Portfolio Management Canada Inc.

[djbrser]

My wife and I only found this website while trying to find the corporate office of Portfolio as a rep called, told me I had an outstanding amount with TD Canada trust, I knew nothing of it, and they threatened that they would only provide backup upon my filling an affidavit claiming it was not mine, then if they have the proof they would charge me for false info,

As I advised their rep, if the bill is mine I will pay it, but I am not aware of it, please provide me something in black and white.

They had been calling, I should say their computer, which sounded like a computer telemarketer, our son kept hanging up on it.

So over a week later, still no letter from them, but another vicious phone call, the most vile conversation I have ever been subject to,

Hence our reason to for websearch, and ending here.

Last night we emailed all their reps listed at the top, carbon copying the following Ontario Ombudsman Office, Ted McKeeking , Ontario Minister over credit bureaus,

today received and email advising that requested back up will be provided, if they can find such, also that no additional calls will occur unless requested by ourselves,

all this over what they say is a 200.00 past bill, now with 250.00 of interest over 9-10 years

and to think a week ago, I was almost thinking it may be simpler to pay the money as i have no record of what it is and did not want to commit fraud if for some reason it turns out it is mine as i had an account years, when I moved away from there, there was a little less then $5.00 in it and would have cost me much more to get there to remove balance, I sent them a letter to close account. but as I said that was i think almoost 10 years ago

when you email these people carbon copy everyone you can think of as far as government agencies, it wakes Portfollio people up

 

[jimshort19]

Got a letter from PMC dated Nov. 12.
Said I owed $7,447.90 on account to National Bank.
I've never dealt with National Bank in my life, not a loan, card or account of any kind.

In 2002 a collection agency collected an account that I'd already paid, collected it from my aged mother without my knowledge. She was embarrassed and would not pursue the matter.

But PMC is probably only incompetent, and from the tale on this thread, employs scum and/or sickos.

I find it hard to believe that a Canadian company would engage in this kind of activity. I know that no Canadian bank would sell debt to a disreputable collection agency for any price. So then, perhaps rogue employees working under inadequate supervision may have figured out how to put money in their own pockets.

These companys merit watching. If one of them gets onto your grandmother for money, it's time to call the police whether you owe them or not.

 

[warrior_won]

I have a collection agency that is suing me. Stupid people. Let me share a few details without getting too carried away.

I had a debt way back when that I was unable to fully pay off. My credit history prior to that was extremely good. All payments made on time, everytime. In most cases, I never made minimum payments.

Anyway, I became unemployed and the collection agencies commenced harassing me. I politely informed them that I was unemployed and had no income from which I could offer payment. You know what they say when they hear that! They proceed to ask you if "you can borrow the money" to pay them off. This usually comes sometime after they inform you that you'll never be able to get credit again... from anyone.

Anyway, obviously I'm not going to attempt to borrow money from someone else to pay them off. I mean, how would I pay off the people that I borrowed the money from to pay the original debt? It just doesn't make sense. Why go through all of the hassle just to end up in the exact same situation?

Regardless, I'm rambling here. Long story short, I owed money. They harassed me. I told them that I had no money to send them. They continued to harass me. They sent me all kinds of stupid letters. The stupidest one was the one where they stated that they had "confirmed" my employment. I don't know what kind of voodoo whichhunt magic these agencies perform, but to confirm the employment of an unemployed man is quite a trick.

Anyway, moving along, I sent them what little money I had and accompanied it with a stupid letter of my own. That apparently pissed them off and they decided that they were going to teach me a lesson.

I'm not going to say more, because they're suing me. I'm suing them. And it should be, shall we say, very interesting. Hopefully they'll have the balls to show up in court in person, instead of that lame telephone appearance nonsense that they're so partial to. I want to see the expression on their face when they get chopped down to size. :lol:

 

[spikesdad]

Got a letter from PMC dated Nov. 12.
Said I owed $7,447.90 on account to National Bank.
I've never dealt with National Bank in my life, not a loan, card or account of any kind.

In 2002 a collection agency collected an account that I'd already paid, collected it from my aged mother without my knowledge. She was embarrassed and would not pursue the matter.

But PMC is probably only incompetent, and from the tale on this thread, employs scum and/or sickos.

I find it hard to believe that a Canadian company would engage in this kind of activity. I know that no Canadian bank would sell debt to a disreputable collection agency for any price. So then, perhaps rogue employees working under inadequate supervision may have figured out how to put money in their own pockets.

These companys merit watching. If one of them gets onto your grandmother for money, it's time to call the police whether you owe them or not.

Although PMG are based in Canada they are owned by Aktiv Kapital.They are based in Oslo Norway and have been in the distressed debt buying business for years.They just keep expanding to new countries to do their same crap and keep making more money. Maybe someday a provincial or federal govt will get some balls and change laws so that these scum can't use their tricks and lies to harass people. I guess i should say i am sorry to scum because calling PMG scum is really insulting to scum.

 

[Sickofbadcredit]

I owe Portfolio almost $5,000 because of a MasterCard that my ex ran up and refused to pay after I broke up with him. Unfortunately because I was (stupidly) the primary card holder, there is no way around this. I am pretty bitter because I didn't spend a dime of this money, but no one cares or has a problem ruining MY credit because of this. MY QUESTION: it has been approximately 3.5 years since anything was actually paid on this card, however I have been making minimal payments to Portfolio for about 1 year. Does this preclude me from just waiting out the 7 years and having this removed from my credit report? If anyone knows, I would really appreciate a response!

 

[spikesdad]

By giving portfolio payments for the last year you have acknowledged the debt and the last date you made a payment would be tha last activity on the account.The SOL would start from that date. If you could prove your ex ran up the card you could sue for the amount and if you won you could pay off the amount.(just an option)

 

[reinbergs]

Portfolio Management Inc. tries to end run 6 yr. CDN expiration

Portfolio Management uses the following tactic:
Having bought up cheap old debt they try to keep your credit report bad
by bypassing the 6 year limitation in Canada and 7 years in the US.
They will wait to just before the statutory limitation expires and file a new Collection
case that will stay on your credit report for another 7 years until you realize it should not be there
and dispute it. Some consumers are not aware that this can be disputed. If you call them, they pretend it is legal although it is not.
Here is a golden opportunity for a young hungry lawyer to file a class action suit
against Portfolio Management and make some good money and a name for himself. Their big clients such as Wells Fargo Financial and
many others keep selling their old junk debt to Pertfolio Management until someone
will indict them as accomplices to this ilegal behavior. FYI Wells Fargo has been clearly appraised of the illegal practices by Portfolio Management but turns a blind eye because they can get top dollar for their junk debt.

 

[stressednmessed]

help... pls

So over the past few weeks -i started receiving voicemail msg to my parents home - which i just moved back into over the past 6 months- i have been out of country for almost a yr and have just started working again..

i received a call fro PMC indicating they wanted me to call them - I didnt... i now have received a letter indicating they may take court action against me..

after reading this thread - i am pretty sure that i am right close to that 7 yr line for the debt to dissappear - it is with citifinancial and i was just hoping someone could give me some advice for what to do..

i have recently just got married -changed my last name - and thought that this debt had just dissappeared since i didnt hear from them for over the last 3 yrs or more...

the letter states they may garnish my wages and initiate a court action against me..

Please - any information or advice anyone could give - would be sooo great!!

Thanks

I have made no contact with them what so ever and will be contacting equifax and transunion for a credit report before i do anything.

 

[karrie]

My advice... if you have actual debt, pay it.

 

[stressednmessed]

i understand that -- but having read all the previous threads - i want to get my credit report first and not reopen my file by acknowledging it -- im pretty sure it is close to that 7 yr mark - i just want to know if they can go ahead and garnish my wages... or if anyone has had a similar letter from them??

thanks

 

[spikesdad]

i understand that -- but having read all the previous threads - i want to get my credit report first and not reopen my file by acknowledging it -- im pretty sure it is close to that 7 yr mark - i just want to know if they can go ahead and garnish my wages... or if anyone has had a similar letter from them??

thanks

It depends on if your loan is past the SOL or not.If it is past the SOl then they can huff and puff all they want but can't legally pursue it.But if it is not past the SOl then they can pursue it.Usually their letters are nothing but scare tactics,they will say they "may "sue you rather than they will sue you.They are not allowed to actually say they are going to sue you without really doing it.If they really are going to garnish your wages they would have to get a judgement in court first and you would of been served a summons abouthe matter. This company is the scum of the industry and will try anything to get people to pay and use whatever lies they can.The first thing you need to do is like you said get your credit report as that will give you the info on whether or not its listed.

 

[Volvokenny]

Ah!!!!! Portfolio Management. It sounds like a job I applied for when I saw this on my credit report!!! The only thing I know about them is that they have bought a debt I owe from TransCanada way back when I needed a small loan to establish my credit. However as life's changed for me where I missed one payment and notified TransCanada they still called my family and friends looking for me. I was pretty peed off and give me a break missed one payment of $100.00 and have to harrass my family/friends. So what I did was paid off my original loan and left the interest unpaid. A couple of years later I thought I go and pay off the rest of the loan(the interests), TransCanada was in a process of closing and my file was in the hands of WellsFargo. Go figure they lost my file! At that time I have another 2 years until this debt gets wiped out but not so thanks to the friends of Portfoilo Management company. They have bought my debt and updated my file and because of this my debt has another 5 years,(bastards). I said that because I didn't know how this will effect me today looking for a mortgage. Looking at my debt now I wouldn't do anything different for what TransCanada did with my file and overall it is just poor business practice. I guess thats why they closed down. If anyone sees Portfoilo Management on their credit report RUN but you can't hide.

Cheers!

 

[stressednmessed]

Volvokenny - did you end up having to pay Portfolio in the end - how did the whole thing unfold - im not trying to hide ~(i just wish i could) - but i just want to be certain how long i have before the debt is wiped - i am almost positive its about due time...

goin to wait it out ,..

 

[Volvokenny]

Hi Pal,

Look at your credit report and the date Portfoilo was added I think its about seven years then it gets wiped. I am not really an expert on this but in my case having Portfoilo Management updating my file didn't help as I mentioned earlier. I am still able to keep in the good books with my other creditors so Portfolio can go fishing elswhere! Paying a debt is a personal preference and I hate to say this but sometimes it determines the citizen that you are under different circumstances and once again in my case I have no reasons to pay a company that have poor practice but you live and learn. I actually did alot of head banging wbout Portfoilo which they never did contact me because you have the rights to tell them not to bother you by phone. The amount I owe is so small today compared to when I didn't want to pay it was alot. I would suggest you to confront that debt and when you call them make sure you tell them not do call you and they should comply. If your credit is not establish and you need a credit card I would neogotiate and pay them or if you need a mortgage I would REALLY pay them FAST. So I just bare down and paid them with a letter from them in my hand to my mortage broker. Remember life changes for the better if that is cool with you I wouldn't screw with credit. Don't you want to live like the majority of the population having credit and being in debt!

Cheers!

 

[Lester]

I worked for my brothers when I was younger, it was seasonal so I got every summer off and collected EI - one day the auditors from ei came along and told me that I was not eligible for the EI benefits that I had collected over the previous three years because working for family is not at arms length, and I now owed them 15000.00 plus a 15,000 penalty. Yeah sure I did not pay them one thin dime back and 6 years later poof...gone( of course I couldn't collect EI for 6 years either)

 

[Volvokenny]

Life isn't that bad!

I worked for my brothers when I was younger, it was seasonal so I got every summer off and collected EI - one day the auditors from ei came along and told me that I was not eligible for the EI benefits that I had collected over the previous three years because working for family is not at arms length, and I now owed them 15000.00 plus a 15,000 penalty. Yeah sure I did not pay them one thin dime back and 6 years later poof...gone( of course I couldn't collect EI for 6 years either)

:lol: Wow, life must of been hell when you got slapped by EI...thats alot of dough to be screwing around with the Govn't and alot of moola you got away with let alone the taxes you didn't pay;-) Sometimes it sucks being Canadian Eh! What was your trick!:idea:

 

[notevenmydebt]

same crap

My husband just received a letter from Portfolio Management Canada Inc. stating that he owed a bank just about $11,000. It lists no details and exactly the same thing trying to get a hold of someone is a joke. We are in the process of doing some financial business so we pulled a credit report and this thing is sitting under collections. How can they do this? It has completely destroyed his credit and it's not even his debt. He did however owe this same bank money way back in 2000, but certainly not $11,000.00. That debt was in his credit report and said it was "written off" then it purged itself early last year and now this. I'm waiting for them to call me back because i can't wait to see the particulars, but this is awful. I read that it purges after 6 years, but if it's not your I certainly hope they remove it immediately.

 

[Lester]

time

:lol: Wow, life must of been hell when you got slapped by EI...thats alot of dough to be screwing around with the Govn't and alot of moola you got away with let alone the taxes you didn't pay;-) Sometimes it sucks being Canadian Eh! What was your trick!:idea:

No trick just didn't collect EI and I didn't file a tax return for 6 years. once it was off I then filed taxes and got a huge refund - I didn't feel I owed them anything as I had paid into ei for 7 or 8 months out of the year and was entitled to benefits like anyone else.

 

[RedPhoenix]

Portfolio Management, like many other grey-area debt collectors, are legit but perform under very questionable business practices.

They don't seem to just deal with Citi, but anyone that uses MasterCard as their credit line service.

My debt was with Canadian Tire many years ago, which after many debates with CT, was written off by them because they could not disprove my accusations. At the time, their financial systems were a bit questionable as to how it was recording payments etc. My credit report even shows the debt as "written off".

Three years went by with no contact by anyone - CT themselves or anyone else, so as far as I was concerned the matter was dealt with.

All of a sudden they start calling for this debt. The truth of the matter is that in many cases the original venor has no idea that they are collecting the debt, despite claiming they are collecting on their behalf.

As others have noted in previous posts, if you try to go through legal channels or pay the debt in any manner other than directly to them, they go ballistic! They were very unprofessional at all times and did not like the fact that I was contacting CT about the debt collection.

My wife answered my home business line one day and the operator called her my secretary. When she explained that she was not the secretary, the operator snottily replied that if she picked up the business line then she WAS a secretary.

The people they hire are a piece of work at best.


After 7 years they are not supposed to be collecting the debt any longer, whether they renew the report on your history or not. They still have to reference the date of the original debt in that report, and that date would never change. If they report a different date, they are making a false report to a government agency and can be held accounatable.

If you actually owe the money, then yes you should pay the debt. However, if you want to really piss them off, make the payment directly to the original debtor and not to them ... you have no obigation to deal with any collection agency ; your only obligation is to pay the original creditor you had an agreemnet with.

If more people did this, then collection agencies would be put out of business because they only make money if they actually collect your debt. If you pay the debt back to the creditor, then the Collection Agency receives no money and can no longer collect the debt.

If you don't owe money but the issue is due to a misfiled report (like my CT debt), then they are required to go back to the original creditor and investigate the debt that they are collecting to ensure it is legit. They are also required to send you at least 2 regsitered letters regarding the collection and have all of their company information in that letter so you can unvestigate who they are - otherwise, you are correct - they could be a scammer.

** if you have call display and don't normally receive long distance calls, or know what number they are using all the time, you could just avoid the calls. If they have no record of ever talking to you, they have to stop calling after a year. It's not necessarily a good thing to have to do, but it is one way to get rid of them over time. You could also use one of those call-blocking devices or some TelCo's offer number blocks.

The way they keep reacting when you don't pay them directly and want to go through other channels makes it seem like they know they are a grey-are business, or the operators are all paid on commission and making nothing because people are not paying.

 

[RedPhoenix]

It was explained to me by my CRA agent that if you owe less than 10K, especially if you owe less than 1K, then they will do nothing else except harass you with calls, and even that will disappear after a while depending on whether you actually call them back or not.

It costs them money for every phone call; every time they try to file a garnishee; and any time they require court documents or actual court visits.

Collection agencies are already losing money since they paid for the debt in the first place. Garnishee is only valid for a certain period of time and they have to file it with a court every time they want to do it - it also costs them a fee every tim ethey do that. In cases of a debt less than $1000 they will generally refrain from any of that, especially if they have no record of ever contacting you. In most cases, it would end up costing them more money than they would regain by doing so.

The costs are also why they will stop calling after a year. If they add up their call costs it tends to be more than what they are collecting after that time.

They generally will not take you to court unless they think they have an iron-clad case and the debt is over 10K because they have to pay all fees and court costs up front. They have no chance to recover these costs unless it is part of the court collection AND only if they win the case! They will not generally take that chance unless they know they have a 90-100% chance of winning; and in most cases they do not have that guarantee - especially since most of what they collect are grey-area colelctions in the first place, a portion of which a court may even find illegal.

** again, another reason why they do not like it when you suggest going through legal channels or going through the original creditor.