Q.    I watched the recent episode of CBC Marketplace in which host Erica Johnson asked Brian Pitkin, the Ontario Registrar of Collection Agencies, about Global Credit & Collection Inc.’s practice of hiring collection lawyer Deanna Natale to send out draft statement of claims to Ontario residents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjp4X1bfGkg    Brian Pitkin warned collection agencies not to engage in this practice in a letter to collection agencies dated October 27, 2008 (http://www.collection-calls.ca/Copy%20of%20Pitkin20091027.pdf).   Why did it take Brian Pitkin more than 2 years to stop Global Credit & Collection Inc. from engaging in this practice?

A.   That is certainly a question I want to see answered.  It raises the question as to when did Brian Pitkin first learn that Global Credit & Collection Inc was hiring collection lawyer Deanna Natale to send out draft statement of claims after Mr. Pitkin sent out his warning letter dated October 27, 2008?  In November of 2010 I wrote a letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty calling for the resignation of the Ontario Minister of Consumer Services, the minister responsible for enforcing Ontario laws designed to protect consumers from abusive behavior by bill collectors.

Earlier this year I received a letter dated January 24, 2011, from Ms. Barbara Duckitt, a Director at the Consumer Protection Branch, Ministry of Consumer Services, who responded on behalf of the Honourable John Gerretsen, the Minister of Consumer Services.jan-24-2011-letter-from-barbara-duckitt2  In her letter she referred to a meeting Brian Pitkin had with representatives from Global Credit & Collection Inc. on November 12, 2010, at which time the Registrar “made them aware of the consequences of continued contravention of the Act.” I was intrigued by the following sentence in her letter:

Statistics gathered by the Ministry with respect to complaints against collection agencies indicate a signficant reduction in the number of complaints relating to the issuance of draft Statements of Claim following the action taken by the Registrar.

This letter would certainly seem to suggest that (1) Global Credit & Collection Inc. was engaging in behavior that contravened the Act, (2) that the Ministry kept statistics as to public complaints concerning the use of draft statement of claims, and (3) that the Ministry received public complaints invoving draft statement of claims before November 12, 2010.

Ms. Duckitt’s letter raises additional questions.  On what date did Brian Pitkin first learn about Global’s practice of hiring Natale Law Offices to send out draft statement of claims?  Furthermore, if the Ministry was receiving public complaints about draft statement of claims before November 12, 2010, why was no action taken to stop this illegal behavior?

Q.   I live in Sudbury.  I have an outstanding credit card account on which I owe about $13,000.  I was recently sued by a Toronto lawyer is Toronto Superior Court.  Why was I sued (1) in Toronto, when I live in Sudbury, and  (2) why was I sued in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and not in Ontario Small Claims Court?

A.  It would appear that some of the largest lenders in Canada have been hiring one or more law firms in Toronto to sue consumers living across Ontario In Ontario Superior Court in Toronto despite the fact that (1) many of these consumers live outside of Toronto and (2) the principle amount owing is less than $25,000.  On January 1, 2010, the monetary jurisdiction of Ontario Small Claims Courts was increased from $10,000 to $25,000.  The Ontario Attorney General hailed this increase in the monetary jurisdiction of the Ontario Small Claims Court as a positive step for access to justice for Ontarians. 

I believe that the majority of Ontarians would find the practice of suing consumers on unpaid accounts, where the principle owing is less than $25,000, in Toronto Superior Court, “not to be fair play” and “not in the public interest”.  I intend to make this an issue in the coming months.

If you are not represented by a lawyer or an agent, and you have been sued in Ontario Superior Court in circumstances where the principle amount claimed is less than $25,000, I would invite you to call me toll free at 1 (866) 996-9941 for an initial free 10-minute telephone consultation.

Q.     I read somewhere on your website that collection lawyer Deanna Natale was going to stop doing collection work sometime early in 2011.  That is certanly news to me.  I have seen a collection letter from Natale Law Offices dated February 23, 2011, addressed to a Toronto resident that was sent on behalf of Chrysler Financial.  20110223nlochryslerfinancial1  What gives?

Ross in Toronto

A.   On January 5, 2011, Mark Lapowich, one of Ms. Natale’s many lawyers, appeared before the Proceedings Management Conference (PMC) at The Law Society of Upper Canada, at which time he advised The Law Society that Ms. Natale was in the process of “winding up” her collections practice.  Here is an excerpt from the transcript of what took place at the PMC meeting on January 5, 2011:

          PMC CHAIR:   … it appears that Ms. Natale is winding down the collection practice that we’ve heard described?

          MR. SANDLER:    Yes.  that’s correct ….  Ms. Natale is essentially winding that up in the early new year.  We anticipate that she will no longer be practising in this area at the end of February, but perhaps even sooner.

You can read the entire transcript from the Proceedings Management Conference (PMC) held on January 5, 2011, on this website at the following link:  http://www.collection-calls.ca/transcript-of-PMC.html 

If, in fact, Ms. Natale is winding up her collections practice at the end of February of 2011 it seems odd that her firm is sending out collection letters on behalf of creditors as late as February 23, 2011. 

If anyone has received a collection letter from Natale Law Offices after February 1st of 2011 I would invite them to call me toll free at 1 (866) 996-9941.  To learn more about Deanna Natale’s disciplinary matter before The Law Society you are welcome to visit http://www.collection-calls.ca/natale-homepage.html

Q.  In  a recent blog post you indicated that you would provide updates in connection with Deanna Natale’s disciplinary hearing before The Law Society of Upper Canada.  Do you have anything new to report?

