Anyone know about some Canadian Law (Credit Related)?

[Lollipop's Mom]

Does anyone know if this is true.....
If you owe money somewhere and send them postdated checks, once they cash the first check, they have accepted the payment plan you have put forth by doing this?
I am asking for a friend....he is being hounded by a collections agency over a $1400 debt that he honestly forgot about (he had several horrible things happen in the past 8 months including 3 deaths of immediate family in a car accident, etc...). He has gone through hell and back, and literally forgot about one of his credit cards. They claimed it as a bad debt and sent it to this ruthless collections agency. He spoke with them and explained but they have no sympathy and wanted their money 'now'. He doesn't have it (took so much time off work), and has explained this to them. Of course they don't care (these people are really rude and ruthless).
He sent them a whole bunch of post dated checks for $50 each and they have cashed the first one. He was under the impression from 'somewhere' but doesn't know where, that if they cash a first check, they have accepted your payment plan/credit. They are still calling him and leaving messages. He talked to them the other day (because they called at 730am!) and they told him that this did not mean they have accepted it. They keep calling and leaving messages while he is out at work. When he sent the checks, he also enclosed a handwritten cease and desist letter to stop any more phone calls. They said he can write whatever he wants and they don't have to listen to it.
I have been trying to find credit law on a website and only really find US law, which is usually different than ours. One thing in the US, is a collections agent can't identify where they work for on a msg or leaving a msg.
I was at his house the other day feeding his cats and she called, and told me to have him call her at XXXX credit and collections agency. Isn't this a violation of confidentiality?
Any help here would be super! Thanks.

 

[DutchsMommy]

NOt sure about the payment plan part - but I do knwo that there are rules about when, how often etc. credit agencies can call. You might want to try and look into that aspect and see if there is anything your friend can do to stop the calls.

 

[FayeW]

I don't know if it is a law, per se, but as long as you are making a good faith effort to repay ( which your friend is by providing post dated cheques) they CANNOT call you. My student loan went to collections. I had repaid for more than 8 yrs, and had repaid nearly DOUBLE the amount I originally borrowed.
Over the years, if I was even 3-4 days late with the payment ( because of how paydays fell, or something) I would get a late payment notice in the mail. According to my records, I had paid my last payment, and the bank didn't contact me until more than a year had passed saying I still owed like $1200. I immediately made note of the time, date and person I spoke with, and asked her to provide me with proof that there was still a balance owing and I would be happy to resume payments. Instead of doing what I asked, she sent the file to collections, and I got a call from them 3 weeks later. The individual was extremely rude, and I said to him " I have paid this loan for more than 8 yrs, and I have repaid $13000 on a $7800 loan. Does that sound like somebody who wants to skip out on their bill???" He said "Yes." I called Consumer & Corporate Affairs, and they told me that as long as I made a good faith effort to repay, then they can't refuse the payment, and they cannot contact you as long as they have future payments on file. I also got the Attorney General's department involved ( because they have a division that looks after student loans). The A.G's department put the file on hold, and told the collection agent that under no circumstances were they to call me until the matter was investigated. I got a complete file sent to me, and a phone call to explain why the discrepancy had occured, but unfortunately I still had to deal with the collection agency for payment because they couldn't remove the file once it had been placed with them. I sent them post dated cheques for 6 months at a time ( because even while it was being investigated, interest kept accruing), and increased the amount of the cheques by $25 each time I sent a new batch.

Tell your friend to get the name and phone number of the collection agent next time they call, and tell them that they have payments on file, and if there is any further contact they will be reported to Consumer & Corporate Affairs.

 

[OntFamily]

Just because they cash the cheque, doesn't mean they've accepted the payment plan. Legally, all that has happened is your friend has made a partial payment on the debt.


It is odd they are still calling, if they have received the post dated cheques. Sounds like one part of the company is talking to another part...

If your firend is in Ontario, this website may help http://www.cbs.gov.on.ca/mcbs/english/2692_3ea.htm

I don't think they violated confidentiality by askign leavign a mesage with you to call them, as they called his house. If they called another residence and left a mesage, this coudl be a violation.


With regard to them "not caring" about why he was late, you're correct. They don't care. Your friend owed a debt, and for whatever reason it wasn't paid. The collection agency isn't a friendly place.

 

[SnowWhite]

One way of making sure that they accept the payment plan is to get a note from them saying so. Collections will always try to get the money quicker if they feel that they can. Remember that these people make a commission of about 25% on the money that they collect. There are rules as to how often and what time they can call between so keep track of the calls and times and this will give you ammunition if there is a policy violation. Also always, always get names. I have personally known a few collection agents and they are heartless at doing their job because you are a number to them, in real life the few I knew had families and problems too. They are just doing a job, and if they don't collect their mortgage doesn't get paid either. (irony, one of the collections agents I knew went bankrupt twice......) Ask your friend to talk to a manager if the original collector is a jerk. Ususally the "managers" are the closer agents and are better people to deal with if you are serious about repayment. Hope this helps and good luck. Tell your friend best wishes!

Rob (Snowwhite's DH)