Think I will try this next time.

http://youtu.be/9DJNbD8mvL4

Watched a few of Mark Silverthorn's YouTube vids last night and most seem to contain a plug for his book "Wolf at the door". Will admit that some of the vid's contained embedded humor, too. Ex: The one where he denies Natalie Kelly suing him for 500k.

LOL!! Certainly was discomforting to see how Pitkin really could care less about the consumers he was suppose to be protecting at the time.

Consumer Protection BC do more for the protection of Debt Collectors than they do for the Consumer. They should be renamed as I think their title is misleading and contrary to S4(3)(a)(ii) of the the BPCPA.

LOL!! Haven't we seen that clip around here before? I really got kick out of Pitkin's comment about his authoritative power: "I do not have the authority to ask them to do anything - When we ask them to do something and they don't do it, well, we have to take it to the next step" (Next step sounds like: "Uhh, doesn't mean we have to do it today though. Want to go grab a coffee?") - LOL!! Certainly was discomforting to see how Pitkin really could care less about the consumers he was suppose to be protecting at the time.

Welcome to the face of consumer protection in Ontario.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjp4X1bfGkg

(Brian Pitkin, Registrar and head of the Ontario Debt Regulation Unit of the Ministry of Consumer Services shortly before he quietly resigned in 2011 - not long after the above interview.)

NB: I notice they have a shot of Ottawa Chap's July 12, 2010 post 12 seconds into the CBC video. No fair! What about Raymond Jackson, lol?

When one of Pitkin's staff was asked back in 2010 about the discrepancy between the credit bureaus' advertised policy on hard inquiries and their actual treatment of them, she responded with the following bafflegab:

"While both the TransUnion and Equifax websites describe the manner in which the companies treat inquiries, the statements made on the websites should not be interpreted as addressing all instances in which an inquiry is made. Rather, the websites correctly describe the manner in which each company treats inquiries as it relates to credit inquiries. This is likely because such inquiries are the most common. Please note, that as a result of your complaint with our office, both Equifax and TransUnion have committed to reviewing the information posted on their websites."

Committed to reviewing the information posted on their website? Well, here was what TransUnion of Canada's website had to say about their official policy on hard inquiries back in 2010:

“When you check your own credit profile online it does not cause a "hard inquiry" to be recorded. ONLY when a potential lender or creditor pulls your credit profile for the purpose of extending credit does this type of record appear."

And here is what the TransUnion website says today:

“When you check your own credit profile online it does not cause a "hard inquiry" to be recorded. ONLY when a potential lender or creditor pulls your credit profile for the purpose of extending credit does this type of record appear."

https://www.creditprofile.transunion.ca/learningCentre/askAudrey/overview.jsp

So much for consumer protection.

Is there any chance the credit reporting agencies get envelopes with "incentives" inside to look the other way when hard inquiries are put on stat barred accounts? Just wondering because it sure looks like that.

Yes. The credit reporting agencies sign debt collection agencies as members and get paid very handsomely. The debt collection agencies then use their ability to make hard inquiries as a collection tool, for the purposes of threatening and harassing consumers. Without this tool the value of membership is very much reduced. I suspect they will be looking for another avenue to exploit.

"Is there any chance the credit reporting agencies get envelopes with "incentives" inside to look the other way when hard inquiries are put on stat barred accounts? Just wondering because it sure looks like that."

They're called 6 figure Christmas bonuses for the bureau CEO's.

No, the case refers to hard inquiries on TransUnion credit reports being made by collection agencies on debts that are more than 6 years old.

Interesting timing for this topic, as I recently found out that I was denied credit from a creditor due to a collections inquiry on my account. I have since discovered that this inquiry was due to an ERROR FIDO made back in Feb/13 when I cancelled my account - they failed to send me a final bill and I had to pry one out of them (which was paid upon receipt). Upon my request and explanation of their error, FIDO has opened a case and indicated they would remove this blemish. I guess by month end I'll know if they held up their word.

Either way, was this the type of hard inquiry that is being discussed about Collectors using here?

Is there any chance the credit reporting agencies get envelopes with "incentives" inside to look the other way when hard inquiries are put on stat barred accounts? Just wondering because it sure looks like that.