Hello everyone,
A friend of mine left the U.S. five years ago with credit card debt which doesn't involve any fraud. In the meantime, he found out from a friend that a debt collection agency is suing him. There was a court summons found by his apartment door, and this was shortly after his departure from the States, about five years ago. Obviously, he wasn't able to appear in court. Whether a bench warrant has been issued is unknown to us.
Meanwhile he is planning on returning to the U.S., although to a different state, where some of his relatives live. He plans on returning to the U.S. soon and to basically "start over". He has no property, just some money on one of his bank accounts. However, he plans to start returning the debt as much as possible once he settles down, finds a job and starts working. Now he has read on some websites on the internet that people get arrested at the airport for civil bench warrants, so here are my questions:
1.) How likely is it that a "Failure-to-Appear" civil bench warrant was issued in such a case? He has no idea if this has happened, and not sure how to find out.
2.) If such a warrant was really issued, what are the chances he would be arrested at the airport upon arrival (in a different state), and the possible consequences? Maybe extradition to the state that issued the warrant?
3.) Are these Failure-to-Appear civil bench warrants actually enforceable across state lines, and are they saved in the system at the airports where Passports are scanned? Because as I said, he is returning to another state, not the one where the court summons was issued.
Unfortunately, there is so much conflicting information on the internet regarding this. Some websites say it cannot happen, while others say it definitely will happen because a US customs officer will see it in the "NCIC" database, and that the person will be arrested and extradited. Other websites say something completely different, such as that in civil cases (ex: credit card debt) Failure-to-Appear bench warrants aren't even issued. They say that not showing up simply means you lose by default, because in this case they just issue a judgment against you.
What is the truth here? If anyone could shed some light on this, it would be much appreciated. Thank you all in advance.
Regards,
Tack
A friend of mine left the U.S. five years ago with credit card debt which doesn't involve any fraud. In the meantime, he found out from a friend that a debt collection agency is suing him. There was a court summons found by his apartment door, and this was shortly after his departure from the States, about five years ago. Obviously, he wasn't able to appear in court. Whether a bench warrant has been issued is unknown to us.
Meanwhile he is planning on returning to the U.S., although to a different state, where some of his relatives live. He plans on returning to the U.S. soon and to basically "start over". He has no property, just some money on one of his bank accounts. However, he plans to start returning the debt as much as possible once he settles down, finds a job and starts working. Now he has read on some websites on the internet that people get arrested at the airport for civil bench warrants, so here are my questions:
1.) How likely is it that a "Failure-to-Appear" civil bench warrant was issued in such a case? He has no idea if this has happened, and not sure how to find out.
2.) If such a warrant was really issued, what are the chances he would be arrested at the airport upon arrival (in a different state), and the possible consequences? Maybe extradition to the state that issued the warrant?
3.) Are these Failure-to-Appear civil bench warrants actually enforceable across state lines, and are they saved in the system at the airports where Passports are scanned? Because as I said, he is returning to another state, not the one where the court summons was issued.
Unfortunately, there is so much conflicting information on the internet regarding this. Some websites say it cannot happen, while others say it definitely will happen because a US customs officer will see it in the "NCIC" database, and that the person will be arrested and extradited. Other websites say something completely different, such as that in civil cases (ex: credit card debt) Failure-to-Appear bench warrants aren't even issued. They say that not showing up simply means you lose by default, because in this case they just issue a judgment against you.
What is the truth here? If anyone could shed some light on this, it would be much appreciated. Thank you all in advance.
Regards,
Tack