Making very old debt go away

[ficojoe]

The letter I plan to send tomorrow:

ficojoe

[address 1]

[city], [state] [zip]

August 16, 2012

Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC

PO Box 12914

Norfolk VA 23541

Dear Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC:

I became aware that you believe I owe you a debt when I received your bill dated July 31, 2012 having Account/Reference No.: [account number]. I responded via letter August 3, 2012 requesting validation of this debt per § 809 of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). According to FDCPA § 809(b) collection activity must cease until you provide verification of this debt.

After your receipt of my request for validation of this debt, on August 7, 2012, I received a voice mail that stated: “This message is for ficojoe. If you're not ficojoe, do not listen to this message further. ficojoe, this is Portfolio Recovery Associates, a debt collector. Please call Mod Cut 1(866) 691-3568 This is an attempt to collect a debt by a debt collector. Any information obtained will be used for that purpose. Thank you.”

According to your own agent, you were making “an attempt to collect a debt” during the time in which you were barred from doing so per FDCPA § 809(b). At this time Portfolio Recovery Associates became civilly liable to me for up to $1,000 per FDCPA § 813.

I am willing to settle this matter on the following terms: (1) Portfolio Recovery Associations agrees to never contact ficojoe again about any debt, (2) Portfolio Recover Associates considers the debt with having account/reference number [account number] as paid in full, (3) ficojoe agrees Portfolio Recovery Associates is no longer civilly liable for their actions in collecting this debt. The purpose of this settlement is merely to resolve this matter quickly. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of liability for this debt in any form. To accept this offer, provide a written and signed statement containing your agreement to the above terms. This offer is valid only if such a statement is signed and mailed (postmarked) not later than September 1, 2012. This letter is a firm offer to settle and binds me to this agreement if you accept the terms in the fashion stated.

Please be aware that according to your own bill, this account is past limits for reporting by credit reporting agencies and the statute of limitations has expired for collection. I point this out to show how generous the above settlement offer is. Although this letter is not a cease and desist message, your failure to settle this matter quickly will likely result in both legal action seeking the full $1000 from Portfolio Recovery Associates as well as a cease and desist order permanently barring you from any collection activity. Any attempt to collect this debt through lawsuit would be met with a statue of limitations defense and a counter suit for FDCPA violations.

Please respond in writing as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

ficojoe

[OptimalFICO]

Let us know how it goes. Best of luck!

[Dapper_Dan]

When you DV, you must explicitly order them to cease and decist calling you.  That's a separate issue.  You can DV all day long and they can call you all day long.  If you order them to stop calling, they must then only contact you in writing.  This slows them down.  They must then hire people who can read and write.  Most likely, they will go away for several months and maybe even pass it along to another CA and you must then start the DV and cease/decist all over again.

[ficojoe]

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@Dapper_Dan wrote:

When you DV, you must explicitly order them to cease and decist calling you.  That's a separate issue.  You can DV all day long and they can call you all day long.  If you order them to stop calling, they must then only contact you in writing.  This slows them down.  They must then hire people who can read and write.  Most likely, they will go away for several months and maybe even pass it along to another CA and you must then start the DV and cease/decist all over again.

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A timely DV letter causes a temporary bar on all collection activity, including phone calls, until they properly verify the debt.

[Dapper_Dan]

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@ficojoe wrote:

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@Dapper_Dan wrote:

When you DV, you must explicitly order them to cease and decist calling you.  That's a separate issue.  You can DV all day long and they can call you all day long.  If you order them to stop calling, they must then only contact you in writing.  This slows them down.  They must then hire people who can read and write.  Most likely, they will go away for several months and maybe even pass it along to another CA and you must then start the DV and cease/decist all over again.

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A timely DV letter causes a temporary bar on all collection activity, including phone calls, until they properly verify the debt.

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I stand corrected 

[Shogun]

Good luck.  I personally don't like Portfolio, so go get them.

[ficojoe]

Portfolio Recovery Associates responded with one sentence:

"Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC ("PRA") has concluded its investigation of your dispute and is closing your account."

[OptimalFICO]

So you didn't get the $1K, but the fact you don't have to waste anymore time on the matter and your peace of mind are worth more than that. Congrats!

[Lasardo]

That's great! 

I had a collection removed with Portfolio Recovery, I found them to be great to work with.

Congrats on your success! 

[rckstrscott]

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@Lasardo wrote:

That's great! 

I had a collection removed with Portfolio Recovery, I found them to be great to work with.

Congrats on your success! 

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Yeah; they removed within days of my settling an account with them..

They were a pain in the butt prior though. Good working getting this removed.. Hope it doesn't resurface!

-scott