How to proceed against a collection agency disobeying the law?
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How to proceed against a collection agency disobeying the law?
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I have been receiving phone calls from a collection agency over the past few months, before it was once or twice a week, and after I told them they had the wrong person I just ignored the calls. Now it has gone up to 3 times a days some days. I pulled my credit report for the first time in my life and it shows an amount just over $1,100 in collection from Common Collection Agency, in Markham Ontario. I live in Ottawa Ontario. The date shows it is from early 2004, I did some checking and even if it were a legitimate debt (which it isn't) they only have 2 years to take it to court. I sent the credit bureau a letter to dispute the item on my credit report, and I filed a complaint about the collection agency with the Ontario Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services.
I checked on E-Laws and it says under the Collection Agencies Act - R.R.O. 1990 that they aren't supposed to call more than 3 times per week unless I give them permission to call.
I called them back today and took the name of the girl who answered, and told her to stop calling me and that they were in breach of the collection agencies act and I would be filing against them.
Now I'm just not sure what my next step is to follow up. Is there a governing agency that enforces the rules set in this act? Should I get a lawyer and file a suit against them in small claims court? Should I file a police report for telephone harassment?
I already called my cellular provider and they told me that they cannot block certain numbers from calling, and advised me to change my phone number. I'm not willing to do that so I want to make sure this company pays for breaking the law and putting this bad mark on my credit report for the last 6 years.
Additional Details
Ya, I owe money. To my credit card company, and I pay it in full every month. I owe for my car loan, and I've never missed a payment on that, actually I often pay more than my min. payment. This money that I am alleged to owe isn't my debt. It's someone's mistake, so why shouldn't I complain about it? If you were accused of owing $1,100 that you didn't borrow you'd just shut up and take it? Or you'd pay someone elses debt? I doubt it
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Tdot
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There are a couple things you will want to do before filing a complaint:
Contact the company that you supposedly owe the money to directly and advise them of the error. If they agree you don't owe money, they'll get the agency off your back.
Send a registered letter to the collection agency indicating the debt is not yours, that they should stop contacting you directly, and recommend that they proceed with the matter through the courts. If they choose to do this, they will of course need to provide evidence that you in fact owe the money.
File a complaint with the Consumer Protection Branch. The link below is an excellent tool to file your complaint and provides you information along the way. |
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Mr. Smart Guy
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In the United States, there are very specific laws governing collection agencies, so anyone having issues with them in the States, click on that first link below.
I looked around to see what options there were for Canadians and the answer seems to depend on which province you live in. Ontario's website lists several things you need to do before filing a complaint, but you CAN file one. See that second link.
If the callers routinely use a single number to call you, enter that number into your cellphone memory and then whenever they call, just ignore it. I've done that with telemarketers who just WILL NOT stop calling me with offers to renew my car's extended warranty -- even though it's 20 years old. Yeesh!
Good luck! |
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J&D LIQUOR
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every one owes money damn stop complaining |
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