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Printer friendlyStopping collection calls
Collection calls to your home can be very disruptive and upsetting. Telephone calls to your workplace are not only embarrassing, but may lead to the loss of your job. If you live in any of the eight Canadian provinces other than Alberta and Quebec it may well be illegal for a collection agency to call you on your cellular phone.
If you are receiving calls from collection agencies on your cell phone and you live in any Canadian province other than Alberta and Quebec you might want to consider contacting the licensing administrator in your province and making a complaint against the collection agency calling you.
In an attempt to collect a debt from you, a collection agency may have the right to telephone you, subject to certain limitations. However, you are under no legal obligation to speak to a collector. Therefore, you have every right to terminate a phone call from a collection agency employee.
Depending upon what province you live in you may have certain rights you can exercise to stop future collection calls. Regardless of where you live there are a number of practical steps you can take to avoid or discourage future collection calls.
Stopping collection calls may be one of the most important things you can do to put yourself in a stronger position to make better decisions when it comes to dealing with your unsecured debts.
Legal advice on how to stop collection calls
Where permitted by law Mark Silverthorn can explain the relevant law in your province dealing with the following issues:
- Legal rights available to the residents of five provinces enabling consumers to take proactive steps to stop future collection calls (British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia)
- The law in particular provinces that restricts or sometimes prohibits a collection agency from calling you at your workplace
- The law in each province that prohibits specific conduct on the part of a collection agency
- The circumstances under which you might have a cause of action and potentially be in a position to successfully sue a collection agency for financial compensation
- The circumstances under which a collector might be successfully prosecuted for a criminal offence under the Criminal Code
Practical non-legal advice for avoiding or discouraging collection calls
Based on his 12 years of experience as a collection lawyer and collection industry insider Mark Silverthorn can provide you with a number of practical steps you can take to avoid or discourage collection calls.
- How to take advantage of technology and services available from your telephone company to avoid collection calls
- Steps you can take to protect your privacy that might reduce the odds of you receiving collection calls
- Where a collection agency or its employees have violated the law in your province regulating collection agency conduct various responses you might take that might very well result in a collection agency suspending all collection activity on your account
- Specific things you can say to a collector that will discourage him from making future collection calls to you
To learn more about stopping, avoiding or discouraging collection calls
You can speak to Mark Silverthorn or you may want to purchase a copy of Mark Silverthorn's e-book titled A How-to Guide for Dealing with Collection Agencies in Canada .