Personal Guarantee Debt 50k, living now in US

[jfexecinc]

Hi, I am hoping for some advice on this. I am living in the United States now, and I used to be a part owner of a company in the UK. In 2009, this company went into liquidation after my partner took money out of the business, and we couldnt pay our debts. There was a loan for 50,000 which was personally guaranteed by myself and my partner. My partner died a few years ago. The debt was taken out in 2008. After many years of paying small amounts, I became unable to pay any more, and moved a year ago to America. They have recently gained a judgment against me in the County Court, and I wondered what my options were now, and whether they could enforce this, and if so, how.

 

Thank you in advance

 

J

[citizenB]

Did the Lender know that you had moved to the US

 

Was any attempt made by the Lender to claim the debt from the Estate of your Partner ?

 

I am assuming that the claim was either fast or multi track if it is for £50,000

[jfexecinc]

thank you for your response. My partner died a bankrupt with no estate, and (rightly or wrongly), I responded via email to a letter from a law firm, warning me they were going to seek a judgement. I received some forwarded mail that they sent to my last address in the UK, and I emailed them saying I was living in America. They said they didnt care and would still seek a judgement. I have no assets in the UK. The claim was in the County Court Money Claims Centre, and I didnt reply to the court, so they issued a judgement.

[unclebulgaria67]

Generally, US courts won't look at foreign debts, so unlikely it would ever follow you. But if you returned to the UK within 6 years of the CCJ, they would probably find you soon after registering a UK residential address.

 

Probably not wise to contact them again and if you receive any correspondence to your US postal address, to get local advice. The various US states are likely to have different policies on foreign debts being considered for enforcement in their courts, so you should see what you can find out locally. From what i have read, it is very very unlikely.

[jfexecinc]

the slight complication is that I own a house in the UK, being rented out currently. The house, is owned by my wife and I, but I own no equity in the house. I am concerned that they will send a bailiff around to the house, even though we dont live there. Can they attach onto my US earnings?

[unclebulgaria67]

the slight complication is that I own a house in the UK, being rented out currently. The house, is owned by my wife and I, but I own no equity in the house. I am concerned that they will send a bailiff around to the house, even though we dont live there. Can they attach onto my US earnings?

 

Not sure they can attach to earnings in the US and if you want to pay, you would have to work out an affordable payment arrangement with them, setting up a transfer with your Bank.

 

If you are not making payments, they are likely to apply for a charging order against any UK property they find in your name. They might not know whether you own equity at the moment, but hope to get their money when it sells. In the meantime they use the charge to threaten forced sale of house to get you to make payments.

 

You should make sure tenants pass on any communication, so you get to receive them. It is possible that letters get sent to that address and it is visited by agents for the claimants to find out the situation. Not much you can do about, if you don't want to make payments and don't want to alert them to the UK house, just in case they don't know about it.

[steampowered]

There is no federal law on debt collection in the US. This sort of thing is governed by state law, so the answer will depend on what state you are in.

 

My understanding is that most states have passed laws allowing for foreign court judgments to be enforced, usually on the condition that the foreign court went through a fair process. The UK court system will almost certainly be seen as fair. Therefore it is certainly possible that this company can pursue you in the US for a UK CCJ.

 

The process would usually involve opening a new civil claim against you in the relevant US state. The claim would be an application for enforcement of the UK CCJ. If that is approved, the lender would then have a local US judgment and would be able to enforce that like any other local judgment. An attachment of earnings would be possible if that is allowed by local state law.

 

Whether it is worth that company doing that is another issue entirely. Hiring lawyers in the US is expensive so the lender is unlikely to bother for a small debt. It will also be practically impossible for them to sue you if they do not have your US address. To be honest I doubt many of these debts actually get enforced overseas.

 

If you don't own any equity in the house, why is registered under your name? If you are the registered owner the bank could try to get a charging order against that property and then try to have the property sold to pay off the debt. If you truly have no economic interest in the property it would be a good idea to update the registration, if possible.