Portfolio Recovery Associates Is Suing Me in Illinois — What Do I Do?

Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC ("PRA") is a wholly owned subsidiary of PRA Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAA), one of the two largest publicly traded debt buyers in the United States. PRA is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, and is unusually litigious — it files thousands of consumer collection lawsuits each year across the country.

PRA buys portfolios of charged-off consumer debt from banks, credit card issuers, and other lenders, then collects directly using in-house collectors and outside collection counsel. PRA disproportionately purchases credit-card portfolios from Synchrony Bank, Capital One, and various retail store-card issuers.

The regulatory record matters more in Illinois than in most states. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken two major enforcement actions against PRA. In 2015, the CFPB ordered PRA to pay $19 million in consumer redress plus an $8 million civil money penalty for collecting on unverified debts, suing consumers using false affidavits, and filing collection suits without adequate documentation. In 2023, the CFPB took a second action for continued violations, resulting in an additional $24 million settlement.

Why these orders matter in Illinois: Illinois Supreme Court Rule 280, adopted in 2022, now requires the exact documentation PRA was sanctioned for failing to produce. The CFPB findings against PRA are essentially a roadmap to the Rule 280 defenses Illinois law makes available to you.

If you were just served with an Illinois Circuit Court complaint from PRA, here is what almost certainly happened. You fell behind on a credit card or other consumer account — most often a Synchrony Bank store card, a Capital One card, or a similar account. The original creditor wrote the account off as uncollectible, then sold a large portfolio of charged-off accounts to PRA at a deep discount. PRA is now suing you because a default judgment is the most efficient way to convert that discounted purchase into a full-balance recovery.

Industry data and CFPB studies confirm that the majority of consumers sued in debt collection cases never file an Answer. They get scared, they do not understand what to do, or they assume the lawsuit will go away if they ignore it. When that happens, the Illinois court enters a default judgment automatically. Default judgments are PRA's primary profit driver — and the CFPB has criticized PRA specifically for filing suits engineered to maximize default rates rather than legitimate collections.

In Illinois, a default judgment carries serious consequences. With a judgment in hand, PRA can garnish up to 15% of your gross wages under Illinois law, levy your bank accounts, and pursue other collection remedies. The judgment stays on your credit report for years and can be renewed.

Filing a real Answer flips the case from a near-automatic default into a real lawsuit that PRA must prove under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 280 — and that is exactly the work PRA has been sanctioned twice for failing to do.

Illinois gives you thirty days to file your Answer or other responsive pleading after you were served with the summons and complaint. This is the standard deadline in Illinois Circuit Court for civil debt collection cases.

You count the thirty days starting the day after service. Weekends count. If the thirtieth day falls on a weekend or court holiday, the deadline rolls to the next business day. "Served" in Illinois generally means a sheriff or licensed process server personally handed you the papers, or — under certain conditions — left them with someone of suitable age at your home or workplace. Check the affidavit of service filed with the court if you are unsure how service was made.

If you miss the thirty-day deadline, PRA will move for a default judgment, and the court will almost certainly grant it. Illinois courts can vacate a default for good cause shown under 735 ILCS 5/2-1301(e) within thirty days of judgment, but you must file a motion, you must show good cause and a meritorious defense, and the court has discretion. After thirty days, vacating a judgment becomes much harder under § 2-1401.

The single most important step you can take right now is to mark your deadline on your calendar — thirty days from the day after service — and treat that date as the most important date on your schedule until your Answer is filed. Do not wait until day twenty-nine.

Illinois has one of the strongest debt-buyer pleading rules in the country, and against PRA specifically, it is the most powerful procedural tool available. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 280, adopted in 2022, fundamentally changed what a debt buyer must show on the face of its complaint.

Under Rule 280.2, a debt-buyer complaint in Illinois must disclose the name of the original creditor; the original account number; the date and amount of the charge-off balance; every assignment date in the chain of title; and an itemization of any post-charge-off interest and fees. The complaint must also attach the underlying account documentation. If any required disclosure is missing or defective, Rule 280.4 supports dismissal with leave to amend.

This maps almost perfectly onto the CFPB's findings against PRA. The 2015 consent order required PRA to obtain the original cardholder agreement and account-level transfer files before suing — and the 2023 action found PRA still falling short of those documentation requirements years later. The exact paperwork PRA was sanctioned for lacking is the same paperwork Rule 280 requires it to attach to every Illinois complaint.

