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     Consumer Issues           Consumer News  CLEONet Resources  CLEONet News

 

Printable Tip Sheets

Other Sources of Information & Help (Links)

Consumer News

CLEONet Consumer Law Resources

CLEONet Consumer Law News

 

 

Printable Tip Sheets

Prepared by the Community Advocacy & Legal Centre

 

1.  Energy Contracts - Tip Sheet - (November 2008)

 

COMING SOON!

We are currently preparing a tip sheet on how to defend yourself if you are sued by a payday loan company.  Read the article below.

 

Other Sources of Information & Help (Links)

 

Provincial Legislation (CPA, 2002)

Consumer and Debt Problems

Consumer Pamphlets & Information

Credit Counselling

Bankruptcy

Energy Redistributors - Tip sheets

Consumer Referrals

 

Provincial legislation - Consumer Protection Act, 2002

 

Consumer and Debt Problems

 

Having problems with collection agencies, creditors or companies you do business with? 

 

Contact the Ontario Ministry of Government Services (formerly called the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services).  The Consumer Protection Branch answers telephone inquiries and mediates written complaints between consumers and businesses. Their complaint form can be filled in online and submitted or printed off and mailed in.  They cover such areas as collection agencies, credit repair, consumer reporting, loan broker fraud, car repairs, home renovations, door-to-door sales, health clubs, modeling and talent contracts and condominiums. There are also have many free consumer guides and pamphlets available on this site.

 

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Consumer Pamphlets & Information

 

The Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) website has a pamphlet available for online viewing or printing called "Is a Collection Agency Harassing You." 

 

The Canadian Consumer Information Gateway (which offers consumer advice for across Canada) also has tons of consumer information available, including Know Your Rights, How to File a Complaint, Tools and Calculators as well as links to other sites.

 

The Office of Consumer Affairs is part of the federal Industry Canada website and offers links to various consumer legislation as well as many publications prepared by the Office of Consumer Affairs and the Consumer Measures Committee, including:

You can also visit the "Managing Your Debt" page of the province of Ontario website.  This page has lots of links for more information on debt, credit, budgeting and other consumer issues.

 

The Consumers Council of Canada is another source of consumer information. The Council works collaboratively with consumers, business and government in support of consumers' rights and responsibilities. Visit their page on how to complain effectively.

 

The Consumers' Association of Canada (CAC), founded in 1947, is an independent, not-for-profit, volunteer-based, charitable organization. Their mandate is to inform and educate consumers on marketplace issues, to advocate for consumers with government and industry, and work with government and industry to solve marketplace problems.

 

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) provides consumers with accurate and objective information about financial products and services, and informs Canadians of their rights and responsibilities when dealing with financial institutions. FCAC also ensures compliance with the federal consumer protection laws that apply to banks and federally incorporated trust, loan and insurance companies.  View their many publications, including:

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Credit Counselling

 

Visit the Ontario Association of Credit Counselling Services (OACCS) website to find an agency in your area.  Credit Counsellors of OACCS member agencies can help you understand what went wrong, as well as your rights and responsibilities. They can also help you regain financial control.

 

For the Belleville area, visit Quinte Region Credit Counselling Services website, or call them at 613-966-3556 (toll-free line: 1-800-379-5556). 

 

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Bankruptcy

 

Visit the Service Canada website to learn more about bankruptcy assistance.

 

The Bankruptcy Assistance Program helps individuals seeking to file for bankruptcy hire a bankruptcy trustee if they do not have the means to do so on their own.

 

You can also learn more about bankruptcy through the website of the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy. 

 

They have information on: 

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Energy Redistributors - Tip Sheets

 

The Ontario Energy Board has a new website providing information on energy contracts. The Energy Choice is Yours site is a new consumer information initiative - created to help energy consumers become more aware of their rights, options and responsibilities. Through tip sheets and other materials, they provide consumers with information so they make informed decisions about their energy choices.  Read their tip sheets on before and after signing a contract and a list of historical natural gas and electricity prices.

 

View our Energy Contracts Tip Sheet for things to watch for when choosing to buy electricity and gas from a door-to-door salesman.

 

For tips on energy savings, visit our Tenant Links page, and read about the Low Income Energy Network.

