Portfolio Recovery Associates

Portfolio Recovery Associates, often called PRA, buys unpaid consumer accounts and collects them. Its parent, PRA Group, describes itself on its own website (PRA Group company site, opens in a new tab) as one of the largest buyers of nonperforming loans in the world, based in Norfolk, Virginia.

The company started in 1996 (PRA Group company site, opens in a new tab) as Portfolio Recovery Associates and went public in 2002. The parent was renamed PRA Group in 2014. The collector that writes to you is still called Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC.

In 2015 the CFPB called PRA one of the two largest debt buyers (CFPB, opens in a new tab) in the country. It found PRA had collected on debts without first substantiating them, and filed lawsuits using robo-signed court documents. The order required $19 million in consumer relief and an $8 million penalty.

In 2023 the CFPB went to federal court, alleging PRA had broken that 2015 order and consumer reporting law. The court entered a stipulated judgment (CFPB, opens in a new tab) requiring at least $12.18 million in redress and a $12 million penalty. None of this makes your debt invalid, but it is a good reason to check every detail.

Usually because PRA bought an account you once had, often a credit card or a loan that went unpaid and was charged off. As the CFPB explains, a debt buyer like PRA pays a fraction of the debt (CFPB, opens in a new tab) but has the right to collect the full amount the seller claimed.

The name may be new to you. The first letter should tell you who the original creditor was.

Before you pay or promise anything, check the validation notice (CFPB, opens in a new tab) against your own records.

PRA is a debt collector, so the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and its rule, Regulation F, apply. The CFPB lists debt buyers among debt collectors (CFPB, opens in a new tab). These are the rights people use most.

PRA does file collection lawsuits. Among the CFPB's 2023 allegations were suits filed without the required documents (CFPB, opens in a new tab) and suits on time-barred debt. Those were allegations about past practice, not a finding about your case.

A lawsuit has a deadline. If you do not respond, the court can rule against you without hearing your side.

Often, yes. Collectors frequently agree to less than the full balance, especially for a lump sum. How much less depends on the account, and nothing is certain.

Check how old the debt is before you pay. A payment, or even agreeing that you owe an old debt, may restart the clock (CFPB, opens in a new tab) on the statute of limitations.

If you have $10,000 or more of unsecured debt in total, a PRA account can be enrolled with your other debts. We would ask for validation of the debt first, then negotiate it like any other account. You approve any settlement before a dollar is paid1.

If PRA has already sued you, talk to an attorney about the case. We do not give legal advice, and settlement does not stop a lawsuit on its own.