Singapore Expats

@greatleo : loans are contractual agreement between two parties i.e lender (bank) and borrower (yourself)
Unless you have borrowed over a certain amount which warranted for Chap 11 or 13 of the bankruptcy act , you will not be withheld upon your arrival here. However getting employment is a separate issues as you might have been blacklisted by MOM or being reported by your ex-employer or by the bank that lend you the money
The bank can appoint a debt recovery agent in your own country if they wanted to and usually you will lose in court if you challenge as your court will normally rule against you as the contract that you entered prior taking the loan is legal in the eyes of the court

So, greatleo, do you want to provide the information previously requested so that we can try to assust further?

The impression I got was that the question boils down to:

- I left the country with significant unpaid debts. Can I now return to SG without those debts being 'on my record'?

IMHO the answer he wanted was 'Yes, no problem', but MS has outlined the issue at hand. Hence the silence from the OP...

I think people need some perspective here. I got myself into a similar situation when I graduated. I was being sent junkmail regularly from all the major banks for 0% credit cards etc.

I ended up with maybe 4-5, each maxed out at 5-6k. Then realised that the only way to pay back my debts was living like a pauper for 10 years.

So I left the UK and got a buch of country court judgements. This meant that I could net get credit in Europe for 6 years, but after 6 years the registry entry is removed. So the choice was pay them back, or run away and have no credit for six years. I left the country.

I can now get credit, but do not have a CC or loan (I own my houses, not a bank), I only pay cash now.

Not sure about Singapore law though.

alittlerisky wrote:I think people need some perspective here.

snip!

Not sure about Singapore law though.

I like to think that I contributed to the EU financial crisis a bit. But, I mean, if a bank is stupid enough to lend a graduate on a pretty small salary that amount...they shouldn;t be that surprised if they default.

alittlerisky wrote:

alittlerisky wrote:I think people need some perspective here.

snip!

Not sure about Singapore law though.

I like to think that I contributed to the EU financial crisis a bit. But, I mean, if a bank is stupid enough to lend a graduate on a pretty small salary that amount...they shouldn;t be that surprised if they default.

I see, so it was the banks' fault and not yours? Interesting perspective.

Mi Amigo, it was Pimlico, Bowie Int'l & Laurel Int'l raceways in Maryland that are responsible for my Federal Bankruptcy back in 1973. They forced me to gamble on the ponies. Surely you can see that, yeah?

alittlerisky wrote:

alittlerisky wrote:I think people need some perspective here.

snip!

Not sure about Singapore law though.

I like to think that I contributed to the EU financial crisis a bit. But, I mean, if a bank is stupid enough to lend a graduate on a pretty small salary that amount...they shouldn;t be that surprised if they default.

the more I convince myself I won't be going back to the US for a long time, I consider doing the same thing. I have three or four credit cards with $20k US+ limits, and no balances. Why not ring them up to the max and just ride it out for seven years? I still have to pay US Taxes which are helping "banks recover" and bail out other people in the US that pay much less or no tax who do the same thing. Why shouldn't I reap a bit too?

Sometimes I wish I was a sociopath so I could surpress my conscious enough to do this

ZZM, I've been here over 3 decades now. I STILL carry two US credit cards out of habit. A Platinum Visa & an Bog Standard AMEX Gold card. While the US VISA card does get some use (funny enough, the last place was the hotel in Kerala - everybody else in the wedding party from Singapore couldn't get their CC's through or approved. So I said, what the hell, let's see if a Yank card will work. Smooth as silk. for 9 people with from 3 to 8 days lodging & meals! But back to the thing. I've not used my AMEX card in literally, years. and when I did, it was for the cheque cashing privileges at the AMEX office here in Singers, cashing a US cheque from my US checking account. The real reason I carry them till today? Both have member since dates of 1979. Grim reminder of what can happen when one doesn't mind the pennies and ends up going bankrupt in the old days in the US (1973). A combination of Hurricane Agnes, a Divorce and the ponies of three famous Int'l Race tracks all within 30 minutes or less from my home. Took me 6 years to regain my credit facilities. (While I learned my lesson with the ponies, seems I never did with wives!)

So, word of advice for those who are thinking of doing a runner on their CC bills, phone bills, or even loans...... The world has shrank alarmingly to a rather small ball of dirt floating through space. When I first came to Singapore there wasn't any Credit Rating Agency at all, for quite a few years. Also, it's very easy to garnish ones wages in other countries today as most lawyers have "links" to lawyers in virtually every country so they CAN operate overseas in a manner of speaking. Test it only if you dare.

sundaymorningstaple wrote:ZZM, I've been here over 3 decades now. I STILL carry two US credit cards out of habit. A Platinum Visa & an Bog Standard AMEX Gold card. While the US VISA card does get some use (funny enough, the last place was the hotel in Kerala - everybody else in the wedding party from Singapore couldn't get their CC's through or approved. So I said, what the hell, let's see if a Yank card will work. Smooth as silk. for 9 people with from 3 to 8 days lodging & meals! But back to the thing. I've not used my AMEX card in literally, years. and when I did, it was for the cheque cashing privileges at the AMEX office here in Singers, cashing a US cheque from my US checking account. The real reason I carry them till today? Both have member since dates of 1979. Grim reminder of what can happen when one doesn't mind the pennies and ends up going bankrupt in the old days in the US (1973). A combination of Hurricane Agnes, a Divorce and the ponies of three famous Int'l Race tracks all within 30 minutes or less from my home. Took me 6 years to regain my credit facilities. (While I learned my lesson with the ponies, seems I never did with wives!)

So, word of advice for those who are thinking of doing a runner on their CC bills, phone bills, or even loans...... The world has shrank alarmingly to a rather small ball of dirt floating through space. When I first came to Singapore there wasn't any Credit Rating Agency at all, for quite a few years. Also, it's very easy to garnish ones wages in other countries today as most lawyers have "links" to lawyers in virtually every country so they CAN operate overseas in a manner of speaking. Test it only if you dare.

+1 - my former Indian tenant skipped out with a whole bunch of CC's - I complained to the agent about the bills and she said - "Don't worry - the banks will find that curry muncher and make him pay up". It took a year but suddenly - the bills (which I was opening) suddenly showed the balances paid off - I suspect the tenant had been tracked to India and had his wages garnished - or threatened to be garnished.

Mad Scientist wrote:

janetw65 wrote:hello. i'm just wondering how's your situation now? i'm kinda in the same situation

What situatiobn will that be ? If you owe money , you OWE money. The two question is how much and from whom did you borrow?
The outcome is quite straightforward. Losing your money or losing your limbs

till date there is no one in such a case had come back with their update. they run away and leave singapore with debts.... all are guessing what are the consequences only......

That or they cannot reply until they have been released from Changi Prison? We don't know. Probably did runners, hence the tightening up on everybody else who follows. Sounds like you are fixin' to do the same.

davidgan666 wrote:

Mad Scientist wrote:

janetw65 wrote:hello. i'm just wondering how's your situation now? i'm kinda in the same situation

What situatiobn will that be ? If you owe money , you OWE money. The two question is how much and from whom did you borrow?
The outcome is quite straightforward. Losing your money or losing your limbs

till date there is no one in such a case had come back with their update. they run away and leave singapore with debts.... all are guessing what are the consequences only......[/quote

No. I know of specific cases where the credit card companies pursued the debt overseas and recovered it. One of those individuals returned to Singapore - the only damage is that specific bank (2 actually) will not lend to him again.