Can CBV Collections sue me without going to court?
No. No private creditors in Canada can garnish your wages, freeze your bank account, or seize property without a court judgment. The rule applies whether the debt is owned by the original creditor, a third-party collection agency, or a debt buyer.
CBV Collection Services operates in three ways. They collect on assignment as a third-party agent, they purchase debt portfolios outright, and they run outsourced collections operations on behalf of major Canadian creditors.
To get a judgment, CBV Collections has to arrange to sue you. This involves filing a document with the court commencing a lawsuit against you, then serving it on you, giving you time to respond, and then proving your indebtedness in court. If you don't respond within the deadline, the court can grant a default judgment in their favour.
Not in Ontario, Alberta, BC, Nunavut or the NWT? Find a trustee in your province
When does CBV Collections pursue legal action?
For deciding whether to sue, what matters is who owns the debt. On assigned accounts, the original creditor still owns the debt and decides whether to authorize legal action. On purchased accounts, CBV Collections owns the debt and makes the decision to sue.
CBV Collections' specific escalation rules aren't publicly disclosed, so the patterns below reflect standard practice across both models.
Three factors raise the chance of legal action.
Balance size matters first. Smaller balances tend to get sold to debt buyers or written off, because the cost of court action outweighs the likely recovery. Larger balances change the calculation. A judgment lets the creditor garnish your wages or seize assets.
Property ownership matters next. If you own real estate, a creditor with a judgment against you can place a lien on your property. The lien stays on the property until the debt is paid, or until the property is sold or refinanced. Land registries are public, so any creditor can check them.
Your history of communication with CBV Collections is the third factor. Accounts where the debtor has been completely unreachable tend to escalate faster than those where some contact has happened.
What does a CBV Collections lawsuit look like?
Each province in Canada has a unique court system with different levels of courts, varying names of court documents used for commencing and defending lawsuits, and different rules of civil procedure.
If you suspect that you have been sued, then it is recommended that you seek legal advice. This is particularly the case where a process server has personally handed you a document and informed you that you have been served.
If you wish to learn more about a CBV Collections lawsuit, you should carefully review any documents you have received that look like they might be documents commencing a lawsuit against you. These documents might be from a court in the province where you live or a court where your creditor has its head office.
Many Canadian provinces require that a creditor commencing a lawsuit notify a debtor of the lawsuit by affecting personal service. This usually involves personally handing the court document commencing a lawsuit to the debtor, or in some cases, to an adult at the debtor’s home address.
What to do if CBV Collections is threatening legal action
The right response depends on whether CBV Collections has actually started legal action or is only threatening it. The two need different handling.
Verify what kind of threat you've received
A phone call or letter saying "we may take legal action" isn't a lawsuit. A statement of claim, served in person and bearing a court file number, is. Before doing anything else, request written debt validation. CBV Collections has to give you the original creditor's name, the amount owed, the date of last activity, and the account number.
Check the limitation period in your province
The clock runs from your last payment or your last written acknowledgment of the debt. If the limitation period has expired, you can raise it as a complete defence to any lawsuit, but only by filing a defence in court. The period varies by province.
Province or territory | Limitation period |
Ontario, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, NB, NS | 2 years |
Quebec | 3 years |
Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI, Yukon, NWT, Nunavut | 6 years |
Source: Government of Ontario – Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B
To learn what resets the clock and how the rules work in each province, see the statute of limitations on debt in Canada guide.
Potential responses to being sued
It is recommended that you obtain legal advice if you have been sued.
If you are judgment-proof, then there is no point in filing a defence. You are judgment -proof if you have no assets or income, now or in the future, that your creditors could successfully look to in satisfying their judgment. Individuals are judgment-proof if they meet the following criteria:
- Do not own real property
- Support themselves exclusively on government assistance, including but not limited to CPP, OAS, and GIC
- Their personal property is exempt from seizure under provincial law
- Their RRSPs are exempt from seizure under federal law
If the debt is valid and the limitation period hasn't expired, settling for a lump sum before legal action is almost always cheaper than after. If you've already been served with court papers, get legal advice immediately. Missing the 20-day response deadline in Ontario almost always ends in default judgment.
If you can't pay or settle, a consumer proposal filed with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee triggers an automatic stay of proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Active lawsuits stop, and CBV Collections can't start new ones for the debt covered by the proposal.
