How To Remove Portfolio Recovery Associates From Credit Report

Portfolio Recovery can be a beast. Here is how to remove Portfolio Recovery Associates from Credit Report.

No doubt about it. They were the company I had my first collection account with way back in 2002, when I defaulted on my first credit card out of high school. I completely ignored that account until it eventually fell off my credit report.

When I fell on hard times in 2007, I defaulted on 2 credit cards with HSBC. Low and behold, Portfolio Recovery purchased these accounts. Here are my suggestions on How To Remove Portfolio Recovery Associates From Credit Report. Keep in mind, they are hit or miss, so there are no set way to do this. Be creative.

The first step I did I I filed a dispute (hand written) with the credit reporting agencies, because they were reporting this account twice. This was pretty simple, I was able to remove one of them. I don’t even think they contacted Portfolio Recovery because I didn’t get that ‘I have awoken the bear” feeling.

After I was left with one account, I waited until this debt was past my states statute of limitations. I understand some people cannot wait that long, but at least this way I knew they likely wouldn’t try to sue me.

I sent a debt validation letter to Portfolio Recovery to the address listed on my credit report. The address for Portfolio Recovery is:

120 Corporate Boulevard
Norfolk, VA 23502

They sent me back validation, and sent me a settlement offer. I declined the settlement offer and sent a wave of pay for delete letters and emails. I didn’t have an email for them so I used their contact form. After about 3 months of going back and forth, I decided to pay the account in full. The logic was, if I pay in full, they will show me more compassion when I attempt to remove this account.

After I paid the account, I waited about 2 weeks and sent a good will letter through the mail, and I sent a good will letter through the contact submission form on their website. In the letter, I mentioned that I paid this account in full without haggling. The followed up with an email indicating they would be removing the reporting from the credit reporting agencies.

Overview of Steps on How To Remove Portfolio Recovery From Credit Report:

Dispute any information that is not valid. PRA is notorious for having bad information
Send a debt validation letter, even if they do not need to respond based on not responding to dunning
They will respond with a settlement offer. Decline! They can go lower.
Send counter offers or pay for delete letter.
If you don’t find success, and it’s small, consider paying in full to assist your good will effort
Pay debt (if applicable) and send good will letters

Additional steps if this didn’t work out:

There are a lot of reports the Portfolio Recovery Associates removes after payment with a dispute to the credit reporting agencies. Consider this approach second.
Portfolio Recovery Associates is a debt collector and their margins are thin. Bombard them with direct disputes about everything from the date of first delinquency to balance. They are required to respond. Send these disputes certified mail return receipt requested; and if they don’t respond to you, start creating plausible reasons to dispute with the credit reporting agencies, using the green card from the certified mail as evidence.

Thank you for reading my article on how to remove Portfolio Recovery Associates from Credit Report. As mentioned before, these are the steps that I used and is not the definitive approach. I would love to here from you on other tactics you have used!

How to remove Portfolio Recovery Associates from Credit Report by Man Vs Credit