Andrew, Antigonish, Nova Scotia

A.   Yes.  On Friday, March 11th at the Proceedings Management Conference (PMC) at The Law Society a decision was made to set a date for Deanna Natale’s disciplinary hearing on Thursday, April 21, 2011, at 9:30 a.m.  This means that sometime on April 21st we should expect that a date will have been set for Ms. Natale’s disciplinary hearing.  You can learn more by reading a copy of the transcript from the PMC meeting on March 11, 2011.march-5-2011-transcript-pmc-natale1

For the most detailed coverage of collection lawyer Deanna Natale’s disciplinary matter before The Law Society of Upper Canada you can visit http://www.collection-calls.ca/natale-homepage.html

Q.  A co-worker of mine was online and he said he watched some of your video clips on Youtube.  Where can I go to watch some of these videos?

Nigel, Vancouver

A.   If you are on Youtube and you go onto my Youtube account which is “masilverthorn” you should be able to watch somewhere around 20 videos that have been posted to Youtube.  In the past few days I have posted a new video titled “Are you a Canadian facing debt problems?”  You can watch this five-mnute video by clicking on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxQxbOjUWvA

Q.   I enjoyed watching the recent episode of CBC Marketplace that dealt with how collection agencies are treating Canadian consumers, with emphasis on Ontario.  At the end of the program host Erica Johnson questioned Brian Pitkin, the senior civil servant in Ontario responsible for regulationg collection agencies, about his lack of enthusiasm for stopping the practice of collection agencies hiring lawyers to send draft statement of claims to Ontario residents.  I was under the impression that collection lawyer Deanna Natale was facing professional misconduct charges in connection with her use of draft statement of claims.  Has she had her disciplinary hearing, and if not, when will The Law Society be holding this disciplinary hearing?

Ron, Windsor, Ontario

A.  That is an excellent question.  On June 15, 2009, Amanda Worley, a Discipline Counsel at The Law Society, signed a document called a Notice of Application, alleging professional misconduct on the part of Ms. Natale.  This Notice of Application raised concerns about Ms. Natale’s use of draft statement of claims and, based upon my research and knowledge of the collection industry, I think it would be fair to conclude that The Law Society has concerns about the manner in which Ms. Natlale’s staff dealt with members of the public. 

It has now been 20 months since Amanda Worley signed the Notice of Application alleging professional misconduct on the part of collection lawyer Deanna Natale and The Law Society has yet to hold a disciplinary hearing for Ms. Natale.   I have been advised that the Natale disciplinary matter is scheduled to be “spoken to” at the Proceedings Management Conference (PMC) at The Law Society on Friday, March 11th.  It is possible that at this meeting a date for a disciplinary hearing for Ms. Natale may be set or a date may be discussed.  In future posts on this blog I will provide updates on the status of the Deanna Natale disciplinary matter.

Q.  I was fascinated to watch Brian Pitkin try and explain to Marketplace host Erica Johnson (”Debt Collector Dread”, March 4, 2011) why Global Credit and Natale Law Offices were sending out draft statement of claims to Ontario residents for more than two years after Pitkin wrote a letter warning collection agencies not to engage in this practice.  Why do you think Pitkin did not stop Global and Natale earlier? 

Joan in Sault Ste. Marie

A.  That is one of the questions I intend to answer in my new book, tentatively titled Draft Statement of Claim Gate:  That Scandal That Rocked The Canadian Collection Industry.   You can watch Brian Pitkin being interrogated by Erica Johnson, the host of Marketplace, in this 82-second clip from the episode titled “Debt Collector Dread”, which aired on March 4, 2011, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjp4X1bfGkg 

Q.   I watched the Marketplace episode on Friday, March 4th titled “Debt Collector Dread” when Brian Pitkin defended the conduct of the Ontario Government in protecting consumers from bill collectors.  I believe that Ontario residents have virtually no protection from the Ontario Government when it comes to dealing with collection agencies.  What do you think?

Bill in Stratford, Ontario

A.   Like you, I watched the CBC Marketplace episode on bill collectors.  At one point host Erica Johnson said that over the past five years the Ontario Government has received 20,000 complaints about collection agencies and there have been 14–count them, a mere14 prosecutions–resulting in less than $110,000 in fines.  You can watch Erica Johnson put Brian Pitkin, the Ontario Registrar of Collection Agencies, on the spot in an excerpt from this Marketplace episode which is up on Youtube:  Marketplace confronts Brian Pitkin over his job regulating ON bill collectors

Q.    Today I received a letter from a collection lawyer by the name of Joel Miskin informing me that his client, a credit card company, had obtained a Judgment against me and that I owed $3,300 and that interest was being added to this amount at the rate of 30% per year and that I should contact a collector at MJR to negotiate a settlement.  What should I do?

A.    If (1) you are not represented by a lawyer or an agent, and (2) you have received any letters from collection lawyer Joel Miskin, prior to November 15, 2010, demanding payment of monies from you, I would invite you to (i) call my office toll free at 1 (866) 996-9941 for a free initial 10-minute telephone consultation, and I would invite you (ii) to fax to my office copies of any letters you have received from Mr. Miskin,  especially ones demanding payment from you which are more than three pages in length.

Question:

I see that you have been posting on your website copies of draft statement of claims sent by collection lawyers on behalf of collection agencies.  If I send you a draft statement of claim, is it possible that you will post in on your website?

Curious

Consumer in Kenora, Ontario

Answer:

Starting in late October of 2010 my office began posting copies of draft statement of claims sent by collection lawyers on behalf of one or more collection agencies.  If you have received a draft statement of claim from a collection lawyer I would inivte you to forward the original draft statemetn of claim to my Kitchener office at the address listed below:

Mark Anthony Silverthorn Law Offices, Professional Corportation, 30 Duke Street West, 10th Floor, Suite 1001, Kitchener, ON N2H 3W5. Tel. (866) 996-9941, Fax: (866) 996-9942.