Credit card debt returning US

[Silvermanto]

Hi I'm a US citizen and have around 15k or less credit card debt. All government loans were paid off. Something happened three and a half years ago in my home town and I had to leave Washington state and took care of it. So my question is: it's has been 3 and a half year and I'm heading back to washington state for short visit.
1. I'm sure the debt did gall into collection agency. Will it go to court?
2. Since I had been gone since 2007 and will there be a warrant on me since I didn't appear to court (if there was one)
3. I will be entering Vancouver bc airport then to Seattle by driving. I'm afraid I will get caught for warrant at the border.

Hopefully someone can answer my questions and thanks for the help in advance.

[vdlrao]

I am not a lawyer or legal adivsor and the below information is just my understanding.




I don't think you wiill be looked after based on your credit card debt. But the court may give the permission to credit card issuer to collect the debt in full from you as you didn't show up. So in that case if you have any earnings in US, then some portion of your earnings will be taken away by the collections or card issuer, on every month till the debt is cleared in full.

This is just my idea.


.

[anu_t]

Why don't you pay it off? It might have ruined your credit history. But you still can take care of it ,if you pay of the balance.

[anai]

I have no answer to your question of whether you will be stopped at the border. Good luck.

I do hope, however, that you are planning on paying off the debt when you are here, although it is not clear why you have not paid it off in the last 3.5 years. There is a cost to the rest of us in the society (in terms of higher borrowing costs) every time someone defaults.

Hi I'm a US citizen and have around 15k or less credit card debt. All government loans were paid off. Something happened three and a half years ago in my home town and I had to leave Washington state and took care of it. So my question is: it's has been 3 and a half year and I'm heading back to washington state for short visit.
1. I'm sure the debt did gall into collection agency. Will it go to court?
2. Since I had been gone since 2007 and will there be a warrant on me since I didn't appear to court (if there was one)
3. I will be entering Vancouver bc airport then to Seattle by driving. I'm afraid I will get caught for warrant at the border.

Hopefully someone can answer my questions and thanks for the help in advance.

[Leo07]

Disclaimer: I'm not an attorney, please take my advice at your own risk.

I honestly think your are ok. There is no need to worry. Yes, your credit history is messed up, but there are 10 million others with you in the same boat.

Depending on the state you have lived/living/will live, there is a time limit up to which debtors can bother you. Like, take you to court and maintain the case active etc etc...which obviously will cost the debtor 10 times more than your original debt. So, the original debtor will have sold your debt to collection-agency. Collection agencies can call you and scare the heck out of you, remember they can only scare you and hurry you into making a mistake. Worse comes to worse, you can negotiate with them and settle the debt for 30-50% of it's worth.

Your best bet is to consult a government or not-for-profit debt help agency as soon as you come back. They will have fool-proof answers and methods to get your credit back into good standing. Methods like, opening a credit-card with pre-paid/balance and paying bills on time. paying utility bills on time etc.

Bottom line is you are ok.

Best!

Hi I'm a US citizen and have around 15k or less credit card debt. All government loans were paid off. Something happened three and a half years ago in my home town and I had to leave Washington state and took care of it. So my question is: it's has been 3 and a half year and I'm heading back to washington state for short visit.
1. I'm sure the debt did gall into collection agency. Will it go to court?
2. Since I had been gone since 2007 and will there be a warrant on me since I didn't appear to court (if there was one)
3. I will be entering Vancouver bc airport then to Seattle by driving. I'm afraid I will get caught for warrant at the border.

Hopefully someone can answer my questions and thanks for the help in advance.

[rahul2699]

Hi I'm a US citizen and have around 15k or less credit card debt. All government loans were paid off. Something happened three and a half years ago in my home town and I had to leave Washington state and took care of it. So my question is: it's has been 3 and a half year and I'm heading back to washington state for short visit.
1. I'm sure the debt did gall into collection agency. Will it go to court?
2. Since I had been gone since 2007 and will there be a warrant on me since I didn't appear to court (if there was one)
3. I will be entering Vancouver bc airport then to Seattle by driving. I'm afraid I will get caught for warrant at the border.

Hopefully someone can answer my questions and thanks for the help in advance.

Debt is a civil matter and there will not be a warrant for your arrest even if its with collection agencies..if anything there could be a verdict against you depending on where the debt collectors are with your debt. You can still talk to the debt collectors and agree on a payment plan or a settlement.

* Not a legal advise. This is just my personal opinion

[sam_hoosier]

Hi I'm a US citizen and have around 15k or less credit card debt. All government loans were paid off. Something happened three and a half years ago in my home town and I had to leave Washington state and took care of it. So my question is: it's has been 3 and a half year and I'm heading back to washington state for short visit.
1. I'm sure the debt did gall into collection agency. Will it go to court?
2. Since I had been gone since 2007 and will there be a warrant on me since I didn't appear to court (if there was one)
3. I will be entering Vancouver bc airport then to Seattle by driving. I'm afraid I will get caught for warrant at the border.

