by Raymond » Thu Sep 06, 2007 12:17:52 PM
Section 12 .1 opens by saing that "NO COLLECTION AGENCY OR COLLECTOR MAY......." So what follows including (x) in that section refers only to those 2 groups. A collection agency is not the same as a debt buyer and if you read sections 2 and 3, you see they are not allowed to act as both simultaneously.
Reprinting the definitions from Section 1
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Definitions
1 In this Regulation,
(a) “Act” means the Fair Trading Act;
(b) “collection agency” means a person, OTHER than a collector or debt repayment agent,
(i) who carries on the activities of collecting or attempting to collect a debt or debts from a debtor in Alberta under any name that differs from that of the creditor to whom the debt is or was originally owed, regardless of to whom or where the payment is made,
(A) on behalf of another person, or
(B) where the person has purchased a debt or debts that is or are in arrears,
BUT DOES NOT INCLUDE
(C) a person who is collecting or attempting to collect a debt of which the person is the original creditor or owner,
(D) a business that purchases a debt or debts through acquiring or merging with a business in a transaction that includes the transfer of accounts receivable,
(E) a business that acquires a debt or debts through the seizure of accounts receivable under a security agreement, or
(F) a person to whom the contract that gave rise to the debt was assigned for the purpose of financing the transaction,
or
(ii) who carries on the activities of a debt repayment agency;
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Now you can see that (C) is the party who is the original creditor and (D) is a debt buyer, while (E) is a business that is making seizures of assets to recover secured loans defaulted on; that is to say, it does not refer to a company that is specifically in the business of buying debts.
And so the Act specifically exempts both the original creditor and whoever may have bought the debt from them as a principle, from the 6 year limit of pursuit.
In other words, if you owe me money, I can bug you forever about it and so can anyone who I sell the debt to. It seems they would only come under the purview of Section 12.1(X) if I or the debt buyer decide to hire either a collection agent or agency to help me recover the money from you.
Ray