by footloose » Fri Mar 11, 2011 11:51:17 PM
There is no law in Canada that says that you must talk to a collection agency, a collector or a debt buyer. And there is no law in Canada that says that you must answer your telephone, open and read your mail and sign for registered letters.
CRS purchased this debt from the original creditor, therefore, they are conducting business as a debt buyer and not as a collection agency, hence they are not governed by the Collection Agencies Act and Regulation 74. What that means is they can contact you, your employer or anyone else, including your wife, as many times as they wish, 24/7, 365 days a year. And even though the SOL has expired on this debt and it either has or will purge from a Credit Report, the debt will always exist until it is paid. In addition, CRS can do as many “hard pulls” as they wish for the next 99 years providing they are willing to pay the required fee to the Credit Bureaus. Each time a “hard pull” is made a Credit Score drops approximately 5 points and it takes 6 – 9 months to regain that loss in points. So, as you can see, these phone calls are not going to disappear. Now, you may call this “harassment” but I have never seen “harassment” defined in any jurisprudence ( case law ) or codified ( statute ) law. You can ask 5 different people their definition of “harassment” and get 6 different answers.
Faced with this potential scenario, here is what I suggest you do. If you currently do not have “caller ID”, contact your local telephone provider and request this feature to be added to your telephone. The cost is approximately $10 per month. Because I am legally blind, I purchased an AUDIO “caller ID” from the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind ), which is half the size of a computer mouse, and I attached it to my phone. It has a volume control and holds up to 10 calls. Now, when my phone rings, instead of going to my phone like most people and look to see who is calling, it announces the phone number of the caller which I can hear anywhere in my apartment. If I don't recognize the number or it says “number unknown” or “blocked call” or some goofy number, I don't answer the phone. It is like having your own private secretary who takes your calls for you. If I am out of my apartment, when I return, I can check my calls. It gives the date, the time and the phone number. If I want to return the call, I can do so or I can do a “reverse look-up” if I don't recognize the number to see who called. You should be able to purchase such a device at Future Shop, The Source, Best Buy or at a electronics store. Over the years, this has saved me a lot of grief from dealing with collection agencies and debt buyers. Consequently, their only communication with me is by way of “Her Majesty's Royal Mail”. .
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Educating one Consumer at a time