Portfolio Recovery Associates and Other Big Business Billionaires Often Destroy Documents
In my case against Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of PRA Group, Inc. (stock symbol PRAA), Judge Lee P. Rudofsky, the Eighth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court allowed PRA to designate anything and everything it wanted to as “CONFIDENTIAL” and file under seal.
I cannot say what was in the allegedly top secret documents. But I can tell you what was not in them.
There was no evidence of purchases made by me on a credit card. There was no documentation that linked the specific account with a purchase agreement. There was no credit card agreement. There was no third party documentation of the phone calls made by the debt collector to numbers it associated with me. There was nothing that indicated that I agreed I owed the alleged debt.
Worse, there were not consistent records kept by PRA. The data presented was not consistent between any of the supposedly top secret evidence. In other words, one top secret document says one thing, another says another.
This is unfortunately common business practice. For example, I did business with Advantage Service Holdings, LLC d/b/a Advantage Service Company in Arkansas. Advantage installed a forced air unit in my home. The technician did not give me a written warranty. The unit failed quickly. Then Advantage and the manufacturer, Goodman, claimed the “limited warranty” excused them from any technical difficulties.
Neither Advantage, Goodman or the resale outlet gave me a limited warranty, even though I asked the installer for one. Instead, the technician wrote “warranty” on the invoice, with the number of years for compressor, parts, labor and service. In Arkansas State Court, I entered a copy of my invoice as exhibit 2.
I also entered a copy of the invoice Advantage altered. They added a checklist that represented that the technician gave me the “docs”. Scroll down to page 7. Compare to the original invoice above.
The judge on that case dismissed without allowing for a jury trial. It shocks the conscience that so many judges rubberstamp motions to dismiss and motions for summary judgment in favor of Big Business Billionaires like Goodman Manufacturing and Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, while staring at the face of obvious alterations of documentation.
We need A New America For the People.*
*My son Buddy Lynn had a tragic life, destroyed by corrupt judges and their cronies. The week before his death, he started a TikTok channel called “New America for the People”. I am dedicating my work for justice for the common person to Buddy Lynn. You can see my YouTube channel renamed in honor of Buddy here.
Dueling (Proposed) Orders: Will Judge Susan Weaver Demand Consumer Abide By A Non-Consensual Contract of Adhesion?
First American Home Warranty sold me a policy, paid through escrow, without ever letting me review the contract. When the contract came in the mail, it was too late to switch to another company. The forced air unit in the house I bought failed within days of moving in.
The two companies First American referred me to for my repair or replacement both show on the Arkansas Secretary of State website as status “revoked”.
The work was not completed by First American’s choices, and eventually I paid for the replacement of the unit myself.
Then I had the misfortune of Judge Susan Weaver presiding over the case I filed.
Judge Weaver acted like she has never heard of the elements of a contract, meeting of the minds, or rescission. She ordered me to use binding arbitration, because there was an arbitration clause in the contract that I did not consent to but attached to my complaint as an exhibit. If I had not attached the disturbing contract, it is likely Judge Weaver would dismiss my case for violation of the rule that requires attachment, Ark. R. Civ. Pro. 10(d).
“Required Exhibits. A copy of any written instrument or document upon which a claim or defense is based shall be attached as an exhibit to the pleading in which such claim or defense is averred unless good cause is shown for its absence in such pleading.” Rule 10 – Form of Pleadings, Ark. R. Civ. P. 10
As per the analysis of this language by ChatGPT: “Yes, even if you did not consent to the contract, Rule 10(d) of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure still generally requires that a copy of the disputed contract be attached to the complaint if the claim is based on it. The purpose of this rule is to ensure that all parties and the court have access to the document at issue.
“However, your lack of consent to the contract could be a key argument in your case. If you are disputing the validity of the contract—for example, arguing that you never agreed to it, that it was fraudulent, or that it is otherwise unenforceable—you would still need to reference and challenge the contract within your pleadings. Attaching the contract does not concede its validity; rather, it allows the court to evaluate your objections to it.
“If you are the plaintiff challenging the contract’s validity, you may still need to attach it to show what you are disputing. If you are the defendant responding to a claim based on the contract, you are not required to attach it, but you can argue against its enforceability.”
I filed a motion to continue the case on the docket until the propriety of recusal of Judge Weaver is determined by a higher court. Alternatively, I am willing to use arbitration if it is non-binding and is not pursuant to the contractual limitations.
Here is my motion:
Here is the exhibit to the motion:
Here are the orders proposed by First American Home Warranty’s attorney and by me.