 

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Consumer Referrals

 

View our Where Else to Go For Help chart for a variety of referrals on consumer matters.  See the "consumer complaints" sections on complaints against businesses, collection agencies, cable or phone companies, hydro and gas companies, motor vehicle dealerships, and travel agents.

 

Referrals for Motor Vehicle Owners

 

The Automobile Protection Association (APA) is a membership based non-profit association dedicated to promoting consumer interests in the marketplace.  Car Help Canada is another non-profit consumer group, working to benefit the public in automotive related issues.  The Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan is a program where disputes between consumers and vehicle manufacturers about alleged manufacturing defects or implementation of the manufacturers' new vehicle warranty can be put before a neutral third party (arbitrator) for resolution.

 

Other Miscellaneous Consumer Referrals

 

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

The CRTC is vested with the authority to regulate and supervise all aspects of the Canadian broadcasting system, as well as to regulate telecommunications common carriers and service providers that fall under federal jurisdiction.  Go to their Complaints and Inquiries page to make a complaint or inquiry online.  They also have a Consumer Information page.  Some fact sheets available from this page are:

Canadian Standards Association

This is a not-for-profit membership-based association serving business, industry, government and consumers in Canada and the global marketplace.

 

The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS)

The Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) is an independent agency with a mandate to receive, to facilitate the resolution of, and, if necessary, resolve eligible consumer and small business complaints relating to certain retail telecommunications services. The CCTS strives to do this in an accessible, impartial, timely, efficient and informal manner, after direct communication between a consumer or small business and a CCTS member has proven ineffective.  Their site explains the complaint process and provides an online complaint form.

 

Charities Directorate

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) registers qualifying organizations as charities, gives technical advice on operating a charity, and handles audit and compliance activities.

 

Electrical Safety Authority

The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) is a stand-alone, financially self-sustaining not-for-profit corporation accountable to a Board of Directors and operating as an Administrative Authority under the Electricity Act 1998 and an Administrative Agreement with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. ESA is responsible for public electrical safety in Ontario as designated by Ontario Regulation 89/99.

 

Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA)

TSSA delivers a variety of public safety education and consumer information programs to increase knowledge around hazards, and promote safer behaviours.

 

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Other Help for Consumers

(See our "Referrals" page for more details)

 

Low Income Home Energy Efficiency Grant Program - Up to $3,000 available - This program has unfortunately been discontinued by the Federal Government as of May 12, 2006.  There is a note on the website for current participants. 

 

Visit Hydro One's website to learn more about other energy efficiency tips.

 

Funds Available from CMHC to Assist with Home Repairs - view our ODSP Links page for more information about these programs.

 

For information on the Low Income Energy Network (LIEN) and the new free energy efficiency program by Green Communities Canada, visit our Tenant Links page.

 

Trillium Drug Program - The Trillium Drug Program (TDP) is intended for Ontario residents who have a valid Ontario Health Card and who have high prescription drug costs in relation to their net household income.  Visit their site for details and an online application form.

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Consumer News

 

Changes to Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act re: Student Loans

Getting Away with Usury

Stalking Predators Who Prey on Seniors

 

 

Changes to Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act re: Student Loans

 

There has been an amendment to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA). Student Loans can now be included in the debt with the bankruptcy after 7 years of ceasing your part time or full time studies. (Before they could only be included after 10 years from being a full time or part time student.) 

 

We will have more information on this topic in our Fall 2008 newsletter.

 

 

GETTING AWAY WITH USURY

by Jake Rupert, Ottawa Citizen - December 3, 2005

Despite a judge's ruling that some payday loan companies charge unconscionably usurious and illegal rates of interest, the government has taken no action to enforce Section 347 of the Criminal Code

By Jake Rupert

CashMoney and Money Mart recently charged the Citizen rates of interest of 61 trillion per cent and 309 million per cent, according to an actuary's calculations based on the Criminal Code definition of interest. Section 347 of the Canadian Criminal Code sets the criminal rate of interest at anything greater than 60 per cent per year.
 
Payday loan stores are everywhere, their signs dotting the streets of Ottawa: Money Mart, CashMoney, Cash Advance, Cash Store, Quick Pay Day Loans, PayDay Advances, Payroll Loans, Cash Cow, Cash Connexion, and many others.

