this one's a doozy!

[cheeser]

Ok, I'll try to make it brief. As of July this past year I had outstanding credit with a high amount of debt (44k). My husband and I got an opportunity to move from USA to the UK. We sold HIS house (nothing in my name)and made a profit. We decided that I would not be paying back current debt as we would be in UK indefinatly. I also opened some new accounts (actually, quite a few). My 44K soon became 120K (inclusive of a student loan). I am currently in the UK (of course I can't recieve any of the obnoxious phone calls or threatening letters because I fell off the face of the Earth.) I had consulted a BK lawyer before leaving (Fla) and decided that waiting 6 months after the closing of my hubby's house was wise. Now I'd like to know a few things...If I should bother at all to claim BK, as I am not receiving any communication from my creditors and it hasn't (and won't) negatively affect me in another country? What are the consequences? If i return to USA to live, what would happen - in both scenarios (to Bk or not to BK)?

And...that little spending spree...where i opened accounts and never made one payment on them...I'm afraid it looks like fraud...I have an "excuse" (a good one too) for all the spending as we were awaiting the profit on our house for sale. Once sold, my hubby refused to pay down MY debt with HIS money. I just don't want to be arrested, or not be able to charge off these accounts because of the circumstances. Would I be better off starting to make a few small payments before going BK? Does it LOOK better that way? Or am I wasting money?

Also ...my lawyer told me that I could not charge off my student loan...TRUE? Should I just keep making my payments on that bill alone then...doesn't THAT look bad?

Thanks for any advice you could give me? I'd be happy to provide more info if circumstances require it.

[CindyLou]

First off the chances of you being arrested are slim to none. You would have to be charged and convicted of fraud, and though it happens, they would have to prove your intent when you made those charges...not likely.

Along the same line, if it has been some time between your spending and the time you file (you mentioned 6 months) ..again the burden of proof is on them to prove fraud.

Now as far as living in the UK, once the creditors find that out they will likely sell those debts to collectors in the UK. they will come up and bite you eventually.

The question I would have for your situation is whether you are allowed to file BK if you do not live in the US (I'm sure you've asked that question).

If it were me I would wait as long as you can (up to one year just to be safe) then go ahead and file and get a fresh start in case you want to come back here.

Now, as far as the student loans, they are not dischargable. You should be making arrangments to get those right asap. They will not go away.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[jp2861]

Depending on the state, you very well could be arrested. In some states it becomes criminal to leave the state with the intent to defraud a creditor. If you went on a spending spree after you knew you were leaving it could easily be proved as fraud. Now, how likely it is to happen is a different story.

It's always better to come up with a plan to take care of debt than trying to hide out. Debt doesn't fall off the face of the earth, even though we think we may have.

[CindyLou]

I did not get from the OP's story that she left the country to avoid creditors. She had also stated that she planned to pay the debts with the proceeds from the house and then that money was no longer available to her.

Unless blatant fraud was committed (i.e. fake ss#'s, false income records supplied to creditors, etc) I doubt that any arrests are going to take place. Though not impossible...very unlikely.

[lrprn]

Cheeser, take a look at Chapter 15 - a new international bankruptcy chapter not often used that came into effect in Oct 2005. This might be the answer to your problems -

http://bankruptcy.cooley.com/2007/02/articles/business-bankruptcy-issues/chapter-15-the-bankruptcy-codes-new-crossborder-insolvency-rules/

http://www.uscourts.gov/bankruptcycourts/bankruptcybasics/chapter15.html

The biggest issue is what will happen if Cheeser comes back to the US to live again without filing bankruptcy to wipe out the debts beforehand. Is there is a possibility that this might happen? The debts are not going to go away for a long while and many will be waiting here in the US with a large load of penalties and late fees making the $120K debt look like peanuts in a few years.

[cheeser]

thanks for all the replies, they are helpful. First, I still have a house and address in Florida where my mother lives until April/May this year (will be foreclosing on that as well as 1 in 10 homes are for sale in my area and I am upside down). So I do still live in the US (on paper). That would make filing in US no problem up until that date. Also, I don't see how it is possible to track my whereabouts in the UK as my surname recently changed and there are no references to SS number or previous addresses here and we are renting in a small village.

As far as fraud, I did falsify my income to receive higher credit lines in those 2-3 months of opening accounts, and then never made a single payment. I opened those accounts knowing I was leaving the country but with intent to pay the debt back with proceeds from the house that then never became available to me. I have not (OBVIOUSLY) provided any forwarding address and have not responded to any mail that I still recieve at my mothers floida address.

I will look into those international BK laws, thanks

so, is the general concensus to wait a year or take care of this now before penalties equal more than amount owed??!! I just don't want to be stuck 3 or more years down the road with no option to return to the US because my debt/consequences would be too bad.

thanks

[cheeser]

could anyone put that chapter 15 into layman's terms?

[HAP]

Knowing you "may" be facing fraud charges (and I'm using that term only because you brought it up, not because I know one way or another) and being that you and your husband are still together, why does he refuse to help you out monetarily? Did he tell you he would take care of it and then back out (which if that were the case, I'd have other things on my mind along with whether I should be filing for bankruptcy) or did you rack up the debt without his knowledge or consent?

I wish you luck either way!

[emoney]

BK laws were made to help and protect people who have made mistakes, and not help people who abuse the system.
I wonder which category you are in?
emoney

[BKOnce]

In this case, if fraud proven, hubby is "committing" fraud, and wife is "accession" to fraud. Both are comitting fraud. FBI and Interpol investigation only go after if it is under "criminal" code like murder charges, or bank theft, white-collar tax/stock crimes, etc. All "personal" debts fall under "civil" codes.