Complaint Review: Portfolio Recovery Associates - Norfolk Virginia

First, I have a VERY common name and have had problems with reporting agencies in the past attaching erronious information to my reports. I have contacted the creditors who have appeared and the majority of them realize that information has been wrongly attached to my reports, which they ask the reporting agency to remove.

Banks and credit card/loan management companies are notorious for giving out credit to every molecule in the universe. After the fact, while trying to get payments for credit issued, which, when they cannot get paid, send to a recovery company, who tries to recover funds from the person listed as the debtor.

Now, when the information the lender gives to the collection company fails to produce results, either because the debt is disputed, the debtor has no money or the information does not lead the collection company to the correct individual, the trouble starts.

In my case, due to the very common name, we will say "John Doe", the collection comany goes to a data base and looks up all the "John Doe" entries. They feel comfortable that the one they have chosen is the true debtor and the calls and letters begin. On this data base, there is important information, such as SS#, date of birth, addresses and so on, which they now attach to the report. In my case, my father has the same name. He was the first one they started calling.

My mom called me and gave me the number of the company, who I called to tell them to stop harrassing my father, that the debt wasn't his or mine and that there are at least 60 other people with the same name in my home state. Since then, this company has been calling me and sending me collection notices. I have asked them to stop trying to colect a debt that isn't mine. They said they would send me a form to fill out so I could dispute this debt, whichI have yet to recieve.

I recieved a letter that said they were "terminating the disputes investigation" and that they were going to report this to the credit reporting agencies so that I would have a bad credit report. I have been a victim of fraud in the past and this company wants me to give them vital information that they are not entitled to, so that they can use it against me.

I have helped others settle debt like this in the past, but, now that there are companies like PRA, who are devious and dishonest in there collection practices, it is much harder. The company they say I owe money to, Fleet Bank, is now Bank Of America. This debt has never appeared on a report in the past, it did not show when I recently purchased a new home and I will not let it be attached to me without a fight. Statutes of limitation has obviously passed since this alledged debt is more than 10 years old.

I still have accounts with BOA and have a lot of money saved there. If this debt was really mine, thay could have easily persued it themselves since I have not gone anywhere over the last 10 years.

In my opinion, companies like this, who make vailed threats and attempt to harrass people into paying something they don't owe just to avoid a greater hardship, should not be allowed to do so without presenting their case in front of a judge, like normal people must do when someone owes them money. I cannot, as an individual consumer, do the same things as they do without presenting my case and all the relevant information in front of a judge where the I, the plaintif, can face the debtor and we can present our facts.

I also understand that, in this economic climate and since the invention of the cerdit card, many people over-extend themselves and are faced with debt they cannot handle. This does not give companies like PRA the right to pursue using "any means necessary" since some of the people they are trying to get money out of are not the original debtors and are subject to harrassment and threats. Somebody has to do something and I am willing to do my part in getting legislative support for the cause of the innocent.

Bob

Somerset, New Jersey

U.S.A.