i find them the worst they are trying to collect a dept that was paid direct to the company 15 years ago the orginal debt was 350 dollars they say we now owe 5 grand lol to canadian tre when we have 3 can tire act with very high limits now hmmmmmmmmm total bs as the debt is 15 years old we dont same as the bank have the records to make crooks go away

I never recommend that you should avoid settling your debts even if the statute of limitation has passed. If you do not want to be contacted at home or work I would purchase a pay as you go cell phone and give all the collection agencies that number.

Of all the collection agencies and debts purchasing companies I dealt with; contact resources services is the worst when it comes to doing hard inquiries on you. In my opinion the law needs to be changed and these agencies should only be allowed to do soft inquiries.

The sudden silence in here speaks volumes. What's the matter, thought you guys knew everything.

CallerID?? Ignore them?? I know you guys are trying to help, but really? Is that the best you can come up with?

"What that means is they can contact you, your employer or anyone else, including your wife, as many times as they wish, 24/7, 365 days a year."

You're wrong about that. There are privacy laws that prevent this behaviour. If it were legal to contact 24/7/365 don't you think they'd be doing that? It would be a severe level of control.

Harassment doesn't need to be defined in black and white. Canadian Law is often an interpretation of facts. That is why lawyers argue cases. They present their view of facts before the court.

Harassment can be defined as any improper conduct by an individual, or towards an individual, which is unwelcome, offensive, demeaning, derogatory, is otherwise inappropriate or fails to respect the dignity of an individual. Harassment comprises any objectionable act, comment or display that demeans, belittles, or causes personal humiliation or embarrassment. Harassment is also defined as any act of intimidation or threat.

"I'll take your word there is a statute of limitations on this debt..."

Here in Ontario its two years.

"If you are sure they don't have a leg to stand on, just ignore them."

That advice would apply to about 95% of the posts on this website due to the fact that the SoL is usually expired by the time (or shortly after) they start phoning, which makes CA powerless to force payment. They usually don't have a leg to stand on, that's why they're phoning and not sueing. All they have left is harassment and intimidation. But that doesn't mean they go away.

I'm not slamming you guys but I am challenging you for a better recommendation for first party debt collectors.

I'm thinking that if in fact they sued me and lost, that would close the file. They couldn't continue to harass after losing a judgement. Likewise, if I told them to sh*t or get off the pot by lawyer letterhead and either sue or get lost that would chase them away. Any lawyers out there to confirm this.

There is no law in Canada that says that you must talk to a collection agency, a collector or a debt buyer. And there is no law in Canada that says that you must answer your telephone, open and read your mail and sign for registered letters.

CRS purchased this debt from the original creditor, therefore, they are conducting business as a debt buyer and not as a collection agency, hence they are not governed by the Collection Agencies Act and Regulation 74. What that means is they can contact you, your employer or anyone else, including your wife, as many times as they wish, 24/7, 365 days a year. And even though the SOL has expired on this debt and it either has or will purge from a Credit Report, the debt will always exist until it is paid. In addition, CRS can do as many “hard pulls” as they wish for the next 99 years providing they are willing to pay the required fee to the Credit Bureaus. Each time a “hard pull” is made a Credit Score drops approximately 5 points and it takes 6 – 9 months to regain that loss in points. So, as you can see, these phone calls are not going to disappear. Now, you may call this “harassment” but I have never seen “harassment” defined in any jurisprudence ( case law ) or codified ( statute ) law. You can ask 5 different people their definition of “harassment” and get 6 different answers.

Faced with this potential scenario, here is what I suggest you do. If you currently do not have “caller ID”, contact your local telephone provider and request this feature to be added to your telephone. The cost is approximately $10 per month. Because I am legally blind, I purchased an AUDIO “caller ID” from the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind ), which is half the size of a computer mouse, and I attached it to my phone. It has a volume control and holds up to 10 calls. Now, when my phone rings, instead of going to my phone like most people and look to see who is calling, it announces the phone number of the caller which I can hear anywhere in my apartment. If I don't recognize the number or it says “number unknown” or “blocked call” or some goofy number, I don't answer the phone. It is like having your own private secretary who takes your calls for you. If I am out of my apartment, when I return, I can check my calls. It gives the date, the time and the phone number. If I want to return the call, I can do so or I can do a “reverse look-up” if I don't recognize the number to see who called. You should be able to purchase such a device at Future Shop, The Source, Best Buy or at a electronics store. Over the years, this has saved me a lot of grief from dealing with collection agencies and debt buyers. Consequently, their only communication with me is by way of “Her Majesty's Royal Mail”. .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Educating one Consumer at a time

I'll take your word there is a statute of limitations on this debt - yes it's true it falls off the credit report after 6 years but that is not an SOL per se.

Without a SOL, your wife would still be on the hook for this debt even though you yourself got relief via a consumer proposal.

Perhaps the worse thing one could do in this situation is to take some action that would allow the collection agency to trigger a new 'event' or activity - potentially resulting in another six years in the bureau report.

If you are sure they don't have a leg to stand on, just ignore them. Monitor your credit reports every six months or so to make sure nothing new pops up, and just get on with your lives.

I've been reading posts but haven't seen my situation covered, so here goes. My wife and I have dealt with collection agencies off and on for 7 years. In 2005 we decided the best course of action would be to roll my debts into a consumer proposal and deal with her debts as they came up. In August 2007 a debt was bought by CRS that was held jointly between us. It was included in my proposal. CRS began their huffing and puffing at which we told them to get stuffed, knowing they can’t do a thing as the SOL expired before they bought the account . We sent registered letters demanding they stop contacting us to no avail. Late in 09 we’d had enough of them and filed a complaint with the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. A month later we received a reply from the Ministry stating that because they had bought the debt, they were no longer third party debt collectors but rather first party and that The Collection Agencies Act did not apply to them. But during the Ministry’s conversation with the general manager of CRS, they decided to close the account if legal action isn’t an option. Voila, problem solved we thought. A month ago (13 months after we thought they closed the file) we start hearing from them again. They caught wind of us refinancing our mortgage and are now convinced we will pay them. This time they are very aggressive, stating they would be calling our mortgage company, (they in fact did call our mortgage broker and screamed and belittled her) placing liens on family property etc. We know it’s all smoke and mirrors but it is still illegal tactics. We strongly suggested they take this matter to court but they change the subject or hang up. We informed the Ministry of their breaches of privacy and they suggested we contact the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and lodge a complaint. However, after seeing what a lack of bite the Ministry has, are we wasting our time with the Privacy Commissioner? This file comes off my wife’s credit report next month, but we feel their harassment will go on for a while because they can see on our credit report that other large secured debts have been paid. What's the best way to chase away a first party debt collector on a six year old debt? Any other ideas?