Through the Internet, there are dozens more businesses offering small, unsecured, short-term loans to people with jobs who need money quickly.

The demand for these loans is high. An industry spokesman says payday loan services are "used and accepted by millions" of people across Canada. In Ottawa, there are likely thousands of people who go to these companies when they need an extra few hundred dollars to fend off bill collectors or keep the power or telephone on until payday.

Twenty years ago, most of these places didn't exist; today, the payday loan industry is a booming and lucrative business, turning an estimated $1 billion in profit per year in Canada.

But these are controversial businesses operating in a regulatory vacuum -- and often operating illegally, according to the courts.  ....

 

Click the link to read the Full Article.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more information about PayDay Loans, please visit the website of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

 

Class Action Lawsuit certified in payday loan case - May 12, 2006 article (CBC news)

 

New Regulations for PayDay Loans

 

Ontario has approved much stronger disclosure rules for payday lenders in regulations under the Consumer Protection Act.

The new regulations will:

  • require payday lenders to post on-site, in a prominent place, a 24x30” poster outlining:

     

    • the cost per one hundred dollars to obtain a payday loan

    • the APR represented by this cost

    • all fees (administrative, cashing, etc.)

    • the total amount to be repaid

     

  • require that consumers receive standardized disclosure of critical information, including details of cost of borrowing in simple terms, the due date of the loan and the full amount to be repaid … and a requirement that the disclosure form containing this information be signed by the borrower to be valid.

  • ensure that consumers are advanced their payday loan funds immediately upon signing their agreement.

The Ontario government has released a consultation paper on the regulation of payday loans, and is asking the public for written submissions on that paper. View the complete consultation paper on this issue at the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services website.

For further reference:

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_050017_e.htm#BK76  (Consumer Protection Act, 2002 Ontario Regulation 17/05 Part VII)
 

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Stalking predators who prey on seniors

Toronto Star Article, February 26, 2007

 

The lowlifes who scam your grandma, or abuse your elderly neighbour's trust, aren't always strangers, authorities say

 

Nancy J. White

LIFE WRITER

Link to Article online


They've heard it all. The salesman's knock, then pitch: "Sign up now for new installed windows at our amazing seniors' discount." And the telemarketers' calls: "The XYZ children's charity needs your help," or "You've won a free Caribbean cruise!"

At a seminar on elder abuse and fraud last week, about 35 seniors at Scarborough Village Recreation Centre talked about the gamut of cons they've heard, from silver-tongued salesmen to phishing schemes (email attempts to get personal financial information) and ways to protect themselves. The raffle prize was, appropriately, a shredder.

"You just can't trust people," says one woman. "It's a shame, not like it used to be," adds her friend.

Sadly, the financial abusers aren't always strangers.

Friends, family and hired caregivers have been caught dipping into a senior's bank account, even wiping out a life's savings. "It's often someone known to the senior. It's broken trust," says Sharon Galway, owner of Home Instead Senior Care in North York, which provides non-medical home care.

About 150,000 to 160,000 Ontario seniors suffer abuse – financial, emotional, physical – every year, according to Teri Kay, executive director of the Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. But since seniors are often too embarrassed or intimidated to report the crime, she explains, a great deal goes undetected.

And, as our population ages, elder abuse is expected to increase. Scamming seniors can be big business, and it's the focus of the abuse prevention network's annual conference this week in Toronto.

The most common cons targeting the elderly are home improvement work and telemarketing schemes, says OPP Sgt. Rick Tout, co-ordinator of senior assistance. Recently reported cases include:

  • A con man convinced a 79-year-old Toronto woman that her home needed waterproofing and a new basement floor, defrauding her of more than $80,000.
     

  • A scam artist netted close to $3 million by selling phony bonds to mainly elderly victims.
     

  • A Montreal-based telemarketing fraud ring, dismantled by the RCMP in December, was found to have grossed between $8 million and $13 million annually since 2003. In one of its schemes, telemarketers called mainly senior citizens to tell them they'd won a large sum of money. But to claim the prize, they had to send in $1,500 or more to cover various costs.
     

  • In Toronto, police say, a recent con involves an individual arriving at a senior's home impersonating a health care worker or a counsellor. Once inside, the person steals wallets or other valuables when the senior isn't looking.