Can CBV Collections keep coming after me after a judgment?
Yes. Once CBV Collections has a judgment against you, it acquires several extraordinary remedies in terms of enforcing its judgment and potentially recovering monies from you.
In Ontario, a judgment obtained on or after January 1, 2004 doesn't expire. The Limitations Act, 2002, removed the previous time limit on the enforcement of court orders.
Source: Government of Ontario – Limitations Act, 2002, s. 16(1)(b)
Some enforcement tools have their own renewal periods. A writ of seizure and sale of land lasts six years from the date it's issued, but CBV Collections can renew it for another six years before expiry. The same six-year rule applies to a notice of garnishment.
Source: Government of Ontario – Guide to procedures in Small Claims Court, after judgment
Settlement is still possible after judgment, but CBV Collections is in a stronger bargaining position because the court has already confirmed the debt. Lump-sum settlements after judgment typically require a higher percentage of the outstanding balance than they would have before the lawsuit was commenced.
Frequently asked questions
Will CBV Collections sue me for a small balance?
For small balances, lawsuits are unlikely but not impossible. The decision to escalate sits with whoever owns the debt. That's the original creditor on assigned accounts and CBV Collections on purchased ones. Either way, the math usually only works on larger balances, so smaller debts more often get sold to debt buyers.
How long do I have to respond to a CBV Collections lawsuit in Ontario?
Ontario has two courts for civil lawsuits, Small Claims Court and Superior Court. Each of these two courts has different procedural rules. Creditors sue debtors in Ontario Small Claims Court using a court document known as a Plaintiff’s Claim. Alternatively, if you are sued in the Ontario Superior Court, you will be sued with a court document referred to as a Statement of Claim.
In Ontario, courts have a monetary jurisdiction. The monetary jurisdiction of the Ontario Small Claims Court is $50,000. As of October 2025, Ontario raised the Small Claims Court limit from $35,000 to $50,000.
Source: Government of Ontario – Small Claims Court Jurisdiction, O. Reg. 626/00
Lawsuits commenced using a Plaintiff’s Claim
In the Ontario Small Claims Court, CBV Collections commences a lawsuit by filing a Plaintiff’s Claim with the court. The Plaintiff’s Claim must then be served personally on the defendant by way of personal service or by a prescribed alternative to personal service. A defendant who wishes to defend a Plaintiff’s Claim must file a Defence within 20 days.
Lawsuits commenced using a Statement of Claim
After filing, CBV Collections has to serve the claim on you. From the date you are served with a Statement of Claim, you have 20 days to file a Statement of Defence in Ontario. If you were served elsewhere in Canada or in the United States, you have 40 days. Outside Canada and the US, the period is 60 days. Filing a Notice of Intent to Defend within the original window adds another 10 days to the deadline for filing your Statement of Defence.
Source: Government of Ontario – Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 18
After the deadline passes with a Statement of Defence, CBV Collections can ask the court for default judgment. After judgment, they can apply for wage garnishment, place a lien on your real property, or obtain a writ of seizure and sale.
Source: Government of Ontario – Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 18
Can CBV Collections sue me if I live in a different province from where I incurred the debt?
Yes. CBV Collections can file in your province of residence, since that's where you live and where any judgment would need to be enforced. The applicable limitation period and procedural rules are usually those of the province where you currently live.
Does ignoring a CBV Collections legal threat make it go away?
No. Ignoring a phone call or letter doesn't stop CBV Collections from commencing a lawsuit against you. Ignoring these court documents almost guarantees a default judgment, which gives them access to wage garnishment and asset seizure, subject to exemptions from asset seizure.
Can a consumer proposal stop a CBV Collections lawsuit?
Yes. Filing a consumer proposal with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee triggers an automatic stay of proceedings under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Active lawsuits stop, and CBV Collections can't start new collection actions for any debt covered by the proposal.
Source: Government of Canada – Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, RSC 1985, c B-3
Will CBV Collections drop the case if the limitation period has expired?
Not automatically. An expired limitation is a defence you have to plead in court. If you don't file a statement of defence raising it, the court may grant default judgment even on a statute-barred debt. This is why responding to a lawsuit commenced by your creditor matters even when the underlying debt is old.
