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Printer friendlyHow to find a collection agency or collector calling you
You may be getting collection calls and you want to learn more about who is calling you. You might be getting collection calls from your original creditor, a debt buyer or debt purchaser (a company that has purchased an outstanding account that steps into the shoes of the original creditor), a collection agency or a law firm If you are receiving collection notices or collection calls from a law firm then the law firm may have been hired by your original creditor, a debt purchaser, or a collection agency.
If you have no idea whatsoever as to the name of the creditor that might be attempting to collect an account from you, you might want to obtain a current copy of your credit report from Equifax or TransUnion and see if you have any accounts which are in collections or at least 90 days past due.
A creditor can only assign an account for collection with one collection agency at one specific point in time
It is illegal for a creditor to forward a particular account to more than one collection agency at the same time.
Creditors will assign an account to one collection agency for a period of time and then they will typically forward it to another collection agency
You might find that last month you were receiving collection calls from ABC Collection Agency and now you are receiving collection calls from AAA Collection Agency. This would likely mean that the creditor, which had previously forwarded this account to ABC Collection Agency, has recalled the account and then has forwarded the account to AAA Collection Agency.
Call your creditor to learn which collection agency is calling you
If you know the name of the creditor on whose behalf a collection agency is calling, then all you need to do to find out the name of the collection agency that is currently attempting to collect your account is to phone your creditor. You can go on the internet, go to the creditor's website, and phone the number listed for Customer Service.
Obtaining information from a collector calling you
If a collector from a collection agency calls you to demand payment of a debt you have the right to demand that they disclose the following information:
- the name of the creditor on whose behalf they are calling
- the account number and the outstanding balance they claim is owing
- the name of the collection agency employing the collector calling you
- in some provinces, under provincial law, the collector may be required to disclose the collector's first name and last name to you
Your provincial regulator of collection agencies might be a good source of information about a collector or a collection agency
Every province and territory in Canada requires that collection agencies attempting to collect a debt from the residents of their jurisdiction be licensed. These provincial regulators can be a good source of information for identifying a collection agency or a creditor. Contact information for each provincial and territorial regulator in Canada can be found on this website on the webpage titled "Provincial Regulators Responsible for Collection Agencies" If you know the name of a collection agency you may be able to phone the provincial regulator and obtain the agency's registered address.
Some provinces, such as Ontario, have a directory on a government website where you can search for the name of a specific collection agency or a specific collector. If you have the name or partial name of a collection agency then you can confirm their mailing address on this website.