Atlantic Collection Agency Ltd.
Located in Charlottetown

Contact Person: Paul MacPhail
Telephone: (902) 566-9195
Facsimile: (902) 566-3781


Physical Address

Atlantic Collection Agency Ltd.
184 Belvedere AVE
Charlottetown, PE
C1A 2Z1
[map]

Mailing Address

Atlantic Collection Agency Ltd.
P.O. Box 3184, 184 Belvedere AVE
Charlottetown, PE
C1A 7N9

Area(s) of Business
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A Halifax collection agency has lost its licence for four months after failing to hand over the money it received from debtors in a timely fashion.

The suspension of Atlantic Collection Agency Ltd. resulted in part from complaints that the firm had collected about $10,000 in debts but hadn’t passed that money along to its clients, Service Nova Scotia Minister Jamie Muir said in an interview Tuesday.

"There were a number of things the company did which were in contravention" of the Collection Agencies Act, Mr. Muir said.

The most serious action involved someone who had paid money he owed a bank to Atlantic Collection Agency in 2004, Mr. Muir said.

"When the individual went to the bank for service, trying to get extra credit, they found out this debt was still outstanding," Mr. Muir said.

"Subsequently the company disclosed itself that this was not the only case where that had happened and voluntarily provided that information and then went and paid everybody. So as far as I know, everybody got their money."

Under the Collection Agencies Act a firm must remit money from a debtor by the 20th day of each month.

Atlantic Collection Agency also was found to have erroneously charged extra fees to its clients, Mr. Muir said.

The company had fought the department’s ruling to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, which upheld the province’s decision in a ruling earlier this year.

The suspension took effect Tuesday, and during this period the company isn’t permitted to undertake any new collection activity or solicit new business.

"The role of this department is to try and protect consumers," Mr. Muir said, adding it wasn’t the amount of money that was important in this case. "Any time any business contravenes the act, it’s serious."

Wayne Purdy, the president of Atlantic Collection Agency, wasn’t keen to talk about the situation facing his firm.

Mr. Purdy said Mr. Muir’s portrayal of the situation was inaccurate; he wouldn’t specify how but denied his company had failed to pass money along to its clients.

Mr. Purdy criticized the department for only looking at the matter from the viewpoint of the complainant.

"We had no opportunity whatsoever to cross-examine the individual making these complaints. . . . Unfortunately, this is the governing body and that’s why I don’t want to make any comment. It’s a four-month suspension that we’re going to have to live with.

"We’ve gone to battle with them for a year and a half."