Courts Help Portfolio Recovery Associates: Here is help for You
Portfolio Recovery Associates is not slowing down.
Even as the stock of parent company PRA Group, Inc. plummets, the debt buyer is dialing for dollars.
It took me filing a lawsuit for violation of the FDCPA and intrusion on seclusion for me to convince Portfolio to quit their incessant calling.
It didn’t end well for me. Judge Rudofsky said no reasonable juror could think that the debt collector’s calls were too annoying. PRA got a judgment for over $8,000 to reimburse their costs of defending themselves. Judge Rudofsky said that even though that is more than my annual income, I didn’t list my expenses, so it wasn’t unjust to make me pay the equivalent of a year’s pension to the billion-dollar company. Easy for him to say, living off a six-figure government job.
But, don’t give up. In a different jurisdiction, for similar conduct, PRA was hit with an $82 million jury verdict. Other pro se litigants are making leeway. And Portfolio Recovery did make a $5,000 Offer of Judgment to me – I just went all in and the dealer pulled PRA’s card off the bottom of the deck.
I hope this document showing a Portfolio Recovery Associates call log, charge off data compiled and contact log will help you convince your judge not to let the defendant cover-up similar documents in your case.
Open Response to Email By Someone Interested in Joining a Class Action Against Debt Collectors in New York
Hi. I already filed a lawsuit on my own and lost. Lost on appeal. Was denied discretionary review at the Supreme Court.
I am not an attorney. I scored 162 on the LSAT (Ivy League score) and am accepted tuition free to law school. So, it is over three years before I can help anyone else in court.
I have uploaded many of my filings and filings that won on my website. http://www.court-corruption.com. Also some videos on my YouTube @StopBigBusinessBillionaires
Where did you find me?
The most important advice I can give you in a nutshell, record and document every call. The collector in my case claimed the first hundred calls to my cell phone in 2020 were not made. I hadn’t recorded them and all the numbers I called that were on my phone bill (including the ones they said they called from) they had disconnected.
If a person owed the debts and the statute of limitations expired, the person still owes the money. But the creditor can’t collect in court. They can still call or write to ask the debtor to pay, but are supposed to stop if asked in the same way they contact the person. Regulation F. The calls to me happened before Regulation F went into effect. I was required to put my Cease and Desist in writing. It was a violation for them to try to collect after the C+D. The judge on my case said the interrogatories and affidavit of identity theft or fraud they tried to get me to fill out was not an attempt to collect a debt.
If one of the collectors is Portfolio Recovery Associates, look at the 2015 consent order and the 2023 stipulated judgment for violating that restraint order. Those documents and documents of a winning case with an $82 million jury verdict called Mejia v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC are on my blog and you can download them for free.
If you write your own lawsuit, based on a winning lawsuit or one that was settled as a template, they may throw a little money at you. I had an offer of judgment for $5,000. I think a jury would find damages to be significantly higher, but the judge in Arkansas was not letting it go to trial if I had a video of the debt collector handing him a briefcase full of cash.
Thank you for writing. I almost didn’t open your email because the name of the sender sounded like scam. I’m glad I did open it and hope you find someone who will represent you.
Laura
A Document Portfolio Recovery Associates Did Not Want You To See
In going through the record, looking for documents that the federal district court in Arkansas and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered me to destroy, I found one for which secrecy was denied. Praise the Lord!
Maybe reading it will give you ideas about how to approach your own suit against PRA for making annoying and harassing phone calls to you. I am not an attorney and I lost my case, but sometimes we learn more from other people’s mistakes and we can prepare for the expected attack by the defense.
I will go into detail after my mandatory assignments are complete. For now, even reading the first few pages, it is clear that Judge Lee P. Rudofsky lied when he said that I agreed that I owed the debt.
“No reasonable juror can conclude there was a debt from Hammett to PRA.” – Paragraph 11
“PRA still produced no account level documentation for the alleged debt and I have no record of my Capital One account opened in 2001 other than the unsupported conclusion of PRA.” – paragraph 14
Feel free to contact me in the comments, or by email to bohemian_books@yahoo.com. Enjoy the FREE Doc of the Day:
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.
What to Watch for When Portfolio Recovery Associates Forces You to Litigate
A viewer on my YouTube channel, @LauraLynnHammett, said he was getting sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates and didn’t know what to do yet.
Here is my reply:
Look at my blog www.court-corruption.com. There are many stories about the CFPB orders against Portfolio Recovery Associates and free downloadable documents.
The key is that they win by default 90% of the time. Show up to court. Respond timely to their complaint. If you are allowed discovery, ask them to produce old account level documentation from the time your account was at zero until the present balance. Inspect their affidavits to determine if the person who is swearing has actual first-hand knowledge about whatever they are testifying about. Ask for a copy of the original credit contract. They could not produce a contract in my case and Judge Lee P. Rudofsky gave them a pass, but I hope the US Supreme Court looks at my case and overrules Judge Rudofsky and the Eighth. I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. I am sharing my own experience, and I did score a 162 on the LSAT, a low ivy league score, so I am confident I understand what I read and have good reasoning.
