Are You Getting Calls from 866-295-8602?
If so, you are certainly not alone. Over 108,000 phone calls from this number have been reported to consumer complaint websites, and hundreds of consumers have filed detailed complaints describing the same experiences.
Here’s what you need to know about this phone number, the company using it, and what to do if you receive one of these calls. The company calling from 866-295-8602 is Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA), a debt buyer who thinks you owe it money. Here’s what’s going on and how to stop the calls.
PRA is one of the two largest debt buyers in the country. The company buys up charged-off debts from banks and other lenders at a discount, then attempts to collect the full balance from the consumer. If you’re receiving calls from this number, it’s likely because PRA thinks you’re responsible for one of the debts it has purchased.
While it might feel like you’re the only person receiving these calls, you are actually one of tens of thousands of people getting calls from 866-295-8602 every month. Over 108,000 calls from this number have been reported to consumer complaint websites, and hundreds of consumers have filed detailed complaints describing the same experiences you’re having.
Below, we will take a closer look at the company behind these calls, why it’s calling you, and what you can do to make the calls stop.
Company Overview
Company Name: Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
Parent Company: PRA Group, Inc.
Company Type: Debt buyer (purchases defaulted consumer debt portfolios)
Industry Verticals: Credit card, personal loan, auto loan deficiency, medical, utility
Headquarters: 150 Corporate Boulevard, Norfolk, Virginia
Company Size: Publicly traded, approximately 3,120 employees across 18 countries
Annual Revenue: $1.11 billion (FY2024)
BBB Rating: Under review; 1.35 out of 5 customer review stars
Geographic Footprint: National operations across all 50 states
Portfolio Recovery Associates Has a Record of Lawbreaking
You are not imagining things, and you are not overreacting. Portfolio Recovery Associates has paid more than $79 million in combined penalties and settlements across federal and state enforcement actions since 2014. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau labeled PRA a “repeat offender” in 2023 for violating a prior consent order related to illegal debt collection practices.
The Massachusetts Attorney General secured a $4 million settlement after finding PRA targeted low-income, elderly, and disabled consumers. PRA also paid $18 million to settle a class action over unauthorized autodialed calls to cell phones.
Why Is Portfolio Recovery Associates Calling You?
Portfolio Recovery Associates is calling you because it thinks you owe a debt it owns. But how does PRA acquire debts, and why might the debt not even be yours?
Portfolio Recovery Associates does not lend money or issue credit cards. Instead, the company purchases portfolios of defaulted consumer accounts from original creditors such as Synchrony Bank, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Capital One. These purchases can be made through spot auctions, private negotiations, or forward flow contracts.
Once it has purchased a portfolio, PRA attempts to collect the full outstanding balance of the debts it acquired, even though it paid only a fraction of the balance for the portfolio.
In FY2024, PRA spent a record $1.4 billion acquiring new debt portfolios. With so many accounts changing hands, it is inevitable that errors will occur in terms of who owes the debt, how much is owed, and whose contact information is attached to the account.
In fact, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau investigation found that PRA made tens of thousands of representations about debts it could not substantiate.
RoboKiller consumers have reported similar problems. As one consumer explained, “Told them before they have the wrong number for person they’re looking for but they still keep calling.” Another consumer reported, “Not sure what they want but I’m not the person they are trying to contact yet they continue to call.”
What to Expect When PRA Calls from 866-295-8602
If PRA has purchased a debt you allegedly owe, expect a lot of calls from 866-295-8602. Here’s what you need to know about how Portfolio Recovery Associates operates and why the calls from 866-295-8602 are so relentless.
Robocalls from 866-295-8602 are described as “SEVERE” by Nomorobo. According to CallerSmart, nearly 59% of complaints about calls from this number describe the calls as robocalls, while about 41% are from live callers. This suggests PRA uses both automated dialers and live agents to place calls from this number.
Calls from 866-295-8602 are most common on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. EST. The top three states complaining about calls from this number are New York, California, and Texas. Consumers report that PRA calls from a variety of numbers in an effort to circumvent call-blocking.
By far the most common complaint about calls from 866-295-8602 is that PRA calls repeatedly without leaving a voicemail. As one consumer reported to 800notes, “Got a call from this number. My phone is set up for suspicious calls to go straight to VM. They never leave a message.” According to CallerSmart, nearly 30% of complaints about this number involve dropped calls or no voicemail.
When PRA does leave a message, it’s often a prerecorded voicemail from an agent who provides an employee ID number. Some consumers have reported being contacted about debts that are many years old. One 800notes user said, “This company is calling me about a debt from 2004.”
What to Do Before You Respond to Calls from 866-295-8602
If you are getting calls from 866-295-8602, there are several things you should keep in mind before you respond.
If you feel guilty for not paying a debt simply because someone called and said you owe it, that’s exactly what Portfolio Recovery Associates is counting on. The sense of urgency you feel when a debt collector calls is not a legal requirement; it’s a business strategy.
Portfolio Recovery Associates buys debts for pennies on the dollar and only makes money if you pay. That debt is an investment PRA chose to make, not a moral obligation you owe to the company.
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors may not harass consumers or threaten them with arrest. Collectors may not call at odd hours, use profanity, or call you at work if your employer prohibits personal calls.
