Search the Community

Looking for some advice on dealing with this collection agency Portfolio Recovery Associates. Same old story, I went thru some very hard times about 4 years ago and now im dealing with the consequences. Recently Ive been contacted by Portfolio Recovery Associates regarding TWO accounts that they have purchased and are now trying to contact me about settling debt. One of the accounts is an old GE Bank Credit Card (Walmart) that is out of the Statue of Limitations in my state. (im in Texas and I believe the SOL is 4 years on debt.) The letter that I received regarding that account is has this text written on the bottom: "Because of the age of your debt, we will not sue you for it and we will not report it to any credit reporting agency." The letter also states that they bought the debt from "ARROW FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC", so I assume it should be out of the SOL. The most recent letter has stated that I owe around $650 but they will settle for 3 options: 1.) I pay $251.00 straight out 2.) I oay $47.00 for 6 months 3.) I pay $26.00 for 12 months Since this debt is so old, and isnt being reported to credit agencies then whats the point of settling with them? And If I remember correctly, the credit line on that card was only $200 or something. My question on this one is, how can I figure out if it is actually out of SOL and if it is then how can I stop them from contacting me about it or have them shut down that account. Debt Validation? Cease & Desist Communications on this account? I have read that a cease & desist increases the probability of getting sued but since the letter states they CANT sue me then would it hurt to send the C&D to shut them up on that account? Now, the second account that they have is an old Capital One Bank credit card account which according to the mail document was purchased directly from Capital One. This account was purchased in 2013 and from one brief conversation I had with one of the reps on the phone, they said the last activity was from 2011. I have since ignored all calls as they have increased after accidentally speaking to them once. I am unsure if this is outside the statute of limitations since I dont recall when I ceased to make payments and it got charged off. Unless it just now was charged off and Portfolio Recovery Associates just now got their hands on it. I am currently in the process of obtaining my credit report to see whats actually there and if both of these debts are reporting. On this account, they claim I owe something between $800-$1000 but I know for sure that this card was another low credit line of something like $250. A letter states I owe $850 but on the phone the rep said something like $1100. It seems they are increasing the amount due with every communication. My question on this one is how can I clarify what exactly I should owe, whether or not it is within the SOL, and whether I should make a deal with them. Also, should I start this off with a Debt Validation Letter and just go from there? Is the probability of being sued for this one higher since it may not be out of SOL yet? Its a relatively low amount so I dont see the need for getting lawyers involved. Even though they purchased the debt in 2013, I am almost certain that its been charged off since at least 2011. I have not yet received the "deal" letter on this account as they were just able to get ahold of me via phone. Ive been receiving random letters from CA's but I usually read them over quick and throw them away. They somehow dug up my cell number so now the calls are coming in more and more frequently. So thats the collection agency drama, please send any helpful advice. This is just the beginning of fixing the debt hole that I got into back when i fell on hard times but hopefully with some helpful tips and tricks it will get all figured out. I will continue to update this post as I move through the processes of dealing with all of this so hopefully it will help someone else who may be in the same issue. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!