June July August 2018 issue

10
Administraon Office — 519‐837‐5696
The Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County
provides free legal advice for low-income community
members in Guelph and Wellington County, including
seniors in receipt of the Guaranteed Income Supplement
(GIS) along with their Old Age Security (OAS).
Our main areas of practice include:
Rental tenancies, including care homes, evictions
and maintenance concerns;
Income maintenance, including eligibility for
Canada Pension Plan – disability (CPP-d), Employment
Insurance, the Ontario Disability Support
Program (ODSP), and Ontario Works (OW) and,
Consumer protection, including door-to-door
sales, collection agencies, and garnishment of social
insurance program income.
We are located within the Guelph Community
Health Centre at 176 Wyndham Street North in
Guelph. We can also be reached:
By telephone: 519-821-2100
Online: www.gwlegalclinic.ca
By email: gwlegalclinic@lao.on.ca
We also provide referral information on other areas
of law including wills and power of attorney, family
law, criminal law, debt and bankruptcy, and civil litigation.
For these areas of law, we often refer to the
Law Society Referral Service (LSRS) through the
Law Society of Ontario. The LSRS provides a free 30-
minute consultation with a lawyer or paralegal to help
you determine your rights and options. LSRS can be
reached online at www.lsuc.on.ca/lsrs or on their crisis
line at 1-855-947-5255.
Top 10 Legal Concerns for Seniors*
Brought to you by the Legal Clinic
letter to the agency saying that you dispute the debt
and suggest the matter be taken to court. For more information
on the rules a collection agency must follow
or to make a complaint to the Consumer Protection
Branch about an agency, please visit: www.ontario.ca/
page/collection-agency-your-rights.
3. Can I correct an error on my credit report? Yes!
To correct information in your credit report that is inaccurate
or incomplete, you can ask the consumer reporting
agency to correct the error. You may need to
give proof to the agency that the information is not
correct. You also have the right to receive a free copy
of your credit report by contacting the consumer reporting
agencies: Equifax Canada or TransUnion Canada.
For more information or to make a complaint
about a consumer reporting agency to the Consumer
Protection Branch, please visit: www.ontario.ca/page/
credit-reports.
4. What is the CRA scam? In some cases, fraudsters
are calling consumers impersonating the Canada
Revenue Agency (CRA) and requesting payment for
discrepancies from past filed taxes. Fraudsters threaten
consumers that failure to pay will result in additional
fees, jail time and/or deportation. In other cases, consumers
receive an email or text with a link to a website
that looks like the actual CRA website, in order to get
a refund. Consumers are asked to fill in their personal
information such as Social Insurance Number (SIN)
and are then subject to identity fraud.
5. How do I protect myself from the CRA scam? In
most cases, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will
use registered mail to contact consumers – not email or
phone. You can contact the CRA directly to confirm
you owe back taxes or are entitled to a refund. You
should never provide personal information over the
telephone, by text or email. The CRA does not request
payment by gift cards or bitcoin. For more information,
contact the Government of Canada’s Anti-
Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre.ca.
1. Can my senior’s income be garnished? No! The
income you receive through the Canada Pension Plan
(CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), and Guaranteed Income
Supplement (GIS) cannot be garnished for consumer
debt.
2. What do I do if a collection agency is contacting
me and I disagree with the debt? A collection agency
can’t keep contacting you if you send a registered
6. Are there other ongoing scams? Yes, the Guelph
Police report that there are many other scams you
should watch out for. In the anti-virus scam, you could
be contacted by a fraudster claiming to be Microsoft,
wanting to remotely access your computer. In the traffic
infringement scam, fraudsters claim to be police
and issue a false ticket via email. In the free trial scam,
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