PRA Group Inc is screened out under 2 exclusion reasons spanning 1 issue category.
This page is part of our public exclusion list — a transparency tool that shows which companies we screen out and why. It is not investment advice, and it is not an accusation. It is a statement of values.
CFPB repeat enforcement (2015 + 2023): collected unsubstantiated debts, sued consumers on time-barred debts, ignored 2015 consent order. $24.18M in penalties and redress (2023).
PRA Group Inc. is a debt collection company that purchases and collects on defaulted consumer debts. Its core business model involves acquiring charged-off debts from original creditors for a fraction of their face value and then pursuing consumers for the full balance plus interest and fees. The company reported cash collections of over $1 billion in 2014, demonstrating the scale of this activity.
The company has faced legal challenges over its collection practices. In one case, a consumer successfully contested a debt claimed by PRA Group’s subsidiary, Portfolio Recovery Associates, alleging the company pursued abusive and misleading collection tactics, including filing a lawsuit without proper substantiation of the debt. Another lawsuit filed in Wisconsin in 2018 alleged the company operates as a collection agency under state law by purchasing and receiving assignment of consumer debts. These patterns align with regulatory descriptions of predatory financial practices designed to extract value from unsophisticated counterparties.
Research Sources
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Related Exclusions
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A digest of changes to our exclusion list — new additions, removals, and the evidence behind them. We review the list continuously as new evidence surfaces.
Companies appear on our exclusion list based on our investment judgment — not because they've done anything illegal. This is a difference of values and opinion, not an accusation of wrongdoing. Exclusion does not constitute a recommendation against investing in any company, and absence from the list does not constitute a recommendation to invest.
This information is provided for educational and transparency purposes only and should not be relied upon as investment advice. Data is drawn from independent watchdogs, NGOs, government registries, and Ethical Capital's ongoing research — see Research Sources for the full list.
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