Here is the Consumer Protection Act for Manitoba regarding Collection Practices.

PART XII

COLLECTION PRACTICES

Prohibitions

98 No person, whether on his own behalf or on behalf of another, directly, or through others, shall with respect to any loan of money to which this Act applies, or to any hire-purchase or sale of goods or services, or both

(a) collect or attempt to collect from a debtor a greater amount than the sum of the amount actually owing by the debtor to the credit grantor and the amount of fees allowed by any statute or regulation made thereunder; or

(b) notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary between the credit grantor and a debtor, collect or attempt to collect from the debtor any fee or commission payable by the credit grantor to a collection agent under any agreement or understanding between the credit grantor and the collection agent; or

(c) send any telegram or make any telephone call to a debtor for the purpose of demanding payment or negotiating payment of a debt if the charges for the telegram or telephone call are payable by the addressee of the telegram or the person to whom the telephone call is made; or

(d) verbally or in writing, collect or attempt to collect money or effect or attempt to effect seizure of goods by stating an intention or threat to proceed with any action for which he does not have lawful authority; or

(e) use, without lawful authority, any summons, notice, demand or other document expressed in language of the general style of any form used in any court in the province, or printed or written in such a manner so as to have the general appearance or format of any form used in any court in the province; or

(f) make telephone calls or personal calls of such nature or with such frequency as to constitute harassment of the debtor, his spouse or common-law partner or his family; or

(g) refer or assign an account for collection or seizure of goods to a collection agent without first cancelling in writing any previous referral or assignment to any other collection agent; but one collection agent may act for or on behalf of another collection agent or a barrister or solicitor; or

(h) except with the leave of the court, remove any goods claimed under seizure or distress unless the debtor, his spouse or common-law partner, his agent or an adult having possession and use of the goods with the consent of the debtor, is present at the time and is aware of the removal; or

(i) seize or attempt to seize, or levy distress against any goods other than those specifically charged or mortgaged, or to which lawful claim may be made under any statute or judgment; or

(j) make a telephone or personal call or attempt to make a telephone or personal call to or on a debtor to demand payment, or negotiate for payment, or seize or levy distress against goods

(i) on a Sunday, or

(ii) on a holiday, or

(iii) on any other day except between the hours of seven o'clock in the morning and nine o'clock in the evening; or

(k) make further demand for payment of an account or seize goods or levy distress if the debtor gives notice by registered mail to the credit grantor, his assignee or collection agent, of a claim for set-off or counter-claim under this Act or any other statute or regulation, or under any right of contract, until

(i) the credit grantor, his assignee or collection agent has submitted the matter to a court of competent jurisdiction for adjudication, or

(ii) the debtor and the credit grantor, his assigns or collection agent, have agreed in writing to the amount still owing by the debtor in respect of the account after deducting an amount agreed upon for the claim for set-off or counter-claim; or

(l) give, by implication, inference or statement, directly or indirectly, any false information to any person or agency that may be detrimental to a debtor or his spouse or common-law partner; or

(m) make any demand for payment, by telephone, by personal call, or by writing, for payment of an account without indicating the name of the credit grantor with whom the account was incurred, the balance owing on the account, and the identity and authority of the person making the demand; or

(n) make telephone calls or personal calls of such a nature or with such frequency as to constitute harassment of any person in an effort to determine the present whereabouts of a debtor, his spouse or common-law partner or his family; or

(o) collect from a debtor any amount greater than that provided by regulation for acting for the debtor in making arrangements or negotiating with credit grantors on behalf of the debtor or receiving money from the debtor, for distribution to his creditors.

FYI your lawyer is wrong about the provincial laws in the province of Manitoba. A collection agency can call your home/cell/neighbour/mother/dead aunt every single day (with exception to perhaps a Sunday or stat holiday) and they are permitted to call your employer as a means of contact just as much as your home.

As far as dealing with your original creditor, I'm happy for you that your creditor was balanced enough to deal with you. Most, if not all major banks will not. They pay big dollars for agencies to handle their accounts, and don't want to waste more money dealing with it themselves once the agency is already paid. Plus, even if you pay/settle the debt with the original creditor, the agency still gets their commission, so don't think you're 'getting back at them; by doing this -- except maybe ScotiaBank, their sneaky sonsabitches......

Anyway, even if you paid the collection agency/settled with them, who ever your creditor was would update your bureau anyway so you didn't really gain anything except not having to speak with an agent.

Oh and ranzzzz, I'm no bottom feeder -- I eat very,very well thank you.

Good move. As I always say, deal with original creditors only, never deal with these bottom feeders.

These clowns called me recently about a payday loan that went into collections in 2006. After they threatened to sue me and garnish my wages, I contacted my lawyer. The Jerk at DCA even said that he would personally make sure that my credit would be ruined forever if I didn't pay him within 24 hours. I was advised by my lawyer that they can not contact me more than 3 times per week, and they can not call me before 9 am (which they did many times). They would also have to serve me with court papers in order to sue me (over 300 dollars, I dont think so). They can not contact my employer, other than to confirm my employment, and can only contact them once. This company does not work for money mart, insta-loans or any other creditor. Instead they buy the delinquent debts from lenders, charge interest, and then threaten and intimidate vulnerable people in order to squeeze cash out of them to make money and commisions for themselves. I called these morons back and informed them of the above, and they became even more verbally abusive. Tip, record your calls with these people and sue them for harassment if needed. My attorney thinks I will win. I contacted the Payday loan company that I originally owed the money to and paid them back exactly the amount I borrowed, without interest, no problem. The Original lender also updated my credit bureau to reflect the collection item as paid, and took the DCA collection entry off my credit report. DO NOT deal with these people. Call the original company that sold them your debt and settle with them. There is no reason why the company that sent your debt to them would not want their money back. Once DCA realises that you know your rights, they will try to pick on the next victim. If you continue to get harrasing phone calls from them after you pay, send them a registed letter demanding they stop and cc the letter to your provincial consumer advocacy department. Remember, these idiots have no power over you, and thats why they have to use intimidation and threats. Good luck!