Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey

Re: Sued by creditor but no longer live in US

pay what you owe.

Re: Sued by creditor but no longer live in US

That depends a lot on what you position is on the underlying debt.

First, if you do nothing, Capital One will be justified in thinking that it has good service of process as will the court. You will have a default entered against you which will very shortly mature into a default judgment. That will continue to show on your credit report and will be collectable from your U.S. wages and any real property that you might own in the U.S. for twenty years. So, if you actually owe Capital One what they claim, you can either pay or take the default and whatever consequences it has for you.

If, on the other hand, you dispute the debt, you can answer the complaint (probably through a lawyer here) and contest it. That might require you to come to appear in court. Alternatively, you can hire a lawyer here to appear and contest service of the summons. Since the service is actually defective, you should win that motion but it will cost some U.S. dollars up front to do that. That will not make the matter go away. It will just force Capital One to wait for you to return to the U.S. or serve you by other legal means. A factor to consider is that, so long as you remain unavaliable for service by virtue of being in a foreign country, the time limiting Capital One's ability to sue you will not run.

My firm handles matters of this type. If I can be of further help to you, contact me by email.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm