The Attorney General of Massachusetts is set to announce a $4 million settlement today with Portfolio Recovery Associates over what a published report deemed to be “aggressive debt-collection practices.”
Maura Healey said that Portfolio Recovery Associates, which is a unit of PRA Group, “routinely ignore[d] multiple laws” and investigated the company after receiving “hundreds of complaints” from Massachusetts residents about the company’s tactics.
Among the allegations made against the collector are that it collected on debts without having the proper documentation to do so, it ignored the statute of limitations when collecting, and sought to have individuals use the Social Security disability funds to pay off debts, even though that income is exempt from debt collection efforts.
As part of the settlement, the company has agreed to stop collecting using exempt income, to ensure it has the proper documentation when collecting, to refrain from calling individuals more than twice in a seven-day period, and it will not report debts to credit bureaus unless it has the proper paperwork.
“This is a company that consistently broke our consumer laws and debt collection laws,” Healey said in the report. “They consistently targeted vulnerable consumers, like the elderly.”
The fine being paid by Portfolio Recovery Associates will be used to pay restitution to individuals who “fell victim” to the company’s tactics, according to the report.
