Credit Counselling Service of Sault Ste. Marie Executive Director Greg Elsby talks about what people can do to avoid debt after new debt settlement reforms were announced by Sault MPP David Orazietti on Monday.

Sault MPP David Orazietti announced a number of meaures on Monday that are aimed at improving people’s experiences dealing with debt settlement and real estate transactions.  Among the new debt settlement rules that take effect on July 1st are that settlement providers will have to face limits on how much they can charge a debtor and that there must be clear contracts.  Greg Elsby is the Executive Director of Credit Counselling Service of Sault Ste. Marie.  He says one change expected to benefit his organization is the installation of a 10-day cooling off period…

Similar changes are already in place in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Manitoba.  When asked about if the changes are working in those provinces, Orazietti answered that they are and expects the number of complaints about those companies who charge upfront rates in Ontario to decline as the new rules take effect. Orazietti also talked about improvements regarding real estate transactions.  Those are especially important, as they involve the biggest purchase of the lives of some people…

In addition, Wednesday is also the first day that electronic signatures will be legally equivalent — or just as good — as signatures on paper documents for transactions involving real estate.  This rule is similar to what is already enacted in five other provinces.  The average debt per person in Sault Ste. Marie is above the provincial average of 29 thousand dollars.  Elsby says the average of the clients they serve is closer to 35 thousand — that number does not include money paid for mortgages.  He has some advice people should follow before they get into financial trouble…

Elsby suggests a more telling stat of just how serious the debt problem is can be found in two figures:  For every dollar that a person earns, one dollar and 64 cents is spent on paying down unsecured debt.