What Happens if You Are Sued While Living Outside of the USA

My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: anywhere USA

Suppose I owe CC debt, stop paying for a reason or another and move to another country. I know that debt stays but can they sue me in anystate USA without me living in USA? I have mailbox service that gets my mail and a bank account but that's about it.

If needed it can prove that I do not live in USA but in my husband's home country. I am talking about run-of-the-mill, cheap lawsuit by companies that paid pennies on the dollar, if it was millions it would probably be different.

if they get a default judgment, can it be vacated?

It is unlikely to be vacated as the statute of limitations will be stayed by you leaving. You can have it re-adjudicated, so you can be found to owe them the money again.

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Quoting Disagreeable

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It is unlikely to be vacated as the statute of limitations will be stayed by you leaving. You can have it re-adjudicated, so you can be found to owe them the money again.

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The SOL won't be tolled forever.

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Quoting Disagreeable

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It is unlikely to be vacated as the statute of limitations will be stayed by you leaving. You can have it re-adjudicated, so you can be found to owe them the money again.

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Thanks for the reply. You a lawyer or just ...?

Improper service isn't an issue here? I read that you have to be sued in the state you live, or in the state where I signed the agreement https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1692i The agreement was signed 20 years ago so they might not have it.

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Quoting Disagreeable

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It is unlikely to be vacated as the statute of limitations will be stayed by you leaving.

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And who would know that I was outside USA, the 25th company that bought the debt for 2 cents on the dollar ;)?

The creditor can serve you at your last known address.

Most professional debtors are aware of this; surprised you weren't.

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Quoting birdietoldme

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I know that debt stays but can they sue me in anystate USA without me living in USA?

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If they serve you at your last known address and somebody accepts service on your behalf, or the serve you by some other form of substituted service approved by the court, then you would be in a position of having to appear and defend or would be defaulted. Depending on the facts and state, you may be able to try to contest the judgment at a later date by calling service and personal jurisdiction into question.

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Quoting birdietoldme

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if they get a default judgment, can it be vacated?

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Maybe.

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Quoting birdietoldme

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You a lawyer or just ...?

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Disagreeable is a "...", but frankly you should treat any information you obtain online as if it came from a "...", even if you know the speaker to be a lawyer, because there's only so much information available in a forum. If you don't want to speak to a "...", the (increasingly proverbial) phone book is full of lawyers.

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Quoting birdietoldme

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The agreement was signed 20 years ago so they might not have it.

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When you are defaulted, you don't get to contest the merits of the claim unless and until you successfully convince a court to set aside the default.

Mr K. Being in a sad state of physical and mental status, I congratulate you. I honestly have never been referred to as "...". ROFLMAO

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Quoting Disagreeable

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Mr K. Being in a sad state of physical and mental status, I congratulate you. I honestly have never been referred to as "...". ROFLMAO

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Pretty sure I'm also a " ... ", too.

I'm feeling a little Prince-like right now. Totally am.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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If they serve you at your last known address and somebody accepts service on your behalf, or the serve you by some other form of substituted service approved by the court, then you would be in a position of having to appear and defend or would be defaulted. Depending on the facts and state, you may be able to try to contest the judgment at a later date by calling service and personal jurisdiction into question.

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this is more in line with what I've reading:

They can do a "sewer service" type of notice but being outside US can overcome that. Of course the SOL is tolled once they find out, and for relatively small amounts of money no is going to come to South America to notify me and to try to collect.

My settlement offers have been rejected for this account, other settled. Should I send a letter from here, saying I plan on staying here for decades but would rather settle?

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Quoting birdietoldme

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this is more in line with what I've reading:

They can do a "sewer service" type of notice but being outside US can overcome that. Of course the SOL is tolled once they find out, and for relatively small amounts of money no is going to come to South America to notify me and to try to collect.

My settlement offers have been rejected for this account, other settled. Should I send a letter from here, saying I plan on staying here for decades but would rather settle?

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I have to ask. Why is this so worthy of your obviously very precious time this late on a Friday?

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Quoting Dogmatique

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I have to ask. Why is this so worthy of your obviously very precious time this late on a Friday?

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Take a guess, why?

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If you don't pay your credit card debt and a lawsuit is served and filed before you move overseas, it would move forward in your absence. "Typically in the United States, a lawsuit would be filed in the state or county where the debtor lives," says William "Mike" Troglin, a Norcross, Ga.-based bankruptcy attorney. So if you're living in, say, Georgia when the lawsuit is filed, a Georgia court would hear the case even if you moved to a foreign country before the case was resolved.

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If a lawsuit has not been filed before you move overseas, things get a little trickier. "If a company is owed a debt, they have to bring suit in a foreign country's court of law and abide by their rules and procedures," says Rachel Hunter, an attorney in Cary, N.C., who specializes in debt collection. "That means they will have to hire counsel in that area. A person would have whatever rights and defenses he would usually have."

Companies could also file a U.S. suit against a person living abroad, Hunter says, but that company's success would depend on the country's legal system and whether it would cooperate with the United States.

But the odds of a suit being filed internationally over credit card debt are relatively slim, experts say. "The cost of overseas enforcement is going to be prohibitive to most credit card companies and junk debt buyers," says Hunter. "Nobody is going to go to Europe, Asia, Latin America or some other place for a $2,000 or even $20,000 debt. In addition, it may be difficult to locate a person who is living abroad, although there are companies that will provide international skip trace services in certain countries."

Read more: http://www.creditcards.com/credit-ca...rseas-1267.php

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