I know this site is not for business - but I'm hoping someone can help with this question - as I've been all over the internet searching for answers on this question.

Does anyone know if the Ontario SOL is 2 years for corportate debt??

Or does anyone know where I can find this info out??

thanks

If a collector is pursuing the ful balance and you send in payments (pdc) are they obligated to take them?

can they refuse your payments?
if they refuse your payments, what then?

if they cash a cheque, does that work in your favor if a suit was brought against you?

Darn it....I was hoping I could pick and choose...
are there any other options available?

thanks,

for a consumer proposal you have to include ALL creditors, there's no opt-out option.

Great site..My question is this...I have 5 credit products, 3 paid very well, 2 with collections......1 of the good ones is joint...1st collector has pd chqs and have backed off...2nd much larger amt 30k is calling constantly....I want to send pd chqs...do you think they'll accept?

also, can i get a consumer proposal for the 2 in default or would the other 2 have to be linked in?

thanks,

Thanks for the clarification.

I'm pretty sure that I sent them all letters about that time - indicating that I was having financial difficulty and that I wanted to settle - so that should help matters - with regards to the SOL date - should it go to court - right?

Look, here's what the Ontario limitations Act says about unsecured debt that went into default after Jan. 1, 2004. It appears to have been modelled on the Alberta one which came into effect on March 1, 1999, if my memory is correct. The relevant parts are Sections 4 and 5 which state that the limitation period begins when the injury (i.e. unsecured debt) went into default OR when the creditor OUGHT to have known that it did.

The latter reverse onus position mandated by Section 5 (1) (b) is obviously there to stymie creditors deliberately trying to circumvent the Act by saying that after 5 or 10 years, they suddenly discovered the debt was oustanding, and that they now should be eligible to file a lawsuit and clog up the court system.

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BASIC LIMITATION PERIOD

4. Unless this Act provides otherwise, a proceeding shall not be commenced in respect of a claim after the second anniversary of the day on which the claim was discovered. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B, s. 4.

Discovery

5. (1) A claim is discovered on the earlier of,

(a) the day on which the person with the claim first knew,

(i) that the injury, loss or damage had occurred,

(ii) that the injury, loss or damage was caused by or contributed to by an act or omission,

(iii) that the act or omission was that of the person against whom the claim is made, and

(iv) that, having regard to the nature of the injury, loss or damage, a proceeding would be an appropriate means to seek to remedy it; and

(b) the day on which a reasonable person with the abilities and in the circumstances of the person with the claim first ought to have known of the matters referred to in clause (a). 2002, c. 24, Sched. B, s. 5 (1).

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And so referring to the date of last activity that the credit reporting bureaus use: If you default on a credit card and make your last payment on say, the due date of Feb. 28, 2008, how does the creditor know that is going to be the last payment you're about to make on the account? Even if you miss your March 28, 2008 payment, that only means that your account slips from R1 to R2. It doesn't become R4 until you miss 3 consecutive payments or until June 28, 2008, 120 days after the date of last activity. By then the creditor will have certainly sent you a written notice cancelling your borrowing privileges and you'll have had several calls from their internal collections department. Thus certainly by that date, the creditor would have to have known the account had been defaulted on.

However, it may have been that your last couple of payments were below the minimum required or perhaps you were paying intermittently. Maybe you called them up and admitted you were in financial difficulty.

In that case, a court might well recognize that the creditor ought to have known that there was going to be a serious problem with the account sooner than when you missed the first, second or third payments. The circumstances of every case are a little bit different and so that's why, according to the legislation anyway, the date of last activity on an account is not necessarily when the limitation period starts. Judges in civil matters enjoy a certain latitude; and it's possible one might arbitrarily decide to make it start on the date of the last payment if the evidence presented to him is ambiguous. Sorry, I can't be more exact, but it would be dangerous, I think, to assume it necessarily occurs on the date of last activity because that's not what the law says.

Ray

Re SOL

Can you clarify something - you said the DLA is when the creditor should have know that you fell into default - not the actual date of the last payment on account??

I'm a little confused - cause all over this site - it says that the SOL is 2 years from the dla - which I thought was the date of last payment.

Therefore - sol doesn't start 2 years from the dla listed on my bureau - but another 3 months past that??

thanks

Yes, the TD Bank does sue people on a regular basis, especially when they have a reliable source of income or significant assets. The problem is that most people who default on credit cards don't have either one, that's why they defaulted in the first place.

The Small Claims Court limit in Ontario is $10K, and so for $11K, it wouldn't be worth it to go to Superior Court, even if they were certain to win. In the past, the TD Bank generally hasn't sued people for unsecured debts as significant as $11K if they don't have significant assets or income to attach once a judgment is rendered.

Given that they haven't sued you yet and the 2 year mark is drawing close, it's most probable that they would have done it by now if they were going to.

When they are not going to sue you TD will rotate the account to perhaps 4, 5 or 6 different collection agencies over several years. Usually as a debt approaches the limitation period, they will get a firm that uses lawyers' names on their letterheads to scare the heck out of you with a lot of bluff or phoney Form 7A's (Statements of Claim) or similar threats to the ones that you've been receiving.

If they take you to court, it would take months before it actually came to trial with a mandatory pre-trial mediation conference with the creditor.

The SOL refers to when the account went into default, not the date of last activity as used for credit reporting purposes. The 2 are not necessarily the same. The limitation period starts running when the creditor is deemed to have known or "ought have known" a default occurred and can only be renewed by a written acknowledgment or a payment. So if the Bank or MJR asks you to fill out a financial information form in the next little while, tell them to call back next year. I wrote a lenghty post on the potential ambiguity that a court might face in deciding when the limitation period begins but I can't find anything I've written with the "new and improved" site format. In any event, at the very latest, a court would have to consider it started when an account holder misses 3 consecutive payments and the bank sends them a notice that the account is in default and all privileges are rescinded.

THAT'S WHY IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE LAST FEW ACCOUNT STATEMENTS AND ANY CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE CREDITOR IN CASE IT COMES TO COURT.

The SOL deadline refers to when the creditor actually files a Statement of Claim in court, NOT when it reaches trial.

I think Ranzzzz is right in guessing that they are trying to bluff you, but if they don't file a claim within the next little while they definitely will be SOL. Again, check your old account statements and bills for exact dates. Both MJR and TD Recovery services will swear up and down they've never heard of the new 2 year SOL. It doesn't get much more retarded.

The date of last activity is largely irrelevant from a credit reporting point of view because it will stay on your Equifax file for 3 years if you settle the debt or 6 years from the date of last activity of you don't. On Transunion, it'll be on there for another 4 years no matter what you do.

Ray

My husband and I separated almost 2 years ago. I haven't mentioned it to the collectors - I'm not sure if this will make them move in on us faster, or back off - since we now have my ex's rent and utitlites, we have even less for debt repayment.

We have been liquidating assets to pay off debt - once this is all done - if there's anything left - we will split 50/50.