Hydrolyzes specifically phosphatidic acid (PA) to produce 2-acyl lysophosphatidic acid (LPA; a potent bioactive lipid mediator) and fatty acid. Does not hydrolyze other phospholipids, like phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) or triacylglycerol (TG).