Mark describes three scenarios in which a Canadian can stop collection calls with a cease and desist letter, and the options available if the calls continue after the letter is received.
Transcript
If you are a Canadian who wants to stop collection calls, then you need to watch this video. I will describe for you three different methods for stopping collection calls. This information is based upon my three decades of experience in the debt collection and debt relief industries, including 12 years working as a collection agency lawyer and nine years working as a consumer lawyer. You are not going to find this information in a video anywhere else. If you watch to the end of this video, there is a bonus feature where I will describe your various options where a bill collector continues to make collection calls to you after you have taken steps to stop these calls. I'm Mark Silverthorn, the founder of Debt Coach Silverthorn.
Collection calls can be a major source of stress and unhappiness. There are a couple of situations where they might be particularly problematic. Firstly, if bill collectors are calling your workplace and speaking with your supervisors or co-workers, this might harm your reputation or your career. Secondly, if you are going through a rough period, then these calls might cause you a significant amount of grief. Today you will learn three specific scenarios where you can stop collection calls by sending what is known as a cease and desist letter to the entity that is making the calls. After an organization receives your cease and desist letter, it is illegal for them to make any further collection calls to you. If you don't want to speak to a bill collector, you also have the option of simply using strategies to avoid collection calls.
Scenario one: debts owing to a bank or credit card company
The first, and arguably the most important, category of cease and desist letters is where you are receiving collection calls in connection with monies owing to a bank or credit card company. This is huge, because more than two-thirds of all collection calls in Canada involve debts owing to a federally regulated bank or credit card company. Federal law permits you to stop collection calls from a collection agent such as a collection agency or a collection law firm.
More importantly, however, federal law permits you to stop collection calls from a bank or credit card company where bill collectors employed by their in-house collection department are making the calls. For the first three to six months that you have not paid your account, the calls that you receive will invariably be from collectors employed by your original creditor in its in-house collection department.
Under federal law you can stop these collection calls in one of two ways. Firstly, you can send the entity making the collection calls a written letter by registered mail indicating, one, that you only want to receive further communications in writing, and two, a written address for these communications. Secondly, you can send the organization making these calls a written letter by registered mail indicating, one, that you dispute owing the debt, and two, that you are prepared to take the matter to court. You can find a template for these two letters in my article titled Stopping Collection Calls. You cannot, however, take advantage of this federal law to send a cease and desist letter if your bank or credit card company has sold your unpaid account.
If you are receiving telephone calls from a collection agency involving an unpaid account owing to a bank or credit card company, then I recommend that you send your cease and desist letter to both the agency and your creditor. Both creditors and collection agencies attempt to collect hundreds of thousands of accounts at any given time, and often they have difficulty identifying a particular account unless they have sufficient information. Ideally, your cease and desist letter should include information that will help the recipient identify you as well as your account.
This means that you should include your name, your date of birth and your account number with a creditor. You might also want to include the last three digits of your Social Insurance Number. When you send a cease and desist letter, it is important that you keep a copy of it for your records and retain a copy of the receipt for the registered letter. This will be incredibly helpful in the unlikely event that you receive collection calls after the recipient receives your cease and desist letter.
Scenario two: collectors based in Ontario
Scenario number two: you are a Canadian receiving collection calls from a collection agency or a debt buyer physically situated in Ontario. Ontario has a law that permits any Canadian to stop collection calls from either a collection agency or a debt buyer, so long as the telephone calls are originating from somewhere within the province of Ontario. A collection agency is a firm that collects monies on behalf of others. A debt buyer is a company that has purchased unpaid accounts that were previously owned by an original creditor. An example will help illustrate this scenario. Let's say you live in Manitoba and you owe monies to your local gym. Furthermore, you are receiving calls regarding this unpaid account from either a collection agency or a debt buyer physically located in Ontario.
In this situation, despite the fact that you are not an Ontario resident, under Ontario law you can send a cease and desist letter to the Ontario-based debt buyer or collection agency. You can send a written cease and desist letter by verifiable means stating, one, that you dispute the debt, and two, that you would like the creditor to take you to court. You will find a template for a cease and desist letter for a Canadian residing outside Ontario, to be sent to an Ontario-based collection agency or debt buyer, in my article titled Stopping Collection Calls.
Creditors can only place an account for collection with one collection agency at a time. A creditor can, however, recall an account from one collection agency and give your unpaid account to a different collection agency. The cease and desist letter that you sent to the first collection agency under provincial law does not prevent the second collection agency from making collection calls to you. If you are receiving collection calls from a second collection agency, then you have the option of sending a cease and desist letter to the second collection agency.
Scenario three: provincial law
Scenario number three: the right to send out a cease and desist letter available under provincial law. Some, but not all, provinces and territories permit their residents to send a cease and desist letter to a collection agency making collection calls to them. All Canadian provinces and territories permit this, with the exception of Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and the Yukon. In some provinces it is also possible to send a cease and desist letter to a debt buyer as well as to a collection agency. A list of those provinces in which it is possible to send a cease and desist letter to a debt buyer can be found in my article titled Stopping Collection Calls.
If the calls continue after your letter
Now for our bonus feature: what can you do if an organization continues to make collection calls to you after it receives a valid cease and desist letter from you? Once it has received a suitable cease and desist letter, the entity making collection calls can no longer legally make telephone calls to you. If you have sent a cease and desist letter and you continue to receive collection calls after its receipt, then you have a number of options. Firstly, you can make a complaint to the relevant regulator. If you have sent a cease and desist letter under federal law, then you can make a complaint to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. If you have sent a cease and desist letter in accordance with the law in your province or territory, then you can make a complaint to the agency responsible for regulating collection agencies in your province.
And if you live outside Ontario and you have sent a cease and desist letter to an Ontario-based collection agency or debt buyer, then you should make your complaint to the Ontario Registrar of Collection Agencies. Please note that these government agencies typically require that you complete certain paperwork before they process your complaint. Secondly, you can sue an entity that continues to make collection calls to you after it has received a valid cease and desist letter. If you were to commence a lawsuit, you might be entitled to money damages. I recommend that anyone who commences a lawsuit arising from a cease and desist letter hire a suitable legal representative.
Finally, in some circumstances where a bill collector's conduct is egregious, it might be warranted to arrange to have criminal charges laid against the individual or individuals calling you. There are a number of provisions in the Criminal Code of Canada dealing with telephone harassment where a bill collector might face criminal liability for their conduct.