Written by Consumer Protection BCâs enforcement department
Scenario:Â
Recently itâs been tough for you and your family. You had some major car and house repairs, and you owe money on all your credit cards. Itâs been almost a year and the bills are adding up. Youâve tried to stay on top of the payments but the debt is piling up. Before long, a collection agency is calling you almost every day. The collector tells you that they are going to take legal action, and worse; they will garnish your wages! You really do want to pay your bills but you donât have enough money. The calls are becoming very stressful.
What would you do?
(a) Never answer your phone again and hope they will give up calling.
(b) Tell the collector that you donât want them to call you anymore, and give them notice that you wish for them to communicate with you in writing only.
(c) Find out your rights and responsibilities when it comes to debt collection in BC.
Answer:
(b) and (c). Itâs important to remember debt collectors are allowed to contact you about the debts you owe, however a collection agency must not continue to call you after you have provided written notice that you wish communication in writing only. You do have to provide your mailing address, and you must send the notice in a way that you can prove you sent it (registered mail, fax, email, in person). We have a comprehensive blog post that provides information about the rules a debt collector must follow (including when they can call you) and what you can do if the debt isnât yours.
Consumer Protection BC is responsible for enforcing BCâs debt collection law (which covers both debt collectors who are located in BC, as well as those who are contacting BC residents about debts). The debt collection law in BC speaks to how debt collectors communicate with debtors and who is required to be licensed with us.
For more information about your rights and responsibilities when it comes to debt collection practices, please explore our blog posts with a debt collection tag.
i am not sure what to do i have a collection agency calling me every day at work leaving messages for me on the front desk, our finance managers phone and my phone. I have asked them not to call me at work yet they continue to ignore me. Every time I talk to them they yell at me call me a liar and threaten me to the point that I hang up on them. I have told them I am paying off my taxes and I was told by the bank they can not give me a loan until my taxes are paid and filed. I am not sure what to but they wont stop.
Hi Rhonda, thank you for reaching out to us. You have the right to ask that the collection agency contact you in writing only and the best way to do this is in writing. We have a form you can fill out on our website, please use this link to get to the page. Please read the instruction carefully and if you have any questions, please contact us.
I’d like to also suggest looking at this page – Getting calls from a debt collector? as it outlines what the collectors are allowed and not allowed to do. If you think the collector you’ve been dealing with has not followed any of the rules, please fill out our complaint form located here.
I hope this information helps!
I’ve just been contacted by a former employer that says I owe them 8000 in vacation pay. This is from eight years ago. Isn’t there a statute of limitations on this matter?
Hi Stu, thank you for your question. I might suggest you contact a lawyer for that question. There’s a lawyer referral service where you can speak to a lawyer for 30 minutes for about $25. Here is a link to that service. We do not oversee any laws that speak to that issue, nor do we oversee the Statute of Limitations Act, so we are not in a position to offer information on it. I hope this information is helpful and best of luck!
If I’m having trouble paying my bills in full and I agree to minima monthly payments can they still commence legal action?
Hi Gerri, thanks for reaching out to us here. It’s my understanding that there’s nothing that can stop a debt collector from taking legal action, whether or not it is legitimate, will be up to the courts to decide. We’re not in a position to offer legal advice in these situations, however, it sounds like your making the payments your capable of. If you’re feeling pressured by the phone calls, you can always request communication in only (as the blog post explains). Please let me know if you have any questions about the information I’ve shared. If you want more information about your rights and what we can help with when it comes to debt collection, you may be interested in taking a look at this page here on our website: https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/consumer-help/debt-collection/. I hope this is helpful and best of luck!
collector left a detailed message on my work voicemail which anyone can access, it also goes into my work email. it was specific as to what company they were, and if i had made payment. I have been speaking with them on my cell phone so its not even a case of me avoiding them. After they left the message at work, they called my cell phone a minute later. This voicemail/email is now permanently in my works digital system for anyone to hear.
Hi Michelle, thanks for reaching out to us on here. I think we may need some more information from you in order to proceed. Are you able to give our inquiry centre a call at 1.888.564.9963? Our office is open Monday – Friday (8:30-4:30). Alternatively, you can submit a complaint form on our website here: https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/consumer-help/start-a-complaint/. As a reminder, you will be required to provide accompanying documentation (like the voicemail). We look forward to hearing from you!
hi Shoko,
Having an issue with a company who has overcharged me 20% on a quote and i am disputing the charges. They have not acknowledged my request for dialogue. All they have done is threaten to send me to collections and add attorney fees to my overall bill. I sent them a cheque for the agreed upon amount, but they will not accept the payment unless its in full. i feel i have a right to dispute additional unapproved charges. Do i?
Hi Jessica, please give us a call or send us an email so we can provide more help on this topic. Thank you!
A collection agent called my husband requesting that he pay a debt, we did not receive any mail, notice in regards to a debt.
We had no knowledge of a debt at all from our previous landlord (landlord has our phone number and email address) We moved not long ago and we have only updated our address with Canada revenue agency and once called equilfax to put a fraud alert due to my a break in of my husbands work van twice on our previous landlords property, in which we provided our new address to equilfax.
The debt is targeted at my husband and I am not on the debt, (I am on the lease also, but not on the ledger) the collection agent without my husband permission has been sending emails and speaking to me about this allege targeting my husband, and threatening me to pay in 20 days or else suffer the consequences and that he will report to transunion and destroy my husbands credit.
I asked him how he get our address and he told me his boss at the agency has a private computer and that the landlord transferred my husband social insurance and file to their office. He said that his boss entered my husband social insurance into this computer and it automatically gave his boss full access to our information on transunion and equilfax database.
When I questioned him further and further on this matter, he got very hostile, rises his voice, and said I had to pay in 20 days or else suffer the consequences, that he doesnât care what the situations is, pay up in 20 days or else and then he hung up the phone on me. I have been sending him emails requesting documents and files are that he has in regards to this debt, proof of Mail, and the file he received from our previous landlord. He only reply with the rent ledger attached with the debt amount and the landlord information.
My husband and I are worried that his social insurance is being used without his consent and according to the collection agent, being used to access his files/credit history on what should be secure databases by a collection agency.
We are very confused on what is going on here. We do not agree to this debt, but know that we know there is a claim we think to avoid damaging my husbands perfect credit score to just pay it, however my husband doesnât want to pay the collection agency, we want to pay directly to the creditor (our previous landlord) we need information to make a sound decision and information on our rights to privacy of our sensitive information.
Hello and thanks for leaving a comment here. If you want to dispute the debt with the debt collection agency, you can certainly do that and we have a form for that on our website. This page (link here) contains a lot of information, including the form I mentioned (look under ” I want to dispute the debt”) so please have a read. In regards to the debt payment, it’s our understanding that you need to pay the debt collection agency and not the original creditor. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us.
Can a collector or collection agent repossess an automobile if the amount they are requesting isnât paid in 14 days? I received a pressure phone call saying I better send them $3800 dollars or else they are going to repossess my car. I live in Kamloops, BC. Thanks
Hi Dave, I’m not sure if you have been to a court over this debt so I can’t tell if the collector is acting as a court-appointed bailiff or not. If the person is acting as a court-appointed bailiff, the laws around that are not something we oversee. If they are not, you can check out section 122 of the consumer protection law and see what the prohibited practices are. If you have further questions or would like to submit a formal complaint, please contact us. You can also access Lawyer Referral Service through Access ProBono and you can connect to an expert lawyer who will provide up to a half-hour of free legal consultation.
Normally I would choose A. Good thing I’ve read this.