Wright v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC.

2026 CO 36. No. 24SC585. Debt Collection—Statutory Interpretation—Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

May 26, 2026

The supreme court held that, under the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the Act), CRS §§ 5-16-101 et seq., when a debt buyer files a complaint in an action, it must append a copy of the assignment or other writing establishing that the debt buyer is the owner of the debt. A debt buyer may not use an affidavit to satisfy this requirement if the complaint is otherwise noncompliant. If a debt buyer fails to satisfy this requirement, then the debt buyer may be liable to the debtor for damages, costs, and attorney fees.

Here, the district court erred as a matter of law by upholding the county court’s ruling that Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (PRA) complied with CRS § 5-16-111(2). Further, because PRA violated the Act in its effort to collect Wright’s debt, the district court erred by upholding the county court’s ruling that Wright did not prove her counterclaim under the Act. Accordingly, the district court’s judgment was reversed, and the case was remanded to the district court to return it to the county court for consideration of any damages, costs, and attorney fees that may be due to Wright under CRS § 5-16-113.