Living in Europe...can't pay CC debts in California

[expat]

Hello All,

I've been lurking on this forum for a few days now and it has been a wealth of information. Thanks to all the contributors. I'm a newbie so please forgive me if my situation has already been discussed...feel free to direct me to any older threads that relate to me.

Now about my situation. I moved to Europe in April 2007. I'm now married, going to school and will probably live here for the rest of my life since my husband is from here. Since I moved almost 2 years ago, I basically stopped paying all of my credit cards. I also don't own any property and all that's left in California under my name is my checking account which has a balance of about $4000. I do have a car in my name however my parents technically bought it from me and we've just never changed the title. The car is paid for, free and clear.

I have about $30K in credit card debt. All my mail goes to my parents' house. It's the same drill...never-ending phone calls, stacks of letters, etc. I just checked my credit report and it looks like everything has already been charged off.

At this point, should I consider bankruptcy/Chapter 7? I can afford to pay the attorney fees but two attorneys I've talked to have straight out told me not to even bother. I have no intentions of moving back to California. Perhaps just a visit to my parents twice a year but other than that, my life is here in Europe with my husband.

Both these attorneys have told me that creditors have bigger fish to fry and the sum of my debts is "just a drop in the bucket". I find this hard to believe but it's already been almost 2 years and as far as I know, there aren't any judgments, liens, or summons' in my name. One attorney told me to just wait it out until the 4 year SOL comes into play.

Another attorney told me they can go after my husband's income here in Europe. I find that really hard to believe. Does the US have any jurisdiction here in Europe? And I really don't think Europe has any interest in some measily $30K of unpaid debt in the US. Besides, the US economy is kind of like a joke here anyway.

Can anyone share their knowledge or give me some input? It would be greatly appreciated.

[BROKENN]

Hi and welcome
First off, I wouldN'T claim a BK. Since you are in Europe, married and staying the timeline is on your side IMHO. I don't know how they could come after your hubby and did you make the debt before marriage? Maybe someone knows about overseas situations.

On your car, I think you should change the title. In a BK, it would still be considered yours. Or if you transfered title, it would be a preferential (insider trade).

Can you drain your US account? I would do that too

[expat]

Yes, I can drain the account. But I have to leave some sort of balance in there since I have a payment plan on some unpaid taxes with the IRS. Nothing bad...the payment plan is current and they automatically deduct $100 a month. One thing I know for sure...don't mess with the IRS!!

And yes, all the debts were acquired before we got married. So I guess in that sense, they can't do anything to my husband.

I can also transfer the title to my parents but I think they might have to claim bankruptcy too. One attorney told me to gift it to them but I don't want to do that if they end up filing for BK.

It looks like time is on my side but I really have no way of knowing if I'm going to be sued or not.

[BROKENN]

Can you pay the IRS off?

I don't think they can garnish wages in Europe??

Just thoughts

[expat]

Yes, I can pay the IRS off but then that leaves me with almost $0 to pay a bankruptcy attorney in case I end up doing that.

I should also add that I'm not working so there wouldn't be any wages to garnish. And I really don't think they're going to garnish my husband's wages either...yeah, I'd like to see them try that!!

My husband takes care of me and provides for everything so I don't really want to get him involved in this mess. This all happened before we got married and they are MY debts so I don't see why I should ask him to help me. He could easily pay it off but why would I let him do that?

[BROKENN]

You got it made GF!
Pay the IRS, keep the car, close the account and live happily ever after!!

[magyar123]

Hard to believe that you still have that $4000 checking account in California - and that it hasn't been frozen/garnished yet. If it is still active, not frozen yet, contact that bank, ask them to close that account, and to wire those funds to the bank that you currently have an account with in Europe.
As far as what the attorney told you regarding the possibility of going after your husband's income overseas - he's full of it - unless your husband works for an American contractor.

[TEW]

Pay the IRS since you are paying penalties and interest leave the car alone let your parents keep using it. Close the account and enjoy your life.

[expat]

Is it really so easy to just forget it all, never pay it back and move on? I can close the account and wire the rest of the money here. I'm still worried about the car though.

I don't know what it is but when I initially moved out of the US, that bank account had almost $50K in it. Now it only has $4K because I had to buy a car here in Europe and not to mention living expenses, etc. How it's managed to still be there all this time, I really don't know. I guess I could have paid everything off before I moved but I really needed some savings just in case. I thought I would be working and could actually pay the credit cards back from here but learning a new language has set me back a bit.

Would they come after the car and if so, how long would it take until there's a lien on it? Is it even worth their time?

[ready2puke]

Like everyone said...pay the IRS and get them out of your life...transfer the car to you folks. Are your parents getting the calls? I really would try to not worry about it. I know its all relative and easy for me to say, but seriously unless you plan on moving back here its a done deal. In a few years you'll be over the statue of limitations on the debts anyway..have fun in Europe...I bet we all wish we had your problems lol...Im jelous! Can I rent out one of your rooms? Im coming over....lol

[expat]

If I transfered the car to my parents, wouldn't that be like hiding assets which is then considered a crime? It seems to me that it would take them quite some time to go through the motions of getting a judgment and then slapping a lien on the car.

And how does one go about checking to see if there's a judgment on them? I checked on my credit report and there isn't one on there. But then again, credit reports aren't always updated. Is there another way? Someone mentioned the "local county clerk's office". Is there a way to run your name through a system on line?

[magyar123]

If you own the car free and clear just sell the car to your parents for $50. That will change the title to them, after they pay the sales tax on the actual blue book value of the car at the time of sale, and of course any other fees that the Motor Vehicles Dept. might impose.

[vermontbloke197]

ok I think I know something about this. I left the UK back in 1999 with a credit card debt equilvalent to $3500 and a UK student loan debt of around$2500. Now no one came after me for the student loan and no one would have come after me for the credit card debt had I not had a one night fling with an ex-girlfriend just before I left the UK...........she just happened to work for the the credit card company I owed the debt to. Three years later, I got harassed to death by an american collection company who had bought the debt. Because I had worked extremely hard to build my credit in the US and I didn't know the ground rules for credit in the USA..............I paid the debt to avoid the threat of court and having my credit ruined. With hindsight, I shouldn't have paid the debt because I suspect that this collection agency had no legal grounds to sue me. I must have called around 10 consumer law attorneys about whether I could be sued over a foreign debt and not one of them knew. I decided not to wait around for any court date...................anyway the point is generally foreign debts don't follow and in seven years your credit report in the usa should be clear of this debt.............so don't declare bankruptcy.

[expat]

Ok so I'm taking everyone's suggestions and my decision is to move forward in this manner:

• pay off taxes owed to IRS via online payment (the faster, the better)
• drain my existing bank account in the US once payment to IRS has cleared
• forget that this ever happened
• continue to study German and live happily ever after

I'm still unsure what to do about the car. It's a bit of a complicated situation. I don't want to put it in my parents' name because they too will probably claim bankruptcy in the very near future. Can I/should I gift it to my sister? I'm afraid it will look like I'm hiding assets if I do that.

[BROKENN]

I think it is a good plan

Is the car paid for?
Leave it alone too..... your parents will be fine.