Currently serving Texas residents only
Portfolio Recovery Associates Collection Account? Here's How to Dispute It
Seeing Portfolio Recovery Associates on your credit report, or getting letters and calls from them, is stressful. You have real rights under federal and Texas law before you pay anything, starting with the right to ask them to prove the debt is yours and the amount is right.
Who Is Portfolio Recovery Associates?
Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC is a debt buyer in Norfolk, Virginia, owned by PRA Group, Inc. It buys defaulted consumer accounts, mostly credit cards, personal loans and auto deficiencies, from banks and other lenders at a discount, then collects on them itself. As the buyer rather than the original lender, it should be able to show the chain of ownership and the amount if the account is disputed.
Also known as: PRA, PRA Group
What Portfolio Recovery Associates usually collects
- Credit card accounts
- Personal loans
- Auto loan balances left after a repossession
What to ask Portfolio Recovery Associates
Portfolio Recovery Associates bought this account, so it should be able to show you:
- the original creditor and your original account number
- when the account was charged off, and the balance then
- any interest or fees added since, and why they're allowed
- the paperwork showing it owns this specific account
A certified letter creates a record of exactly what you asked, and when.
If this is an old credit card or loan
In Texas, the time limit to sue over most debts is four years (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.004). A debt buyer can't sue over a debt that's past that limit, and making a payment doesn't restart the clock (Texas Finance Code § 392.307). That's separate from your credit report: most collections can be reported for up to seven years from when the account first went delinquent.
Your rights, in short
- Ask them to validate it. Under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, if you dispute a debt in writing within 30 days of the collector's first notice to you, it has to stop collecting until it mails you verification of the debt. You can still dispute in writing after that; it just doesn't require the pause.
- A disputed debt has to be reported as disputed. A collector can't report information it knows is false, and if it reports a debt you've disputed, it has to say it's disputed.
- Texas adds its own rules. The Texas Debt Collection Act (Texas Finance Code ch. 392) bans misrepresenting the amount or character of a debt, and third-party collectors have to be bonded with the Texas Secretary of State.
- Don't ignore a lawsuit. A collection account on your report is different from being sued. If you've been served, there's a court deadline; talk to a consumer protection attorney right away.
Whether an account gets corrected or removed depends on the account and how Portfolio Recovery Associates responds. No one can remove accurate, current, verifiable information.
Let Us Handle Your Portfolio Recovery Associates Dispute
We prepare and send your certified debt validation letter for you. You only pay $100 if it works: when Portfolio Recovery Associates confirms in writing that it's stopping collection, or the account comes off your credit report.
- Pay Only If Collection Stops
- USPS Certified Mail
- Nothing charged today
Built by the team behind Cheating Debt, helping Texans with their credit since 2016. About us
Frequently Asked Questions
Most third-party collectors and debt buyers are legitimate businesses, but that doesn't mean any specific account they're reporting is accurate or that they can prove the right to collect it. Under the FDCPA, if you dispute in writing within 30 days of their first notice, they have to stop collecting until they send you verification of the debt.
Debt collectors and debt buyers can file a lawsuit to try to collect a debt. If you've already been served with a lawsuit, that's a different situation from a routine collection account and needs a licensed attorney's help right away — a missed court date can result in an automatic default judgment against you.
This page is for general educational purposes and is not legal advice. Dispute On Demand is a credit services organization as defined by the Credit Repair Organizations Act and the Texas Credit Services Organizations Act, currently serving Texas residents only. No specific outcome can be guaranteed — no credit repair organization can lawfully remove accurate, current, and verifiable information from a credit report. "Portfolio Recovery Associates" is used here to identify the company for informational purposes; Dispute On Demand is not affiliated with Portfolio Recovery Associates.