I’ve moved overseas and am living on VA disability benefits as a disabled veteran. I stopped working in March and relocated to South America, where my money goes further. I love it here and am financially stable, but I have significant credit card debt and a vehicle loan.
A friend who works at a local bank informed me that I can start fresh financially in my new country, and my previous debts and credit scores won’t impact my finances here. Since VA disability cannot be garnished and can be directly deposited into a local bank account, I’m considering whether I could simply stop paying my U.S. debt and not worry about it.
This would obviously ruin my U.S. credit, which doesn’t concern me much, but I’m aware there might be other consequences. I’m not worried about my car being repossessed since I’m not bringing it with me, but I’m looking for alternatives to bankruptcy.
Would ignoring my debt affect my life overseas? Could it create problems if I return to the U.S. for visits? My debt is manageable, but I’d prefer to use my money more freely rather than paying off debt and a car loan for a vehicle I won’t be using. Since selling the car won’t cover the loan balance, what options do I have?
If they tried to sue you, I doubt you would have any warrants or anything, and they would find it difficult to serve you outside of the nation.
It’s true that you could still face legal action in the US, but that would mostly impact your decision to return. Theoretically, you might be sued in another nation or have a US judgement enforced, but there aren’t many nations that permit US debt to be collected extrajudicially. Furthermore, it’s unlikely that they will pursue you unless you owe outrageous amounts of money, have a wealth of assets, or owe unmanageable sums of money.
Simply declare bankruptcy to discharge your debts. You won’t need to worry about anything with $2k. Your credit is already of little importance to you.
You can discharge your debts by just declaring bankruptcy. With two thousand dollars, you have nothing to worry about. You already don’t really care about your credit.
The statute of limitations won’t start to run until you return to the United States, so you can ignore it. Thus, in theory, even after, say, thirty years, if you haven’t returned to America in that time, the debt will still be owed.
Therefore, unless you are served with the lawsuit and fail to appear when the judge orders you to following a judgement, nothing criminal can happen.
I’ll be completely honest: I’m $32k in credit card debt and $50k in car loan debt. As a disabled vet with no job and a family of four relying solely on my VA disability benefits, I’d rather focus on paying off my debt and trying to start over than declare bankruptcy or just disappear. If you don’t have family obligations, you might feel free to move from country to country and enjoy yourself. However, if you’ve done it once, you might be tempted to do it again, so it’s worth examining the issue more closely. I struggle with a spending habit that could have made me overweight, but luckily, I’ve got a fast metabolism and a love for good food. Right now, I’m just feeling overwhelmed.