In practice, PRA complaints filed in Illinois routinely fall short of Rule 280. The chain of assignment is often presented as a generic block transfer without account-level identification. The post-charge-off interest is often unitemized. The original cardholder agreement is often missing. Each defect is a basis to challenge the complaint.

A second, distinct defense exists under 225 ILCS 425/8 — the Illinois Collection Agency Act. An out-of-state collection agency that is not licensed in Illinois cannot lawfully collect debts here, and a judgment obtained by an unlicensed collector is void. Always check whether PRA holds current Illinois ICAA licensure.

For credit card debt and most consumer accounts in Illinois, the statute of limitations is five years under 735 ILCS 5/13-205. If PRA waited too long after you stopped paying, your debt may be too old to collect — but only if you raise this defense yourself.

The clock starts running on the date of your last payment or the first missed payment, depending on how the case is framed. If you made your last payment in March 2019, the five-year clock began then and expired in March 2024. A lawsuit filed in late 2024 on that debt would be filed outside the limitations period and would be time-barred. If you cannot remember when you last paid, look at your old credit reports — payment history is usually visible going back several years.

The statute of limitations is what lawyers call an "affirmative defense." It does not happen automatically. The court will not throw out the case just because the debt is old. You must raise the defense yourself in your Answer or it is waived.

This defense is unusually important in PRA cases because the CFPB has specifically found PRA filed lawsuits on time-barred debts in both the 2015 and 2023 actions. The CFPB's 2015 consent order required PRA to disclose to consumers when a debt was past the limitations period. The 2023 action found ongoing problems with this practice. If your last payment was anywhere near five years ago, calculate the date carefully and raise the SOL defense in your Answer.

Most credit card agreements contain a clause requiring that any dispute be resolved through binding arbitration administered by AAA or JAMS. When PRA bought your account, they bought it subject to whatever terms were in the original cardholder agreement — which means the arbitration clause may now belong to you.

This is a powerful defense for Illinois PRA defendants. The arbitration clause is enforceable by either side, but PRA — like most debt buyers — often does not want to arbitrate. AAA and JAMS commercial filing fees for a business claimant typically run from $1,500 to $5,000 or more, plus the arbitrator's hourly fees. If the disputed debt is, say, $3,200, the cost of arbitration may exceed the recoverable amount.

This creates the "arbitration fee trap." When an Illinois defendant files a motion to compel arbitration under 710 ILCS 5/2 — and the court grants it — PRA must choose between paying thousands in arbitration filing fees or abandoning the case. They very often abandon, which can result in a dismissal.

Illinois courts will compel arbitration if the agreement is valid and the dispute falls within its scope. To use this defense, you generally need a copy of the original cardholder agreement showing the arbitration clause. PRA is required to produce that document if you request it during discovery — and the CFPB's 2015 consent order required PRA to obtain that document before filing suit. If PRA cannot produce the original agreement, the case is in trouble for Rule 280 reasons quite apart from arbitration.

Your Answer is the most important document you will file in this case. It is your formal response to PRA's complaint, and it locks in your defenses for the rest of the lawsuit. A good Answer in Illinois does three things: it admits or denies each numbered allegation, it raises every applicable affirmative defense, and — where appropriate — it raises a counterclaim.

For the admit-or-deny portion, the rule is simple: do not admit anything you do not actually know. If PRA alleges that you owed Synchrony Bank $3,217.42 as of a charge-off date you do not remember, deny that allegation for lack of knowledge. Admitting allegations you cannot personally verify hands PRA elements of their case for free.

The affirmative defenses to consider raising in an Illinois PRA Answer include: lack of standing or chain of title (PRA cannot prove ownership under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 280); failure to attach required documentation under Rule 280.2; statute of limitations under 735 ILCS 5/13-205; failure to state a claim; account stated cannot be established; arbitration clause; and — critically — lack of Illinois Collection Agency Act licensure under 225 ILCS 425/8, which voids the claim entirely if PRA is not licensed.

Where FDCPA violations are present — and PRA's CFPB record makes these unusually likely — consider an FDCPA counterclaim in federal court for statutory damages plus attorney's fees.

