Hi,

I have a situation that I would like to hear your views on. I worked in the USA on a J1 Visa, every intention of staying. However I chose to return to the UK (where I am a citizen) with various debt. 5000 Unsecured loan, 1500 CC, some bills and 8000 Student debt. From reading this profile the initial loans will be fine, I do not and will never use my SSN. They do not have my fixed address, its not good but if the system cannot find me then I am willing to keep quiet.

However the student loan of 8k has a guarantor assigned to it. It has now gone to default and has reached collections agency. They informed me that my account is going under review after August 21st. If nothing has been paid, which in their correspondance is a hefty settlement my account will go to litigation. I offered a monthly payment and a settlement amount once the sale of my car is completed (who knows when that will be). What does this litigation mean? They used a lot of rhetoric and scare tactics, which for me is a road I have been before and is useless. My real concern is I have someone else involved.

I am unable to remain untraceable by these companies, my question is what can I do to help protect the guarantor from any litigation? How liable is she and how sever can the penalty be?

Many thanks for any assistance.

Indeed I do mean 'co-signer'.

I have spoken with the company and they took some details on my finances, in-goings and out-goings and some additional details. Took sometime to speak with the "finance manager" to see if they could help. They were happy to announce that I was going to get help, I could pay monthly but after I had made a payment of $4000, then payments of double I had suggested.

One thing they kept on pushing on me was that now the account was in default, the full balance was now due. Can they legally inforce the full balance? Or are they trying to protect their profit turnaround by getting large sums fast? How long will they communicate with me before they go down the route of legal civil proceedings?

I was thinking of writing formal corresspondance with them to offer my commitment to make monthly payments, this would show my intention so that they could then help me with this.

Thanks very much for your assitance.

I am happy to make payments until the relaese of some colateral to clear the debt.

My sentiments exactly, their whole system is backward. I will comply with them, call them and communicate. They use a lot of scare tactics, I will take the time to keep speaking with them and offering the same system. They will take it in the end.

Do you know what they will accept roughly for a settlement?

I have a question, can they legally demand that I pay a large sum? My thought is that as long as I offer them a solution, such as a monthly plan they have no reason to go after the guarantor.

I guess it will depend on their opinion.

hi,
first of all i wanna say its a very nice source to gain information.
ok so the problem is that i had 4 credit cards in the uk from different banks,i know its a U.S site but maybe i hope u can give me any helpful advice or helpful link about this situation.
anyways these cards limit was 500+400+200+250 pounds and i had one laptop on me which i bought on monthly installments and i had to pay that bank like 700 pounds for the laptop.
but i left uk without paying them coz i had no money to pay them,i know its not a big amount but now i applied again for the uk visa just for visit,so can u tell me it can effect on my visa application?and secondly, that any bank can launch criminal proceedings against me in the uk for this amount? if yes then british embassy can do any legal action against me in my country or can they harass me?
or send me to jail? please tell me about this situation coz i am worried and scared too.
thanks very much.

No i am not from uk,but i worked there on student visa.my visa expired almost 3 years ago.Now i applied for visit visa.
banks can launch criminal proceedings aginst me?coz i used my credit cards very fast and i also took out 300 pounds aswell in cash and after few days i left uk.
so from bank's point of view isnt it a fraud? and kindly tell me that banks can make this civil matter into criminal offence? if yes then can it effect on my visa application? or british embassy can do something with me in this matter? coz i guess if its no longer a civil offence then embassy must check for criminal records,isnt it? kindly give me any information about this matter.thanks
its Atif.....

hi Barry,
Thank you very much indeed for your time,i have signed up for this credit report,and they said that we will send u this access code by post,but the problem is that i dont live in uk now.i have asked them to email me that code,so let see what will happen.
Barry for example in my report ''fraud'' is mentioned then is it for sure that any bank or any creditor had launched criminal proceedings against me.actually i am only worried about criminal proceedings coz it can effect on my visa application or maybe British embassy can take any legal action against me.
should i worry about embassy's legal action against me?
take care.........
thanks

hello barry,
if the bank or any creditor wants to take legal action against me,so they must have to hire some lawyer to take me to civil or criminal court???
kindly tell me something about this.

thanks very much once again !
take care
its Atif

Hey Barry,
i am feeling much better now.
Thanks very much indeed for your time and for your help,i am really greatful to you.
In few days british embassy will call me for an interview,i will let you know about it for sure.
take care
its Atif.....

