Expirey of a debt?

A relative of mine lost his job unexpectedly, his fianc茅e died and he got into money troubles meaning that his mortgage payments exceeded his reduced income. In the end in desperation he went in to the head office of his Building Society, told them he could not keep up the mortgage payments, handed over the house keys and walked away homeless. He was so desperate that he later tried to commit suicide. He had never been in money troubles before and found it hard to deal with, so this was not a case of someone ignoring their debts, he simply got in a terrible mess and couldn't afford the spiralling cost of repayments having unexpectedly lost his job.

He moved abroad to start a new life and after many years he has got his life together but he is still very short of money and there is no way he can re-pay this debt. His house was sold by the building society 12 years ago and the deficit was around 拢12,000. The costs the building society are claiming are now in excess of double the amount of debt he originally left, they now claim he owes over 拢30,000, 拢12,000 plus 鈥渃osts鈥?plus interest. The building society have worked out that we are related somehow and they are sending me letters trying to find him. They are demanding the debt be paid and have employed very intimidating debt collectors. My relative still lives abroad and I won't tell them where he is. Even if they find him he has no means to pay but I would like to know where he stands legally.

When does this type of debt expire or become legally unenforceable? What are the relevant laws that cover this subject?

He left the UK 11 years ago but he has had no contact with the building society since he handed the keys over 12 years ago.

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Take all the information that you have down to the citizens advice bureau. They will advise you best.

you will need to know when last contact was made between this relative and the bank/society/debt agencies...

In the uk if you have a debt and by error are not contacted for 6 years the debt can be writ off but your friend would of been better off declaring bankrupcy as it would be done by now and any deficit writ off as they are chasing they can chase forever and charge interest court costs and so can the collection agency
if they ever plan on coming back to the uk they need to make contact sometimes when a debt collector is involved they buy the debt for less than it is worth eg the 拢12000 debt may of been bought for 拢5000 even though they are chasing for 拢30 000 they may settle for 6000 or less or make payment arrangements I have heard of people owing 拢5000 paying 拢10 per week talk to them or your neighbour hoood advice centre they are used to people with payment problems that is why they are in business.
Do not be afraid all they want is money if you promise them some they will be happy even if they do not show it.

Just to add to this, during the six years after the debt has occurred, the debtor must not have made contact with the creditor or even acknowledged the debt. If the creditor pursues the debtor after the six years has expired then this can amount to harassment under the Limitations Act 2002. Pretty good hey!

In the U.S. each state has it's own statute of limitations on how long a business can continue to try and collect an unpaid debt. It can vary anywhere from 5 to 10 or more years. After the expiration date they are not legally able to continue to try to collect the debt, (i.e. wage garnishment, etc.) However, the unpaid debt information can legally remain on a credit report for 10 years from the date of the last payment made (except if one files bankruptcy, which is only allowed to remain in a credit file for 7 years). I don't know about foreign countries, but I would start by using a search engine such as google to find the answer for the country in which your relative lives. Try using keywords such as "statute of limitations on debt repayment" or something similar mentioning the country involved. I'm sorry your relative is going through this and I fully understand, because it is very depressing and a true thorn in one's side until legal relief is finally obtained. Good luck to both of you!.