Debt buying Goliath Portfolio Recovery Associates rejected an offer to settle the case brought against them by me, a pro se litigant.

As promised, here is the offer: (I had to remove references that would disclose the settlement offer PRA made in mediation, even though they made statements in court documents about my lowest offer. They lied about my lowest offer, so maybe they will claim that it isn’t a breach of contract to say you are disclosing what is in a confidential mediation and then lie about it.)

Dear Counsel,

I am open to a settlement with your clients that is 1/10th my final offer in our mediation. It is also the amount [they offered to another person with similar complaints]. PRA must agree to vacate the judgment so as not to harm my credit rating.

Please see my recent FICO score of 803 from Experian, attached. (If I get to trial, I will use this as evidence of the magnitude of emotional distress PRA is causing me by the specter of bankruptcy that is inherent in prolonged litigation, especially for a low income person like myself who is likely to lose for lack of funds rather than lack of merit.) 

The agreement should be simple and bilateral. There can be a nondisclosure agreement as to the amount of the settlement, but I will spend no time trying to remove anything I’ve already disclosed about the case from the internet or any other forum. Neither party will ever contact the other party, including to litigate. This means PRA will not try to collect on the judgment (which will be vacated anyhow) nor any alleged debts owed by me, past, present or future. There should be one exclusion, which is the enforcement of this settlement agreement.

It is against the odds that my petition for writ of cert is granted (as it is rare for any pro se petition to be granted), but if it is and I get to trial, I believe a jury will award an $82 million verdict.

This offer will increase by actual costs I incur on appeal to the Supreme Court and be automatically rescinded upon issuance of a writ.

Thank you for your client’s consideration,

Laura Hammett

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PRA responded:

FRE 408

Ms. Hammett,

My client rejects your demand.  In exchange for a full release and settlement of all claims you have or may have against PRA, my client will forego collecting its taxable costs award of $8,356.18 and any interest accrued on this amount since it was entered on August 23, 2023.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Jim

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I rescinded my offer.

First glaring problem with PRA’s offer, PRA was collecting on an alleged debt with no documentation about how that debt was incurred. PRA can, by the terms it offered, sell the judgment to another PRA Group subsidiary. Then that debt buyer can come after me. My documentation won’t show the judgment was vacated.

The sneaky attorneys did not include an agreement that PRA will not sue me for anything else. They may try to get an award for costs of the appeal. Or they may come up with some other BS reason to sue me. They sue people often without any legitimate claim.

More importantly, PRA did exactly what I complained about, lied in court documents, had Judge Rudofsky lie in his written order, and PRA does similar things to hundreds of thousands of people. Just like they win by default in 90% of their collection cases, they know they can win in almost 100% of cases against pro se litigants, because most pro se litigants lose because of discriminatory court policies and practices.

Here is a quote from a pro se who reversed his criminal conviction obtained by the United States after going to the Supreme Court, Giridhar Sekhar. Talk about bringing down Goliath!

“I’m a little annoyed with the NDNY federal prosecutor Elizabeth Coombe who willfully put [an alleged perjurer] on the stand knowing that the admission was fabricated, but I think her karmic reward will be to forever be reminded by her colleagues that she was beaten at trial by a pro se defendant.”