Hopefully someone can answer my questions and thanks for the help in advance.

The fact that you have not made any attempt to pay the debt in the last 3 1/2 years definitely raises a question mark on your motive. Has the card company made any attempt to collect the debt ? More importantly do you intend to pay it now ?

You should call up the card company and explain your situation and make arrangements to pay. If you have financial difficulty, you should work out a payment plan.

As for your question, I don't think there would be a warrant out for your arrest although this debt would have definitely gone against your credit history.

[Silvermanto]

Thank you for all the replies. Paying it off is part of the purpose of heading back Coz I will be gone again.

Thanks again!

[dxldad]

Thank you for all the replies. Paying it off is part of the purpose of heading back Coz I will be gone again.

Thanks again!

You do not have to pay it back. As previously stated, there is no debtor's prison in US. If that was the case, all the people who went into foreclosure would be in jail. The credit card company made you an unsecured loan, their loss! You should talk to someone who knows this inside out, but since you do not have any assets in the US, they won't be able to do anything to you.

[skpanda]

Thank you for all the replies. Paying it off is part of the purpose of heading back Coz I will be gone again.

Thanks again!


Why do you have to travel to WA to pay off the debt. Just call your card company and wire transfer the money or some other modes of payment. If the account is with collections, you can do the same.

[sanz]

You do not have to pay it back. As previously stated, there is no debtor's prison in US. If that was the case, all the people who went into foreclosure would be in jail. The credit card company made you an unsecured loan, their loss! You should talk to someone who knows this inside out, but since you do not have any assets in the US, they won't be able to do anything to you.

Agreed

[sam_hoosier]

You do not have to pay it back. As previously stated, there is no debtor's prison in US. If that was the case, all the people who went into foreclosure would be in jail. The credit card company made you an unsecured loan, their loss! You should talk to someone who knows this inside out, but since you do not have any assets in the US, they won't be able to do anything to you.

You are advising him to willingly default on a loan :eek:

Are you sure that's what you want to do ?

[dxldad]

You are advising him to willingly default on a loan :eek:

Are you sure that's what you want to do ?

I am not advising him anything, I am just stating facts. You know that you are not supposed to drive at 66 mph on the freeway when the speed limit is 65 mph. But if you speed, you evaluate the consequences and do it accordingly.

You should abide by the laws of the land. In India, if you write someone a check and there are insufficient funds, you go to jail. If you do not repay your credit card debt, goons will come after you. In US, there are laws which govern what happens when you do not repay credit card debt. The credit card companies take the risk by giving out unsecured loans and charge higher interest for that.

[sam_hoosier]

I am not advising him anything, I am just stating facts. You know that you are not supposed to drive at 66 mph on the freeway when the speed limit is 65 mph. But if you speed, you evaluate the consequences and do it accordingly.

You should abide by the laws of the land. In India, if you write someone a check and there are insufficient funds, you go to jail. If you do not repay your credit card debt, goons will come after you. In US, there are laws which govern what happens when you do not repay credit card debt. The credit card companies take the risk by giving out unsecured loans and charge higher interest for that.

Your comment is factually incorrect.

The creditor (or collection agency) can take you to court. If you don’t show up,the judge rules in favor of the creditor and against you. However, this judgment is just an acknowledgement that you owe the money.

In order to collect another court date must be assigned to perform a ‘writ of execution’. If they summon you for this, and you don’t appear, they may issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

If the amount is small enough, the creditor may just write it off (with impact to your credit history). But if its big enough they could go down the legal route.

[Leo07]

Sir, People, including me, are not trying to suggest or recommending to default a loan. He already defaulted a loan 4 years ago--we are just trying to tell him that--the debt is more likely sold multiple times to multiple collection agencies at multiple levels for literally pennies on a dollar.( < 10 )

So, in this context, for the OP the bad/worst is behind, there is nothing he can do about past. There is nothing scary w.r.t the same debt for future. We are trying to explain the situation and trying to console the OP.

Absolutely, this is NOT to encourage defaulting a loan. He would very well know about it by now that defaulting a loan will screw-up his credit history for at least 7 years.

Best!


You are advising him to willingly default on a loan :eek:

Are you sure that's what you want to do ?

[punjabi]

I don't think you will get arrested but by this time, all your bank accounts might have got sealed by the collection agency if they take that much trouble for just 15k debt.

I also want to say that I seriously doubt your intentions to come back after 3.5 years just to pay off the loan. And if the intentions are true, why are you afraid? Just pay and let the burden go off your mind.


Hi I'm a US citizen and have around 15k or less credit card debt. All government loans were paid off. Something happened three and a half years ago in my home town and I had to leave Washington state and took care of it. So my question is: it's has been 3 and a half year and I'm heading back to washington state for short visit.
1. I'm sure the debt did gall into collection agency. Will it go to court?
2. Since I had been gone since 2007 and will there be a warrant on me since I didn't appear to court (if there was one)
3. I will be entering Vancouver bc airport then to Seattle by driving. I'm afraid I will get caught for warrant at the border.

