Debt in the UK

Bac_3

Hi

Ok just after some advice for a friend,

Can debt from the UK be chased in the US, talking about (25k)

Many Thanks

Katyusha

Thinking of scarpering?? :eek:

ManAtHome

Depends who the debt is with (several banks have US holdings), whether they will ever (possibly a long long time) need to return, whether they already have a long-term US visa, established US credit etc.

smsmasters

Only if they can find you.

movieman

I thought UK banks could just sell the debt on to foreign debt collection agencies?

Astaroth

Yes it can be chased in theory anywhere in the world.

Others seemed to have answered the question of "will it be chased" which is a totally different matter

Bac_3

Its not actually me and long story short basically my friend is owed money from someone who has US citizenship, this person had a lot of debt in the UK and moved to the states, running from the debt, now my friend knows where this person lives in the states and is just wondering if the Bank/Credit/Loan company can chase him, if so my friend might use this nugget of information to try and recover some of the money they are owed from that person. i.e give me my money back or i tell the companies where you are living! any thoughts?

thanks

Astaroth

Blackmail, which effectively is what they are suggesting, would never be considered a good idea

defender_of_the_weak

If he knows where he lives then a private action in the american civil courts may succeed. Undoubtedly this would possibly be messy but for 25K your friend should be looking up the relevant websites for the state he lives in as a starting point. There may also be a jurisdictional issue depending on where the loan was made and agreed

Bac_3

thanks everyone for all your help in the matter