In addition, consumers have the right to request written verification of a debt within 30 days of the initial contact from a collector. The collector must stop all collection activities until it provides the requested verification. Given PRA’s history of attempting to collect debts it cannot verify, this right is particularly important for consumers dealing with this company.
How to Stop the Calls and Protect Your Credit
If you don’t want to talk to PRA on the phone, you don’t have to. Here’s what you can do instead.
Dispute the Collection Account on Your Credit Report
If Portfolio Recovery Associates is reporting a collection account against you, your first step should be to get copies of your credit reports from all three credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and review the reports for errors. File a dispute with the credit bureaus regarding any inaccurate information you find, including the PRA collection account.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit bureaus have 30 days to investigate consumer disputes. If Portfolio Recovery Associates cannot verify the accuracy of the account it reported with documentation, the bureaus must delete the account from your credit report.
Why Disputing Works
Simply disputing the account might be enough to have it removed. Often, debts are sold and resold so many times that the original documentation no longer exists. In many cases, simply challenging the accuracy of an item on your credit report will result in its deletion, even if you actually do owe money to the original creditor.
Be Careful with Pay for Delete Agreements
“Pay for delete” agreements, in which you offer to pay a debt collector in exchange for deleting the account from your credit report, don’t always work as advertised. Even if you pay, collection accounts typically remain on your credit report for up to seven years from the original delinquency date.
Get Everything in Writing
Everything you do should be in writing. Verbal agreements with debt collectors are worthless. If PRA agrees over the phone to stop calling you or to delete a credit reporting item, the agreement is meaningless unless you also get it in writing. Correspondence via certified mail with return receipt requested provides you with a paper trail you can use as evidence if PRA violates your rights.
Written communication also prevents debt collectors from using phone calls to persuade you to make a partial payment or acknowledge the debt over the phone, either of which can reset the statute of limitations.
Enforcement Actions and Lawsuits Against Portfolio Recovery Associates
Portfolio Recovery Associates has a long history of lawbreaking that has resulted in tens of millions of dollars in penalties and settlements with government agencies and consumers. Here are some of the most significant enforcement actions PRA has faced.
Portfolio Recovery Associates is no stranger to enforcement actions from government agencies. In fact, PRA has paid more than $79 million in penalties and settlements since 2014. Here are some of the most significant federal and state enforcement actions against the company.
2015 CFPB Consent Order
In September 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consent order requiring PRA to pay $19 million in consumer refunds and an $8 million civil penalty. The CFPB said PRA had engaged in illegal debt collection practices, including collecting debts it could not verify and filing affidavits in court that contained false information.
The company also sued or threatened to sue consumers over debts that were too old to collect, the agency said. As part of the consent order, PRA was prohibited from reselling debts to third-party debt collectors.
2023 CFPB Repeat Offender Designation
In March 2023, the CFPB issued a new order finding that PRA had violated the terms of the 2015 consent order throughout the time it was in effect. As a result, the company must pay an additional $24.18 million in civil penalties and consumer redress.
According to the CFPB, violations of the consent order included sending millions of threatening letters to consumers without having documentation of the debt and filing thousands of debt collection lawsuits without verifying the debts. The CFPB has publicly identified PRA as a “repeat offender,” a designation few companies have received.
State Enforcement Actions and Class Action Lawsuits
In addition to actions from the CFPB, Portfolio Recovery Associates has faced several significant state-level enforcement actions, as well as at least one class action lawsuit. Here are the details.
In February 2022, the New York Attorney General announced a settlement with Portfolio Recovery Associates that required the company to vacate approximately 2,000 default judgments against consumers. In total, the judgments were worth about $16 million, the AG said. According to the AG’s investigation, PRA had engaged in a pattern of improper debt collection practices.
In January 2024, a North Carolina state court approved a class action settlement requiring Portfolio Recovery Associates to pay $5.75 million and cancel $35 million in default judgments the company had against more than 18,000 consumers.
In May 2017, Portfolio Recovery Associates agreed to pay $18 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The lawsuit alleged that PRA had placed autodialed calls to consumers’ cell phones without first getting their consent.
In August 2018, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced a $4 million settlement with Portfolio Recovery Associates. According to the AG’s investigation, PRA had targeted low-income, elderly, and disabled consumers with its debt collection activities.
Don’t Let PRA Pressure You Into a Quick Decision
If you are dealing with calls from Portfolio Recovery Associates, the most important thing to remember is that cleaning up the consequences of a collection account takes time. Don’t let the frequency of calls from 866-295-8602 force you into making a decision you’ll regret later.
The more time you spend in a dispute, the more it costs Portfolio Recovery Associates, so the company’s incentive is always to get you to settle quickly. Conversely, the more you understand your rights and assert them, the more leverage you gain. So take a deep breath, pull your credit reports, and file your dispute.
How FightCollections.com Can Help
If Portfolio Recovery Associates is reporting a collection account against you and you’re receiving unwanted calls from 866-295-8602, documenting the calls and disputing the account with the credit bureaus is a great place to start.
At FightCollections.com, we help consumers like you challenge debt collectors and repair their credit reports through the strategic use of credit report disputes. If you need help responding to calls from 866-295-8602, contact us for a free consultation about your options.