FREE Doc of the Day
Do you think consumers should be forced to adhere to contracts of adhesion that are not provided for the consumer’s review before paying for a home warranty? Judge Susan Weaver apparently does.
Repeat Offender Portfolio Recovery Associates Celebrates Victory After SCOTUS Denies Cert
Others have had victories against Portfolio Recovery Associates in lawsuits for the violation of the FDCPA.
Unfortunately, most victims settle for $5,000 or so. See this news video about one recent “victory”.
I refused to settle for $5,000. Trump nominee Judge Lee P. Rudofsky granted PRA summary judgment against me, so I end up with nothing and even have to pay PRA’s costs.
This is a pattern for Judge Rudofsky. If an alleged debtor has no legal obligation to pay the alleged debt, Rudofsky will call a case against PRA for invasion of privacy or violation of the FDCPA a “victory lap” and dismiss the case. As in my case, he is known to manufacture evidence that the debt was actually owed.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote one paragraph addressing Judge Rude’s order for summary judgment. Their words elicited a vision of Pinocchio standing on the stage, applauding himself and the audience. “Yes! Yes! Everything He said is right! Nothing Laura said is right. That is our omniscient opinion.”
My petition for writ of cert to SCOTUS was denied. (About 0.0001% of Pro Se petitions are granted, so it was no surprise.)
Would I hold out for more than $5,000 next time? Damn straight I would! First, now I can file a complaint to the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights. Also, a billionaire is not going to feel a $5,000 damage award. It is not a win if it doesn’t hurt them.
Delay, Deny, Depose: How Debt Collection and Health Care Costs are Interconnected
Debt collectors are probably the most litigious abusers of our court system. They tax public resources with each and every case they file. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC files about 3,000 collection suits per week, according to information from the CFPB and depositions. The costs to the court for facilities and personnel far outweigh the cost of reaching a non-default judgment. (Which might be why the courts act like a mill, churning out defaults in favor of the debt collector.)
When individuals file pro se suits against the debt collector for violation of the FDCPA and invasion of privacy, the company will fight to keep the case away from a jury. Certain judges, like Trump nominee Lee P. Rudofsky have a pro big business agenda. In my case, PRA was allowed to file anything and everything it wanted to under seal, hiding the evidence that it had no legitimate defense.
Infamous Insurer United Health got called out and stopped from using this same tactic. (See this post.)
There is a connection between debt collectors and health care. Coverage for costs that are denied by insurers are borne by the insured, or the insured goes without care.
Insurance companies wield their mighty power with the medical providers to obtain “member discounts” for the price of care. Some providers, such as UAMS in Arkansas, act like piranhas when they sniff out an uninsured potential patient. For example, one man was brought to UAMS for a traumatic brain injury. He was uninsured. UAMS held him against his will for two weeks, restraining him with physical and chemical restraints. After allowing him to leave “against medical advice”, UAMS sent a bill for over $46,000. By the grace of God, the newly disabled man qualified for retroactive insurance. All of a sudden, the bill was reduced to about $20,000.
Had the non-consenting patient been stuck with the $46,000 bill, it would have gone to collections. It may have been sold to a debt buyer for pennies on the dollar. Years or a decade latter, had the man not kept meticulous records, or prevailed in a suit against the hospital, the debt collector would revictimize the man.
If sued, the debt collector would be likely to deny making phone calls repeatedly. There is a good chance there would be falsified affidavits and falsified self-generated business records. UAMS has already destroyed evidence and falsified records. Debt collectors including Portfolio Recovery are known by the CFPB and several state attorney generals to falsify affidavits and base decisions to collect on inadequate records.
If any litigation concerning the medical debt is brought in the Eighth Circuit, it is highly likely the debt collector will prevail or settle for an amount that makes the “cost of doing business as usual” an acceptable risk.
Just ask PRA Group, Inc. former chief risk and compliance officer Laura White or present officer Keith Warren.
Portfolio Recovery Associates Another United Health – Hiding the Facts from the Public
This is a quote from an email I sent to attorneys for Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC. They were a defendant in an invasion of privacy and FDCPA claim. Judge Lee P. Rudofsky granted PRA summary judgment, costs and confidentiality of anything and everything PRA wanted to keep under wraps.
“Health insurance company’s interest in sealing, on motion to stay Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) suit against it, documents including written discovery, dates of phone calls to plaintiff, how it had obtained cell phone number called, and call logs, was not outweighed by public’s right of access to judicial records; insurance company designated the information as proprietary and made bald assertions of competitive harm, but none of the information contained any proprietary or sensitive information that would place insurance company at a competitive disadvantage if it were unsealed. Communications Act of 1934 § 227, 47 U.S.C.A. § 227.”
