Buy Debt for Pennies on the Dollar, Pay $4 Million to Settle Claims Brought By Massachusetts Attorney General

Each week, like a middle infielder fielding ground balls, I receive calls in my Connecticut-based consumer litigation practice, The Woods Law Firm, LLC, from potential aggrieved clients who are being sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC.  

As I have noted in blog posts on www.rdw-law.com, Portfolio is a major American debt buyer based in Norfolk, Virginia.  It often buys debts for pennies on the dollar, and, then, proceeds to attempt to collect the full balance allegedly owed.  We have successfully defended many suits brought by Portfolio in Connecticut, as well as filed numerous actions against it in state and federal court for Portfolio's violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.   

Earlier this week, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office announced that it had reached a settlement with Portfolio to resolve claims that Portfolio had engaged in abusive debt collection practices in the state.  

According to a news release from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, it conducted an investigation after receiving hundreds of consumer complaints about Portfolio.  This investigation revealed that Portfolio engaged in deceptive practices that harmed low-income, elderly, and disabled consumers, many of whom had only exempt sources of income.  The full news release from the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office can be found here: https://www.mass.gov/news/ag-healey-secures-4-million-from-national-debt-buyer-to-pay-back-consumers-harmed-by-abusive.

Portfolio agreed to pay $4 million to settle the suit by the Massachusetts Attorney General.  

Ironic, indeed, for a company that spends only pennies on the dollar to purchase defaulted debt.