Collection Agencies and Telemarketers

Being harassed by collection agencies and telemarketers? Here's what you need to know!

Creditors may use collection agencies to collect debt that is in arrears. These collection agencies and collection agents must be licensed through the Provincial government in the Province for which they operate, and they have to follow the guidelines of the Collection Agencies Act - the legislation governing conduct of collection agencies for that Province.

In Ontario, for instance, the Deputy Minister appoints a person as the Registrar of Collection Agencies.

The Act states:

Use of unregistered collection agency

24. (1) No person shall knowingly engage or use the services of a collection agency that is not registered under this Act. R.S.O. 1990, c. C.14, s. 24 (1).

Here's what the Ontario Collection Agencies Act states about how it handles complaints about collection agencies:

12. (1) Where the Registrar receives a complaint in respect of a collection agency and so requests in writing, the collection agency shall furnish the Registrar with such information respecting the matter complained of as the Registrar requires. R.S.O. 1990, c. C.14, s. 12 (1).

According to the Ontario Government's Website, here's what the Ontario Ministry of Government Services forbids collections agencies to do:

contacting you until six days have passed from sending you written notice of the following:
- the name of the creditor
- the balance owing
- the name of the agency and its authority to demand payment
continuing to contact you if you did not receive the notice unless a second copy of the written notice is sent to an address provided by you, and then contact may only be made six days after sending notice;
contacting you if you send a registered letter to the agency saying that you dispute the debt and suggest the matter be taken to court;
contacting you if you or your lawyer notify the agency by registered mail to communicate only with your lawyer, and you provide the lawyer's name, address and telephone number;
contacting you on Sunday, except between the hours of 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., and on a holiday;
contacting you other than by ordinary mail more than three times in a seven-day period without your consent, once the agency has actually spoken with you;
using threatening, profane, intimidating or coercive language, or using undue, excessive or unreasonable pressure;
continuing to contact you if you have told them that you are not the person they are looking for unless they take reasonable precautions to ensure you are that person;
giving false or misleading information to any person;
recommending to a creditor that a legal action be commenced against you without first sending you notice;
contacting your employer except on one occasion to obtain your employment information, unless your employer has guaranteed the debt, the call is in respect of a court order or wage assignment or if you have provided written authorization to contact your employer;
contacting your spouse, a member of your family or household, or a relative, neighbour or acquaintance except to obtain your address and telephone number unless the person contacted has guaranteed the debt or you have given permission for the person to be contacted.

If you feel you are being treated unfairly or harassed by a collection agency and/or collection agent, contact the Registrar of Collections Agencies or the appropriate government department in charge of licensing and enforcing the conduct of collection agencies and collection agents in your Province. Remember all collection agencies and their agents have to be licensed by the Province they work in and abide by those rules in their particular Province.

Other Provinces have statutes and rules to enforce conduct of collection agencies and their agents.

Statutes and Rules governing collection agencies by Province

British Columbia	Quebec
Alberta	Newfoundland
Saskatchewan	New Brunswick
Manitoba	Nova Scotia
Ontario	Prince Edward Island

In the United States, there is the Federal Trade Commission for the Consumer which regulates The Fair Debt Collections Practices Act which is part of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).

NEW RULES FOR TELEMARKETERS FROM THE CRTC

The CRTC clearly outlines the rules by which telemarketers must follow when contacting you. Here are their rules as of July, 2007:

Faxes:

Calling hours are restricted to weekdays between 9AM and 9:30PM and weekends between 10AM and 6PM. Restrictions refer to the time zone of the called party.
Must identify the person or organization on behalf of whom the fax/call is made, including the telephone number, fax number and name and address of a responsible person to whom the called party can write. This rule also applies to organizations sending unsolicited fax calls on behalf of another organization.
Must display the originating calling number or an alternate number where the call originator can be reached (except where number display is unavailable for technical reasons).
Sequential dialing is not permitted.
Fax calls are not permitted to emergency line or healthcare facilities.
Names and numbers must be removed within 7 days of the called party’s request.
DO NOT CALL lists are to be maintained by the calling party and remain active for three years.

