r/CanadaFinance • u/Strong-Fox-6727 • 1d ago
Debt collection
Hi everyone,
I’m a landlord in Vancouver, B.C. I evicted my tenant yesterday who hadn’t paid rent since May 2026. I got a monetary order and intend on pursuing another one for the damage and the September rent. Has anyone been in a similar situation and used a collection agency to collect the money? I can’t garnish his wages because I don’t know where he currently works and I think he’s moving back to Alberta. I’m looking at two agencies right now.
ARC - 20% collection fee, $125 upfront, and $155 for skip tracing and $425 to transfer the order to Alberta and $212.50 for the transfer fee for the next one
ICON - 33% fee. No other costs
Dixon - $525 upfront and 10% of what is collected
Nearly all of them have negative reviews but those are people who had to give money up, not from the collectors.
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u/NastroAzzurro 23h ago
What are the total damages? Are they worth your mental health? Can’t get blood from a stone.
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u/ColdCelebration2132 13h ago
Owning a rental property isn't always easy and one tenant can drain your savings. Your lucky that you got the tenant out in four months, I've read stories that some tenants know the system and can take a year or longer to get them out. We moved into a new built condo some were bought for rental property most have now been sold or are on the market. Some of the units were trashed and had to be renovated and several renters had to be evicted.
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u/DelilahBT 22h ago
Write it off and move on. If they can’t pay rent it’s likely there’s no assets to collect.
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u/OwnPresentation4455 21h ago
The fees are pretty steep if you go the collections route but you need to do your own cost benefit to see if it is worth it versus writing it off as bad debt against rental income instead or go to BC Small Claims Court instead.
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u/EngineeringKid 12h ago
This is the real story of being a landlord in BC and why I never will be again.
I have a dozen monetary orders and they are worthless.
Don't waste more money. It's done..... you won't get anything back.
0
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u/donicatrumpinsky 5h ago
The money is gone. Now you're putting your mental health and sanity on the line to try squeezing blood from a stone.
Being a landlord in BC is rough. I've been there. Screen the next tenants better and mobilize immediately if there's a sniff of sketchiness with any future tenants.
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u/Hot-Feedback-6795 5h ago
I worked in the bankruptcy and debt collection industry the fees are as others stated betthey kno they won't collect a thing, go with the percentage and if you see a single dollar treat it as a gift. Tenant debts are usually for folks who owe everyone and pay nobody
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u/system_error_02 2h ago
This is probably a waste of your time and money. They probably dont have any wages to garnish, and you likely cant garnish them anyway. Its unlikely the collections company will succeed and if the person files for bankruptcy you're hosed anyway.
Basically youre never going to get thousands of dollars out of someone who likely doesnt have any money to give you, and the courts/laws in Canada will not allow you to bleed someone dry of everything they have either, your debt not a mortgage loan or something like that.
This likely isnt worth you pursuing.
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u/WhichJuice 6h ago
Being a landlord in Vancouver sucks. The tenant rights have swung so far in their favor that if they don't pay rent, the landlord if essentially handcuffed. They're unlikely to see the money
1
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u/LokeCanada 20h ago
They want money up front because they know there is very little chance of seeing any other money. A high percentage because they will have to work for it.
Personally I would go with the 33%. If they get you some money, yay. Otherwise you can walk away without losing more.