Out of the country -judgements and the like

[Proxy]

Hey all,

I was going to file BK Ch 7 before I leave the country (to live overseas for 10 months) but it apears i won't have time to do so before i leave end of this month.

While i am gone, the CC companies may sue me and win a default judgement since i won"t be here to attend court and say anything in my defense.

I stopped paying my CC's (highest Amex CC to the tune of 50K and the rest with Chase ,Wells at between 15k to 20K) between March to May 2009. I have had letters from CC's attorneys asking me to pay up , should I write back and if so, what do I write? Would writing back stall the law suit?

I am thinking that I would file BK next July 2010 when i get back to the US. By that time, if there are CC judgements against me, will they be discharged by the BK Ch 7? Time too would have passed but my total CC debt of over 100k (as time passes, debt with interest accrues higher) would that be a problem??

I am also foreclosing on the first and second mortage .I am in CA. Will send back keys to Ist bank Wells Fargo,before i leave the country!CC debt, house foreclose and a few incidental phone company and utility bills are all that would be included in the BK when i file next year.


Any input would greatly help! (should i consult a lawyer before i leave knowing i will be gone 10 months?)

[music12]

technically, they need to serve you with a summons before they can get any judgment. they can't serve you when you are away, so technically you should be safe. however, it has been known to happen that their lawyers would file lawsuits but never bother to serve them (or do sewer-service), and still manage to cheat the court to get default judgments.

one thing you might do - and i don't know if it's a good or bad idea - is to tell them that you are moving away from the country and give them your foreign address. that way they would be hard pressed to sue you having knowledge you are not there.

another thing you must make sure of is not to leave any assets behind - any bank accounts will be in danger of being levied upon.

yes, when you file all judgments will be discharged unless they are for fraud or drunk driving or something like that.

some posters have said that when the cc debt is above $100K, your bk case may be looked at more closely.

yes, consult a lawyer before you go. consultations are free and you should get an idea of what you are up against when you return.

[jribe]

if you leave the country and don't keep an address here it will stop the statute of limitations though... just FYI.

technically, they need to serve you with a summons before they can get any judgment. they can't serve you when you are away, so technically you should be safe. however, it has been known to happen that their lawyers would file lawsuits but never bother to serve them (or do sewer-service), and still manage to cheat the court to get default judgments.

one thing you might do - and i don't know if it's a good or bad idea - is to tell them that you are moving away from the country and give them your foreign address. that way they would be hard pressed to sue you having knowledge you are not there.

another thing you must make sure of is not to leave any assets behind - any bank accounts will be in danger of being levied upon.

yes, when you file all judgments will be discharged unless they are for fraud or drunk driving or something like that.

some posters have said that when the cc debt is above $100K, your bk case may be looked at more closely.

yes, consult a lawyer before you go. consultations are free and you should get an idea of what you are up against when you return.

[music12]

jribe is right, but this is only an issue if all the person's debts are about to expire. otherwise, he's filing bk and the sol won't make a difference.

[Proxy]

Thanks!

These are all great answers, thanks!

SOL in CA is 4 years(I think) , wonder if it is 4 years from WHEN, what date?

I plan on having a PO Box near a friend's place so he can check my mail daily.He had said I could use his home address but methinks that my friend can be served then at his home, hence better to get a PO BOX and forward all my mail there?Is that a better idea to get a PO Box?
I really don't want them to know where I am going to be located, hence I won't give them my foreign address.

I plan on filing sometime June 2010 or July 2010. Right now the CC debt is 90K but I am sure it would accrue to much more, over 100K for sure once I get back. I also have a house to foreclose on , 1st and second and plan on using the insolvency clause when i file my taxes April 2010 so I dont have to pay taxes on whatever 1099 they may issue.

Nope, I won;t have any assets, just an old car 1994 which I will put a non operational permit and store at a friend's property way out in the countryside.
Bank account will also only have about 500 usd for incidentals,should i leave less??

Hmmmm....maybe I won't even have to file BK and simply wait out the SOL?? I could only file if I find out that I have a judgement against me??I have the option to continue living overseas (I will be back end of JUne 2010, July and August 2010 to sort things out and visit CA) but I have the option to stay on in Europe if I want to for an indefinite time:-))

How do i even know I have been served??? Can I check online anywhere to see ,while I am overseas?? Please advise? I will be in the Eastern District of CAlifornia for BK court, since my address is now Sacramento

However, once I move, I will change the address to another city, another county some 3 hrs away?? For info on whether I have been served or judgements against me, I should still look under the district where my old address is , right?? (Sacramento) As for filing bankruptcy I can file anywhere in CA right, or do i have to file under the county where I had lived while that debt was incurred??

What do you think? Don't file BK 7 till I have reason to do so..(judgements etc ) or just file when i come back for a visit, (June/July/August)???

[Proxy]

??

Another thing..when i do consult an attorney before i leave, should I tell him/her that I am about to leave the country?? How long does one have to be a resident of a place before filing? I have lived in CA for 17 years YTD and when i leave end of this month, I will be away from CA for 10 months before i come back for another 3 months.

[music12]

you would check for filings in the county where your current address is, or for that matter in the county where your creditors might have reason to believe you live.

yes, if you want them not to serve anybody, a pobox is the solution. however, they might serve "you" at your prior physical address. when you open a pobox you will be required by the post office to give a physical home address, and presumably you would give the address you are in now (if you give your friend's address, they will try to serve you there).

you would file bk in your prior district (no, not anywhere in CA), or wait a few months in your new address and file in that district.

i would leave next to nothing in a bank account if you think they'll get judgments against you. or check local rules whether there is some minimum in an account that's exempt from levy, if so leave that amount (which could very well be around $500).

yes, if you are close to the SOL and nobody files against you, you could wait it out and avoid bk. in that case don't tell anybody you were out of the country or the SOL counting gets tolled...

it doesn't matter what you tell the attorney you consult. you could ask hypothetically if you don't want to actually tell him.

[whipster1]

They can serve you by posting at the courthouse here, so depends on your state law how they can "substitute service" if you aren't there to get the papers from the constable.

[music12]

true, but substitute service takes longer because ordinary service has to fail first.

usually the service wouldn't be by posting at a courthouse but by publication in a local newspaper.

[Proxy]

Thanks!

Music,

I will use my current address to apply(that is on my DL) when i open the PO box in that other city 2 hours away. I am foreclosing on the house so they won't find anyone here:-)my last given address.

I guess they can serve by publication. Now I have to figure out where I can search online for Sacramento.

Either way, I think I will come back to the US and see what has happened sometime in late June 2010.


So WHEN exactly does the SOL start its counter? When i first stop paying the debt??

I will continue to vote by absentee ballot and such, so no one needs to know I left:-)

[music12]

yes. SOL starts on the date of your most recent payment or your most recent promise to pay (i.e. if a creditor called you and you told them you agree to pay something; hope you didn't...)

absentee ballot means you are out of town on that day. voting in person would prove you are in the country, abstentee ballot doesn't. anyway, i don't think they'll check your voting records!