Information About Your Rights If You Think That They Have The Wrong Person Or That The Debt Is Incorrect
Debt Collection: Information About Your Rights If you think that they have the wrong person or that the debt is incorrect: Contact the collection agency and explain. They must take reasonable steps to make sure you are the right person to contact about the debt. • If you are not the right person, they can’t keep contacting you. • If you are the right person, but the debt is incorrect, you can take the following steps: o If you already paid the debt, contact the collection agency and, if applicable, original creditor to correct the error. Provide supporting documentation if available. o Check your credit report to see if the amount is correct and write to the credit reporting agency and provide the correct information. A collection agency cannot do any of the following to you, or anyone else: • phone on holidays, Sundays (except between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.), or on any other days between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., unless you request it; • use threatening, profane, intimidating or coercive language; • use undue, excessive or unreasonable pressure; or harass you; • contact you more than three times in seven days on behalf of the same creditor, subject to certain exceptions; • give false or misleading information to any person; • contact you in a way you told them to stop using because it cost you money; or • charge you any fees, other than for non-sufficient funds on cheques. A collection agency can contact the following people but only in limited circumstances: A. Your employer • once only to confirm your employment, business title or business address; • if your employer has guaranteed the debt and the contact is about that guarantee; • if it’s about a court order or an automatic salary deduction (wage assignment); or • if you have given the collection agency written permission. B. Your spouse, family or household member, relative, neighbor, friend or acquaintance: • to get your contact information if the agency doesn’t have it already; • if you asked the agency to discuss the debt with that person; or • if that person has guaranteed the debt and the contact is about that guarantee.
To learn more please contact the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services at: ontario.ca/ConsumerProtection consumer@ontario.ca 1-800-889-9768 TTY: 1-877-666-6545