Marden’s Ark, Inc. v. UnitedHealth Grp., Inc., 534 F. Supp. 3d 1038 (D. Minn. 2021)
Hopefully a journalist organization or public interest group will file a suit to unseal the documents in Hammett v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC,, Eastern District of Arkansas case 4:21-cv-00189-BSM. (Judge Rudofsky finally recused himself while my petition for writ of certiorari to SCOTUS was pending, 24-6113.)
Another Late-Night Rant: Ho Hums, Ho Hos, Hoes, and Cheats
Back to work for me.
The last eight days were a blur of endless poker playing in Vegas.
The purpose of the trip was originally to visit my son, Buddy, who lived there. Last time I saw him was nine months earlier. That was supposed to be an intervention, to encourage him to check into a hospital’s behavioral health facility, or at least stay with me 24/7, eating right, getting massages, self-care, and poker playing.
Buddy was brilliant as a child. But corrupt court officials and his evil family destroyed his life. They went so far as to sever all communication between mother and child from the time Buddy was 13 until he was 18. (No, I did not use illegal drugs, rarely prescription drugs, have no criminal record, never was reported for abusing a child, except by the paternal family and DCFS closed that case without any finding of wrongdoing by me. I didn’t even play poker yet, and didn’t gamble in any way – unless you count turning to courts for help to enforce one’s rights as a gamble.)
Buddy, as a child under the sole custody of James and Helen Lynn, his grandparents, and Tim Lynn, his father, had a 0.4 GPA. Yes, zero point four. A procession of judges acted like that was perfectly ok; (Judge Elizabeth Feffer (doing arbitrations, last I checked), Judge Marjorie Steinberg (who retired in 2011), and Judge Thomas Trent Lewis (retired in 2019).)
Buddy told me he started smoking weed young.
When he lived with me after he turned 18, he voluntarily went to rehab for drugs and alcohol abuse. Sadly, he never recovered from the addictions.
Buddy stopped speaking to me after the unsuccessful April-May intervention. We had a big blow-up. Buddy was as good at poker as I am, when he was sober. He could have gone pro. It was a perfect job for him, if he stayed sober. (Most pros don’t get drunk while at the table. If they did, they wouldn’t win.) We were at SouthPoint. He busted out of a tournament before I did and started drinking at a cash table.
Two of the last three accounts I have about Buddy included substance abuse. He was drunk at the Lynn Christmas gathering and then he took some of a housemate’s prescription methadone and died of drug toxicity.
I had a trip planned to visit Vegas with my older son. I was going to reach out to Buddy again. I wanted to surprise him. Because recently, I was with my older son in Tunica, Tim Lynn found out and he came to the casino as a detour on a trip from California to Georgia. I didn’t want the same kind of drama during the Vegas trip.
Buddy died on January 27, 2025. I decided to use the February trip as a memorial, to try to find closure.
This past week was enlightening.
To be continued…
(I am crying and exhausted, at three in the morning, the winds are kicking up and I think I can fall back asleep now.)
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Wow. My phone was off and I slept right through a doctor’s appointment. Woke at 10:48 a.m. I must have needed the sleep. My last dream was about food insecurity. Is that a reflection of my current economic status or because of observing so much homelessness in Las Vegas?
There was one man walking that looked like he had serious mental health issues, but he was not frightening. I handed him a pack of pretzels I got from Southwest Airlines. (I have to eat gluten free.) He thanked me like I gave him a hundred-dollar bill and tore the package open. He gobbled them down.
I was going into Ross Dress for Less to find some food for dinner that didn’t cost two or three times what restaurant food costs outside casinos. I had used up my comps and it was the last night of my trip. I found six individually wrapped bags of Skinny Pop popcorn for $3.49.
Then I was walking from the Aria to catch a free tram to the Mandalay. I saw the same hungry man sitting on a wall. There was a younger black man sitting next to him. The younger man didn’t look so rough. He got up as I approached with a couple bags of popcorn in my hand. I extended one to the younger man. “No thank you” in a kind voice. “But” he indicated the older man with a sweep of his hand. I gave the older man the popcorn. The younger man thanked me and I realized he was trying to counsel the older man. Maybe he was a Christian. Maybe an ethical atheist. I hope he brought some comfort to the one in need.
