Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in
Foreign speeding tickets
recieved 2 speeding tickets, summer 1998 in the
provence of british columbia canada on a trip to
alaska,usa. I checked with local police, legal
aid,and drivers licence bureau, the reply's were
all the same,no americans pay there fines, but
provence of b.c. may send bill to collection
agency in u.s.,so jan.1999 i recieved bill from a
collection agency in alabama......question: can
foreign gov. or provence of canada collect a debt
legaly from a person in usa? and if so can none
payment of bill to collection agency (in alabama)
be put in to credit report,hence putting black
mark on record????.........pooh!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Foreign speeding tickets
Yes, and yes. As long as the foreign government is not an "enemy," or otherwise subject to economic sanctions that would preclude access to US courts, they can take steps here to collect. I wouldn't worry about a parking ticket in Baghdad, but a Canadian ticket debt is perfectly enforceable, provided it has been reduced to judgment by your non-appearance in Canadian court and non-payment of the debt. And any debt can go on your credit report, although you are entitled to include an explanation or dispute it. Best bet: pay the ticket.
Daniel Press
Chung & Press, P.C.
6723 Whittier Ave., Suite 302