Wright v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC

NACA joined an amicus effort to support the plaintiff’s argument that Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA), a debt buyer that claimed to acquire debt that the plaintiff owed on a credit card account, failed to comply with Colorado law requiring a party suing on a debt to attach documentation to the complaint demonstrating that they are the actual owner of the debt.  Both the trial court and the appellate court ruled in favor of PRA, finding that PRA’s affidavit that it owned the debt was sufficient under the law to prove ownership.  Plaintiff, and the supporting consumer advocates, including NACA, who filed the amicus, argue that Colorado law requires debt buyers to attach, at minimum, proof of the assignment when they sue on debt and that Colorado courts should force debt buyers to do more to demonstrate ownership of the debt when they sue on it.