Hopefully someone can answer my questions and thanks for the help in advance.

[hey.camelo]

Hey Brother,

I had a tough situation in my life and i was in this scenario and came out.

I consulted a debt services company and they settled it for me and repared my credit score. but, i had a serious intention to clear the debts.

normally the creditors go to court after 3 years, so talk to them through a company or by urself if you are ready to settle. If you settled like 30-50%, the creditors will send I099C and you have to pay tax for that...

Cheers,

[Silvermanto]

See that's what I worry about what Sam_hoiser said regarding to a bench warrant

[Leo07]

sam_hoosier,

You are correct to the 'could' part.

Let me begin my explanation by stating my position on debt default:It is bad, it' NOT worth it and don't ever do it. With the explanation that I will be providing below, I don't want to sound like I'm encouraging debt defaulting, which I'm absolutely NOT. There are severe consequences for your credit, if you default a debt.

So, with that accusation out of my way :), let me explain the logic behind why I think OP is ok. Only thing that is in OP's favor is statutory time-limits, he had dodged the debt bullet for 5 years,afaik, creditors including the collection agencies lose their right to take him to court for a debt older than 5 years from the first date of default. Unless, OP makes some kind of partial payment now, which will bring the debt to current. At this point it will be a mistake for OP to do that. Collection agencies force him to do that mistake with all kinds of scary tactics -- He got to have a thick skin to settle the debt with whatever he can afford once for all.
Secondly, collection agencies buy debt in bulk, like 1000 defaults at a time. Collection agencies go through a rigorous screening processes, including threatening phone calls, attorney-letter-head notifications etc, for each debt, even before they can take it to court. When they could not talk to him or trace him or find any utility bills of him for 5 years, they would just consider him as MIA. Unless this guy is a rich dude with Hummers parked outside his mansion all the time Or has couple of rental properties on his name, they will not risk further investment on this particular debt.

Like always, my 2 cents.

I stand by my suggestion that OP must seek help from a Govt or a not-for-profit Debt Help or the best thing is to seek Attorney's help if you can afford. Don't go to the collection agency or to any of your debtors first.

Best!
Your comment is factually incorrect.

The creditor (or collection agency) can take you to court. If you don’t show up,the judge rules in favor of the creditor and against you. However, this judgment is just an acknowledgement that you owe the money.

In order to collect another court date must be assigned to perform a ‘writ of execution’. If they summon you for this, and you don’t appear, they may issue a bench warrant for your arrest.

If the amount is small enough, the creditor may just write it off (with impact to your credit history). But if its big enough they could go down the legal route.

[sam_hoosier]

sam_hoosier,

You are correct to the 'could' part.

Let me begin my explanation by stating my position on debt default:It is bad, it' NOT worth it and don't ever do it. With the explanation that I will be providing below, I don't want to sound like I'm encouraging debt defaulting, which I'm absolutely NOT. There are severe consequences for your credit, if you default a debt.

So, with that accusation out of my way :), let me explain the logic behind why I think OP is ok. Only thing that is in OP's favor is statutory time-limits, he had dodged the debt bullet for 5 years,afaik, creditors including the collection agencies lose their right to take him to court for a debt older than 5 years from the first date of default. Unless, OP makes some kind of partial payment now, which will bring the debt to current. At this point it will be a mistake for OP to do that. Collection agencies force him to do that mistake with all kinds of scary tactics -- He got to have a thick skin to settle the debt with whatever he can afford once for all.
Secondly, collection agencies buy debt in bulk, like 1000 defaults at a time. Collection agencies go through a rigorous screening processes, including threatening phone calls, attorney-letter-head notifications etc, for each debt, even before they can take it to court. When they could not talk to him or trace him or find any utility bills of him for 5 years, they would just consider him as MIA. Unless this guy is a rich dude with Hummers parked outside his mansion all the time Or has couple of rental properties on his name, they will not risk further investment on this particular debt.

Like always, my 2 cents.

I stand by my suggestion that OP must seek help from a Govt or a not-for-profit Debt Help or the best thing is to seek Attorney's help if you can afford. Don't go to the collection agency or to any of your debtors first.

Best!

Sorry to say, you have your facts wrong :cool:

The SOL for WA on open ended accounts is 6 years, and credit card debt is considered open ended account. The collection agency definitely has the option to take him to court. Now they may not actually do it, but the OP was concerned about the risk of being taken to court and that risk is definitely there.

[Silvermanto]

I thought SOL for Washington State is 3 years.

[sam_hoosier]

WA SoL is 6 years for written contracts.

[Silvermanto]

Alright thanks. So means that I might be arrested for some kind of bench warrant when I drive passing the US border from Canada....