Hello Barry,
I have been told from the website www.nationaldebtline.co.uk that my debt is only a criminal offence if i obtain money by giving fales information to banks,coz its a fraud and only then banks can go to police and only then its a criminal offence otherwise there is no way to make my debt a criminal offence,no matter if i moved out abroad without telling banks,in this situation banks can make it a '' gone away'' case on my credit file,which will be affect very badly on my credit history,but after 6 years my credit file will be deleted automatically.
So far thats the story of my case,but as u know that i still have to go to british embassy for the interview,i will let you know about it...
thanks for your help Barry
take care and keep it up

its Atif.....

Two Questions:
1. Has there ever been an instance when a collection agency really cared about the circumstances of the debt?
2. How do I stall or prolong the collection process?

Approximately five years ago I helped start a cancer research company. I quit my personal business to work full time with the company at no pay. I also helped finance the business. Our research has produced unprecedented discoveries in the fight against cancer which we have patented internationally. We are at the door steps of going into human trials, but the cost of those trials requires major funding. We received funding commitments over a year ago, but those sources are having difficulties due to international banking issues beyond my understanding.

In the mean time, the company used two credit cards and racked up $60K in Lab expenses. I gave all of my life’s savings to keep the lab running, but eventually had no other choice but to lay off all the employees and sell off everything in the Lab to keep paying bills. The company has not paid on the two credit card debts since July. I have let the CC companies know that our company has no ability to pay until funding comes through. They have now come after me personally stating that I am personally liable for the company cards.

I have not received a paycheck for years, I have given my life’s savings (my retirement) to the research, and have been selling my possessions just to meet my own monthly bills. The previous business that I was in five years ago is almost nonexistent today, so my personal employment opportunities look very dreary. The only asset I have left is my house which I am trying to sell. I have too much equity in the house to file bankruptcy, but if I don’t sell soon I will most likely start defaulting on the payments. I don’t expect that anyone is going to feel sorry for me because I have lived in a very nice house and drive a nice car. I don’t come from wealth, I have worked hard all my life, I saved my money and invested, I have had exceptional credit, never a late payment, always paid in full each month, and now I am faced with a debt I can’t pay. I continue to look for funding because our cancer drug is too important; it needs to get into human trials. Everyone else in the company has also given their all, some have lost their homes, and they have all had to find jobs to support their families until the funding comes through. Even after we laid everyone off, they still showed up and worked for FREE, until they just couldn’t any more. I realize everyone has a “sob” story, but this debt was 100% towards cancer research.

I need time to get the funding before I am sued or any judgments are filed against me because this will affect our ability to close the funding. The company, and/or any of its principles, cannot have judgments’ against them. So, my question is; how do I stall or prolong the collection process? The first credit card company, American Express, sent the debt to the first collection agency located in Massachusetts where the lab was, but since they are coming after me personally, the debt is now being assigned to a Law firm in my state (Washington). I have been corresponding with everyone on a weekly basis to keep them updated on the funding progress. I sent out a validation request in hopes of stalling and giving me more time. In your experience, has there ever been an instance when a collection agency really cared about the circumstances of the debt? I have sacrificed so much; I am pushing 60 and am facing starting all over if the funding does not come through. They say they won’t negotiate or settle because of my past credit. They tell me to just use my personal credit cards to pay their debt. They don’t want to understand that I personally have NO ability to pay.

We never for a moment dreamed it would be difficult getting funded for our cancer research. Then again, if you read the daily news on cancer research you would find hundreds of companies making claims that they had the cure. So I can’t blame the general public or VC’s for being skeptical. But I know what we have, and this drug needs to get to those suffering and dying from cancer. I need help stalling off or prolonging the collection process.

