Released on April 9, 2002
Legislation introduced today will help protect people from abusivecollection agents.
The Collection Agents Amendment Act adds a number of new provisions to the
current list of prohibited collection practices, including:
Collection agents will be required to serve written demand letters
on debtors before attempting to collect payment of debts;
Debtors will have the right to notify collection agents to
communicate with them in writing or through their legal counsel; and
Collection agents will only be able to contact a debtor's employer
once and then only to confirm the debtor's employment, business
title and address.
"This legislation will further protect debtors from abusive collection
methods," Justice Minister Chris Axworthy said. "Adopting fair practices
that are consistent in all provinces and territories will benefit both
debtors and collection agents."
The Consumer Measures Committee, a group representing federal, provincial
and territorial governments, developed the list of prohibited practices.
The committee was established to improve the marketplace for consumers and
encourage harmonized consumer legislation across Canada.
The new restrictions add to those already in place, such as barring
collection agents from harassing a debtor or the debtor's family and
friends, prohibiting collection agents from making collect calls, and
restricting the hours during which a collection agent may call.
ddPenalties for first violations include fines of up to $10,000 and no more
than a year in jail for individuals and fines of $25,000 for corporations.
Fines for subsequent violations range up to $25,000 for individuals and
$100,000 for corporations.
To reflect the cross-border nature of collections operations, the new act
also provides the provincial Registrar with powers to investigate
situations and share information where a collection agency is licensed in
another province but does business in Saskatchewan.
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For more information, contact:
Debi McEwen
Saskatchewan Justice
Regina
Phone: (306) 787-6043