topic Re: IN debt and leaving the country in General Credit Topics

IN debt and leaving the country

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 19:32:35 GMT

I have about $15000 in credit card debt, plus about $12k on a car loan and about 2k in medical expenses.

I'm planning on leaving the country to go back to the UK, what are my best options for the debt? Walk away and forget about it, or file chapter 7?

I don't plan on moving back to the US to live so will not need credit here in future once I leave.

Are there any implications on coming back to visit, i.e. can a creditor have me detained by US immigration officials for oustanding debt?

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

rprisco — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 22:57:17 GMT

Well good thing we in the USA no longer have debtor prisons, so chances of being detained probably small. Now if you purposly leave with out paying and purposely running up debt, you may be engaged in fraudulent behavior, that is a crime and they will pick ya up for it at the border. I'd pay the bills off, if u file bk under chapter 7 you may have a problem getting back in.

Afterall, would you want someone to come to your country, rack up a bunch of debt and stick it to your citizens by forcing higher interest rates and more difficulty getting credit? I think not, I think it's best you pay b4 leaving or in my opinion you should not come back.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 23:03:22 GMT

A bunch of things to keep in mind if you decide to move out of the States without paying your debts. I know this list because I know a lot of ex-pats, and this is just the short list of what stories I've read:

If the lender finds out you moved out of the country, it's feasible they will charge-off the debt as a profit loss and issue you an IRS form that the write-off is income. The IRS is a debt you can't run from easily.
If you ever try to get a job with an employer with a US presence, wage garnishment can chase you if the wage garnishment is attached to the US side of things. This is rare, but it has happened to folks.
If you go into business for yourself and need a business loan, even European and Middle Eastern banks will want some proof of what you did over the past few years and they CAN pay to have your US credit report pulled (with your approval). I know a guy who moved to Saudi Arabia, started a multimillion dollar business and can't get an Amex business card or personal card, too. Even though he doesn't come to the States, he wanted one.

I'd say there is really no risk of being held if you visit the States unless you owe the IRS. Then assume it'll happen. If a lender files a profit loss income statement to the IRS for the debts they wrote off, you will owe the IRS for sure.

If you have any family here, they may get phone calls for 7+ years from creditors, collections agencies and junk debt buyers.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

SouthJamaica — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 03:28:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi

I have about $15000 in credit card debt, plus about $12k on a car loan and about 2k in medical expenses.

I'm planning on leaving the country to go back to the UK, what are my best options for the debt? Walk away and forget about it, or file chapter 7?

I don't plan on moving back to the US to live so will not need credit here in future once I leave.

Are there any implications on coming back to visit, i.e. can a creditor have me detained by US immigration officials for oustanding debt?

In my opinion it's not a good idea to just turn your back on your obligations. I think your best course of action is to repay your creditors if possible. if it's not possible, then you should file Chapter 7 and get legally discharged from your obligations. You should try to sell the car and repay the car loan.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

Anonymous — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 04:33:43 GMT

You shouldn't do this to your allies.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

marty56 — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 12:45:31 GMT

I suppose there is very little they could do outside the US but could effect employment if they ask questions on your financial history. As others have said first cleanup your mess then leave.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

RobertEG — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 17:55:36 GMT

Are you a U.S. citizen?

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 08:22:12 GMT

PS. RobertEG is really good at thinking through legal issues for folks. I encourage you to get some advice from him.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

RobertEG — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 23:01:24 GMT

My priamry concern would be with the IRS.

The creditor may ultimately file a form 1099c on the bad debt, which brings IRS into the play by noticing them that you have effective "income" that must be claimed in your federal tax return.

Will you have assets remaining in the U.S. that may ultimately be subject to IRS levy or attachment based on unpaid taxes?

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 20:13:42 GMT

I have no assets at all in either country.

If I had the money to pay my debts I wouldn't be leaving the country, but I can't afford to live here any more due to healthcare costs mainly (and car insurance costs)

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

SouthJamaica — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 02:09:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have no assets at all in either country.

If I had the money to pay my debts I wouldn't be leaving the country, but I can't afford to live here any more due to healthcare costs mainly (and car insurance costs)

You may not have the money to pay your debts off now, but there's no law against your continuing to make payments on your US debts when you're in the UK.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 04:11:51 GMT

I'm not going to have money to do that when I move back either

I'll be living paycheck to paycheck just like I am now, the only differene being I won't have healthcare costs.

Salaries are much lower there

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

JVille — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:49:30 GMT

I’m confused. Are you under the impression that your US debts won’t be owed simply because you have moved to the U.K.? Those financial institutions WILL track you down and make you financial life a mess there too. Maybe you need to speak with a lawyer and discuss BK and what your options are. You can absolutely end up in court on the other side of the pond. You need to check it out.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:48:47 GMT

Let me be clear on this:
I am NOT advocating to do what I did, I was very young, fresh out of high school, and this was way back in 1993!
However. I - a stupid kid who just knew he knew everything haha - thought I could go shopping and take out those simple instant approval Store cards like candy, and a couple Visa/MC’s to boot, and then *thought* no biggie I can get on a plane and move abroad when I was offered a full scholarship at a prestigious MidEastern university. Thought I could and would just keep paying even though I would now be in another country. But, US debt quickly became an out-of-sight-out-of-mind issue and the banks there were perfectly happy to give me credit cards, loans, a car loan, and even a mortgage eventually. Several years later I returned to live in the US and found to my dismay all my good credit was gone (over 7 years) - but also all my bad credit was gone, too. I still would be afraid to apply for credit with a couple specific banks that got burned for small amounts, but otherwise haven’t had any issues.
Again, not advocating for you to do this, am merely sharing my personal experience with this issue. You may want to try and find out since it is the UK you are going back to and not the Middle East like I did, whether or not it’s standard practice in the UK to share information with US lenders and credit report bureaus, etc. Given that our countries are very close in many ways and both English speaking, you may find that it may be a little more problematic than if you were moving to say Korea or Germany or somewhere like that.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

trusty — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 18:17:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have no assets at all in either country.

If I had the money to pay my debts I wouldn't be leaving the country, but I can't afford to live here any more due to healthcare costs mainly (and car insurance costs)

Car insurance shouldn't be so high that you can't survive... unless you have caused multiple accidents. The way to get good auto rates is just to keep your credit & driving history in good standing, and always shop around at renewal time. Naturally, not paying debts timely fails at the first part of that equation.

Also, if you get speeding tickets, the prudent thing to do is obtain a traffic attorney to plead down to jaywalking or parking fines. Then, it doesn't show up on your DMV report, which insurers use to set rates.

Ultimately, if you've already decided to leave, I would still consider making payments on your debt. To wit: Anything less than 100k is probably not worth going nuclear over.

Also, in the new global economy... your history can very well follow you anywhere.

Re: IN debt and leaving the country

marty56 — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 13:38:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Given that our countries are very close in many ways and both English speaking, you may find that it may be a little more problematic than if you were moving to say Korea or Germany or somewhere like that.

Moral of the story, it's better to go to a non-English speaking country if you decide to rip people off. LOL been to Korea several times and they speak better English there then I do. Spell better too!