Loan Question

Axl

Not sure if this is the correct place to post.

Curious about something.

If someone has a personal loan and moves to another country without paying this off, what recourse does a local bank do and have?

What about if its a vehicle loan and the vehicle is taken by the person that took the loan out to another EU country. Can / do the banks try and recover this?

Also - what about homeloans? Obviously a home cannot be packed up - what happens if someone ups and goes with these type of loans?

How 'far' will the banks go to recover their losses?

BuffyBot

If someone has a personal loan and moves to another country without paying this off, what recourse does a local bank do and have?

They'll try to establish contact with the person in question, and the persons credit record will be messed up for a couple of years. If they can't contact the person they'll either write the amount off, or they'll eventually hand it over to debt collectors.

What about if its a vehicle loan and the vehicle is taken by the person that took the loan out to another EU country. Can / do the banks try and recover this?

They could, if the wished. For example, if the car was taken out on car finance, the bank actually owns a ever-reducing share on the car as it is the security. Theoretically they could report it as stolen, which the Gardai might then pass on to other police forces, etc. A car bought with a personal loan isn't the banks property so the steps would be similar to the first scenario

Also - what about homeloans? Obviously a home cannot be packed up - what happens if someone ups and goes with these type of loans?

The bank would make moves to re-posess the house.

Of course, if the bank had reason to believe the loans were obtained fraudulently, they could report the person involved to the authorities. It all depends on the situation really, but they will go as far as they deem worth it to recover their loses.

boa-constrictor

Your credit history will be screwed up for 5 years.

Of course the honourable thing to do is repay the loan.

dotsman

BuffyBot wrote:

A car bought with a personal loan isn't the banks property so the steps would be similar to the first scenario

Even as a personal loan, the car could be used as security. It will depend on the credit agreement.

Basically, what you are thinking of doing is simple theft. If it's only a few quid, they probably won't take much action, but they will be able to repossess anything secured on the loan (car/house). In the case of the car, they can report it stolen. They can also have you declared bankrupt in your adbsence.

If you have any intention of returning to Ireland, you'll be screwed. You will have to repay the loan, plus interest, plus surcharge interest (usually quite high) plus any fees (legal/court) related to reclaiming the loan. There could also be criminal charges for fraud etc. You can also kiss any chance of getting a future loan goodbye - missing repayments stays on your record for 5 years. Being declared bankrupt, or being found guilty of fraud stays on your record permanently.

I would seriously recommend that you forget this idea. It might seem like an easy few quid in the short term, but it is very likely to bite you in the a$$ at some stage, and bite very hard!