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sidhevicious · Apr 3, 2007, 11:30 AM

I am in Alberta, Canada and my question is:

Can a collection agency legally come after you if the alleged amount owing has never been disclosed to you, neither orally or on paper by the person who put the account with the collection agency? I have never received a bill or invoice from this individual as he hasn't completed the "job", and now I have a collection agency after me!

ballengerb1 · Apr 3, 2007, 05:33 PM

Yes, they can legally come after you. It does not mean they can prevail. They most likely bought the debt for pennies on the dollar. Did you argue this point with the original debtee? How long ago did you last make a payment or acknowlegde the debt, if ever?

sidhevicious · Apr 4, 2007, 01:03 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Yes, they can legally come after you. It does not mean they can prevail. They most likely bought the debt for pennies on the dollar. Did you argue this point with the original debtee? How long ago did you last make a payment or acknowlegde the debt, if ever?

I was never given a bill or invoice to begin with! How can I make a payment or even acknowledge the debt if it was never disclosed to me by the original debtee? He just sent it straight to the collection agency without ever telling me first, and the amount he's asking is beyond ridiculous. Also, he still hasn't done what was agreed to initially, so he broke the contract.

But I do thank you for your answer.

ScottGem · Apr 4, 2007, 01:11 PM

First, you are obviously awarre that you had a contract with some person. The terms of that contract may have specified payment methods so there may not have been a need for him to send you notice.

Second, A creditor can send it to a collection agency any time they want to as long as you haven't paid.

Now, if he were to sue you, then you would need to get advance notice and he would have to prove the debt.

Lowtax4eva · Apr 4, 2007, 01:17 PM

Hang on you said the amount he's asking for is ridiculous and also that you don't know the amount.

Which is it?

If he is asking a huge sum more than you think you owe, check your contract, what type of debt is this?

sidhevicious · Apr 4, 2007, 01:25 PM

Yes, I had a contingency fee agreement with the individual, where he was supposed to get paid when I got paid. My point is, why would he send it to a collection agency when he himself never asked me to pay it, nor did he inform me of the amount. The first I heard of the amount was from the collection agency. And he hasn't done what he was contracted to do in the agreement.

Lowtax4eva · Apr 4, 2007, 01:28 PM

This makes more sense, he's probably hoping you will pay it out of fear of credit report damage. He probably can't or won't do what he was contracted to do. You might need to get a lawyer. Is this a business you were dealing with, another option is going to the consumer protection bureau in Alberta, maybe they can help if you can show that he did not fulfill his contract and therefore doesn't deserve payment.

Fr_Chuck · Apr 4, 2007, 01:29 PM

Let me see you were "suppose" to pay when you got paid, so you were not suppose to have to be billed, you were jujst suppose to pay as soon as you were paid, if you did not automacticly pay, most likely it appears they thought you were not going to pay.

sidhevicious · Apr 4, 2007, 01:38 PM

I've already taken the necessary steps against this individual in filing the proper papers against him regarding the breach of contract, etc. And to Fr_Chuck, I still haven't been paid, so he shouldn't have been expecting to get paid yet to begin with. But again, I do thank you all for your input. =)

I was just wondering if there's anyway to stop the collection agency from being able to put this black mark in my credit report because it was not handled in the proper manner.

Lowtax4eva · Apr 4, 2007, 01:44 PM

Not really, they are collecting based on the info this other person gave them so you have to deal with him for not fulfilling his contract and ask him to stop collection proceedings.

You can't stop the collection agency directly, after however many days they will put a non-payment park on your credit.

sidhevicious · Apr 4, 2007, 01:49 PM

I found some info online that says if I write them to tell them that I am disputing the amount and proceedings are taking place to rectify the situation, that they have to stop any action against me until the outcome of the proceedings. Anyone know if this is true?

ballengerb1 · Apr 4, 2007, 02:23 PM

Could we go back to one of my questions earlier? How long ago did you last acknowledge the debt, if at all? Thanks

ScottGem · Apr 4, 2007, 03:34 PM

Again, I would have to see the wording of this agreement. Maybe he was told that you had gotten paid. But it certainly is odd that he would turn it over to a collection agency (who would charge him a fee for collecting) without contacting you to pay. Maybe he thinks he can get you to pay the agency fee and that's why he's inflating the amount. But I can't see how you can say you don't know how much you would owe him. The contract had to specify an amount or percentage.

sidhevicious · Apr 5, 2007, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Could we go back to one of my questions earlier? How long ago did you last acknowledge the debt, if at all? Thanks

What do you mean by "acknowledge the debt"? I hired someone to do a job, which is still supposed to be ongoing, and out of the blue, without ever disclosing the amount to me, he went and hired a collection agency to come after me for an amount that's soooo way out of the "ballpark" it's ridiculous. This individual is still technically "working for me", and it was a contingency fee agreement, so he's supposed to get paid when I get paid.

sidhevicious · Apr 5, 2007, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

Again, I would have to see the wording of this agreement. Maybe he was told that you had gotten paid. But it certainly is odd that he would turn it over to a collection agency (who would charge him a fee for collecting) without contacting you to pay. Maybe he thinks he can get you to pay the agency fee and that's why he's inflating the amount. But I can't see how you can say you don't know how much you would owe him. The contract had to specify an amount or percentage.

Ok, I've been trying to find answers without actually saying it, but the person I hired is a lawyer, he'd be the first person to know if I got paid, even before me, so no, I haven't been paid. I signed a contingency fee agreement with him, which in other words means, he gets a percentage of whatever he manages to get for me in compensation. That has not happened. So this is why I take issue with him putting my account with a collection agency.

ScottGem · Apr 5, 2007, 12:33 PM

I agree with you, something is very odd here. It really doesn't make sense. Have you tried contacting him for an explanation?

sidhevicious · Apr 5, 2007, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

I agree with you, something is very odd here. It really doesn't make sense. Have you tried contacting him for an explanation?

Funny, I told the lady at the collection agency yesterday that I had already contacted the Law Society about all this, and I get a phone call from my lawyers office today to talk about everything that's going on with my file!! So they gave me the runaround and fed me some lines, said that they had revoked the account from the collection agency now.

So, I guess for now I don't have to stress about it! But I do thank everyone on here for trying to help. You're all awesome! :)