Family_Guy

Or the reverse which is the Bank taking it from the taxpayer and handing it out to senior execs in the form of a bonus. After all it ISN'T stealing if you are rich is it?

As others have done, you also miss the small but very important point of "intent". But lawyers the world over thank you for it - it keeps them in business

another bloody yank

I didn't miss the intent. If you take out a loan and don't intend to repay it...

And if I can go to my bank, take out what I put in plus interest, what has been stolen?

If you are referring to Goldman Sachs bonuses, unless I'm mistaken, they repaid the bailout money some time ago.

Family_Guy

I am referring to AIG amongst many others.

merz

.....waiting patiently for everyone to agree that this is a completely fine thing to do whilst working out on my calculator how much I can save by running away and not paying all those loans.....

Seriously, it never even occurred to me. The world is a lot smaller than it was, maybe 50 years ago those who went off to Amerikay were never to be seen or heard of again (so my Mum says) and could avoid their debts. I am not brave enough to chance it.

lapin_windstar

Holy unsubstantiated claims, Batman!

...you're in a different position from the OP's OH.

Family_Guy

25+ years in the industry says otherwise Robin

sleepysnooze

It is much easier for HSBC to chase you in the US than a lot of people in this topic think! It is mostly determined by the law of the particular State you are in. It will be a pain in the **** for HSBC and could be costly for them, but it is definitely possible. The earlier estimate of a $35k cost to the bank is way over the top.

Whether they'd bother to pursue you over a £6k debt or not I don't know. I imagine they would have a pretty good go, or at least hand you over to a collection agency as other posters mentioned. Not to mention that you large costs and interest if you ever return to the UK, or if they do manage to get a US court to enforce the debt. It is definitely a risk.

(I'm a trainee corporate lawyer BTW... don't specialise in this kind of thing but have an outline knowledge)

Family_Guy

The 35k is not over the top at all. I could burn HSBC through 100K in costs before they even got of the ground in PA and that's on a slow day when I am not thinking too hard about it.

Flying witnesses in hoteling them + Billable hours, depos, document retrieval etc etc. HSBC do not use in house counsel they have panel firms and the hourly rates for non standard default judgement collection is pretty steep.

Any collectors here can be sent a simple cease and desist letter and they are gone. The chances of any JDB proving a case based on bought UK paper here in the US for consumer debt is slightly better than a snowball in hell but not by much.

I have seen a lot of misinformation in various threads on this subject and much of it is well intentioned but very misinformed.

Your outline knowledge should make you aware of the venue and jurisdictional issues that arise and each state has its own version of FDCPA.

Then there is the whole other problem of consumer protection legislation in two very different countries to contend with.


The bottom line is if a person wishes to conduct their affairs in that fashion the chances of them avoiding the debt whilst living in the USA are exceptionally high. As to what happens if they return to the UK well that is a whole other matter.

As to whether or not they should act in this way I make no comment either way. I simply want to correct some of the misinformation I have seen in older posts on similar sets of circumstances.

I had one client recently who was being sued for an $11,500 credit card debt that was still with the original (USA) creditor. The CC company was able to provide the original contract signed, a full accounting for 5 years plus of the account. There is no doubt they owed the money and were quite candid about it. Easy pickings for the bank to collect right?

Not quite the client walked away with judgement against the CC company and a check for damages. Recovery of consumer debt when it is defended is not as simple in the USA as people believe it is.

In fact practically all credit card debt, and a large percentage of other consumer debt presently owed in the USA is simply not recoverable through court action.

lapin_windstar

Well, it ain't substantiated here, so I'm afraid I'm treating you like the Joker by default!

For instance - that last claim often pops up t'internet (moneysavingexpert, here...), often accompanied by C&P odysseys bringing up the Magna Carta, Dred Scott and the moon landings. But I haven't seen anyone ever substantiate it with a credible source. It might well be perfectly true but there hasn't been anything (I've seen) to support the claims.

Can you be the first??? The mission, should you choose to accept it, is there...

Family_Guy

The substantiation is available to you at your local court house. Go pull the dockets and amaze yourself.

Learning by reading is much better than learning by spoon feeding - at least that is what I was told at Uni.

Or keep the batmask on and continue to be blinded.

lapin_windstar

Not an unfair comment by any means. The problem is that the internet is knee-deep in people spouting off what "the law is" without any indication of where they get their information from or why they feel confident in making such bold and bald statements.

Unfortunately that confuses people looking for advice, lets people delude themselves into unwise decisions and dilutes what might be the useful advice of people who might actually know what they're talking about - like you!

lj2

Nope - I send $2k back to the UK every month for debts I could have run away from... been doing it since I got here (18 months) And dont get to stop until mid 2011!

No complaints here - I spent the money and agreed to the stupid arse interest rates!