British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
#1
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Location: Orange County, CA
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British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
My wife just got her immigrant visa. She'll be coming over in 4 weeks. She has an unsecured loan from HSBC in the amount of roughly £6,000. What should she do? What would happen if she didn't continue to pay it?
#2
Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
Does she have any assets in the UK? The bank may well pursue her for the debt in Court. Presumably she would not defend this action (in fact she would have no defence anyway - as the debt is in fact due). The bank would then obtain a Court decree against her. The decree may not be of much use to the bank if your wife has no assets in the UK and is resident abroad. However, if she were to return to the UK, this decree could cause her a problem. Certainly her credit rating would be shot to pieces for a start. The bank may even try to recover the debt through the various reciprocal agreements in place between the UK and the US re implementation of Court Decrees. In my view, be very careful. Simply jumping ship to the US may not mean that this would not affect your wife.
#3
Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
If she bought a car with it, then presumably she can sell that to help cover the costs. Otherwise I suggest that she contacts the bank and arranges to continue payment from the USA.
#4
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Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
Does she have any assets in the UK? The bank may well pursue her for the debt in Court. Presumably she would not defend this action (in fact she would have no defence anyway - as the debt is in fact due). The bank would then obtain a Court decree against her. The decree may not be of much use to the bank if your wife has no assets in the UK and is resident abroad. However, if she were to return to the UK, this decree could cause her a problem. Certainly her credit rating would be shot to pieces for a start. The bank may even try to recover the debt through the various reciprocal agreements in place between the UK and the US re implementation of Court Decrees. In my view, be very careful. Simply jumping ship to the US may not mean that this would not affect your wife.
Has anyone been through this before?
#5
Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
I assume that your wife is currently making monthly payments on the loan. Keep making the payments would seem like a good idea to me. I would recommend setting up an account with xe.com. You can then transfer the money from your US account into your wife's HSBC account each month as necessary. Bear in mind it will take a few days for the money to be transferred, so make sure you send the payment at least a week before it is due (I would recommend two weeks).
#6
Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
Pay it if she can afford it.
Not a lot I wouldn't think. They may try to pursue it; they may not. They may get to blot her future US credit record; they may not. They may get to pursue it in a US civil court; they may not. After seven years of inaction on the account it dies in the US. Debtors jail went out with Dickens. It's purely a civil matter.
Not a lot I wouldn't think. They may try to pursue it; they may not. They may get to blot her future US credit record; they may not. They may get to pursue it in a US civil court; they may not. After seven years of inaction on the account it dies in the US. Debtors jail went out with Dickens. It's purely a civil matter.
#7
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Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
Pay it if she can afford it.
Not a lot I wouldn't think. They may try to pursue it; they may not. They may get to blot her future US credit record; they may not. They may get to pursue it in a US civil court; they may not. After seven years of inaction on the account it dies in the US. Debtors jail went out with Dickens. It's purely a civil matter.
Not a lot I wouldn't think. They may try to pursue it; they may not. They may get to blot her future US credit record; they may not. They may get to pursue it in a US civil court; they may not. After seven years of inaction on the account it dies in the US. Debtors jail went out with Dickens. It's purely a civil matter.
The loan is unsecured, so it is uncollateralized, and there is no car, house, etc, attached to it.
I do understand the moral and ethical implications. But I'm more interested in the legal ramifications.
#8
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Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
The bank hasn't yet been informed that she's leaving the UK. How would the bank track back to the states? Furthermore, the loan is in her maiden name and she's going with my sir name when here.
The loan is unsecured, so it is uncollateralized, and there is no car, house, etc, attached to it.
I do understand the moral and ethical implications. But I'm more interested in the legal ramifications.
The loan is unsecured, so it is uncollateralized, and there is no car, house, etc, attached to it.
I do understand the moral and ethical implications. But I'm more interested in the legal ramifications.
#11
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Joined: May 2007
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Posts: 2,328
Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
There is overwhelming confidence among lots of the posters that you can't be touched once you're outside the country, you can't be touched if it's consumer debt, you can't be touched if you don't have an address in the UK...but unfortunately a lot of that confidence is based on "my auntie Shirley's hairdresser used to work as a debt collector" information. A lot of the sources linked to that supposedly support those claims don't say anything of the sort. I'm posting at the end of the thread asking for info that actually confirms what is being claimed; I don't dispute what is being claimed (I don't know enough about the subject to know one way or the other) but I am just wondering if any of it can be substantiated. In other words, once again, some of the legal advice on the internet is worth as much as you pay for it...
As far as how things work in practice, that's something that people might be able to comment about from their own experience.
#12
Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
The bank hasn't yet been informed that she's leaving the UK. How would the bank track back to the states? Furthermore, the loan is in her maiden name and she's going with my sir name when here.
The loan is unsecured, so it is uncollateralized, and there is no car, house, etc, attached to it.
I do understand the moral and ethical implications. But I'm more interested in the legal ramifications.
The loan is unsecured, so it is uncollateralized, and there is no car, house, etc, attached to it.
I do understand the moral and ethical implications. But I'm more interested in the legal ramifications.
#13
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 41,518
Re: British wife moving to US, has an unsecured loan
Just noticed he's a knight