Hi! I'm an american that immigrated to the UK 3 years ago to marry british citizen. During the time I was first here I was unable to work due to immigration restrictions. Once I was allowed to work after getting further leave to remain I had my first child and could only work part time due to the cost of childcare. With that said, I"ve been unable to pay on my credit cards back in america since shortly after moving here ( i paid them til the money ran out). My family gets my mail in america and the other day a sheriff came to the door to serve me papers for a credit debt but didn't say which company it was etc. I am wondering what the heck do I do from here?? I don't know which credit card company(as I"m sure all of it has been sold on to collection agencies) it was and my family has been throwing away my mail. Does anyone know where I could get some legal questions answered? like what happens if I"m not in America to take to court?? Thanks!
Presumably a default judgment was entered if anybody went to court, meaning that since you didn't contest the debts you probably wouldn't be able to contest them now. But that's probably not a big(ger) problem since you legitimately owed the credit card debt.
The debt will continue to grow, of course. Your credit history in the U.S. has been shot to hell, and debt collectors can try to tap any assets you might have in the United States.
Presumably you know which credit card(s) you had. You can contact the credit card companies, and they'll know who you should be talking with if not them. (It's really not hard to find them if you want.) You can ask for a repayment plan to discharge your remaining debts. Get an offer in writing, and decide whether you want to accept it or not. There are some legitimate, non-profit consumer credit assistance agencies in the U.S., and that would be another option. I think the new U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau maintains a list of such agencies and, if they do, don't use anyone they don't recommend. (There are some bad ones.) Same thing: the agency can make inquiries and help you get a repayment plan offer to retire the debts.
There's nothing you can do to repair your U.S. credit history (if that matters) except wait for 7 years after fully settling the offer.
If you cannot pay the best settlement offer, then you can declare personal bankruptcy in the United States. But that's tricky since your worldwide income and assets are considered in bankruptcy court, and you cannot lie (unless you want a lot more legal jeopardy). So see what repayment offers you can get at this point.
Creditor information is on the papers being served.
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