Thank you so much for getting back to me! We continue to hope that the two funding commitments come through soon! However, in the meantime, when we pitch to VC’s or Angels they tell us to come back when we’re IN human trials so there is 100% no more risk. Makes no sense at all, if we had the money to get into human trials we wouldn’t need investors! Human trials are the huge expense. As far as grants go, we’ve been advised by patent attorneys that it’s the “leakiest” sieve in the industry! Idea’s are stolen and sold. We couldn’t risk it for such a small amount of money ($50K to $100K), that amount wouldn’t even get us through the IND process (Initial New Drug Application).

Media attention is a good idea as well, but as you say it’s a catch twenty-two. But I will think about that because the funding sources are well aware of our financial strain, they haven’t put us off on purpose in hopes of negotiating a bigger piece of the pie, it’s just a tough situation for everyone right now.

We did try the fund raising route where we had representation from a charity so that people could have a write off. It didn’t go well because people don’t like the idea of donating to a “for profit” company, even if it is cancer research. Cancer fund raising is HUGE business. Many are not really aware that their money actually just goes to “awareness”; advertising to make sure you’re “aware” of cancer. If people really took the time to look up and see how much, if any, of the money was going to actual scientists, they might think twice. It’s not to say that these charities and foundations aren’t needed and that they don’t do good things, they do. Donated money for cancer research generally goes to academia research or other “not for profit” research institutions. Our lead scientist walked away from academia because of all the red tape and extremely slow speed at which things get accomplished. Because of his discovery he was willing to gamble in order to get this on the market as soon as possible. If funding doesn’t come through, he will still finish the process even if he does have to return to an institution to get it finished. It will just tack on years.

I don’t want to get too far off subject here since that’s not the reason for this forum. I think your advice to plead my case to the collection attorneys is probably my best shot in stalling off the process as you suggest. I do have an appointment today with an attorney to hopefully get some good advice. I’ll let you know what comes from that meeting.

And by the way, I will never have regrets about my personal financial loss even if I should lose everything and have to start over. But I am continually haunted by those I know with cancer. My young cousin died two days ago from cancer; we could have saved her. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Money truly is free agency isn’t it; debt offers no other choice but a sense of being in PRISON!!! LOL

Your forum is great therapy, it does help. Thank you.

Dear Barry,

I had a very informative and positive meeting with the attorney today. She was very straight forward about the reality of the situation and suggested that I needed to get beyond the emotional side of the problem so that I could deal with what is really likely to happen. And, in regards to the collection agencies caring about the debt; she also said “they won’t give a rat’s ass”! HA HA HA!! So you were right.

I didn’t think I could even qualify for bankruptcy because of my house. However I was informed that in this market if I had to sell my house in 60 days I would probably break even or end up with nothing. I think as a home owner you always want to think you have a lot of value in your house, and maybe you do, but you don’t really know unless you actually sell it. So when filing bankruptcy you would take the worst case scenario when it comes to value. Nevertheless, she instructed me as to how to negotiate on my own if that was what I chose to do. Her advice was to lay it out as to how much I could offer, take it now or get nothing or very little later because I am prepared to file bankruptcy; give them one week to except your offer.

She also gave me a clearer indication as to how quickly this particular firm might move towards a lawsuit once they receive the paper work; about five weeks. She also indicated that even if I tried to stall them they would still move forward with the law suit in hopes that I won’t do anything. This was a free consultation, but if I wanted her to negotiate it would cost me $500.

So, I will make them an offer and go from there. In the mean time I at least have a sense of timing. If they move forward and try to call my bluff, I know I have approximately 5 weeks. So I just pray to God that one of the funding commitments come through so I can end this in the best light!

I will let you know what happens!

In regards to your credit effecting your ability to get an apartment or a job...

Your credit is going to be ruined, so you'll need an apartment that doesn't need a credit check, or you can try but they may turn you down... you are now in the 'untrustworthy' category.

A read an article recently that suggested that about half the employers out there run a credit check on their potential employees. Employees with good credit are are better workers, and are less likely to steal... at least thats what I think the article said.

Yes a bad credit score can effect your ability to get SOME jobs... you won't know until you try.