Portfolio Recovery Associates Establishing New Call Center in Jackson, Tennessee

NORFOLK, VA, Nov 16, 2006 - Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAA), a company that purchases and manages portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables and provides a broad range of accounts receivable management services, announced today that it is establishing a new call center in Jackson, Tennessee that can accommodate more than 300 new collectors.

The Company has purchased an existing 34,000 square-foot building in the Route 45 By-Pass corridor just north of the city of Jackson to house the call center. The facility will be used by collectors working on Portfolio Recovery Associates' owned-debt portfolios, allowing the Company to increase its owned-portfolio collector force by more than one-third over time.

"Portfolio Recovery Associates' search for a new owned-portfolio call center has been successfully concluded. We are excited to be locating in Jackson, Tennessee, which offers a great pool of talented individuals from which to draw our collections staff. Jackson is a fine city and we've enjoyed working with the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, the city itself and the State of Tennessee to make this happen. We expect to begin training collectors in early December so we can hit the ground running for our seasonally strong first-quarter collection season," said Steven D. Fredrickson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

On Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Portfolio Recovery Associates completed its purchase of the call-center building for $2.3 million in cash and expects to spend a combined $1.5 million on equipment, furniture and modest renovations. The city of Jackson and the State of Tennessee worked closely with the Company to secure a number of significant tax benefits for the new call center.

(Also, see separate release from the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce.)

In addition to the new call center, Portfolio Recovery Associates operates major facilities in Norfolk and Hampton, Virginia; Hutchinson, Kansas; Birmingham, Alabama; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc.

Portfolio Recovery Associates is a full-service provider of outsourced receivables management and related services. The company's primary business is the purchase, collection and management of portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables. These are the unpaid obligations of individuals to credit originators, which include banks, credit unions, consumer and auto finance companies, and retail merchants. Portfolio Recovery Associates also provides a broad range of collection services, including revenue administration for government entities through its RDS business, collateral-location services for credit originators via IGS Nevada, and fee-based collections through Anchor Receivables Management.

Statements herein which are not historical, including Portfolio Recovery Associates' or management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations, representations, projections, plans or predictions of the future, including statements with respect to future contribution of IGS Nevada and RDS to earnings and future portfolio-purchase opportunities, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements include references to Portfolio Recovery Associates' presentations and web casts. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon management's beliefs, assumptions and expectations of the Company's future operations and economic performance, taking into account currently available information. These statements are not statements of historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, some of which are not currently known to us. Actual events or results may differ from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including the risk factors and other risks that are described from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including but not limited to its annual reports on Form 10-K, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its current reports on Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available through the Company's website, which contain a more detailed discussion of the Company's business, including risks and uncertainties that may affect future results. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Information in this press release may be superseded by more recent information or statements, which may be disclosed in later press releases, subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission or otherwise. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regard thereto or to reflect any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such forward-looking statements are based, in whole or in part.

Contact:
Investor Relations
757-519-9300 ext. 13010
info@portfoliorecovery.com

SOURCE: Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc.