Statute of Limitations in Ontario - Sorry not really Imm related!

[britincanada]

Sorry this question is not so much Immigration related, but due to the fact that I was in Canada in 2006 on a Visitors Record I incurred a huge $10,000 debt with a hospital and Maternity Centre when I was not able to return home to give birth to our daughter because I had problems with my pregnancy..

Does anyone know if I am correct in thinking that if a debt is incurred after Jan 2004 the Creditors have 2 years in which to collect the money from me..or Sue me and enforce the judgement? If it has passed 2 years and I have not heard from the Creditor at all do I now not owe the money under the Statute of Limitations in Ontario?

I am nearing the end of my PR Processing and looking forward to being able to work after being in Canada for 4 1/2 years as a visitor...the first thing on my list is to sort out my debts I have and repair my Husbands credit history so that we can get a mortgage and buy a house together..I am really looking forward to us finally being able to build our life together

 

[HoneyBird]

i dont think ur debt is forgiven...i think its forgotton..
but thats because people always want their money owed.
I am sorry to hear about your probs but i think anyone in a relationship like ours..have debt...my savings is dwindling and i am contemplating a september visit... which means running again on credit card or savings.

 

[fallenstar831]

From what I know - I'm not a lawyer but...

Yes, the statute of limitations is 2 years to set into action the collection of debt, it's part of the Limitations Act, 2002 (we grazed over it in college). If they have already taken actions to collect that does not apply - even if they just sent you a letter saying you owe, and you are liable still you pay, especially with the government. You will more than likely get a garnishment of wages once they put two and two together.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_02l24_e.htm

 

[tgchi13]

From what I know - I'm not a lawyer but...

Yes, the statute of limitations is 2 years to set into action the collection of debt, it's part of the Limitations Act, 2002 (we grazed over it in college). If they have already taken actions to collect that does not apply - even if they just sent you a letter saying you owe, and you are liable still you pay, especially with the government. You will more than likely get a garnishment of wages once they put two and two together.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_02l24_e.htm

Here's what I know, as an accountant: There is a two-year window for this to become a legal action. That window is based on the later of the date the debt was incurred or that last date you corresponded after having acknowledged the debt.

That said, they can pursue you (and continue to sell the debt to collection agencies) other than legal action as long as they wish - there is no time limit on that. Additionally, even if it doesn't become legal action, if it has been turned over for collections that can stay on your credit record indefinitely.

 

[nash_arsenal]

I thinkonly things which remain indefinitely are govt student loans and money owed to canadian revenue agency
Ill try to explain how it works and what options you have.
2 years is the statute of limitations in ON and you can be legally sued in that time period...after that you cant be sued but you still owe the money. What usually happens is after a period of time creditors write off the account as bad debts and sell it to a collection agency to recoup some of the money. Although in some cases the collection agents dont own the debt but act as an agent of the creditor and get paid by them on succesful collection.
anyways so in your case whats most likely happened is that the debt was reported as a R9 to your credit report thus leaving a derogatory mark on it. A negative mark brings your rating down and makes it diificult to get a new credit card or any other kind of credit. The derogatory remark stays on ure credit history for 6-7 years from the last activity on the account, so for e.g. if the last payment you made on the account was jan 2004. The mark will stay till jan 2010 or 2010 (some provinces has 6 some 7 yrs i think) and the the negative remark will be removed....best thing to do is get your free credit report from transunion.ca and equifax.ca to see what kind of damage it is doing. Also the debt is never forgiven, its just that after 6-7 years it wont hurt your credit history and at that time its your prerogative if you wanna pay it or not. Its always better to pay off debt. But yeah unless it was a debt incurred to the govt its pretty likely that its not goona hurt your credit for much longer..... by the way beware of unscrupulous collection agents who will try and use many underhanded techniques to mess with you.