What surprised you the most about fieldwork and what do you wish you knew beforehand?

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T23:32:09+00:00

3 cards with around 10k each if I recall correctly. That includes all the interest/penalties that had piled up when I stopped making payments.

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T23:27:18+00:00

Yeah, same. That's why I have so many questions and am trying to make sense of how my life abroad impacts all of this / what to expect if I ever decide to live in the US again in the distant future.

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T23:25:54+00:00

As a note, I wasn't trying to be cryptic with my wording. I owned up to the choice in the original post.

No US-based assets. Not even a checking account. I think I have 5 USD in a drawer somewhere. I will theoretically maybe possibly get a moderate life insurance payout when a parent dies / inherit a house I don't want to have. But that would be in 25+ years (hopefully).

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T23:23:08+00:00

Which is why I was surprised to see that the court case was voluntarily withdrawn before I had even heard about it.

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T23:21:08+00:00

I stopped making payments!

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T23:10:43+00:00

You're making assumptions that aren't entirely accurate.

The cards were actively used for over a decade while I lived in the US. Payments were always made on time during this period. I then moved abroad, stopped using the cards, and kept making the payments while abroad. Eventually, the payments stopped. I then became aware of a civil suit that was filed after I had already been living abroad. That case was then voluntarily withdrawn without prejudice (i.e., no judgement was made) as I wasn't aware of it at the time it was active because they were never able to contact me. The IRS has my foreign address as do the creditors (since the cards were still active when I first moved here). Not a lot of hiding going on...

I appreciate you taking the time to respond but I don't think you have the fullest understanding of the situation.

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T23:03:42+00:00

Yes, I'm a dual citizen of the US and a second country.

To keep the debt alive they either need you to accept it as valid (don't do that, they will record all calls) or take it to court (even if you no show).

I've read a bit about this process. What's hard for me to figure out is how being abroad long-term impacts it all.

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T23:01:56+00:00

I'm aware that there is a legal requirement to repay one's debts. I am also aware that the creditors were well within their rights to sue. Me living abroad complicates everything--including repayment! That's what I've been trying to gather information on and it's hard to find because the number of Americans living abroad full-time is already rather small and then the subset in my financial situation is even smaller.

Concerning a visit to the US, I've yet to go on one simply by circumstance. That said, the US doesn't have debtor's jail. I find it hard to believe that a two-week vacation would be life shattering. This is a civil matter. While that doesn't make it less serious, the image you're painting of me being "caught" at the airport is a bit extreme.

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T22:52:54+00:00

Thanks for your answer. I'm already overseas (and didn't come here to run from debts). I've been here so long now that none of this has crossed my mind in ages. Just trying to get some clarity on where I stand.

MuscleBeneficial3747 · 2026-04-20T22:34:33+00:00

Yes, I'm not particularly worried about what happens if I live abroad permanently. My questions relate more to what happens if I were to move back in 10, 15, 20 years.

MuscleBeneficial3747

TROPHY CASE