Thanks for your reply. I'll clarify some points:
This was a lease of a new vehicle. The "corrected" copy is the original lease that he did indeed initial the changes and corrected the allowed millage to what we had agreed upon. Unfortunately the dealer couldn't care less. I even wrote to the manufacturer and they pointed the finger to the finance company (which is their own!) saying they have no control over them.

I'm going the registered letter route and I'll take it from there. If I have to "attempt" to lodge a complaint to Consumer Protection I'll try that if they keep harassing me. Maybe I'll just pay the $5/month to get Bells privacy block to shut out their calls, Seems like a cheep price for silence 8-)

This is a problem that comes up often with rental cars as well as long term leases. Disputes over mileage.

When you say the manager "corrected" your copy, didn't he initial it or something? I mean the original agreement is all you have that attests to the mileage.

Lessors of vehicles in Ontario need to take out what are called "endorsements" on their owners' policies. One is called an OPCF (Ontario Policy Change Form) 5 Series endorsement that is issued because the owner's policy of the vehicle excludes coverage if the auto is leased or rented to another. According to the insurance regs, permission to do so must be obtained by an attached endorsement. So you would think that at the time that the lease was drawn up, the correct mileage would have to have been presented to the lessor's insurance company for them to get the endorsement in the first place.

Also, most lessors will get a separate endorsement called an OPCF 5D that covers "conversion" (i.e., theft) of the leased car by the lessee. Obviously, the insurer would need to know what the mileage was when that endorsement was taken out. If the mileage submitted to the insurer by the lessor was false, then that would show up by comparing it with the mileage on the previous lease or ownership transfer of the vehicle.

As well, since the mileage discrepancy was significant enough for there to be a dispute, the vehicle in question must have been coming off another lease or already pre-owned. In that case, your own insurer would have wanted to see a copy of the lease agreement with the mileage written on it AND to inspect the car for previous unreported damage.The mileage is the first thing they would check on it. I don't have to tell you why.

Furthermore, surely you must have had maintenance done on the car like oil changes etc, where the technician wrote the date and mileage that was on the vehicle when it was taken in. Those service invoices are all independent evidence that would corroborate the mileage on the "corrected" lease agreement given to you.

Thus, if you really are telling the truth, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Anyone who was going to sue you needed to do so before the SOL ran out. With regard to credit reporting, you need to start sending documentation to the credit bureaus to give evidence in support of your refutation of the debt. Surely, you have, or can get something to support what you say.

The collection agencies aren't allowed to contact you by phone if you send them a registered letter as per Section 22 of the Collections Act of Ontario. Whether they pay any attention to it is another matter. Good luck sending in a complaint to Consumer Protection - you'll need it. What's listed on those government info pages doesn't always match reality.

Ray

HI all
Newbie here but have been in an on going battle for 2 years now... here is my tale of woe...
Leased a new vehicle in Feb of 2003. Dealer/contract writer screwed up the original documents as far as mileage allowance. Pointed out the screwup and the "business manager" corrected our copy. Reminded him to fix his copies as I don't want this to haunt me in 3 years from now.
Fast forward to Jan 2006... returned the vehicle with mileage within the agreements of our copy of the contract.
Received a letter saying we were way over on mileage.
Explained the situation and faxed our copy of contract. They didn't care.
Passed on to collection agency.
Explained the situation and faxed our copy of contract. They didn't care.
Passed on to another collection agency.
Explained the situation and faxed our copy of contract. They didn't care.
3rd collection agency.
Explained the situation and faxed our copy of contract. They didn't care.
4th agency.
Explained the situation and faxed our copy of contract. They didn't care.
Now I see that the 2 year SOL has passed.
According to http://www.gov.on.ca/mgs/en/ConsProt/STEL02_045978.html if I send them "a registered letter to the agency saying that you dispute the debt and suggest the matter be taken to court" they can no longer contact me. If that is true then because the SOL has passed they can't sue and can't contact me because of the registered letter? This seems like a good 1st step. Is this correct? If this is true then challenging the credit report will be the next step as this dispute was never legally challenged and I *should* be able to get this removed. From day one we said that they should take this to court as our agreement clearly states what the conditions of the lease were. We do not owe them money.
Suggestions. comments etc would be greatly appreciated. TIA!