Sterling Jewelers Fake Credit Cards
You may have claims if Sterling Jewelers (Kay Jewelers or Jared Galeria) enrolled you for a credit card or credit product without consent.
Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates?
Portfolio Recovery Associates lawsuits are common in Pennsylvania. PRA is a debt buyer that files many types of collection lawsuits, including credit card lawsuits, personal loan lawsuits, and other debt lawsuits. Portfolio usually can’t prove the cases it files. That means consumers have a high chance of winning a Portfolio Recovery lawsuit.
If you’re getting sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, call us for help. We charge flat fees and refund our fee if we lose. To get a free case review from our debt defense attorney, call us or complete out our free case review form.
Let us answer your debt defense questions:
Why is Portfolio Recovery Associates suing me?
"Portfolio Recovery files so many lawsuits for one reason: it wants to profit off bad debts."
When consumer debt becomes severely delinquent, creditors often charge-off the account. Sometimes, they try to collect the account themselves. Other times, they sell the account to a third-party “debt buyer.”
Portfolio Recovery Associates is one of the “debt buyers” that purchases delinquent consumer accounts. Debt buyers like PRA usually purchase old debt at steep discounts. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stated debt buyers paid 4 cents on the dollar for old debt and the Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) stated one debt buyer paid 3 cents on the dollar for old debt. After PRA buys debt at deep discounts, it attempts to collect the debt for profit.
In Pennsylvania, Portfolio Recovery Associates sues thousands of consumers each year. Throughout the whole United States, debt buyers like PRA likely file hundreds of thousands of lawsuits each year. Portfolio Recovery files so many lawsuits for one reason: it wants to profit off bad debts.
Can I win if I get sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates?
We generally win Portfolio Recovery Associates lawsuits because: 1) PRA hires “appearance attorneys” to attend court hearings; 2) PRA doesn’t have the documents required by Pennsylvania law; and/or 3) PRA doesn’t have witnesses with knowledge of the case.
Appearance lawyers, deficient documents, and witnesses without knowledge are not enough for PRA to win against you:
- Appearance Attorneys: an "appearance attorney" is a lawyer hired to appear for a debt buyer in court. These attorneys can't testify and know nothing about the documents they attempt to present in court.
- Deficient Documentation: Pennsylvania law requires credit contracts, full account statements, and assignments to win collection lawsuits. Debt buyers usually don't have this documentation.
- Witnesses Without Knowledge: Even if debt buyers have the documents they need, their witnesses (if they have any) usually can't testify about a case. Debt buyers can't prove their case without a competent witness.
The specific strategy we use to win Portfolio Recovery Associates lawsuits differs depending on whether your case is filed in a magistrate or common pleas court. Our strategy also may change depending on whether you’re dealing with a credit card lawsuit, personal loan lawsuit, auto loan lawsuit, or some other type of collection lawsuit.
To understand how we evaluate cases, visit our debt defense attorney page. Call us or complete our contact form for a free case review.
What is the likelihood of winning a PRA lawsuit?
Generally, it’s highly likely you’ll win a Portfolio Recovery Associates lawsuit. In fact, we’ve won all of the PRA lawsuits we’ve defended.
To gauge your chance of success in a particular case, we evaluate numerous factors including:
- The amount at issue.
- The age of the account at issue.
- The type of debt at issue (credit card, personal loan, auto loan, etc).
- The lawyer/law firm that filed your case, including Scott and Associates (Michael Volk, Ilana Zion, Michael Carrucoli, or James O'Toole), Weltman Weinberg & Reis (Scott Best, Matthew Pomy, William Molczan, or Matthew Urban), in-house attorneys (Robert Polas, Carrie Gerding, Gregory Babcock, or Christopher Titus), or Ratchford Law Group (Michael Ratchford).
- The identity of the original creditor, including Capital One Bank, Citibank, Comenity Bank, Comenity Capital Bank, Elan Financial Services, OneMain Financial, Synchrony Bank, US Bank, or another creditor.
- The court in which your case is pending.
- The county in which your case is pending.
If you’re getting sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, call us or complete our contact form for a free case review.
Can I ignore a Portfolio Recovery lawsuit?
You probably shouldn’t ignore a Portfolio Recovery Associates lawsuit. If you do, a default judgment likely will be entered against you. A “default judgment” is a court order stating that you owe the debt PRA claims you owe. After such a judgment is entered against you, debt collectors can seize property and garnish bank accounts.
Some people ignore collection lawsuits because they think they don’t owe the debt or already paid it, or because they think the debt is too old. Don’t do this. Court’s won’t analyze a lawsuit to make sure it’s not defective. If you ignore a Portfolio Recovery lawsuit, they’ll win without even showing up. Then, you’ll owe a debt you shouldn’t owe.
Can you help if Portfolio Recovery is suing me?
Yes. We’ve won every Portfolio Recovery Associates lawsuit we’ve defended. That means our clients haven’t paid any money to PRA.
In addition to winning your case, here’s other services we provide when you hire us to defend you:
- We'll ensure all required pleadings (like an intent to defend or an answer) are completed and filed with the court.
- Absent special circumstances, you won't have to go to court; we'll show up in your place.
- We'll receive all of the letters and calls from Portfolio Recovery Associates; you'll stop receiving letters and calls.
- We'll monitor your credit report to ensure false information is not reported.
- We'll monitor collection activities to ensure they comport with the law.
These services are provided at no extra charge.
To see how we can help you or what we can do for you, call us today or complete our contact form for a free case evaluation.
Hire us to help!
If you’re getting sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, please contact us for help. To get a free case review from our debt defense attorney, give us a call or complete our our free case review form.
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