Collection agency says I owe a debt...

ComplaintsScamsPortfolio Recovery Associates

Complaint

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Althea Molette
Country: United States
I got a phone call yesterday, Jan. 26, 2010, from Portfolio Recovery Associates claiming that I owe South Western Bell an outstanding bill. Well, I’ve never had South Western Bell service. In fact I haven’t had a phone service in my name in a better part of 12 years and that wasn’t even South Western Bell. This person was rude and very unprofessional. When I tried to tell her that I’ve never had SWB service before, she immediately started yelling at me and conveying threats. After I ended the call by hanging up on her, I went on the internet to find a number for SWB but I kept getting directed to AT&T, so I called them remembering that AT&T had acquired SWB a while back. They said I didn’t show up in their data base and their records go back only five years. The lady I talked to at AT&T suggested that I was being scammed. After I spoke with AT&T I called the police and made a report. I also tried to call back the number that showed on my caller id and I got a recording saying this number wasn’t in service. It seems to me as though if a collection agency wants to resolve an outstanding debt they should make their number call back available. What can I do if they call again? This is clearly a scam.

Comments

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  • 0
    Staci
    This company has been contacting me off and on for a little over a year. They NEVER leave voicemails. I've only answered twice, both times the lady on the line began to yell at me when I started asking questions or saying anything other than agreeing to pay their "settlement". The 2nd person (just now) started yelling at me and I told her "HEY HEY LADY! If you don't stop yelling at me I will end this phone call." To which she replied, "Go ahead and hang up! You still owe....". I have no idea what she said after that because I hung up....just like she told me to do.
    No I'm not sure what steps to take to make them stop. The last letter I received from them even said "Due to the age of this debt we will not sue you." THEN LEAVE ME ALONE!!
  • 0
    Karen
    The "people" of this company are unbelievable!  My husband had apparently set up payments with them for some debt he believed he owed back in July of 2012.  My husband passed away unexpectedly on October 4th.  I called Portfolio Recovery shortly after the funeral to discuss the automatic payments they were taking from our joint checking account as my husband had no life insurance, HUGE medical bills and I was sitting with 2 children and no income.  I spoke with a "manager" who sounded so sweet and sympathetic and offered to suspend the direct payments for 4 months and then to contact me to discuss what I wanted to do.  I asked her if I was legally responsible for my husband's debt at which time she hesitantly said, "no, but since he wanted to clear his name, you will likely want to continue that when your situation improves."  Since that time, my bank informed me that I had to close our joint account and open one in just my name--I did so in November.  As I balanced my checkbook today, I noted that I had overdrafted the account at one point when shouldn't have--with further investigation, discovered that these horrid people have continued to take money from me every month, even from my individual account since the closing of the joint one. I called them tonight and was screamed at, literally, and told that it must have been my fault somehow.  When I told her that I was contacting an attorney, she said, "what's the big deal, I can stop the payments as of now, Besides, I don;t know what's wrong with you that you wouldn't pay your husband's bills."  She became increasingly louder and louder and when I asked to speak to a manager, she hung up on me.  I just filled out some info with an attorney--these folks need to be shut down!
  • 0
    Angie
    | 2 replies
    I have been getting a calls and letters saying I owe for a walmart card funny thing is I still use and pay on the only walmart card I've had I have told them this repeatedly but all they say is well good then pay this one too they even called during my sisters funeral when I said I was at a funeral and couldn't talk they said they didn't care if it was the presidents funeral they would keep calling  I even have a letter from them stating that because of the age of this debt they wouldn't sue me but yet they call me atleast 6 times a day
    • 0
      They have a history of complaints.. replies to Angie
      | 1 reply
      of pushing across FDCPA limits in attempt to intimidate or coerce consumers to pay even small amounts in an attempt to reset SOL so they can then sue on what were out of statute debts.  Complaints also suggest the same harassing approach when "erroneously" collecting from the wrong persons.

      Debt collectors who are attempting to collect on suspect "debt" often combine both deception and harassment in their attempts to do so.  Their very statement that "they didn't care if it was the presidents funeral they would keep calling" crosses the line into illegal threats in violation of FDCPA, as well as deception in that it implies that you have no legal right to stop them, which is false.  Both the threats and the deception are illegal, even more so in attempting to collect an unowed debt.  They are implying your only choice is to pay them, rather than exercise your legal rights to dispute the debt, demand proof you owe it, or demand that they cease communications entirely.

      Since you do not believe this "debt" is even owed by you (consistent with having an existing Walmart card), you would be wise to discuss this with a consumer attorney, as you might be wise to take an aggressive approach here before they screw up your credit at an inopportune time (like when you're buying or refinancing a house), or attempt to slip through a default judgement while you're not looking.  You may be able to sue for violations of FDCPA, which is probably the most direct way to drive them away from harassing you permanently.

      You can find a consumer attorney in your state through www.naca.net
  • 0
    Stanislas Sardonicus
    | 1 reply
    These losers at Portfolio Recovery will not stop calling & sending mail stating I owe $2816.70 (as of today anyway) on a credit card that was legally discharged in a bankruptcy in 1997.  Like all debt collectors, they will not listen, they will not stop, they will call you names, & they do their best to be their worst.  I cannot believe that in this day & age that the government cannot make companies like these go away.  I'd bet that 1 out of 10 'debts' they try to collect on are really valid.  They try to scare you into paying, when all they can really do is just annoy you.  Our debt was discharged after a very trying year of a medical nightmare that my wife endured.  We had 100's of thousands of dollars in medical bills dumped on us in less than 9 months after my wife became ill.  We had perfect credit before she became sick, but after losing her job & nearly her life, we were forced to file bankruptcy.  I cannot believe that after nearly 18 years we are still living this nightmare.  I can only wish the same for them!
    • 0
      Why put up with it? replies to Stanislas Sardonicus
      Set them up, then sue them...

      Send them a cease communications letter, mailed certified return receipt requested, so you have proof of their receipt for use in court.  If they continue to harass you and demand payment, you can sue them for violations of FDCPA.

      Many attorneys take this type of case on contingency, since FDCPA provides for courts to award statutory and actual damages, and your attorney fees, if you win.  You can find a consumer attorney in your state through www.naca.net.
  • 0
    CFPB vs. PRA consent order
    http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201509_cfp ... ociates-llc.pdf
    If you have further problems, contact CFPB.
    www.consumerfinance.gov
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