    The scam artists find their elderly victims in various ways, including roaming a neighbourhood and knocking on doors or buying what police call "sucker lists" – fraudulent telemarketers keep the names of people they've successfully conned and sell them to other groups.

    If someone suspects they are on a sucker list, OPP Det. Sgt. Debbie Bell advises telling the marketers, "Do not call. I will tell the police you're bothering me."

    Keep hanging up on them, refuse to interact. "It takes persistence and determination," says Bell. "But over time, you'll get off the list." A call-display phone feature can also be helpful.

    Bell works with PhoneBusters, a national anti-fraud call centre operated by the OPP and the RCMP. PhoneBusters will connect an elderly victim of telemarketing with one of its senior volunteers as a sort of phone buddy, who will explain the scams and keep in contact.

    Elderly people are often susceptible to scams because they need money to supplement their fixed income, suffer from infirmities and, most importantly, are often lonely. Investigators say some telemarketers play on the loneliness, establishing a rapport with a senior and calling back regularly.

    It's the profound desire for human contact that makes seniors so vulnerable to abuse from loved ones. "A senior may have lost a spouse, siblings, friends, and is willing to put up with a dysfunctional or abusive relationship, thinking it's better than nothing at all," explains Toronto Police Const. Pat Fleischmann, who deals with vulnerable persons issues.

    Family members, she says, may use emotional blackmail, such as, "You'll never see me or your grandchildren again if you don't sign this cheque."

    Other cases are more subtle. A trusted friend or relative who does chores, including banking, might start by taking out a little money on the sly, and then escalate the pilfering over time. They sometimes persuade seniors to sign over their power of attorney, the legal right to act on their behalf.

    "An older adult can lose everything and become homeless," says Fleischmann. "When a stranger does it, the victim feels like a fool. But when it's someone close and personal, the feeling is horrid."

     

    • Websites, phone numbers for answers, assistance 

    For more information on elder financial abuse and to get help, please call or visit:

    » The Ontario Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse – an advocacy and public education group that also directs victims to services and support around the province – onpea.org, 416-640-7784.

    » The Victim Support Line directs a caller to the proper services, 416-314-2447, or toll-free 1-888-579-2888,8 a.m.-10 p.m., seven days a week.

    » Local police. In Toronto, the main non-emergency number is 416-808-2222. Explain your problem to the operator, who will direct your call appropriately, and officers can offer advice.  Click here for Belleville Police website.  They have a page on current scams.

    » PhoneBusters, the national anti-fraud call centre operated by the OPP and RCMP. It's the central agency collecting information on telemarketing and identity theft complaints. It offers a seniors support program. 1-888-495-8501, phonebusters.com.

    » Revenue Canada will check to see if a charity is registered. 1-800-267-2384,
    8 a.m.- 8 p.m., Monday to Friday.

    » Consumer Protection Branch, Ministry of Government Services, legal information. 1-800-889-9768 or 416-326-8800.

    Nancy J. White

    Catch the con: How to tell if you're a target
    Toronto Star, February 26, 2007

     

    Some important tips from PhoneBusters on how to recognize a scam. It could be a scam if:

     

  • It sounds too good to be true.

  • You must pay or you can't play. You've won something but need to send money to
        get it.

  • You must give the caller your private financial information.

  • The caller insists you send cash or a money order, not a cheque.

  • The caller is trying to get you excited about a great opportunity.

  • The person calling claims to be a tax official, banking officer or someone with the
       authority to ask personal questions.

  • The stranger calling behaves as if he or she is your buddy.

  • A warning that "You must act immediately or you'll miss out on this offer."

     

    To recognize if a relative or friend is the target of fraudulent telemarketers, PhoneBusters advises watching for:

     

  • An increase in mail with too-good-to-be-true offers.

  • Frequent calls about valuable awards or from unfamiliar charities.

  • A sudden inability to pay regular bills, or requests for loans.

  • Banking records showing cheques or withdrawals to unfamiliar companies.

  • Secretive behaviour about phone calls.

     

    Nancy J. White

    Catch the con: How to tell if you're a target - Toronto Star Article, Feb 26, 2007

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