Has anyone heard of The Collectors they are east of Cobourg and this guy charges up front to collect he sells letters and then after 10 days he collects the accts for a commission. He gets up front fees for the forms and for any files he sues and he sues everyone. He promised to collect all debts even old ones from 2002 as long as we sued and charged just under 500 per debt. I have called he never calls back I want proof these were done and hear nothing back
I called Brian Pitken to find out The Collectors is not a licensed collection agency still nothing has been done so I sit and watch more money go out the window.

Save your pinkies; see Section 8(1)(d)(vi) and parallel clauses in other provincial acts.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90c33_e.htm#BK10

Ray

Extortion would refer to using threats including violence, damage to reputation, credit, criminal prosecution etc. to obtain something.

I'll have to dig out my torte book for exact definitions and causes of action, but I'm sure with a tape recording you would have grounds for a cause of action against them in that scenario.

I'm sorry but you are on the wrong track. Many think that you can sue over anything but that is not so - although things are gravitating that way in the US and therefore, ultimately, will in Canada.

The root cause of this isn't simply greed by lawyers but the fact that virtually all of the major decisions affecting the principal spheres of our life have been transferred from politicians, (who have become increasingly effete) to judges who are, of course, lawyers. Whether it's some zany interpretation of our charter rights, labour law or wacky decision on economic torts (i.e., HWY 407), our politicians stand entirely at their mercy. Can it only be matter of time before some PETA loving judge rules that a marriage can also be between a man and a sheep? Don't laugh, it could be more than a bahhhd joke.

I've mentioned the particular difficulty "hard inquiries" present before by quoting the clauses in various provincial consumer reporting acts that allow anyone one to access anyone's credit file for something so vague as "a business reason" - which could also mean a "claimed" business reason. Hard to believe, but if you view my posts on "privacy issues," you'll see it's all exasperatingly true.

And so you can't sue someone for doing something that's legal. Also, as "extortion" is a criminal code offense, there aren't grounds for that charge either. True extortion would exist if a lender threatened a debtor with some form of bodily harm or illegal injury if they didn't pay up.

To repeat once again, I'm not condoning avoiding valid debts by refusing to settle if one can pay. Moral issues, although they are beyond the scope of this forum, are incomparably more important than legal ones.

But because of the increasingly eroding buying power of our dollar we are slipping into a debt crisis, and a greater percentage of people are simply unable to pay. My advice and comments have been, and are, directed to this group, not the group who only want to shaft a creditor. Nevertheless, the mindless collection agencies who collect on these debts don't differentiate the capable form the incapacitated. For them, a meal is a meal.

Ray

I dunno. If you could get a collector stupid enough to say something about paying your debt and it would stop and get it recorded then it becomes extortion... which can be sued for.

In Canada. you can't sue over things like that. The only recourse I know are the 3 methods I discussed extensively in the AktivKapital threads.

Ray

Ray,

You've raised the issue of the little Debt Terrorists hitting one's credit report with Hard Inquiries on Stats Barred debts a few times now, and that's got me wonderng if such actions would be grounds for a lawsuit? If so, my thinking is that there may be many people out there who'd consider persuing such a route.

Even if you're uncertain regarding the legal ramifications of those dodgy actions, if you have an idea of which direction I should begin investigating from, I'd be willing to see what legal venues are available to those subjected to this leg of the collection agency's game.

O.C.

Yes to both questions - for up to 6 years after the ORIGINAL date of default on the debt AND

maybe more through sticking hard inquiries on your file in order to blackmail you into paying anyway.

Ray

Will a collection agency be able to do anything with respect to me credit rating if the debt is statute barred? Are they still able to report the debt to a credit agency?

LB