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ontario regulation 319/18

made under the

Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act

Made: April 18, 2018
Filed: April 23, 2018
Published on e-Laws: April 24, 2018
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: May 12, 2018

Amending Reg. 74 of R.R.O. 1990

(GENERAL)

1. Regulation 74 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 is amended by adding the following sections after the heading “Exemptions”:

18.1 (1) In this section,

“lawyer” means a person licensed to practise law in Ontario as a barrister and solicitor; (“avocat”)

“professional business” in the case of a lawyer, has the same meaning as in subsection 1 (1) of the Law Society Act. (“activités professionnelles”)

(2) For the purpose of this section, a person is considered to be an employee of a lawyer if the person is employed, appointed or authorized to act by any partnership, corporation or other entity in respect of which the lawyer is employed, appointed or authorized to act and in respect of which the lawyer is a partner or a shareholder or holds a similar position of authority.

(3) Nothing in this section applies to materials that are in the custody of or prepared by a lawyer or his or her employees if the materials are subject to solicitor-client privilege or other legally recognized forms of privilege.

(4) Despite clause 2 (1) (a) of the Act, the following provisions of the Act and the regulations apply to a lawyer or to an employee of a lawyer, reading the references, if any, to a collection agency in those provisions as being references to the lawyer or the employee, as the case may be, if the person holds himself or herself out to the public as a person who obtains or arranges for payment of money owing to another person in addition to the lawyer’s professional business:

1. Section 1, subsection 2 (0.1), sections 2.1, 12, 19 and 20, subsections 21 (1) and (2) and sections 22.1, 23 and 25 of the Act, except for the reference to section 16.3 or 16.4 or clause 22 (e) or (f) in subsection 25 (2) of the Act.

2. Sections 26, 27 and 28 of the Act, except for,

i. clause 28 (1) (d) of the Act,

ii. the reference to section 16.3 or 16.4 and subsection 16.5 (1), (2), (3) or (4), 16.6 (1) or (6) or 16.8 (2) or clause 22 (f) in clause 28 (1) (c) of the Act, and

iii. the reference to “or fails to take reasonable care to prevent the corporation from committing an offence mentioned in clause (1) (d)” in subsection 28 (2) of the Act.

3. Sections 29 to 29.1 of the Act.

4. Clauses 30 (1) (f), (h) and (i) of the Act.

5. Subsections 1 (3) and 13 (12) and (13) of this Regulation.

6. Sections 16, 18, 19.1.1, 19.6, 19.7 and 19.11 of this Regulation.

7. Section 33 of this Regulation if that section refers to provisions of the Act and this Regulation that apply to the lawyer or the employee, as the case may be.

8. Ontario Regulation 461/17 (Administrative Penalties) made under the Act, if that Regulation refers to provisions of the Act and this Regulation that apply to the lawyer or the employee, as the case may be.

 

(5) If a provision of the Act or the regulations listed in subsection (4) applies to a lawyer or an employee of a lawyer, the person shall,

(a) provide the Registrar with a current address for service;

(b) file with the Registrar,

(i) copies of all forms and form letters that the person proposes to use in dealing with debtors, and

(ii) copies of forms of agreement that the person proposes to use in dealings with others for whom the person acts or proposes to act;

(c) produce records and information, to the Registrar upon request within a specified time limit, regarding the person’s activities under the Act and the regulations;

(d) at the request of the Registrar, provide verification, by affidavit or otherwise, of any information or material that the person provides to the Registrar; and

(e) maintain and store the records of the person’s activities under the Act and the regulations separate from the records that the person maintains with respect to any other activities.