Later, after winning $300 at the Mandalay, I took a bus to the Encore. During the short walk from the bus, there was another man lying on the sidewalk, wrapped in a sleeping bag. I offered him the last bag of popcorn. “A dollar. Do you have a dollar? Can you give me a dollar?” “No, but you can have this popcorn.” “I am full. I’ve been here all day. Give me a dollar.” I walked past. I had won $900 that day, playing poker. The other seven days of the trip, I was up a grand total of $20. $920 wouldn’t even cover my travel expenses.
I was walking through a little used entrance to the Encore. The Encore is one of the most expensive hotels in Vegas. There was a poorly dressed, frightening looking man in the shadows. He was counting out a wad of bills. I think the one I saw was a $1 bill. He glared at me. He was twice my weight and half my age. I could not have posed much of a threat to him, even without the look. I was considering alerting the security to the dangerous looking man. Then I saw him bringing his wad of money to a slot machine.
My guess is that he begs all day, then tries to parlay the money into a fortune at the slot machines. Fool! The only one who wins from any game but poker is the casino owners. And only the top poker players will be able to come out ahead overall in that game.
I am a rare person who is able to play poker and break even. I wrote a book with my older son titled “Balls of Crystal and Steel: What it takes to play poker without losing your assets”. I am still barely breaking even. The real problem is that the government tells us we are not allowed to hold games for profit in Arkansas without a license and gave a license to only one entity that offers a poker room. Saracen acts like a true monopoly. They charge too high a rake, have dealers who talk about how lousy the tips are, and serve unhealthful food for outrageous prices. Unlike the Vegas casinos, Saracen won’t allow players to bring in outside food or drinks. So, even though I think I can start playing at a profit, I would need to be away from my husband and my peaceful home, living in hotel rooms or air bnbs, and paying the extra travel expense.
A big bummer is that some of the casinos don’t even stop the cheating. At the Encore, for example, there was a young tomboyish woman playing PLO. On her right was an older Mideastern looking man. Both of them were in a hand with a third player. The third player blurted out “Hey, she showed her hand to that man!” The Mideasterner said, “I was going to fold my hand anyhow.” So, does tomboy have secret powers and know that before he folded? The dealer got the floor manager over, which is the right thing to do. The manager decided to “kill” the Mideasterner’s hand, but not the hand of the person who showed her cards. She and her victim chopped the pot. (They had hands of equal strength.) Had she not showed her hand to her admitted “friend” on her right, he might have added to or even raised the pot. The Mideasterner tried to further excuse their conduct by saying, “she is just learning to play.” I call bullshit. No one is playing Pot Limit Omaha for hundreds of dollars per hand without practicing at home until proficient.
Why does the government regulate our ability to offer places to play poker, even though the places that are sanctioned allow cheating, and then allows big corporations to sell us food that is killing us?
On the bus ride to the Encore, there was a frail woman sitting on a scooter. She had on a face mask and medical gloves. She had leery eyes. She had the wary, closed-off demeanor of someone unwilling to engage with the world around her. It looked like she might have an autoimmune disease. I can relate. If I eat cow dairy or gluten, or many chemicals, or too much coffee, I get so ill I can’t get out of bed. So I try not to consume those foods. In the sad woman’s basket on the front of the scooter was a bottle of soda and a bag of weirdly flavored chips. She did not seem receptive to human contact, or I would have testified about my healthful habits and implored her to change her diet.
Vegas is a sad place in general. Women are encouraged to sell their bodies or the illusion of sex. The housekeepers and restaurant hostesses I spoke with had two jobs and unattainable dreams of ending their poverty. Buddy never had a girlfriend in Vegas. Of course not. He had no economic benefit to offer the women. Besides that, he drank too much.
On the airplane home, I sat between two women. One old lady looked like a librarian. She watched a movie on an I-pad the entire time, with earplugs in. The younger woman in the window seat did the same. She was obese, and her fat encroached quite a bit into my seat area. With no one to talk to, even though there were humans literally pressing against me, I looked out the airplane window. It was a gorgeous day. The clouds below us looked like whipped frosting. In between patches, the landscape changed from the rugged golden canyons of Nevada to flats, and finally to the beauty of the lush greens and bodies of water of Arkansas.
It perplexes me that the two women beside me seemed unimpressed that we were traveling halfway across the country, flying above the clouds in under three hours. A hundred years ago the journey would take months, and likely end in death.
All our lives pre-rapture end in death.
What will I do with mine? It will include writing. It always has. Hopefully, my writing is as helpful to others as it is to myself. Hopefully I help expose cheating in our courtrooms as well as in our card rooms. Maybe, someday, it will give me an economic profit, to help feed my body, as much as it heals my soul.
A Higher Law 