Been out of country

[justamess]

What is the name of your state?AZ

This is a two-parter, I hope this is ok for this forum. I'm in the process of clearing all my debt one way or another. I have lived out of the country for about 6years, and left my debt right behind. I'm thinking of coming back in a few years, but don't want to come back to a huge mess. Many of the accounts have been written off. The student loans are the worse, totally some $30,000. I know I have to pay that. The others are sums of up to $2500. Most department store debts of $200 to $500. I think maybe no more than $6,000. My question is, should I declare bankruptcy, or try to pay these debts off and make arrangements with student loans?

My BIGGEST concern actually is last year when I was home, my parents added me as signer to their SAVINGS account in the event something happens to them. I also opened a joint checking account with them so we could open a safety-deposit box at the same bank as the SAVINGS account.(this was required to open a safety-deposit box account) After this was all completed, I started to wonder if I had now put their savings account in jeopardy by having my name and ssn# attached to it? They are elderly and this would just be horrible stress for them.

Truthfully, I earn a good living now. I have credit accounts in the country I live in that have never been late in six years. Although I have debt here, I am finally now in a position to pay my old US debts I just don't know how to go about doing it, and since the bills are so late, what would be the best course of action in terms of just getting a fresh start. (ie: figure out how to pay all creidtors or just file for bankruptcy) And hopefully this can all get sorted before any creditor tries to go after my parents savings account

I'm sorry for this long message...but as the name says I'm a mess and this situation is really a mess. Any help you can offer on any of the above is greatly appreciated.

 

[Anisah_H]

Do you have any judgements against you for any of this debt? If not, then the SOL is up for them to collect it. I don't know if Arizona considers credit card debt written or oral contracts, but the SOL is 6 years and 3 years respectively. After 7 years it will come off your credit report. So if they did not win any judgements in court against you, you should be clear of them, and in a year or so they will come off your report. So I would just wait for them to come off. They should not be able to touch the savings account.

I understand you want to pay your debts off, but if you do, the SOL would start over for reporting, and they would be on your credit reports for 7 years as settled or something like that, which would not be good! Sometimes you just need a fresh start.

Student loans are another story. There is no SOL for them. Mine are in default and I have to deal with them too. What I believe about them is that you find out who owns the debt, and after making payments to them on time for a year, they come out of default. Then you can consolidate them and pay them off over a few years. Then you don't have to worry about the government taking your tax refund or garnishing your wages. I don't know what they would do about your name on a savings account.

Good Luck.

Anisah in NJ

 

[cmorris]

Credit cards are OPEN accounts, and have a 3 year statute of limitations in AZ. However, leaving the country may have put a "hold" on the statute of limitations. An AZ attorney would know the answer.

I would not recommend BK for $6K. Personally, I have $7,500 in cc's while in college with a child to take care of. I have made all payments timely and will continue to do so. The SL's can't be discharged in BK anyway. $6K is just too small, IMO, for BK.

I would recommend finding out for sure if the SOL has passed (due to you being out of the country for so long). If not, you could negotiate with your creditors/collection agencies. Some might accept pay for deletes (you pay and they delete the entries from your credit reports) or a settlement. If it has passed, creditboards can help you clean up your report.

Go to creditboards.com to learn more. Some there may even be able to tell you (and provide laws) about the SOL tolling. Good luck!