Hello,
We lived in Canada for 6 years and acquired a Visa credit card through CIBC. We have been paying it down since we moved back to the US in 2003; the balance at that time was approx. $10,500 and is now down to roughly $6,200.

In the last year and a half, however, we have had increasing financial problems due to extremely poor health on the part of my husband; it was bad enough that for a long time I couldn't go out to work to bring in extra income. We ended up juggling payments for a number of creditors. It was so upsetting to not be able to pay or be able to tell people when we could pay that we just did the best we could. :(

I recently started working and immediately sent payments to everyone to whom we owe money. We sent enough to CIBC to make a payment of $220 (but not the minimum due). One week later we received a phone call from a someone purporting to be collecting for CIBC, demanding payment in full :eek: . We explained that we had no resources to be able to pay this in full, and explained the health problems, etc. never denied the debt, and said how the bank had just accepted a payment the week before. We also indicated that we had full intention of resuming payments and were willing to work out what we could. They continue to insist that we pay the amount in full; one woman called my husband at work insisting that we pay in full or face a legal battle for it. My husband told her that if they did that they would be forcing us into bankruptcy (which neither of us are inclined to do!) and he told me that she said she didn't care, we could do that!

Because of the way that they are handling this, I started researching debt collection in the US. If they are liable to follow US law, they are already in violation, because in that case we were supposed to have heard from them by mail within 5 business days. However, we don't know which is applicable, US or Canadian law, and if Canadian, what is their responsibility in reaching us in writing? We haven't heard in writing from either them or CIBC in regards to debt collection.

My question is basically whose jurisdiction are we under with this, and what are their responsibilities in this case? And why are they insisting on payment in full? We don't own our own home, as we are in a parsonage, so we don't even have access to a home equity loan. At this point, because of the financial problems resulting from my husband's health problems, our credit score has taken a dive. From having worked in credit and collections years ago, I very seriously doubt that we could even get a loan to repay them, so we really have no alternative but to make payments.

Also, if anyone knows of a website that could help with the laws concerning Canadian debt, I'd appreciate that as well.

Please help!

Thanks in advance for your help,
Sharona4ever

Here are a couple of sites that may be helpful:

http://www.bankruptcycanada.com/debtcollectors.htm

http://www.canlaw.com/credit/indexmoney.htm


I took a quick look and found that Canada has very similar debt collection laws.

If your case went to court, in my experience, most judges get upset with a company that is suing someone who is faithfully making every attempt to send payments.

Good Luck!

I am not an attorney and this should not be construed as legal advice.

Call this guy clark howard he will help or visit his website. He is the best and if he does not know he will find out and let you know.
http://clarkhoward.com/

If you reside in the US and have a Canadian Debt, the CIBC cannot sue you in the US. They would have to sue you in a Canadian Small Claims Court. If they did, you could defend the action from the US and get terms of payment which would allow you to pay off the debt on your terms. If you chose not to defend the action, CIBC would get a default judgment that would not be enforceable in the US. It would be waiting here for you if you ever decided to return say to get free health care or Canada Pension, etc.

It is likely that it was not the CIBC who you spoke to but a collection agency acting for them. The CA uses the.. you are in default... the balance is due... we want it yesterday.
Simply tell them what you can afford and when you will send it and live with the consequences as that is all you can do anyway. The other reason for making the demand is the possibility that they could lose contact with you in the US so it is better to make the demand while there is a line of communication. This all bark and little bite.

It is unlikely that you would be sued while living in the US. First it would destroy you good faith to pay. Second, the cost of the legal action only makes the debt larger. Third, the judgment is not enforceable in the US.

Pay what you can when you can.

To all who have written to help me, I thank you so much. It's been so long since I posted this and so much has happened that it has actually become a non-issue. I am posting this for information purposes in case anyone else sees this and wants to post an answer.

Less than a month after that post, in December of 2006 my husband became extremely ill and was hospitalized for 3-1/2 weeks. He came home on January 12, 2007, and went back into the hospital on February 11, 2007. He passed away the morning of February 12, 2007.

Not the way that I would have wanted a debt to be discharged, but it was in his name only. CIBC/collection agency/whoever has been satisfied with my having faxed them a copy of the death certificate.

Thank you again for your help.

If your canuk move back, if not move back anyway say your threaten by americans because they believe your secretly canuks and they will be jealous , also your husband will get free medicare tell them you contacted the disease in canada (lime disease )