Portfolio Recovery Associates (Need Advice) on settlement

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I've read very bad things so far about PRA, so i wanted to ask for advice on my situation. 

The OC sold the debt to PRA which I do not deny owing.  Im trying to do the right thing settle the debt.  I reached a verbal agreement with PRA over the phone and asked them to email me the settlement agreement (20% discount) but they refused to do so unless i provided my debit card information which I was unwilling to do because I was not 100% certain that I could come up with the money.  I now have the amount agreed upon and plan to call them back.

Have any of you dealt with PRA,  if I provide my routing and checking number to pay the debt can they reneged on that agreement?  Can i rest assured that this is put to bed once the amount is debited from my account?  will they attempt to come after me for the difference?  My credit report shows this debt pop up twice one saying portfolio and one saying PRA.. why is this? 

I want to do the right thing and pay the agreed settlement amount. 

Any advice is much appreciated from those who have settled with PRA in the past.

Can anyone tell me step by step how their settlement with PRA went? 

[Anonymous]

I would invest in a prepaid card from Walmart. You can register it online to monitor the activity and only put the agreed upon amount on the card. I would never give any collection agency access to my bank account. Also try to negotiate a pay for delete while on the phone prior to making payment. They probably won't provide it in writing but that's the chance you take.

[Anonymous]

How long would it take to register that pre paid card from walmart?

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the myFico forums!

Are they listed twice on the same CR with the different names?  I have several accounts that are listed with slightly different names on the CRB reports.  If I have all 3 CRs compared on my screen, it might be a different name on one of the reports so it looks strange.  But  if I have 10 accounts, I would have 10 on each CR, just not always the same on each one.

I always got the terms of the agreement in writing before I made payment to any CA, and it always required my signature.  I never had an account with PRA though.

The suggestion of a prepaid debit card to make the payment is a good one.  I hadnt considered that before.  I didnt realize how much 'exposure' I had when I made payments on accounts before, but I did have the signed agreement before starting though.  Guess I was lucky I didnt have a problem.

HTH

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

How long would it take to register that pre paid card from walmart?

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I think you just buy the card and then go on your pc and create an account and 'register' the card so you can see when it gets debited and what the balance is.  So no time delay, unless you type really slow.;

It is the same principle as my registered Starbucks card.  That card number is associated with me and I can go online and verify the places I used it and what the balance is, and to Starbux delight, I can reload it and visit them again.

HTH

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any actual experience with PRA, the debt is not mine.. Im actually paying it off for a family member.. is the agreement sent via email good enough for me to make payment via routing/check acct number?  My fear is they will go back on our settlement deal.  In the past I dealt with other CA that i foolish paid with only a verbal agreement over the phone but luckily all turned out well.

Walmart unfortunately is not a option for me.

if anyone that has PRA experience can chime in i would much appreciate it.  These guys are agreesive and insisted on getting my debit card information even though I explained the debt was not mine and was helping a family member out.  again I did not settle on the spot because I did not have the funds agreed upon but now I do.. how should i proceed?

[Anonymous]

Hey guys so this is what i plan to do..

Call  PRA to send me a email with the agreed upon settlement which at that point I will give them my routing / checking account information. Is the email correspondence a good receipt?  I really want to put this to bed as this is causing my family member a lot of stress.  my only concern is that PRA will have MY banking information although I do not see them trying to run any unauthorized charges to my bank.  I will surely dispute if they did!  again anyone with experiece with PRA can please chime in I would appreciate it.

my other option is to ask for PRA to send a settlement agreement via snail mail than send them a check to pay the account off.

thoughts?