Demand Letters and Collecting Money for Clients Policy

Purpose

We often help clients recover money they are owed: by writing to the person who owes it, by negotiating, by starting a claim, and by enforcing a judgment. This policy explains the standards we follow when we deal with the people our clients are collecting from, and how the money we collect is handled.

Who it applies to

Every licensee, employee, contractor and student at NEO who works on a client's claim for money.

Demand letters

1. True and accurate. A demand letter states the facts as our client has given them to us, the amount owed and how it is worked out. We never knowingly overstate a debt, or claim interest, charges or costs that the agreement or the law doesn't allow.
2. A real deadline and real next steps. A letter gives a date to pay, and says what our client has told us to do if payment isn't made, such as start a claim in the Small Claims Court. We never threaten a step our client hasn't told us to take, or one the law doesn't allow.
3. No threats of charges or complaints. We never threaten to start or continue a charge for an offence, or to make a complaint to a regulator, to get payment or any other benefit for our client. We never advise a client to make such a threat, and we never offer to have a criminal charge withdrawn in exchange for payment.
4. Courteous and professional. Our letters and calls are firm but courteous. We are never abusive, offensive or harassing, and we don't make allegations we can't support.
5. The right person. We write to the person who owes the money. If they have a lawyer or paralegal for the matter, we deal only with that representative, under our Communicating with Represented Persons Policy.
6. People without a representative. We make clear that we act only for our client and can't advise them, and we suggest that they get independent advice, under our Dealing with Unrepresented Parties Policy.
7. Honest about the law. We never misstate what a court can do, or what will happen if a debt isn't paid.
8. Confidentiality. We share our client's information only as our client allows or the law requires, under our Confidentiality Policy.

Negotiating and settling

• Our client decides whether to accept an offer, under our Settlement Offers and Client Instructions Policy.
• We put any settlement or payment plan in writing, so its terms are clear to both sides.

Starting a claim

If the debt isn't paid and our client tells us to, we start a claim in the Small Claims Court, or before a tribunal that can decide it, within the time the law allows. A demand letter doesn't stop the time limit for starting a claim, so we keep track of it, under our Deadlines and Limitation Periods Policy. If a claim is outside what a paralegal may handle, we tell our client and help them find a lawyer, as our Scope of Paralegal Practice Policy explains.

Enforcing a judgment

If a judgment isn't paid, we enforce it only through the court's own processes, such as:

• an examination of the debtor about their income and assets;
• garnishment of money owed to the debtor by others, such as wages or a bank account;
• a writ of seizure and sale, carried out by the court's enforcement officers;
• a writ of delivery, for property the court has ordered returned.

We never seize property ourselves, or try to collect in any way the law doesn't allow. Enforcement is usually a separate step, outside the original retainer unless we agree otherwise in writing.

Money we collect

1. Through our trust account. Money paid to us for a client is deposited to our trust account, under our Trust Accounting and Client Money Policy.
2. Our client is told promptly when money arrives.
3. Paid out as the retainer allows. We may use it to pay our delivered accounts, as our client's retainer allows, and we pay the rest to our client promptly, with a statement.
4. Safe payment details. We give payers our payment details in writing, and never change them by email or text alone, under our Fraud Prevention Policy.

Review

This policy is reviewed at least once a year, and whenever the Law Society's By-Laws or rules change. The principal approves every change.

Questions

Email info@neolegalservices.com, call 647-200-3526 or toll-free 888-519-2435, or write to us at Unit 236, 1099 Kingston Road, Pickering, Ontario L1V 1B5.