Yorkshire Bank (UK credit card) but now living in US. Bluestone Recovery involved, please help

[needhelpwithdebt]

Hello,

 

My OH is a British Citizen living in the US with a permanent residence green card. He has outstanding debt with Yorkshire Bank. When we first moved back to the US (April 2010) we contacted YB to ask for reduced payments and were advised to make the payments but that they could not negotiate our payments until we went into default. We made a few payments but had to stop because we are barely making it as it is. Unfortunately, we never contacted YB at the time. Then in March of 2011 while my OH was visiting his family he received a debt collection letter at his mom's house. We wrote to YB in April 2011 to advise them of our current address and have since received a letter from Bluestone Recovery asking for the payment in US dollars and/or to contact them to arrange payment.

 

We are only in a position to pay about $50 a month, if that, and we are not sure the best way to proceed. We are thinking of returning to the UK within a couple of years ( although if he had it his way we would be there tomorrow )and are worried about his credit history there. We do want to pay but we are really struggling over here. He is currently unemployed and we are struggling keeping up with US payments.

 

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

[cerberusalert]

Have a read of this; http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?282263-UK-Debt-Living-in-US

[alfwithhair]

Because you informed them of your new address in the USA, YB will have flogged it to Bluestone.

This tactic and company was being debated on some site I was on yesterday.

I will see if I can find it again

[needhelpwithdebt]

Thank you.

 

Any info regarding Bluestone would be greatly appreciated.

 

What should we do at this point?

 

Should we write and ask for a CCA? if so, how do we send the pound to cover the cost? or since we wrote to YB should we ask Bluestone for a CCA and proof that they are recovering the debt?

 

Thanks in advance.

[alfwithhair]

Where was the letter from Bluestone sent

Parents in UK address, or your address in USA?

 

There is a UK off shoot of Bluestone, what contact details are on their letterhead?

[needhelpwithdebt]

The Bluestone letter has a Maryland, USA address, I think, and it was sent to our address in the USA that we had given to Yorkshire Bank. I regret writing to them with our current address but we didn't want them bothering his mam. They have contacted us by phone on my number in the US but we never gave them our number (so they must have researched it).

 

The first letter from another DCA based in England was sent to his mam's house in the UK in March 2011

[alfwithhair]

The Bluestone letter has a Maryland, USA address, I think, and it was sent to our address in the USA that we had given to Yorkshire Bank. I regret writing to them with our current address but we didn't want them bothering his mam. They have contacted us by phone on my number in the US but we never gave them our number (so they must have researched it).

 

The first letter from another DCA based in England was sent to his mam's house in the UK in March 2011

 

Who was the UK DCA?

Did this letter state the were the owners?

Did they use terms like 'our clients' or 'we have been instructed' or 'we act on behalf of'

[needhelpwithdebt]

Thanks for your replies

The UK DCA was Debt Managers Ltd. This is their letter from March 2011.

"We are attempting to contact the above named person and our recent investigations have resulted in your details being obtained from a credit reference agency . Your address has been provided by them due to a link with the data we hold, as a possible new address for the person we are wishing to contact

 

To verify that you are the person we are wishing to contact or if you believe you are not the subject, please contact us urgently on 0844#, so that our records can be updated appropriately.

 

If we do not receive a response to this letter within 7 days we will assume the link is correct and further communication will be made."

 

We did not make contact with them.

 

 

The letter we received from Bluestone Law, Ltd., has a Maryland address and is listed below.

"As attorney for the above creditor, demand for payment of the above debt is hereby made on you. As of the date of this letter you owe $ xx,xxx. Your account balance may be periodically increased due to the addition of interest, late charges and/or other charges, which may vary from day to day, as provided in your agreement with your creditor. Therefore, if you pay the amount due listed on this letter, an adjustment may be necessary to your account to reflect these charges, in which event we will inform you before crediting your payment. To obtain the most current balance of your account, please write or call us.

