Personal Finance

COLLECTIONS AND COLLECTION AGENTS: Ask me anything! (Official RFD Thread)

Newbie
Aug 30, 2009
44 posts
2 upvotes
ottawa
In your experience, do pay for deletes work? If the statute of limitations is up will a collection agency remove the negative tradeline in exchange for full payment of the debt?
Deal Guru
User avatar
Sep 21, 2007
13046 posts
11386 upvotes
...
what type of education background do you recommend to get into this industry?
"An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail." -- Edward Land
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Nov 23, 2005
9005 posts
5728 upvotes
faken wrote: what type of education background do you recommend to get into this industry?
You don't really need anything specific to be in collections ... most just require a HS diploma.
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
shawn99 wrote: just an example, a person owes 20k in credit card debt and has no assets of real value, would they sue you?..Have you seen cases like this?
Yes. Suing you and winning is easy. They have an ironclad, tight fisted contract that was poured over by lawyers for hours before they decided to use it for consumers.

Getting the money is harder. They need to find some way to get it. Liens, garnishees and repo are the most common.
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
Jucius Maximus wrote: If the person has an income then they can garnish the wages.
But if the person has no income and no assets, then they are judgement proof.

Then the collectors will realise they are not going to get paid and start negotiating...
Not judgement proof. Judge/JP will always give a judgment to one party either way, 95% of the time to the creditor (bank).

I see people who have no job sued all the time. The bank just wants to put it on their bureau for a few years.

They way they see it is: We have insurance, but we'll screw this persons bureau for a few years anyways.
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
islena wrote: If an collections agent calls asking for 'Soandso', but the people reached via telephone has no clue who this 'Soandso' is, is there anyway to make the collection agency stop calling? > :(
Take a message. Take a name, number, agency name, reference number, fax number...whatever they are willing to give you.

Then, in the same phone call, tell this collector this person does NOT live here. Tell them that if you receive another phone call from them live or through an automated machine that you will file a complaint with the client and the ministry.

They usually stop calling.
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
GSRee wrote: I just saw something on TV recently where friends/neighbours of a debtor were being harassed. How is it determined that these people can be called? Did the debtor sign a contract that included some clause like "if you fail to pay, you agree to let us harass everyone around you"? Or is that something that is just automatically allowed?
I can call anyone I want... but telling them info is what I can't do.

I can give my name, agency name, number, fax number and a reference number. That's it.*

I cannot give out: Who my client is (bank ect), personal info about the consumer/debtor, other phone numbers, other addresses or amounts ect.





** A typical neighbor phone call would be:

Hi mr/mrs **** .

Can you do me a favor? Thanks, I am looking for John Smith... hes the neighbor beside you. I haven't heard from him in a while, do you think that you could maybe tape a message to his door or slip a message in his mailbox? Yes, he knows who I am. My number is xxx xxx xxxx ext xxxx and my name is xxxxx. Thanks a lot.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Apr 4, 2004
3983 posts
437 upvotes
Toronto
Donomight25 wrote: Take a message. Take a name, number, agency name, reference number, fax number...whatever they are willing to give you.

Then, in the same phone call, tell this collector this person does NOT live here. Tell them that if you receive another phone call from them live or through an automated machine that you will file a complaint with the client and the ministry.

They usually stop calling.
Similar situation with me, except I'm getting calls at my work number which is unlisted. I get 3-4 calls daily, and always get a recorded message saying I have to pay my Rogers bill or else (paraphrased). I never get a reference # to call back and I don't know how to make it stop. I've even tried calling but can only get to voicemails as nobody is available to pick up the phone.

Absolutely annoying!
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
pchiarel wrote: In your experience, do pay for deletes work? If the statute of limitations is up will a collection agency remove the negative tradeline in exchange for full payment of the debt?
If the statute is up, the tradeline is removed anyways. There is a different part of your bureau to record debts owing to a company.


The debt is usually recorded as a 'collection item' a year or so before the R9 drops off your bureau. It may not show up for a while, sometimes years after the debt was incurred.
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
mjl_toronto wrote: Similar situation with me, except I'm getting calls at my work number which is unlisted. I get 3-4 calls daily, and always get a recorded message saying I have to pay my Rogers bill or else (paraphrased). I never get a reference # to call back and I don't know how to make it stop. I've even tried calling but can only get to voicemails as nobody is available to pick up the phone.

Absolutely annoying!
What number are they leaving?
Newbie
May 2, 2008
9 posts
Can someone's credit get hit by a credit agency by only having the person's first and last name only ?
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
al_carrerra wrote: Can someone's credit get hit by a credit agency by only having the person's first and last name only ?
No.

You need to have MINIMUM:

First, last name
Current address that matches current/previous address on the TU
DOB or SIN
Deal Addict
Feb 5, 2009
2429 posts
403 upvotes
Donomight25 wrote: I can call anyone I want... but telling them info is what I can't do.
Interesting. Would the same 3x weekly call limit apply to the neighbours? How about requests for the calls to stop? From what the people were saying it sounded like the calls were quite regular, and continued after they were asked to stop.
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
GSRee wrote: Interesting. Would the same 3x weekly call limit apply to the neighbours? How about requests for the calls to stop? From what the people were saying it sounded like the calls were quite regular, and continued after they were asked to stop.
Limit doesn't apply to anyone but the consumers known home, cell and work phone. 3x attempts per week to the consumer in general via one or all of these lines.

If there is a co-signer, I can try each number 3x per consumer. 6x per week.

Problem exists here. Hard to prove an agency is calling more than the allotted per week. Most agencies block the numbers.

Contacting the police doesn't work. It's a civil matter unless you can prove it's the agency calling. Phone companies won't reverse the blocked call unless its a police matter.

Rock here. >YOU< Hard place here.
Deal Fanatic
May 31, 2007
5018 posts
2175 upvotes
Donomight25 wrote: Take a message. Take a name, number, agency name, reference number, fax number...whatever they are willing to give you.

Then, in the same phone call, tell this collector this person does NOT live here. Tell them that if you receive another phone call from them live or through an automated machine that you will file a complaint with the client and the ministry.

They usually stop calling.
This is good to know. I got into an arguement with a collector at work because he kept calling and harassing everyone at the work place, looking for someone that owes money. He would call at the busiest times when we were very busy with customers.
Newbie
Aug 30, 2009
44 posts
2 upvotes
ottawa
Donomight25 wrote: If the statute is up, the tradeline is removed anyways. There is a different part of your bureau to record debts owing to a company.


The debt is usually recorded as a 'collection item' a year or so before the R9 drops off your bureau. It may not show up for a while, sometimes years after the debt was incurred.
Sorry, I should've been more clear. What I meant was the statute of limitations to sue in Ontario (2 years). So, basically I'm saying I owe the money...remove the negative tradeline from my report and I'll pay in full..otherwise you won't get a cent from me because you can't sue me in court.
Member
Mar 1, 2009
292 posts
6 upvotes
Nova Scotia
Donomight25 wrote: Take a message. Take a name, number, agency name, reference number, fax number...whatever they are willing to give you.

Then, in the same phone call, tell this collector this person does NOT live here. Tell them that if you receive another phone call from them live or through an automated machine that you will file a complaint with the client and the ministry.

They usually stop calling.
I went and got an unlisted number. Worked perfectly
Newbie
May 31, 2009
97 posts
9 upvotes
Jucius Maximus wrote: My friend had that problem because someone had actually fraudulently given the collection company his phone number and address (apparently because he had the same last name as the person they were looking for) so he just phoned them up and explained that he had no idea who this person was. They stopped bothering him.
Donomight25 wrote: Take a message. Take a name, number, agency name, reference number, fax number...whatever they are willing to give you.

Then, in the same phone call, tell this collector this person does NOT live here. Tell them that if you receive another phone call from them live or through an automated machine that you will file a complaint with the client and the ministry.

They usually stop calling.
Thanks. We tried to explain that we didn't know this person (who is apparently not paying their Rogers bill). In the same phone call where we deny knowledge of this guy, the agent continues to ask for alternate contact info. Sooo stupid! How do you give info on somebody you don't even know?! And they (different agents) keep calling back. We've now resorted to call blocking them. :|
Sr. Member
Mar 8, 2009
623 posts
29 upvotes
mjl_toronto wrote: None, but my caller ID displays 905-855-7515.
Thats Contact Resource Services.

Contact Resource Services Inc
1117, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest,
Montreal, QC
H3B 1H9
Canada
(514) 282-1322


(THEY HAVE AN OFFICE IN MISSISSAUGA)

This is what you need to do:

Call their number. The 905, the 514..whatever. Get reception. Give them your number to pull up the account. S/he will xfer you to the collector. When the collector answers, ask them to pull up your account via your phone number. Now, ask for:
- collectors name (if they didn't say it answering the phone)
- ext #
- ref # for the account

if they ask why, just tell them you are writing it down so you can stick it on the fridge. NOW...tell this collector that THIS PERSON DOES NOT LIVE OR WORK HERE. Tell them you have the agency name, the name of the collector and the reference # and their extension. If they make anymore calls to xxx xxx xxxx (your num) that you will proceed to file a complaint with the client and the ministry. Tell them (if you want) that the call was recorded and hang up. Make sure to hang up. No arguments, no yelling, no names, no swearing. Just hang up.

They won't call back.

Top

Thread Information

There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)