Portfolio Recovery Associates Hit with Lawsuit over Collection Practices

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A proposed class action out of California district court claims defendant Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The lawsuit specifically alleges that the defendant, in its attempts to collect on debts from the plaintiff and proposed class members, unlawfully filed claims to collect on debts whose assignments were invalid, with the debts’ purported assignors not registered to do business in California.

The plaintiff claims he was sued by the defendants in January 2016 in their attempt to collect on a debt he owed to General Electric Capital, Inc. According to the lawsuit, Portfolio Recovery Associates purported to be a valid assignee of the debt, but unlawfully concealed that this was not true because it was allegedly not authorized to conduct business in California at the time of the debt assignment.

“Such conduct is inherently deceptive and misleads the least-sophisticated consumer,” the lawsuit argues. “[The defendant’s] acts and omissions were intentional, and result from [the defendant’s] desire to mislead debtors and consumers into making payments on debts that [the defendant] was not lawfully entitled to collect on.”