Collection Agencies Amendment Act, 2002 Sergio, Mario — Bill 71 (37th Parliament, 3rd Session)

Bill 71, 37-3

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 71, Collection Agencies Amendment Act, 2002

Sergio, Mario

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[37] Bill 71 Original (PDF)

Bill 71 2002

An Act to amend the

Collection Agencies Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative

Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Section 22 of the Collection Agencies Act

is amended by adding the following subsections:

Prohibited practices and methods in collection

(2) Without limiting behaviour that can be prescribed as

prohibited practices or prohibited methods in the collection of debt, the

following are prohibited practices and prohibited methods in the collection

of debt:

1. To directly or indirectly threaten or state an intention to proceed

with any action for which the collection agency or the collector does not

have lawful authority.

2. To make telephone calls or personal calls of such nature or with such

frequency as to constitute harassment of the debtor, his or her spouse or

same-sex partner or any member of the debtor's family or household.

3. To make a telephone call or personal call for the purpose of demanding

payment of a debt,

i. on a Sunday,

ii. on a statutory holiday, or

iii. on any other day except between the hours of 7 o'clock in the

forenoon and 9 o'clock in the afternoon.

4. To give any person, directly or indirectly, by implication or

otherwise, any false or misleading information that may be detrimental to a

debtor, his or her spouse or same-sex partner or any member of the debtor's

family or household.

5. Except for the purpose of obtaining the debtor's address or telephone

number, contacting a debtor's employer, spouse, same-sex partner, relatives,

neighbours or friends unless,

i. the person contacted has guaranteed to pay the debt and is being

contacted in respect of such guarantee,

ii. the person contacted is the employer of the debtor and the collection

agency or collector is contacting the employer in respect of payments

pursuant to a wage assignment or an order or judgment made by a court in

favour of the collection agency or of a creditor who is a client of the

collection agency, or

iii. the person contacted is the employer of the debtor and the collection

agency or collector is contacting the employer for the purpose of verifying

the employment of the debtor.

Definitions

(3) In this section,

"same-sex partner" means either of two persons of the same sex who live

together in a conjugal relationship outside marriage; ("partenaire de

même sexe")

"spouse" means,

(

a) a spouse as defined in

section 1 of the Family Law Act ,

(

b) either of two persons of the opposite sex who live together in a

conjugal relationship outside marriage. ("conjoint")

2. The Act is amended by adding the following

section:

Discipline committee

22.1

(1) The Minister shall

establish a discipline committee to hear and determine, in accordance with

the prescribed procedures, if a collection agency or a collector has engaged

in a prohibited practice or employed a prohibited method in the collection of

debt.

Appeals committee

(2) The Minister shall establish an appeals committee to

consider, in accordance with the prescribed procedures, appeals from the

discipline committee.

Composition

(3) The composition and manner of appointment of the members of

the discipline committee and appeals committee shall be as prescribed.

Result of a determination

(4) If the discipline committee makes a determination under

subsection (1) that a collection agency or a collector has engaged in a

prohibited practice or employed a prohibited method in the collection of

debt, it may order any of the following as appropriate:

1. Impose such fine as the committee considers appropriate, to a maximum

of $10,000.

2. Suspend or postpone the imposition of a penalty for such period and

upon such terms as the committee designates.

3. Fix and impose costs to be paid by the collector or collection

agency.

Appeal

(5) A party to the discipline proceeding may appeal the

decision of the discipline committee to the appeals committee.

Payment of fine

(6) If a fine is imposed under subsection (4), the collector or

collection agency shall pay the fine within the period specified by the

discipline committee or, where there has been an appeal, by the appeals

committee, and where no period has been specified, within 60 days after the

fine has been imposed.

Public access

(7) Decisions of the discipline committee and the appeals

committee shall be made available to the public in such manner as may be

prescribed.

Section 30 of the Act, as amended by the Statutes of

Ontario, 1998,

chapter 18,

Schedule E,

section 53, is amended by

adding the following clauses:

(

m) governing the composition and manner of appointment of members of the

discipline committee and appeals committee;

(

n) governing procedures for hearings under

section 22.1 and respecting

the manner in which and the frequency with which decisions of the discipline

committee and appeals committee are made available to the public.

Commencement

4. This Act comes into force on the day it receives

Royal Assent.

Short title

5. The

short title of this Act is the Collection

Agencies Amendment Act, 2002 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Collection Agencies Act by specifying that

certain behaviours are prohibited practices and prohibited methods in the

collection of debt. The Bill establishes a discipline committee and an

appeals committee to deal with complaints concerning engaging in prohibited

practices or employing prohibited methods in the collection of debt.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

May 30, 2002

First Reading

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

May

30, 2002

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent :

Coming into force :Royal Assent.

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 71, 37-3
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p37 s3 bill 71 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	be6f9803f899a7caaee0d6aa9e0f4a4570fb0f48

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