicable authority. 
________________________________________ IX. No waiver ; reservation of rights Nothing in this correspondence shall be construed as : An admission that any debt is owed to Portfolio Recovery Associates , LLC or to any other entity ; or A waiver of any rights, defenses, claims, or remedies ( legal or equitable ) available to me. 
All such rights are expressly reserved. 

Respectfully, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief