Portfolio Recovery Associates did not just do this to me or you: One Assurance of Discontinuance
If Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, any of the PRA Group, Inc. Subsidiaries or any other debt collector called you and said you owe a debt that you don’t recall and refused to give you adequate documentation of the debt, you might think about filing a lawsuit against them for violations of the FDCPA or your state law regarding debt collection.
Agencies at both the state and federal level have gone as far as obtaining consent agreements to cause PRA to cease the bad conduct and make multi-million-dollar payments of one kind or another. But those agreements do not seem to slow the greedy company from violating the same provisions of state and federal law again.
Here is one Assurance of Discontinuance obtained against Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC by the Attorney General of Massachusetts.
The Just Us System
Here is a weird thing I noticed when I was researching for an FDCPA claim I brought against a debt buyer called Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC:
Similar cases that are brought by attorneys settle for about $1,000 to $5,000 per plaintiff with $20,000 to the attorney who filed the case. I have seen cases that did not settle quickly, where the plaintiffs got about $10,000 and the attorneys got $200,000.
Portfolio Recovery Associates gave me offers of judgment for $1,000 and $5,000. I told them no.
Filing the average case is not rocket science. The attorneys who specialize in consumer protection law can probably write and file a case in 35 minutes.
So, why do the attorneys earn disproportionately more than a litigant who is willing to do the paperwork on her own? Doesn’t that incentivize the lawyers to settle quickly and often, instead of working hard to get to trial? If one or two people make it to trial and a jury awards significant punitive damages, Boom! PRA and its ilk will need to find a different way to harass and rip off the rest of us.
Records From Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, one of the nation’s most dishonest debt buyers, will often tell a person she owes money to PRA because PRA bought the old debt, even without adequate proof the debt exists.
According to a long line of actions by the CFPB and various State Attorney Generals, Portfolio Recovery Associates does not verify or validate the debts it bought before aggressively trying to collect. PRA knows the portfolios it purchased for pennies on the dollar are riddled with errors.
I am suing PRA for making incessant phone calls to me on a debt that I don’t recall and for which it has inadequate proof. Each call I answered began the same way. “Hi. This is [random person’s name] calling from a recorded line to speak with Laura Lynn. Is she available?”
They knew I had an Arkansas landline, but still treated me as if I still lived in California which is a two party consent state for recording purposes.
Part of PRA’s defense is that it did not make the numerous calls I received in which I hung up on them. They won’t tell me who provides them telephone service so I could subpoena their records. But they did provide their own call log.
Their call log does not match up to my cell phone records.
If you decide to sue PRA to try to deter them from making more improper calls, keep good records. Tape the calls if it is legal in your state. Look up “single-party consent recording” or, if PRA starts the conversation by telling you the call may be recorded it sounds to me like they are giving you permission to record also. (Disclaimer: I am not an attorney. This is just what sounds fair to me and what I presume when someone tells me he is recording a call.)
All the PRA numbers they called me from two years ago that I tried calling back yesterday are now disconnected.
Here is a short list: If you know some of Portfolio Recovery Associate’s old numbers please email them to me or post in the comments.
(760) 823-3149
(720) 307-1681
(760) 258-4596
(442) 286-3194
No Need to Reinvent the Wheel: Government Officials in Searcy County, Arkansas are Repeat Offenders
Did you buy property in Searcy County, Arkansas? Did your lovely rural retreat turn into Hell on Earth?
Join the club.
I’ve complained about Judge Susan Weaver, Sheriff Deputy Ezra Pierce and Court Reporter Jana Perry.
It seems that the RICO type enterprise in Searcy County, Arkansas spreads into more than just the court and sheriff’s office. The clerk’s office looks a little fishy, too.
I researched Caseinfo.arcourts.gov to find other properties that Judge Weaver transferred from control by a trustee to a plaintiff who was purposefully left out of the trust, to see if there is a pattern.
One troubling case I found was not quite on target. The property was lost by judicial foreclosure, sold and the proceeds given to a bank. But the case was hotly contested for about seven years. Yikes!
The part that concerns me most is that the winner of the courthouse sale was the Deputy Clerk of Searcy County, Arkansas, Michelle Loggins.
So, the Clerk Debbie Loggins was the auctioneer of the property and the winner of the auction was Deputy Clerk Michelle Loggins and her husband Paul, who bid $82,000. Hmm?
You may ask, how does a deputy county clerk in podunk Arkansas afford to pay $82,000 cash at a courthouse sale? Well, the receipt from a month after the sale said the payor was “L & L Drywall”. There is an L & L Acoustic and Drywall in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Maybe Paul Loggins is involved with the drywall company. Or maybe the enterprising clerk is double escrowing the cheap deals that can be had through judicial foreclosures. [In reviewing the judgement written by Judge Susan Weaver, I see that Judge Weaver allowed the successful bidder three months of credit at 10% interest per annum. I have not seen any courthouse sale that extended credit before. Some non-judicial foreclosures require immediate payment. Some allow 24 hours. The one judicial foreclosure I’ve been involved with as a purchaser allowed us a brief time to pay, but we had the cash on the day we bid. (2/26/2022)]
The auction sale was not advertised in the local Marshall Mountain Wave. It was advertised in a paper out of Fayetteville in Northwest Arkansas.
The order confirming the sale in Searcy County Circuit Court case No. 65CV-14-20 was signed by Judge Susan Weaver on February 16, 2022.
Another thing that caught my attention is that the person who lost the property was named in two capacities in the suit, once as an individual, Jo Elliot, and once as a trustee of the John Paxton Elliot Trust. There were two summonses issued and served on the woman, one as an individual and one as “trustee”.
I’ve been complaining to Judge Weaver since June 2021 that I was sued as codefendant with a trust as the other defendant and no summons was issued to a trustee of the trust. After more than 200 days Judge Weaver convinced the plaintiff attorney William White to issue a second summons, but White wrote “c/o Laura Lynn (Hammett)” instead of “Laura Lynn Hammett as trustee of the Rural Revival Living Trust”. Summonses are supposed to withstand strict scrutiny of the law. That summons cannot.
All I can say is that if you don’t want to lose your property through a court action, don’t buy property anywhere Susan Weaver is the judge. She said she likes to play with other people’s money, according to an article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Apparently, many of the little people in the government of Marshall, Arkansas and the other small towns under Queen Weaver’s reign have gotten in on the game.
What fun.
Why Did Judge Billy Roy Wilson Dismiss a case Concerning the Alleged Fictionalization of a Transcript Based on Rooker-Feldman?
The short answer: Judge Billy Roy Wilson is corrupt.
The more perplexing question is “Why did the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirm the dismissal?”
I filed a civil rights action against Judge Susan Kaye Weaver, Court Reporter Jana Perry and Attorney William Zac White. I alleged that the three conspired to make an inaccurate transcript of a hearing in case number 65CV-21-20 in Searcy County Arkansas.
Judge Wilson granted a motion to dismiss filed by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s Office on behalf of Judge Weaver and the court reporter before Mr. White even filed a joinder or his own motion. Judge Billy Bob threw in a dismissal for Zac White with no prompting…that the public was made aware of.
One basis Judge Wilson cited for the dismissal was the “Rooker-Feldman” doctrine.
But,
“If a federal plaintiff asserts as a legal wrong an allegedly erroneous decision by a state court, and seeks relief from a state court judgment based on that decision, Rooker–Feldman bars … jurisdiction…. If, on the other hand, a … plaintiff asserts … an allegedly illegal act or omission by an adverse party, Rooker–Feldman does not bar jurisdiction.”
Hageman v. Barton, 817 F.3d 611, 614–15 (8th Cir. 2016)
My complaint specified that I was not asking for review of a state court decision. Though, the bizarre decisions made by Judge S.K. Weaver should certainly be overturned.
It seems to me that collusion between an attorney, a judge and a court reporter to fictionalize the record should be considered an illegal act.
Welcome to Grisham Land.
My suggestion is that if you have any assets, you don’t bring them to Arkansas. A redneck judge at the Federal or State level might decide one of his buddies should be granted your assets and it sucks to be you.
Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC: Let’s Stop Their Harassing Calls Together
Have you had harassing phone calls from a debt collector that calls themselves Portfolio Recovery Associates or PRA?
Their calls begin “Hi, this is Jane Doe, calling to speak with [the mark’s name].” They do not tell you the company name until you are recorded as having the birthdate or social security number of the alleged debtor they are trying to reach.
Portfolio Recovery Associates is infamous for buying junk debt, pennies on the dollar, then using pit bull tactics to convince their marks to pay the alleged debt.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that PRA knew many of the lists of debt they purchased were inaccurate, and actually collected on those debts, a high percentage by default judgment.
I filed a pro se lawsuit against Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC to try to stop them from harassing others.
PRA is claiming that many of the phone calls I remember receiving were not from them.
Here is a short list of phone numbers the calls came from:
(760) 760-9002
(646) 681-3007
(313) 305-1334
(760) 331-2599
(909) 352-1775
(760) 677-3517
(518) 304-1182
(661)689-5751
(760) 640-3194
(760) 291-4107
(760) 823-3149
(760) 227-1170
(760) 704-0270
(760) 760-9002
If you received a call from any of these numbers or other numbers owned by Portfolio Recovery Associates, please send an email to bohemian_books@yahoo.com and we can share info.
If you are being sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, let’s chat. I am not an attorney and cannot give legal advice, but I can share my story with you, links to informative websites and encouragement.
It is likely that your experience will be interesting and helpful to me, as well.
And please, post PRA phone numbers that you know of in the comments below. They neighbor spoof, so there are hundreds or thousands of numbers, too many to block.
Will Judge Susan Weaver Overlook Her Pet’s Complete Lack of Argument in His Reply to Motion for Default Judgment?
Arkansas Attorney William “Zac” White filed a motion for default judgment that would transfer title of 40 acres and a house from a trust to his client. For some reason, which I can only speculate about, Zac refused to issue a summons to the “trustee” of the trust.
Judge Susan Kaye Weaver has favored Willy White throughout the proceedings. Attorneys who will remain nameless, as they need to work in courts presided over by the very blond judge, complain that Judge Weaver chooses “favorites”. But it appears to this writer that she does not just favor one party over another. She makes an affirmative effort to throw “the game”.
For example, in the case of Pietrczak v. Rural Revival Living Trust, et al, Judge Weaver dismissed the pro se plaintiff’s counterclaim sua sponte, with no notice, without specifying the inadequacies in the pleading.
A response was filed to the motion for default judgment.
Mr. White had 5 days plus weekends to reply. He waited an extra week, then filed the “response” below.
Besides calling his reply a “response”, he said the Defendant filed the motion for default judgment. Read the title.
If you are not familiar with motion practice, read my objection to the insufficient “response” posted below. I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. It is an actual court document intended to explain to Judge Weaver why, as much as she hates me, she is not allowed by law to transfer title to the property based on the motion for default judgment.
Baby’s Mother Complains that Judge Susan Weaver Failed to Place Her Son with Family
Dependency Court is the closest thing to a Star Chamber that you can find in the United States.
It is difficult to verify complaints against judicial officers because the dockets on the cases are sealed.
One mother spoke to me about her son being taken from her, her parental rights terminated and instead of placing the child with a relative that lived near the mother, unrelated foster parents get to adopt the child.
The father is a meth user, according to records on Court Connect.
The mother said she tested negative for drugs, but there might have been some inconclusive evidence of a problem.
Because of my own experience with Susan Kaye Weaver, I believe the mother. Here is her story in her own words:
I am so relieved to have found someone I can reach out to.
My son was taken from me by Arkansas DCFS over 1 year ago. He is now 2.
Weaver was my judge.
Lies and completely unbelievable unethical strategies were used against me, some of which were so outrageous I would have thought I was being punked. Like her demand for a maternity test because she didn’t believe I was my son’s mother or questioning the birth certificate DCFS obtained from NM State to be authentic. Mind you DCFS obtained a copy directly from the state themselves. I have 5 other children all of whom are in my care til this day. CYFD from my state was sent to my home to approve it for my son which obviously was safe enough to leave all my other children under my care without even a follow up but still she denied my baby to be returned to me.
My sister went as far as certifying to legitimately foster him with a license out of our state. She put everything into trying to get him back with family. Judge Weaver denied her twice and ran out the clock on her ICPC. Judge Weaver denied my sister under the reason that my sister did not contact the jail where the baby’s father was held to find out what his charges were.
