“Dear Steve,
I was living in the UK for 6 years and have a loan there with HSBC for approx 3000 gbp. I am now living back in the US and have no plans to ever live in the UK again. Can this debt follow me to the US and affect my US credit rating?
Kelly”
Dear Kelly,
Even though we live in a modern age, international debt collections is still behind the curve. Being pursued for a foreign debt in the U.S. very rarely happens. However, if the collector over there knows where to reach you then you could get calls.
A more permanent way to deal with the UK debt if you recently left is to consider filing bankruptcy back in the UK. There are time limits on how long after you leave that is possible to do.
There are services back in the UK that will represent you when you are living out of the country.
There is no current reporting of international debts on a U.S. credit report. It would be an entirely problematic process for the credit bureaus to engage in even though some of the same credit bureaus in the U.S. are also in the UK.
I’ve never seen a U.S. credit report that listed a foreign debt on it.
In fact none of the credit I had in the UK when I lived there ever appeared on my U.S. credit report.
Even with the remaining outstanding debt in the UK you will not have any problems going back to visit or travel there. You should not be afraid of being stopped at the border over an old debt in the UK.
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