A wrong figure on a page, an application that stalled, a lender that broke Nova Scotia's payday rules and a collection agent who went too far each have a different door. Page errors come to us; a loan problem goes to the lender first and then to Service Nova Scotia, which issues payday lender permits and takes complaints about the lenders that hold them.
Who handles what
| The problem | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| A page here is wrong or out of date | Us, at the email address in the footer |
| The form, or the status of your application | The matching service's support contact, shown on the form |
| A loan you hold: a payment, a date, a charge | The lender named on your agreement |
| No permit, a cost above $14 per $100, a refused cancellation, a rollover, a second loan while one is open, a default charge above $20 | Service Nova Scotia |
| A collection agent's conduct | Service Nova Scotia, the province's consumer protection office |
| A federally regulated bank, or borrower rights across Canada | The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada |
Something on this site is wrong
Errors on this site are ours to fix: report one to the email address in the footer, naming the page and the sentence. We reply within two working days and correct a wrong figure once it is checked against the source; the date at the top of the page changes when the fix goes live. The contact page lists the other doors.
Your application
Questions about the status of an application belong to the matching service, whose support contact is on the form and in its confirmation message. The application never passes through this site, so we cannot look it up or explain a decline. The how it works page names each step so you can say where it stopped.
A loan you hold
A problem with a loan you have signed starts with the lender, whose complaint contact must appear on the agreement. Under Sections 18A to 18U of the Consumer Protection Act and the Payday Lenders Regulations, a payday lender holding a Nova Scotia permit must:
- charge no more than $14 per $100 borrowed, the cap set by the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board;
- lend no more than $1500, for no more than 62 days, repaid in one payment on your next pay date;
- charge no more than $20 for a missed payment and no more than 30% a year on an overdue balance;
- accept your cancellation at no cost by the end of the business day after you receive the money, or within 48 hours for an online loan, and at any time if it never told you about the right;
- write no rollover, charge nothing for early repayment, and open no second loan while you still owe on one;
- for an online loan, send the money the same day the agreement is signed.
Nova Scotia has no mandatory extended payment plan, so a lender is not required to split a loan into parts. If the date looks short, call the lender before it arrives and ask in writing for an extension where the only added cost is interest, which the Act allows. Put any complaint in writing and keep a copy; the FAQ covers the common repayment questions.
Lender conduct and collection agents
A permitted lender that will not put things right answers to Service Nova Scotia, which issues every Payday Lender Permit in the province, online lenders included, and takes complaints about permit holders; a lender with no permit goes there too. The cost caps themselves are set by the Board, whose payday loans mandate page publishes its orders.
A collection agent who calls at unreasonable hours, misstates what you owe or threatens what the law does not allow is a consumer protection matter for Service Nova Scotia. Questions about rights across the country, and complaints about a federally regulated bank, go to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
What to keep
Keep the signed agreement, the e-transfer record showing the date and the amount that landed, the cancellation notice if you cancelled, the record of each debit from your chequing account, and every message with the lender or the agent. Service Nova Scotia can act on a dated paper trail.
What we can and cannot do
We can correct our own pages and tell you which door a problem belongs to; we cannot cancel a loan, change a payment date or make a lender answer you. We hold no account with any lender and no access to your application, as the about page explains. Complaint emails are kept until the matter is closed, then deleted, and are never shared with anyone.
Loan options in Halifax
One page per product: who qualifies, how fast it funds and what to check before you sign.