What you should never do: do not admit you owe the debt. Do not call PRA. Do not promise to pay. Do not ignore the lawsuit. The 30-day clock is unforgiving.

Illinois has strong consumer protection laws for debt collection defendants, but most consumers being sued by PRA have no idea these laws exist.

The Illinois Collection Agency Act, codified at 225 ILCS 425, requires every collection agency operating in Illinois to be licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Section 425/8 makes unlicensed collection a complete defense — a judgment obtained by an unlicensed collector is void. This applies to out-of-state debt buyers operating in Illinois courts, and it is one of the most powerful defenses a PRA defendant can raise. Always check whether PRA (or its specific Illinois collection counsel) holds current Illinois licensure.

Illinois Supreme Court Rule 280 is technically a procedural rule, but it functions as a powerful consumer protection mechanism. It requires debt buyers to disclose every fact necessary to prove their claim on the face of the complaint — original creditor, charge-off balance, all assignment dates, itemized fees. Failure to comply supports dismissal under Rule 280.4. The CFPB's twin enforcement actions against PRA establish that PRA has a documented history of filing suits without exactly the documentation Rule 280 requires.

The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to PRA. The FDCPA prohibits false statements, misrepresentations of the amount or character of the debt, suing on time-barred debts, and abusive collection tactics. FDCPA violations entitle you to up to $1,000 in statutory damages plus attorney's fees in federal court. The CFPB findings against PRA are direct evidence of FDCPA-violative conduct.

The combination of Rule 280 dismissals, ICAA licensure attacks, and FDCPA counterclaims means PRA faces real downside risk in Illinois cases — which is why many PRA cases settle or get dismissed once a real Answer is filed.

After you file your Answer with the Illinois Circuit Court clerk and serve a copy on PRA's attorney, the case enters discovery. Discovery is the formal process by which each side requests documents and information from the other.

In a PRA case, this is where the Rule 280 chain-of-title defense gets tested. You can serve a request for production of documents demanding every assignment document, every bill of sale, the original cardholder agreement, and the complete account history. PRA must respond within twenty-eight days under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 214. If they cannot produce a clean chain of title and an authenticated account record, their case is in trouble. Given the CFPB findings against PRA, this is a frequent outcome.

What very often happens next is a settlement offer. The economics for PRA change dramatically once they realize they are facing a defendant who is going to make them prove their case. Illinois practitioners report that PRA commonly settles real-Answer cases for forty to sixty cents on the dollar, sometimes much less.

If the case does not settle, it proceeds to a court date. For amounts under $10,000, the case may be heard in Illinois small claims procedure where rules are simplified. For amounts above $10,000, the case follows full Illinois Code of Civil Procedure.

A meaningful share of PRA cases get voluntarily dismissed in Illinois after Answer, especially when chain of title is weak or when Rule 280 disclosures are missing. Many more settle for a deeply discounted lump sum.

Answered is a self-help legal platform built specifically for pro se defendants in consumer debt collection lawsuits. The Illinois playbook was reviewed by an Illinois-licensed consumer-rights attorney and is built around the specific statutes and rules that govern PRA cases — Illinois Supreme Court Rule 280, 225 ILCS 425/8, 735 ILCS 5/13-205, and 710 ILCS 5/2.

When you upload your summons and complaint, Answered does the following: it extracts the key dates including your service date and your 30-day Answer deadline; it scans for the procedural defects most commonly found in PRA pleadings, including missing chain-of-title documents, defective Rule 280 disclosures, and missing post-charge-off itemization (the exact defects the CFPB sanctioned PRA for in 2015 and 2023); it identifies whether your debt may be time-barred under the five-year SOL of 735 ILCS 5/13-205; it checks whether an arbitration clause is likely available; it checks for ICAA licensure issues under 225 ILCS 425/8; and it generates a court-ready Answer with the affirmative defenses that apply.

The Answer document is formatted for Illinois Circuit Court, includes the proper caption and case style, and contains the affirmative defenses. It also generates a discovery request package designed to push PRA to produce or fail to produce the chain-of-title documents required by Rule 280.

Pricing is simple: free to start, and a one-time $99 charge to unlock and download your final documents. There is no subscription. There is no per-document fee.

The founder, John DiSalle, was sued by a debt buyer, fought back using exactly this process, and won. Answered exists so other defendants do not have to figure it out from scratch.