Complaints

Consumers can submit complaints about bailiffs and assistant bailiffs to MPBSDP if they believe a bailiff or assistant bailiff is not acting in a responsible manner.

If a complaint is filed against you or your business, the ministry may request additional information from you. By law, you must provide the requested information to the ministry.

Refer to section 12 of the Bailiffs Act for more information about complaints.

Inspections

The Registrar under the Bailiffs Act and anyone designated by the Registrar can inspect your business to:

  • make sure you are complying with the law
  • deal with complaints

An inspector is allowed to access all documents, records and other items that are relevant to the inspection, including those in electronic form.

Review section 16.1 of the Bailiffs Act for more information about inspections.

The Registrar’s compliance and enforcement powers

In addition to inspections, the Registrar under the Bailiffs Act has additional powers to ensure compliance with the act. For example, the Registrar can:

  • request that you provide information about your business (such as copies of letters, forms, agreements or financial information), or give them access to your data storage
  • order you to amend, restrict or stop using materials that the Registrar believes are false, misleading or deceptive
  • for bailiffs, propose to revoke your appointment
  • for assistant bailiffs, propose to suspend, revoke or place conditions on your registration, or refuse to issue or renew your registration

If you fail to comply with the Bailiffs Act and the Registrar serves you with a Notice of Proposed Order or a Notice of Proposal, you have the right to request a hearing before the Licence Appeal Tribunal within 15 days of the issuance of the Notice of Proposed Order or Proposal. If you do not request a hearing, the Order will be issued by the Registrar and become legally binding. Decisions of the Licence Appeal Tribunal may be reviewed by the courts.

Forfeiture of bond

If your bailiff appointment is revoked or your assistant bailiff registration is revoked or expired and not renewed, you may also be directed to forfeit your bond if, in the course of acting as a bailiff or assistant bailiff, if either of the following occur:

  • you are convicted of an offence or an attempt to commit an offence involving fraud, theft, assault, libel or breaking and entering under the Criminal Code(Canada)
  • a judgment has been entered against you for the recovery of money paid for services not performed or based on a finding of fraud, conversion, assault, libel or trespass.

If you are directed to forfeit your bond, the amount of the bond becomes due to be paid to the Crown in Right of Ontario. If the bond was secured by deposit of collateral security, the Treasurer may sell the collateral security at the market price.

Refer to sections 15 and 16 of the Bailiffs Act for more information about forfeiture of bonds and the sale of collateral security.

Charges and offences

You can be charged with an offence under the Bailiffs Act for either:

If convicted, you can be fined up to $50,000 and/or imprisoned for up to two years less a day. The same applies to officers and directors of a corporation who fail to take reasonable care to prevent that corporation from committing an offence and are convicted.

Corporations can be fined up to $250,000 upon conviction.

Refer to section 18 of the Bailiffs Act for more information about charges and offences.

Consumer Beware List

Your business name and details may be published on the Consumer Beware List if you do not comply with the Bailiffs Act.

The Consumer Beware List is a searchable public record. MPBSDP maintains this searchable list of individuals and business that:

  • have not responded to the ministry in the required manner after the ministry sent them two notifications about a consumer complaint
  • have failed to correct contraventions identified during a ministry inspection
  • have been issued certain orders under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002
  • where the individual or business is appointed, licensed, or registered by the ministry, have had actions taken against their appointment, licence, or registration
  • have been charged or convicted for contraventions of the Bailiffs Act and other consumer protection statutes

Information about a business remains on this list for 21 to 27 months.

Learn more about the Consumer Beware List.