[Sideburns71]

Can anyone tell me what you know about credit card debt in Hong Kong? I've gone a little crazy in my spending here and I've accumulated quite a bit of debt, most of which I can't pay off right now. My assignment in HK ends in about 6 months (been here 1.5 years). What can happen to me if I never pay my credit card debts? Can I be pursued legally? Will my visa be affected? Can they go after me through my job?

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

[KnowItAll]

Once that debt is assigned to a collection agency, expect things to get pretty tough for you, as they will try and pursue you legally and if it is significant enough, it can be assigned to an overseas debt collector too.

[jayinhongkong]

You can expect a barrage of phone calls and they'll call every number they have on file for you. If it's a particularly large amount, you can expect some interesting things to happen to you (i.e., dead animals on your doorstep and red paint on your front door). Pay them off as best you can. After '97, a lot of expats flew the coop without paying their CCs off.

If you don't pay, you'll find it very, very hard to get any kind of credit in HK again. Not sure if this matters to you. Also, there's a possibility they can contact credit card companies overseas (especially now that US credit agencies operate in HK) which could affect your ability to obtain credit in other places.

[Sideburns71]

how about bankruptcy? is that an option for me? actually i have a HKID and US citizenship as well. I plan to return to the states. If I file bankruptcy here in HK before I leave, how will it affect my credit in the states?

Also, will they ever contact my employer? There's a possibility that I may keep my same job once I'm back in the states.

[mercury_element]

sorry, my bad, shouldnt have written that.....everybody makes mistakes and one should learn from them, I hope you also learnt something.

[KnowItAll]

>> Also, will they ever contact my employer?

Absolutely. Depending on who the credit card company has assigned the debt recovery to, expect them to contact your employer.

I'm not too sure about how they garnish your wages here.

[KnowItAll]

Jay .. a lot of what you said is illegal and you can report the offenders to the police.

[Sideburns71]

Thanks everyone for the info. Why is it that it's inevitable someone MUST add the "you should have been more careful" post. Does anyone actually think this is helpful? Do you do it to make yourself feel better? Because it certainly doesn't help me at all. As if I don't already know this. Have you never made any mistakes? Should I just not ask for help then?

But all the other advice does help me so thanks everyone.

[KnowItAll]

Sideburns: Havent you gone to a doctor who looked at you and said "you should not have smoked 20 ciggies a day and ate 10 krispy creme doughnuts" .... right before they did the angioplasty?

[DaveD]

Most credit card companies and / or banks are flexible in terms of individual installments or so... so just get in touch with them and I m sure you will find a solution together!
Overseas debt collectors are not that successful though... if you move to the US or Europe, there is not a big chance for them... but I guess it also depends on the amount, so their efforts will be higher when the amount you owe them has reached a certain level...