[4][5] [6] PRA Group was founded as Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC in March 1996 by Kevin Stevenson and Steve Fredrickson, who worked previously in collections at Household Finance.

[3][13] In April 2010, PRA secured a controlling interest in the company Claims Compensation Bureau, which specialized in "recovering funds and processing payments owed under class-action settlements".

"[19] The case involved uncontested default judgments levied against defendants who failed to respond to suits brought by PRA against them.

[19] In May 2015, a jury ordered Portfolio Recovery Associates to pay $82,990,000 in punitive damages for the malicious prosecution of Maria Guadalupe Mejia, a Kansas City woman who was pursued by PRA for a $1000 credit card debt she did not owe.

[21][22][23] In March 2023, PRA was fined $24 million for continued illegal debt collection practices and consumer reporting violations.

The director of the agency stated that following the 2015 action, PRA continued "violating the law through intimidation, deception, and illegal debt collection tactics and lawsuits."

[24] PRA Group's subsidiaries include Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, which purchases and collects debt; PRA Receivables Management, LLC, which acquires and services bankrupt and insolvent accounts; PRA Location Services, which helps auto lenders and insurance companies recover missing collateral; and Claims Compensation Bureau (CCB), which monitors and files class action claims on behalf of institutional investors and corporate clients.