In a letter addressing 176 collection agencies in Ontario the Registrar of Collection Agencies appears to be making a change in the way Collection Agencies in Ontario can do business.

In the past collection agencies in Ontario and their lawyers have been successful at collecting money from debtors with “draft” statement of claims. This tactic was effective because it is inexpensive and scary to most people that don’t know any better.

A statement of claim is a court document you must complete and register with the court to start a legal proceeding against someone.

Usually the drafted claim is accompanied by a letter typed on a lawyer’s letterhead and signed by the lawyer. The covering letter will often suggest that the debtor has 10 days to pay their debt by certified funds otherwise a Sheriff may serve the claim upon them. The consequences of a judgement are usually spelled out and it often includes wages being garnished, bank accounts seized and your other property being seized or sold.

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When you hear about collection agencies, do you think about commercials like the one in which someone is avoiding the phone because they’re dealing with a mountain of debt? That is actually a more realistic commercial than most because people do sometimes avoid collection agencies. And collection agencies make a lot of calls to people who are behind in their payments.

This is the point: collection agencies are companies or sometimes lawyers, who hire out their services to collect a debt to a creditor who may be a service provider, apartment manager or credit card company etc.

The creditor will send your bill and eventually warnings about turning the bill over to a collection agency. If you don’t respond with payment they give the job to a collection agency. This is how they cut their losses. The elapsed time until they sell the bill to the collection agency is between 3 to 12 months.

The collection agency may not contact you by phone or mail, but just watch and wait for you as you are going about your daily business.

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