(6) Despite clause 2 (1) (a) of the Act, the provisions of the Act and the regulations listed in subsection (7) apply to a lawyer or to an employee of a lawyer if the lawyer or employee, as the case may be, is collecting a debt from a specific person, reading the references, if any, to a collection agency or a person registered as a collection agency in those provisions as being references to the lawyer or the employee, as the case may be, and if the lawyer or employee, as the case may be, with respect to that debt,

(a) has acquired the debt through purchase, assignment, transfer or any other means and is seeking to collect the debt on his or her own behalf and not in the regular practice of the lawyer’s professional business on behalf of a client;

(b) on behalf of the same creditor, by any oral means of communication, contacts the debtor, the debtor’s spouse, a member of the debtor’s family or household, a relative, neighbour, friend or acquaintance of the debtor, the debtor’s employer, a person who guaranteed the debt or a person mistakenly believed to be the debtor more than three times in a seven-day period or holds himself or herself out to the public as able to provide such a service, except if the person being contacted consents to or requests the contact at the time of the contact; or

(c) employs an automatic dialing-announcing device, a predictive dialing device, bulk texting or any other similar communication technology in communications with the debtor, the debtor’s spouse, a member of the debtor’s family or household, a relative, neighbour, friend or acquaintance of the debtor, the debtor’s employer, a person who guaranteed the debt or a person mistakenly believed to be the debtor or holds himself or herself out to the public as able to provide such a service.

(7) The provisions of the Act and the regulations that subsection (6) describes as being listed in this subsection are the following:

1. The provisions listed in any of the paragraphs of subsection (4).

2. Section 22 of the Act except for clauses (d) and (f) of that section.

3. Subsections 13 (14), (15) and (15.1) of this Regulation.

4. Sections 19.10 and 20 to 21.4 of this Regulation.

5. Subsections 22 (1) and (3) to (9) and 23 (1) and sections 24, 25 and 31 of this Regulation.

(8) If a provision of the Act or the regulations listed in subsection (7) applies to a lawyer or an employee of a lawyer, the person shall,

(a) provide the Registrar with a current address for service;

(b) file with the Registrar,

(i) copies of all forms and form letters that the person proposes to use in dealing with debtors, and

(ii) copies of forms of agreement that the person proposes to use in dealings with others for whom the person acts or proposes to act;

(c) produce records and information, to the Registrar upon request within a specified time limit, regarding the person’s activities under the Act and the regulations;

(d) at the request of the Registrar, provide verification, by affidavit or otherwise, of any information or material that the person provides to the Registrar;

(e) keep on the person’s premises proper records and books of account regarding the person’s activities under the Act and the regulations, showing money received and money paid out; the records and books of account shall include a receipts journal, disbursements journal, general journal, clients’ ledger, general ledger and the additional records that the Registrar considers necessary in accordance with accepted principles of double entry bookkeeping;

(f) retain an entry in a record or book of account described in clause (e) for a period of six years from the date of the entry; and

(g) maintain and store the records of the person’s activities under the Act and the regulations separate from the records that the person maintains with respect to any other activities.

(9) Subsections (4), (6) and (7) cease to apply to a lawyer or an employee of a lawyer with respect to a specific debt if the lawyer or the employee, as the case may be, acting in the regular practice of the lawyer’s professional business on behalf of a client, commences a legal proceeding against the debtor with respect to the debt.

18.2 (1) In this section,

“paralegal” means a paralegal member as described in clause 2 (2) (d) of the Law Society Act; (“parajuriste”)

“professional business” in the case of a paralegal, has the same meaning as in subsection 1 (1) of the Law Society Act. (“activités professionnelles”)

(2) For the purpose of this section, a person is considered to be an employee of a paralegal if the person is employed, appointed or authorized to act by any partnership, corporation or other entity in respect of which the paralegal is employed, appointed or authorized to act and in respect of which the paralegal is a partner or a shareholder or holds a similar position of authority.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the Act does not apply to a paralegal or an employee of a paralegal if the paralegal or the employee, as the case may be, is acting in the regular practice of the paralegal’s professional business.

(4) Subsections 18.1 (3) to (9) apply to a paralegal or to an employee of a paralegal, reading the references to a lawyer or an employee of a lawyer in those provisions as being references to the paralegal or the employee of the paralegal, as the case may be.