Will the Supreme Court Grant Petition for Writ of Cert to this Pro Se Plaintiff?
This petition gets discussed on February 21, 2025.
Over a decade ago, I petitioned the Supreme Court for writ of cert to discuss the inhumane custody orders that destroyed my children’s childhoods. My plea fell on deaf ears.
The reason I even bother to incur the expense in time and money to ask to be the rare pro se litigant to be heard is because it is a requirement in the process of reaching the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner.
My earlier petitions were denied by SCOTUS, but years later the U.N. asked people to write letters about injustice against abused women and children in the “family courts”. (I am an outspoken advocate of equal time co-parenting and hate when women like Crystal Lynn Strelioff cry wolf, as it makes it easier for bad judges to allow for actual abuse.)
Here is the letter I wrote. I will add that my younger son’s life ended three weeks ago. The autopsy is not complete, but it appeared Buddy did not intend to die from the use of a housemate’s prescription drugs. My husband consoles me by saying Buddy finally has peace.
Portfolio Recovery Associates Waives Right to Respond at SCOTUS
Portfolio Recovery Associates filed this waiver on December 30, 2024. I was not notified electronically and did not receive service.
Sunday Funday: Comedian Josh Johnson on the Grounds of a Brewing Revolution
I am not and never have advocated for violence. Josh Johnson is not, either. We both are commentators to what we see happening in this country. Sticking our heads in the sand will not change what is happening up above.
An oligarchy of corporate kings and their puppet politicians and judges tried, and some say succeeded at enslaving the masses. There is no justice for the everyday person.
One example: Walmart and major credit card companies partner to create million entry portfolios of account numbers. If one of the accounts appears to be in default and the person associated with that account refuses to pay, whether for a legitimate reason or not, the account may be written off for a tax break to the corporations, then sold to a debt buyer like Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC.
An account associated with my name before I married, Laura Lynn, was one of the default accounts on a list generated by Capital One. (There is no indication that the Capital One account was a Walmart branded account. I mention Walmart, because the judge who was supposed to deliver justice on the matter, Lee P. Rudofsky, was general counsel to Walmart before his lifetime appointment to the federal bench.)
There was also an account sold to PRA that was associated with Laura Lyman. After I filed a lawsuit against Portfolio Recovery Asociates, LLC for violating the Fair Debt Consumer Protection Act (FDCPA) and my privacy, PRA sent a letter to Laura Lynn that said it completed the investigation into Laura Lyman’s dispute and set the balance of Laura Lyman’s account number to zero.
When pressed, PRA sent a letter to Laura Lynn saying her account was closed. When pressed again, the debt company sent a letter with the same language as the Laura Lyman letter, only with “Laura Lynn” and the account number associated with Laura Lynn. PRA and Judge Rudofsky maintain to this day that Laura Lynn owed $2,297.63 and admitted she owed the money. Total bullshit.
Judge Rudofsky and Portfolio Recovery kept me in court for years. Rudofsky lied about what I said. He lied by implication about the evidence that he allowed PRA to file under seal. The judge refused to allow a jury to hear and see the evidence.
Finally, PRA asked Judge Rudofsky to tax the costs of the goliath credit collector’s defense to me. In protest, I gave a copy of my tax return for the latest year and swore under penalty of perjury that my income is a pension that is under $650 per month. I said I qualify for Medicaid.
Judge Lee P. Rudofsky grumbled that I gave two different amounts, $630 and $639 off the top of my head, for my pension. (I didn’t realize I got a cost-of-living increase on the part of my pension that came from a QUADRO in a divorce filed in 1996.) He complained that I only gave one year of taxes. (President Trump, who nominated Rudofsky, wouldn’t show any of his tax returns to the public.)
The judge said something like “let her eat cake” and rubber stamped the order for costs to the company that buys debt from his past employer.
Josh Johnson got it right. It is looking like Versailles.
Is the United States Supreme Court more Amazon or more Walmart?
This was sent in an email by Amazon.
Amazon warns the public of two scams. Scammers may claim there is a fraud investigation and that you must “verify” your account. Or the scammer may claim there is unauthorized or fraudulent activity on your Amazon account. Amazon suggests that you don’t “verify sensitive personal information over the phone.”
In contrast, numerous persons called me and said their name was Joe Blo or Jane Doe and asked me to verify who I was. If pressed what company put them up to the call, they said “Portfolio Recovery Associates.” They asked me to verify my name, birthdate and address or past address, and if I did not answer, refused to tell me what the call was about.
Judge Lee P. Rudofsky gave the opinion that it was reasonable for Portfolio Recovery Associates to demand the person they called to identify themselves and verify sensitive personal information over the phone, on a recorded line. Judge Rudofsky’s gig right before taking his lifetime position on the bench was as counsel to Walmart. Walmart partners with credit card companies that sell questionable debts to Portfolio Recovery Associates.
But Judge Rudofsky doesn’t acknowledge any bias created by that past client relationship. No, he asserts that people who agree with Amazon and don’t want to talk with random callers on the phone are unreasonable.
Will the United States Supreme Court agree with Judge Rudofsky? We may find out, if SCOTUS agrees to grant certiorari after the December conference.
A Higher Law 