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Apologies in advance to those offended by this question. Is a US citizen who relocates to CR responsbile for any US debt that was accured? Or can someone “underwater” financially get a new start in CR without resorting to a possible declaration of bankruptcy before leaving US?
There may be some technicalities to the answer to this question, but the recent rumblings that I’ve heard (because other people I know considered doing the same thing) is that “they” will track you down wherever you are, and if the US gov’t does what it was saying it might do, which is link your financial records to your passport records, then you ain’t getting out of the US if they think you are running away from your debts. Pretty scary, eh? And I believe that if you want to mortgage a house in CR, they use the same credit reporting agencies we do, so really it comes down to you can’t run and you can’t hide because with modern technology, they can find you.
If you are American, you can not hide.
The Costa Rican credit reporting agencies are absolutely, inextricably tied into the US credit reporting systems
There are six credit reporting agencies in Costa Rica: Teletec is the most popular and Cero Riesgo S.A are probably the two biggest
Cero Riesgo S.A.
InfoCrédito (Teletec)
Datum.net
Protectora de Crédito Comercial S.A.
Trans Union Costa Rica:
Infor.netInfor.net works with ChoicePoint of the USA and supposedly has data on over 18 million Central Americans and various intelligence agencies worldwide use Infor.net regularly.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comI realize that everyone’s situations are different, and the reasons or causes of financial ruin can vary widely and in some cases may or may not be totally your fault. However, I personally believe that what you are proposing is very irresponsible and I am not sure, but would border on illegal. People come to Costa Rica for a variety of reasons, but I think most of them come for the right reasons…..in short, to experience what Pura Vida really is. Perhaps also you do not realize you cannot just come to Costa Rica and stay. Until you establish some sort of legal residency you have to leave the country every 90 days. Running from your responsibilities and perhaps always looking over your shoulder, you will never be able to truly experience it.
a reply to dkt2u
If most people go to Costa Rica for as you say “the right reason” why does Costa Rica have one of the biggest sex tourist industries in the western hemisphere?
Edited on Apr 01, 2006 08:14
Edited on Apr 01, 2006 08:16
Edited on Apr 01, 2006 08:16
One of the reasons is that the courts are hideously slow and the victims of child abuse or molestation need to have a lawyer to represent them and because most Ticos can’t afford a lawyer some of the cases pending against pedophiles take forever to get to court, and are postponed time and time again. Here in Colorado we are trying to get new laws passed that would give judges the right to impose the death penalty on pedophiles who commit more than one offense.
As I stated, most, and I stress most people come to CR for the right reasons. You are always going to have lowlife individuals who prey on the innocent no matter where you go. Obviously one would not consider someone coming to CR for the purpose of committing a crime to be coming for the “right reasons”. My feeling is, running from your financial responsibilities is not a reason I personally would consider one of the “right reasons”, and that is exactly what you are suggesting doing. Please do not try to justify what you are considering by simply saying others are doing something worse. If you do not start taking responsibility for you actions now, there is nothing to indicate you would be any more responsible living in CR.
If someone is so broke that they can’t pay their debts, how do they hope to make a living in Costa Rica? They have laws against immigrants working. You can start a business, and have Ticos working in it. But in order to start a business and establish an SA, I think you would have to have some kind of a background check, including a credit report. Moving to CR doesn’t seem like an answer to your problem.
Re: your comment about “sex tourism.” There is a difference between being a tourist and being a resident.
Edited on Apr 01, 2006 19:59
My comment about the “sex tourism industry” was to illustrate my point that people visit CR and reside full/part time for may reasons some quite nefarious I’m sure. In the US you go to jail for soliciting a prostitute, but not for failing to pay your debts. Debtors prisons were abolished in the 19th century. In fact, I would be surprised if most single men who reside in CR did not initially become attracted to the country because of the “female opportunities”.
(With apologies ofcourse to all that are offended by my unavoidable characterization of what I am sure is a very, very small segment of the women of CR.)
If the US does in fact link your financial records to your passport, and then impose travel restrictions, you are as good as being in debtor’s prison because you won’t be able to leave the States at all!
Perhaps it would be best to stick to the issue and question you first raised. What different reasons people have for coming to Costa Rica is really irrelevant to your personal situation. It is apparent by your new posting about still being able to trade stocks online with your investment portfolio that what you are proposing doing is exactly as was previously stated. You are simply looking for an easy way to shirk your financial responsibilities. Your original post stated that you wanted to leave the U.S. without filing for bankruptcy, basically just leaving all of your creditors hanging. Perhaps you want to just flee the country and not go through the proper channels of filing for bankruptcy because your investment portfolio would be attached for repayment of a portion of your debt. I am not a law expert, so the following is merely an observation and speculation. Whether you flee the country or not, you are not immune to judgements that will most certainly be brought against you in court by your creditors, and most likely those judgements will be attached to any assets you retain, including any stocks you may own in an investment portfolio. I would suggest that you stand up to your responsibilities, do what is neccessary to pay your debts…..debts which you incurred and legally owe. I got myself in debt way over my head years ago. I worked two jobs for almost 7 years to pay my debts off. I would agree with jasman, moving to CR is not the answer to your problems and we definitely don’t need more irresponsible people moving to CR.
Thank you for your reply dkt2u, but respectfully you are reading “way too much” into my question about bankruptcy. I asked the question after reading an article about US citizens that have moved to the Dominican Republic which does not have a “debt collection” treaty with the US. They are then able to renegotiate their debt with their creditors without fear of harassment, liens, etc. This is a very common practice in the US, accept that creditors can intimidate debtors and don’t really have to negotiate in good faith. And the new US Bankruptcy laws are making it even more difficult for debtors to get relief. It is not walking away irresponsibly as you suggest but adds leverage to debtor negotiations which usually results in a significant reduction in interest rates on the balance owed or a cash settlement of the total amount due. Since Costa Rica is also a country that does not have a “debt collection” treaty, I was curious if the same thing might be happening there. Again thanks for your reply.
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