I have question that might sound silly, but i just heard from my brother that you can max out your credit cards and not pay the bills and leave the country and if you leave the country for 7 years your credit card debt gets erased. (we are currently living in Greece) I find this hard to beleive has anyone ever heard of this and is it true. I personally think that the companies can hunt you down and take over everything you own.

There is nothing silly about this question, but it is incorrect to believe what your brother has told you.

First of all, yes, the debt will drop off ones credit report after 7 1/2 years from the date of last missed payment, BUT, if the creditor seeks legal action in court and sues for the amount owed then you wind up having a "judgment" against you.

Even under the FCRA, a judgment remains on your credit report for a much longer period of time. It depends on what state you lived in. In New York a judgment is listed for 20 years and is renewable for another 20 years if not paid.

Now to the State Statute of limitations. True, every state has a time limit to seek legal action to collect on a debt, BUT, if one leaves the state then the time "clock" on the statutes is "tolled" or more commonly known as "stopped" and will continue once the person returns to the United States.

And last but not least, ones credit report follows them anywhere in the world now days as there are credit reporting agencies sharing information daily.

Now go inform your brother that his idea while in theory work, it will still follow him forever because a debt owed is always owed!

Source(s):
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/031224fcra.pdf