Can you avoid paying student loan debts or court ordered debts from the US by moving to the UK?
I wish I was the deadbeat old fuzz, I’m the cosigner on a student loan for a person who is now trying to stick me with the bill. I’ve started legal action and recently discovered the person is selling their house and moving to the UK.
and it’s not a federal loan, it’s a private loan that is not being serviced by sallie mae
The stock answer is no, you cannot avoid debts by relocating, even temporarily, to another country. There are two issues here.
1. Temporary relocation: If you move to avoide debt collections and the move is temporary, then the statute of limitations is stayed from the moment you leave the country until the moment you return.
For example, let’s say that you have $10,000 in credit card debt in California and it’s laid dormant (no payments) for 24 months. You get a collection call in the 25th month and you decide to move to avoid any further calls, until the SOL (4 years on credit card debt in Calif.) expires.
You leave in the 25th month to Europe returning (as you estimate) one month after the 4 year statute of limitations has expired.
Well, under FCIC, that time you left the country doesn’t count towards the SOL so now you are facing 2 years of debt collections and if you continue not paying, you will be sued, a judgement levied against you and any and all non-exempt assets seized to satisfy that judgement.
Or,t he jugement holder simply waits. Because a judgement in California is good for 10 years and renewable for another 10 years at 10% interest on the unpaid balance.
2. If you permanently relocate, the process is a bit different. The debt can either be sold to a foreign collector and a judgement obtained in your new country, or the judgement can be obtained here under the original jurisdiction and then registered in the foreign country’s local court under the local court rules for collection of domesticated judgements.
The one caveat that you did not ask about is against whom can the creditor proceed with debt collection activity. That is your major problem. The creditor is not obligated to proceed against any particular person in any particular order only that the person or person(s) they proceed against have actually accepted responsibility for the debt.
You did that when you co-signed therefore, if they cannot proceed against the original debtor, they will and can come after you.