2. The Regulation is amended by adding the following sections:

Call Recording

31. (1) A collection agency that employs or appoints 10 or more collectors or authorizes 10 or more collectors to act shall record all phone calls that are made or received by the agency or by such a collector if the calls relate to the collection of a debt of a debtor but are not with a creditor of the debt, including such phone calls if they are,

(a) made or received by any means, including over regular phone lines, over cell phone lines or through the internet;

(b) made for the purpose described in subsection 21.1 (1); or

(c) made to or received from,

(i) the debtor or a person who the caller believes is the debtor,

(ii) the spouse or common law partner of the debtor or a person who the caller believes is the debtor,

(iii) a member of the family or household of the debtor or a person who the caller believes is the debtor,

(iv) a relative, neighbour, friend or acquaintance of the debtor or a person who the caller believes is the debtor,

(v) the employer of the debtor or a person who the caller believes is the debtor, and

(vi) a person who guaranteed the debt.

(2) The recording required by subsection (1) shall be made in a format that is readily accessible.

(3) A collection agency that records a phone call as required by subsection (1) may block, remove, redact or otherwise anonymize the number that identifies a credit card, a bank account or any other financial account of an individual and that is conveyed on the recording.

(4) The collection agency or collector that makes or receives a phone call described in subsection (1) shall advise the person to whom the call is made or from whom a phone call is received that the call is being recorded to comply with this Act.

(5) The collection agency shall retain the recording that it makes of a phone call as required by subsection (1) for one year after the day the call is made or received.

(6) A person who makes or receives a phone call that a collection agency records as required by subsection (1) may request a copy of the recording by making a written request for it to the agency.

(7) Within 10 days of receiving a request made under subsection (6), the collection agency shall, at no charge, send a copy of the recording to the person at the address that the person gives to the agency, or to the person by electronic means if the person so requests.

(8) The Registrar may request a copy or copies of a recording of a phone call that a collection agency is required to make under subsection (1).

(9) The collection agency shall provide the copy or copies to the Registrar within 10 days of the date on which the Registrar requests them and in the manner that that the Registrar specifies.

32. Section 31 does not apply to phone calls made or received by a person or entity that is a credit counselling agency or consumer counselling agency in its provision of debt settlement services.

3. (1) The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:

Administrative Penalties

33. The following provisions are the prescribed provisions for the purposes of subsection 29.0.1 (1) of the Act:

1. Subsection 4 (2) of the Act.

2. Clauses 16.5 (1) (a) and (b) of the Act.

3. Subsections 16.5 (2) and (4) of the Act.

4. Subsection 16.6 (1) of the Act, together with section 28 of this Regulation.

5. Subsection 16.6 (6) of the Act, together with subsection 28 (6) of this Regulation.

6. Subsection 20 (1) of the Act.

7. Subsections 13 (3), (10), (12), (12.1), (13), (14), (14.1) and (15) of this Regulation.

8. Subsections 17 (2), (3), (4), (4.1), (4.3) and (4.4) of this Regulation.

9. Subsections 18 (2), 19.1.1 (3) and 21 (1) of this Regulation.

10. Subsections 22 (1) and (2) and paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of subsection 22 (6) of this Regulation.

11. Subsections 23 (1) and 25 (1) and (2) of this Regulation.

12. Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of subsection 26 (1) of this Regulation.

13. Subsections 27 (1) and 28 (1) of this Regulation.

14. Paragraphs 1, 4 and 10 of section 29 of this Regulation.

15. Subsections 30 (1), (2) and (3) of this Regulation.

(2) Section 33 of the Regulation, as made by subsection (1), is amended by adding the following paragraph:

16. Subsections 31 (1), (2), (4), (5), (7) and (9) of this Regulation.

Commencement

4. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Regulation comes into force on the later of July 1, 2018 and the day it is filed.

(2) Section 2 and subsection 3 (2) come into force on January 1, 2019.

 

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