Yikes.. angella... lol

Agreed...the only way you would NEED to give your personal and private information if there was a court order for such. I can't say I've heard of too many of those. That's about the only way you can be forced to do something like that.

I don't know why a person would receive financial planning services from a collection agency.

Anyway... gotta start working on having Gail Vaz Oxlade come and visit us!

Raymond,
Under privacy laws PIPEDA, a collection would have to keep a person's private information confidential. They would be in serious crap if they didn't.

If I, as a debtor, told you I could afford $50 a month, then that's what I can afford. It is not your right to demand to look at my income/outgoing/assets/ etc to try to squeeze me into paying more than I feel I can afford. It is not your right to demand that I justify my spending to you. And it is certainly not your right to demand/persuade/coerce me into entering into yet another potential bad debt. You don't like it? That's what the courts are for.

That's the cool thing about Canada. We get to make our own decisions about our own lives and what is best for them, much to the debt collector's dismay.

And... oh yeah... call my friends, neighbours, relatives or employer about my debt, and you get to face me in court.

I am the debt collector's worst nightmare.

I am informed.

PS... re "we couldn't care less whether you pay your debts or not"

Half right. We couldn't care less whether you pay your OTHER debts or not. We want our commissions, though. Which is why a debt collector is not a good financial advisor.

".....we do the financial to see what the debtor needs to do to pay off the debt; what he/she can afford and do to get him/her out of the hole they're in. that's the only purpose for the financial. all inomation stays on the file and is 100% confidential. we can't decide what to do unless we know their situations now can we? the client won't say ok to payment plans or underguideline settlements without the proff. the proof is the financial assessment [.....], we're (collectors) not the bad guys. realistically, we couldn't care less if you pay your debts or not. it's not our debts. "

The above abstact from ("all woman") Star_1964 (43/44 years young?) typifies what pathological liars collection agents are. Does anyone seriously believe that anything you tell a collection agent is confidential or that they don't care whether or not you pay? Like a salesman saying he doesn't care whether or not he sells anything; he'll still get payed. Well maybe, Star, but not for long?

Ray

BTW.. Gail Vaz Oxlade has agreed to do a one hour teleseminar for Canadian-Money-Advisor.ca members on March 4th..!!

I"m pretty excited about that.

She's the no-nonsense money coach from Til Debt Do Us Part! TV Show.

Taking out debt to repay another debt is just plain wrong.
It's good for the current creditor who wants to get paid but nobody else.

MY LOGIC:
If a person is already in financial crisis, then they're going to be a bad risk for the next creditor. You're shifting the responsibility of the debt from the first creditor to the second creditor. That's not right.

Creditors are money suppliers. They're in business to lend money over a period of time. They know that people have highs and lows with regards to cash flow over a period of 5-10 years.

Collection agents are suppliers of collection services. Their clients are the creditors, not the debtors.. you get paid by the creditors, not the debtors. Thus your teachings are biased to the creditors, not the debtors.

If a creditor is a supplier of money, then they're willing to take the risk over the agreed amount of time. If a person is in trouble, the creditor already accepts that as a cost of doing business. They've budged for a certain amount of people to be slow payers at any given time.

Star_1964, I just don't agree with your logic... You're just looking for the easy way out for the current creditor, who already understands that people are going to be delinquent over a period of time. You're not looking out for the best interest of the debtor.

BTW, you mean in the sense that Medusa and Lady Macbeth were "all woman" too?

Ray

ranzzz,

BTW, i'm not a "dude", i'm all woman. collectors aren't just male ;)

angella,

i agree that taking out a loan isn't for every single person in debt. i see this everyday. but it is something one should consider doing if they don't have much in collections and have assets, equity in the home, etc... why sit on a debt in collections when you can make that monthly payment to someone else instead of a collection agency? just makes sense.

i deal with all kinds of debtors on a daily basis. you have the stallers, the feel sorry for me ones, the liars, the agressive, the hiders and the honest. i deal with every one of those everyday and i try to work with every single one of those every day.

we do the financial to see what the debtor needs to do to pay off the debt; what he/she can afford and do to get him/her out of the hole they're in. that's the only purpose for the financial. all inomation stays on the file and is 100% confidential. we can't decide what to do unless we know their situations now can we? the client won't say ok to payment plans or underguideline settlements without the proff. the proof is the financial assessment.

that's the beginning then the results. simple.

i do payment plans, settlements and some go out and borrow the money to pay the whole thing off. i'm a collector who tries to do what's best for the debtor and my client. even with a payment plan, after a few months, we'll offer them a settlement to get rid of the debt. they've had time to get their finances in better shape and most will settle at that point in time.

avoiding the calls is avoiding the debt. bottom line is that this debt is owed. dealing with it is helpful, ignoring it and sweeping it under the rug isn't.

sometimes bankruptcy is the only way out depending on how much debt you have of course.

either way, it isn't fun to be in debt having collections agency after agency calling you 3 times a week (in canada), every single day of the week in the states (except a few states) and calling relatives, neighbours and friends. the debt needs to be addressed and dealt with in the end would you not agree?

we're (collectors) not the bad guys. realistically, we couldn't care less if you pay your debts or not. it's not our debts.

I'm wondering if I should get involved in this conversation...
Too much heaven and hell.... sounds like Black Sabbath and Ronnie James Dio!!

I'm starting a conversation with Gail Vaz Oxlade of Til Debt do Us Part fame and am trying to persuade her to do an interview with me for this site. That would be pretty sweet.

Anyway, have fun talking about heaven and hell and collection agencies.