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  1. #1

    Default Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC Over Credit Card Debt

    My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: Wisconsin

    I checked the mail Saturday morning to find a mountain of letters from bankruptcy lawyers saying that a case was filed against me. Low and behold, checking the court access system a small claims case was filed against me December 10th. To date I have not been served any petition or summons.

    Now, this is regarding debt that I DO owe, but not the Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC. The situation that lead to the original account from GE Capital being turned over to collections was that I suspected that they were in breach of contract. I received a "medical expenses only" credit card from them to get some dental work done. I have no problem paying back for this work, however the first 12 months were supposed to be interest free. Having never been late on a payment (to my knowledge, the last payment I recall making was back in 2009) I expected them to hold true on the contract. The original balance was around $1,200. A total of $900~ was paid to them and only $200 of said $900 was applied to my balance. I still owed over $1,000~ by time I decided to throw in the towel.

    Fast forward, I am now being sued in small claims by Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC's lawyers. The amount they have stated on their latest communication reads $1,590.05 with a settlement amount of $1,192.54. Although I am able to pay this amount, I have a few questions I need answered.

    1) Although I rightfully owe(d) this debt, should I pay Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC the amount they are requesting?
    2) Which type of lawyer should I be pursuing? I do not want to file bankruptcy, just make Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC prove their case. In the event they cannot, I would imagine one would counter-sue for the legal fees incurred
    3) I believe that the original contract was E-signed, I do not recall signing any physical documents. So what could the prosecuting attorneys provide for E-signage? Would it be considered valid?

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Being Sued by [ Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC ]

    #1 is entirely up to you. Make a decision quickly - do you want court fees tacked onto the original debt?

    #2 - well, here's the thing. Contrary to popular belief, the collector doesn't actually have to do much in terms of satisfying the legal requirements. The signed (be it physical or web-based) agreement is often enough.

    #3. You're not getting out of the debt by claiming an E-signature doesn't count. If that were the case, they could just as easily use it against you.

    Stop playing games. You know you owe, and you're really just prolonging the inevitable and risking having to pay legal fees and interest, to boot.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC Over Credit Card Debt

    Quote Quoting GohanBurner
    View Post
    I have no problem paying back for this work, however the first 12 months were supposed to be interest free. Having never been late on a payment (to my knowledge, the last payment I recall making was back in 2009) I expected them to hold true on the contract. The original balance was around $1,200. A total of $900~ was paid to them and only $200 of said $900 was applied to my balance. I still owed over $1,000~ by time I decided to throw in the towel.
    Odds are the contract was like "12 months interest free" financing at many furniture stores. You only benefit from that provision if you pay off the loan during the 12 month period, and if you don't you contractually agree that the full first year's interest is added to your account. If you have a copy of your contract, you can check to see if that's what you agreed would happen when you accepted the card.

    I am not saying I agree with that type of marketing tactic for financing. I do not, but I don't make the rules.

    And... right after posting the above I did a quick search on Google, and lo and behold:

    Quote Quoting A Medical Credit Card Has Surprising Costs
    On Tuesday, the agency announced that it was ordering GE Capital Retail Bank and its CareCredit medical credit card unit to refund up to $34.1 million to pay customers who it said were victims of deceptive credit-card enrollment tactics over the last several years. More than one million patients who may have wrongly accrued charges on their card could be eligible for reimbursement.

    Richard Cordray, the bureau’s director, said the agency had received hundreds of complaints about the card and found that many patients who were offered it thought they were signing up for an interest-free payment plan. But, in fact, they were applying for a deferred-interest credit card that had a no-interest promotional period of up to two years. Interest accrued during the promotion at an annual rate of 26.99 percent – much higher than a typical bank credit card, he said. If the balance wasn’t paid by the end of the promotional period, the patient became liable for the interest, resulting in “a very expensive loan,” he said.
    That's from six days ago. Here's the consent order. If yours was a CareCredit card, and I expect it was, there is likely useful material in that order. For example, if you ever filed a dispute with the issuer over the unexpected interest charge, the consent order provides a mechanism to reopen a denied dispute. See paragraphs 52-55. There may be sufficient material in that order to lay a solid framework for a consumer law-based counterclaim, although any such counterclaim would be best supplemented with the addition of state consumer laws.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Being Sued by [ Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC ]

    I don't know if you read the entire post, but I clearly said I don't mind paying it. There are other things I'm worried about. Like if I paid the settlement amount, I've heard/read that the rest still shows up on my credit report as unpaid debt and/or it gets reported tot he IRS and I have to pay taxing on it.

    Lets say we settle, what happens then? At this point are court fees indefinitely going to be added?

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Being Sued by [ Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC ]

    If they haven't filed suit, there are no legal fees incurred.

    Forcing them to file does not help you.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Being Sued by [ Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC ]

    There is a case number that shows up in the circuit court access system. I haven't been served yet.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Indeed it was CareCredit. But I do not have any documentation as to what my account # even was. I suspect I could use this to my defense, but I'm not sure. Because that is exactly what I got from GE Capital.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Found the original e-mail sent to me, the account was opened in March of 2010 apparently. Here is a snippet from the welcome e-mail I received:

    You made a smart choice

    With the CareCredit card, you can get a No Interest payment plan if paid in full within 6, 12, 18 or 24 months on purchases with your CareCredit card. Interest will be charged to your account from the purchase date if the promotional balance, including optional charges, is not paid in full within 6, 12, 18 or 24 months or if you make a late payment. Minimum monthly payments required.**

    Did you know...

    You can request a credit line increase by calling 866-893-7864
    You can use CareCredit for you, your family and even your pets
    You will never pay set-up costs or pre-payment penalties.
    You can use your card at any health or beauty provider that accepts CareCredit
    You and your doctor can select the payment plan that works best for you**

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Being Sued by [ Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC ]

    Quick question. Have you moved since the debt was incurred?

    Wisconsin does allow service by first class mail, incidentally.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Being Sued by [ Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC ]

    I have moved around but remained in the same county since 2002.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Default Re: Being Sued by [ Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC ]

    Then there's a better-than-decent chance that they used your last known address. Since service by first class mail does not require physical proof (other than an affidavit of mailing), I'd suspect that's what they'd say.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC Over Credit Card Debt

    I work for the county I will be going to court in. So I'm sure one of the deputies could just walk over to my department and hand me the papers.

    The type of lawyer I want is one that handles bankruptcy? Is that correct?

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