My sister said, and I quote, “I’m here today and concerned with the well being of my nephew, not his father.”
Knowing she looked yet again like a total idiot as many times before in this case, she denied my son his loving true family once again. and terminated my rights in November. I filed an appeal which I honestly have no idea if it even was really filed or anything that’s going on with it because my PD that was assigned to me for this case filed and said an attorney would contact me. It is now February and I cannot get a direct answer from anyone.
I have been completely alone, violated, intimidated. harassed and terrified for my child.
I have reached out to everyone that I possibly could without any recognition. My son developed a UTI the first month he was in foster care and had a rash that lasted over a month. A caseworker took him to ER in the middle of the night while he was supposedly placed with a family who wants to adopt. He has had cuts across his throat and multiple infections, one that covered his face. But no one has said a thing about it.
He’s 2. He’s a baby, my baby and he’s 1000 miles away and there is nothing I can do to help him. This is the worst evil in this world. But I will never give up hope that the Lord will bring him home.
Please, this woman is no good. Children are obviously an object; not a heart and soul. We cannot let this continue. No one should have to live this nightmare under the hands of this corrupt operation!!!! Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the poor and the needy. Bring fourth justice for all!!
Amen
***************************
Amen. Pray and act. This is your prayer. Now write these exact words to the JDDC, the Arkansas Judicial Disciplinary and Disability Commission.
How to Declare a Signatory “Incapacitated”: Attorney William Zac White Argues Inconsistent Definitions of Incapacitated
This writer is a defendant in a suit in Searcy County Arkansas presided over by Judge Susan Weaver.
The attorney who wrote the complaint, William Z. White of Heber Springs wrote that my ex-boyfriend, Micheal Pietrczak, was “incapacitated” when he signed a gift deed of property in Witts Spring, Arkansas to a trust of which I am a beneficiary.
The case was dismissed without prejudice and refiled years later, with almost identical claims. Judge Susan Kaye Weaver appears to be bending over backwards to transfer title of the 40 acres and once stunning cabin to Mr. White’s clients.
Attorney William White filed a separate petition regarding people unrelated to me on February 1, 2022. It is a probate matter. A will drafted by “Zac” White, signed December 15, 2022 was added as an exhibit. (IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM E. HAGGARD, DECEASED, Cleburne County Case No. 12PR-21-20)
This is the verbatim definition of “incapacitated” as defined by Attorney White in the will.
“(d) Incapacity
Except as otherwise provided in my Will, a person is deemed incapacitated
in any one of the following circumstances.
(1) The Opinion of Two Licensed Physicians
An individual is deemed incapacitated whenever, in the
opinion of two licensed physicians, the individual is unable
to effectively manage his or her property or financial affairs,
whether as a result of age, illness, use of prescription
medications, drugs or other substances, or any other cause.
An individual is deemed restored to capacity whenever the
individual’s personal or attending physician provides a
written opinion that the individual is able to effectively
manage his or her property and financial affairs.
(2) Court Determination
An individual is deemed incapacitated if a court of
competent jurisdiction has declared the individual to be
disabled, incompetent, or legally incapacitated.
(3) Disappearance, Absence, or Detention
An individual is deemed incapacitated whenever, in my
Trustee’s sole and absolute discretion, he or she cannot
effectively manage his or her property or financial affairs
due to disappearance, absence, or detention (including
incarceration).
A person’s disappearance, absence, or detention (including
incarceration), may be established by an affidavit of my
Trustee describing the relevant circumstances. A third party
dealing in good faith with my Trustee may rely on the
affidavit as conclusive evidence of incapacity.”
In the complaint of Micheal Pietrczak v. Rural Revival Living Trust and Laura Lynn, 65CV-21-20, the plaintiff gave no evidence that two professionals deemed Pietrczak “incapacitated” at or around the time he signed the deed. No professional mental health practitioner deemed Mr. Pietrczak incapacitated.
There was no court order stating Pietrczak was incapacitated at or around the time he signed the deed.
Mr. Pietrczak was present when he signed the deed.
It is interesting to note that W.Z. White represented one son, Colt G. Haggard, and the decedent wrote his second son out of his will entirely about 18 days before his death.
A Higher Law 