Reporting arrears yourself or hiring a collection agency
Should you use a collection agency or report court-ordered rent arrears yourself? Compare control, cost structure and tenant contact for Canadian landlords.
What a collection agency does
Collection agencies are licensed provincially and contact the debtor on your behalf to pursue payment. Fees are commonly a share of what is recovered, and terms vary by agency. Some agencies also report debts to credit bureaus.
Provincial consumer protection offices publish the rules agencies must follow and how to check a licence.
What StrikeLM does
StrikeLM submits eligible court-ordered rent arrears to Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada for a one-time $99 CAD fee. We do not contact the tenant to collect, negotiate or take payments, and we take no share of what you recover.
How to decide
Choose an agency if you want someone else to pursue payment and accept a contingency-style fee. Choose StrikeLM if you want the debt recorded with both bureaus at a fixed price and prefer to handle any negotiation yourself.
Pick one route per debt. Do not report the same rental debt through StrikeLM and a collection agency at the same time.