 

Unless you inform us within 30 days after receipt of this letter that you dispute the validity of this debt or any part of it, this debt will be assumed to be valid. If you notify us within this 30 day period, that the debt or any portion thereof is in dispute, we will cease collection action, until we have sent to you the verifying documents, as well as the name and address of your original creditor, if you have also requested the information.

 

To resolve this matter, please submit your payment online using the BLL acct number or send a check..... To otherwise discuss this account or if you wish to discuss alternative payment arrangements you may call your Account Rep. or via email. This demand for payment does not eliminate your right to dispute the debt or inquire for more information about this debt, as described in the previous paragraphs.

 

Sincerely

 

xxxxxxxx

Managing Attorney"

 

 

Any advice on how to proceed?

Thank you

[cerberusalert]

The first letter is from the Bank's own in-house collection arm.

 

The second letter is a fishing letter trying to verify that you are in fact the person they are looking for from the details the bank have given them.

[needhelpwithdebt]

The first letter is from the Bank's own in-house collection arm.

 

The second letter is a fishing letter trying to verify that you are in fact the person they are looking for from the details the bank have given them.

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

Are they lawyers? I've read that there is no reciprocal agreement between the US and UK, so do they have any rights to sue us or take us to court?

[cerberusalert]

Did you check the link in post #2?

[needhelpwithdebt]

Thank you.

 

I did read post #2. I guess I'm just unclear of what the next step is. From what I understand, the SOL in our state is 4 years and after reading I know that they cannot file a CCJ in the UK because he is non resident there and in order to sue us it looks like they may need to file a CCJ first, but I guess I just need help as to what is the next step we should take.

 

Do we sit back and ignore the letter? is this firm really lawyers or just debt collectors? By the person's job title I feel it's more than just a DCA.

 

Should we write to them and ask them to validate the debt? or provide a CCA? the amount they qouted is in $ so does that mean they own the debt now?

 

Sorry for all the questions and perhaps the redundancy of them, but we are really not sure what to do.

 

Thank you

[cerberusalert]

Sorry for all the questions and perhaps the redundancy of them, but we are really not sure what to do.

 

Unfortunately in the US different States have different laws as well as the Federal laws so i would advise that you also ask these questions in http://www.debtorboards.com/ and http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/social-answers/popular-questions.php

Should we write to them and ask them to validate the debt? or provide a CCA? the amount they qouted is in $ so does that mean they own the debt now?

Yes make them prove the existence of the debt and their right to collect.

 

As you already know they cannot take any enforcement action in the US without a UK CCJ and they are unable to legitimately obtain that. They would need to pursue through a US court using UK law as any agreement is subject to UK law & in the case in post #2 the US court decided it didn't have jurisdiction.

Edited July 21, 2011 by cerberusalert

[bazaar]

OK, The letter from US is as Cerberusa stated a fishing letter, Your original account is in Pounds sterling, so unless the cretins issue court proceedings, file it away for now.

You DO NOT have any account with them in US Dollars, so if they try it on, you'll defend on that basis.

For the UK side, unfortunately, you fell for giving them your address etc in the US, ( Been there done that). So you'll get bombarded with letters etc.

There is no reciprocal agreements between US and UK. So UK debt cannot be enforced in the US. ( and vise versa).

Now, as for your UK credit, if its not already trashed by YB, it will be at zero on your return if youve been out of the country for around 3 years upwards.

Any letters sent to your parents house, should be unopened and returned to sender as NOT KNOWN AT THIS ADDRESS.

If YB or the UK side of Blagstone try to go via UK courts whilst you are out of the country, you can have any decisions set aside based on non residency.

 

Letters you can expect in the US, will go along the lines of, "this is your opportunity to clear your debt, we are offering a once only deal, blah blah blah."

DO NOT RESPOND, just file away ( evidence of harrassment etc )

So thats pretty much what you can do now, to calm your nerves, keep us updated on any letters ( It'll give us all a good laugh at least).

Chin up people