Is Synchrony and Portfolio Recovery scamming me?

[Leahaline]

Synchrony is sueing me for a toys r us credit card account that they lost and then sold. The month after Toys R Us closed I tried making my store card payment with Synchrony. I could not log in to my account so I called them. They could not locate my account and rudely said I would have to contact Toys R Us. For two weeks I tried calling but no one was there. I called Synchrony again and was told that my account was transferred but they did not no where it went. They said to just wait for a letter from the new company. 

For an entire year my account was missing. Then Portfolio Recovery started calling claiming I haven't paid them. My balance went from $700 to $3000. I has a credit limit of $800 but now they claim it was $2500. They were hostile and unprofessional. They would not listen to me. Next I started getting letters from both companies. Sometimes they said my account was closed and sold and then a month later they would say the account was always with them. Frustrated with being out of work and losing my savings due to Covid, I took a step back. 

Synchrony is now sueing me. Portfolio says my account is with their litigation department. My credit report shows that Portfolio has an open account while Synchrony is listed as closed. 

Is it possible that they are working together? Can Portfolio sue me for the same account? In the summons there was a statement from May 2018. It had a balance of $2000 when I owed only $700. My credit report shows that I owed $784 up until late 2019 and then it jumps to $3000. I do not have any paperwork from back then nor the money for an attorney. I had to submit my answer denying the claim and don't know what to do.  Any advise would be appreciated.

[BackFromTheDebt]

Your situation is very strange.  
 

Your location is Georgia.  That makes things very tricky. @Clydesmom knows how to handle Magistrate Court in Georgia.  
 

You probably want arbitration.  I’m not sure how that is done in Georgia.  

[BV80]

@Leahaline

Does Synchrony’s entry on your credit report show that you still owe a balance?  Or does it show a $0 balance and say that the account has been sold or transferred?

Also, who is listed as the plaintiff on the complaint?  Was any documentation attached with the complaint?

[Leahaline]

Synchrony is listed as the plaintiff. On creditkarma, Synchrony shows a balance of $2900. It also says closed in July 2018.

Portfolio Recovery shows a balance of $2270 opened Dec 2020.

[Clydesmom]

4 hours ago, Leahaline said:

Synchrony is now sueing me. Portfolio says my account is with their litigation department. My credit report shows that Portfolio has an open account while Synchrony is listed as closed. 

Synchrony isn't suing you.  Portfolio is.  PRA is a junk debt buyer and they bought your account in a pool of bad debt from Synchrony.

4 hours ago, Leahaline said:

Is it possible that they are working together?

No.

Just now, Leahaline said:

Portfolio Recovery shows a balance of $2270 opened Dec 2020.

Ignore anything on CreditKarma.  Their accuracy is questionable at best.  PRA can only list the date they bought the account.  That is why it says December 2020.  They can report a lower balance than what Synchrony had but cannot increase it unless the contract calls for it.

4 hours ago, Leahaline said:

In the summons there was a statement from May 2018. It had a balance of $2000 when I owed only $700. My credit report shows that I owed $784 up until late 2019 and then it jumps to $3000.

That is because once payments stopped interest is maxed out at the 29.9%, plus late fees, over the limit fees, and any other fee they can attach.  A balance of $800 can quickly balloon to $3k in 6 months until it is charged off and then sold to a JDB.

In order to best help you I need to know what county you were sued in.  Is this in Magistrate or State Court?  What law firm is listed on the papers?

[Leahaline]

I am being sued in Bryan County, GA. Magistrate court. The law firm is Hayt, Hayt & Landau, P. L. Atlanta, Ga

[Clydesmom]

2 minutes ago, Leahaline said:

I am being sued in Bryan County, GA. Magistrate court. The law firm is Hayt, Hayt & Landau, P. L. Atlanta, Ga

Okay. Magistrate Court has pre-printed answer forms.  Check deny and hand it to the court clerk.  They will stamp it and give you a copy.  Within a couple of weeks you will receive a letter with a trial date.

Magistrate Court is trial by ambush.  You cannot file motions in advance so do not even worry about it.  Magistrate Court also does not allow discovery so you do not need to do that either.  There is a pinned arbitration thread.  You can use the template for a motion to compel arbitration filling it in with the facts from the case as filed against you.  Bring 3 copies with you on the date the trial is set for.  On that date the Magistrate will recommend that all parties involved in case(s) try to settle it themselves first.  Their attorney may approach you and ask for a hallway meeting which is expected.  There you tell them you are motioning for the arbitration per the Synchrony card agreement (pull that from the CFPB website) and no matter how much they argue, complain or try to scare you into agreeing to pay you stand your ground.  If they agree to it then you go in front of the Magistrate and tell him/her that you both have agreed to move to private contractual arbitration and please sign the motion so you can file.  THEN you file with JAMS or AAA.  You need to be aware that PRA is the one JDB that has gone all the way to the end with arbitration so the MTC may not get them to back down.  The goal is to get a better settlement because a bad case in court is a bad case in arbitration as well.  

If you have more questions come back to this thread do not start new ones.

[BV80]

1 hour ago, Clydesmom said:

Synchrony isn't suing you.  Portfolio is.  PRA is a junk debt buyer and they bought your account in a pool of bad debt from Synchrony.

The OP says Synchrony is still showing a balance on the credit report which means it still owns the account.  Also, the fact that it is listed as the plaintiff shows it is the party suing.

@Leahaline needs to check her credit reports at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action to make sure Synchrony is still showing a balance.  

[Clydesmom]

2 hours ago, BV80 said:

The OP says Synchrony is still showing a balance on the credit report which means it still owns the account.  Also, the fact that it is listed as the plaintiff shows it is the party suing.

@Leahaline needs to check her credit reports at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action to make sure Synchrony is still showing a balance.  

The conflicting information is because the OP is using Credit Karma which is known for having very wrong information.  In the first post they said this:

"Portfolio says my account is with their litigation department. My credit report shows that Portfolio has an open account while Synchrony is listed as closed."

Then in a later post they state they are getting the information from Credit Karma.  Until actual reports are pulled directly from the bureaus we won't know for sure but the days of PRA suing for an account they don't own haven't been around for almost a decade.

[BV80]

26 minutes ago, Clydesmom said:

Then in a later post they state they are getting the information from Credit Karma.  Until actual reports are pulled directly from the bureaus we won't know for sure but the days of PRA suing for an account they don't own haven't been around for almost a decade.

I agree.  Synchrony is named as the plaintiff, so it will be interesting to see what the OP finds on the actual CRs.