Telephone Calls:

Callers must identify the person or organization they represent.
Upon request, callers must provide the telephone number, name and address of a responsible person the called party can write to.
Callers must display the originating calling number or an alternate number where the caller can be reached (except where the number display is unavailable for technical reasons).
Names and numbers of called parties must be removed within 30 days of the called party’s request.
DO NOT CALL lists are to be maintained by the calling party and remain active for three years.
There are no calling hour restrictions on live voice calls. Sequential dialing is not permitted.
Calls are not permitted to emergency line or healthcare facilities.
Random dialing and calls to non-published numbers are allowed.

Automatic Dialing and Announcing Devices (ADADs):

ADADs are equipment that store and dial telephone numbers automatically. They may be used alone or with other equipment to deliver a prerecorded or synthesized voice message to the telephone number called.
ADADs are permitted when there is no attempt to sell, such as: calls made for public service reasons, including emergency and administrative purposes by police and fire departments, schools, hospitals, or similar organizations, calls to collect overdue accounts, market or survey research calls or calls to schedule appointments.
ADADs used for the purpose of solicitation are prohibited, including calls made on behalf of a charity, radio station promotions, or calls referring the called party to a 900/976 service number.
Weekday calling hours for permitted calls are from 9:30AM to 8PM; Saturdays from 10:30AM to 5:00PM and Sundays from noon to 5:00PM. These hours do not apply to emergency situation announcements.
Calls should begin by identifying the person or business on behalf of whom the call is made, including a mailing address and a toll-free telephone number.
ADAD calls must display the originating calling number or an alternate number where they can be reached (except where number display is unavailable for technical reasons).
Permitted unsolicited ADAD calls must not be placed to emergency lines or healthcare facilities. Sequential dialing is prohibited. Equipment must disconnect within 10 seconds after the called party has hung up.

Source: canadian radio & telecommunications commission crtc website

*The CRTC will have a national do not call list in place by September 30, 2008. They have awarded a five year contract to Bell to operate the national dncl. The CRTC website states that the dncl operator will be responsible for "registering numbers, providing telemarketers with up-to-date versions of the National DNCL, and receiving consumer complaints about telemarketing calls." Landlines, fax numbers and cell numbers can be registered with the national dncl. Registration is good for 3 years, then you have to re-register.

Here are the CRTC instructions on how to register:

To register or de-register on the National DNCL, you will have to call the toll-free number 1-866-580-DNCL (3625) from the telephone number that you wish to register or de-register. The same service will be available to fax numbers, which can be registered by sending a fax to a designated toll-free number. Online registration will also be available. You will only be able to register a maximum of three numbers at a time on the National DNCL website. CRTC DNCL You can still file a complaint against telemarketers at:

File a Complaint.

NOTE: You will only be able to register the number to which you subscribe for the National DNCL service. If you are unable to register yourself, you will be able to grant another individual the authority to do so on your behalf.

The DNCL website also advises the following:

Registering on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) will not eliminate all telemarketing calls. There are exemptions within the Rules that may allow calls from organizations such as charities, those with whom you have existing business relationships, political parties and newspapers.

You can further reduce unwanted telemarketing calls by asking these organizations to place your number(s) on their own do not call list.

Tip: if you get an annoying prank or unsolicited call - don't hang up, just leave the phone on and lie it down (under a pillow or in a drawer) for a couple of hours. You will be tying their line up and they will be less likely to call you back.

*Also keep in mind, there are telemarketers in the U.S. that may not be affected by the DNCL. So don't count on not getting anymore annoying calls.

In the United States contact the Federal Trade Commission and file a complaint Here is there website for filing a complaint: Complaint and the Do Not Call Registry is here: Federal Trade Commission - The Do Not Call Registry.

Canadian Marketing Association's Do Not Contact Service

Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services Inc. (CCTS) According to the CCTS website, they are a new non profit agency independent of the Telecommunications Service Providers (TSP). Their agency is set up to "resolve eligible consumer and small business complaints relating to certain retail telecommunications services". The "certain retail telecommunications services" are their members. Some of their members include: Bell Canada, Rogers Communications Inc., Bell Aliant Regional Communications LP, Vonage Canada Corporation, Telus Communications Company as well as some other big players in the Telecommunications industry.

The CCTS deals with complaints about:

Local telephone services (including calling features)
Long distance telephone services
Wireless telephone services
Internet access services

Contact them at: email:

info@ccts-cprst.ca phone#: 1-888-221-1687

Their website states “we can provide advice on whether or not you should file a written complaint and the how to file a written complaint.”

ref:

crtc