Lawsuit in foreign country over student debt

I am Brazilian and I went to graduate school in the US. I got pregnant during the program and although I successfully graduated, I had to come back to Brazil for family support after graduation. I don’t make earnings in US dollars and the currency exchange made it impossible for me to reapay my student loans, that I took directly from the university (private loans). I am now being chased by their collectors, who hired a law firm in Brazil. Although I tried hard to come into an agreement with them, they want me to repay the full loan, which is a sum that I simply don’t have. I wonder if someone here has gone through something similar. They are suggesting they are going to sue me next, since I am not able to repay.

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I dont think they have legal jurisdiction to do what they are doing to you. Your student debt here in the United States is not debt in Brazil.

Hi Patrick!

I thought as much since I stopped paying, in 2018. I thought I’d have my credit ruined and wouldn’t be able to return to the US. When the collector started communicating with me I realized they were “international debt collectors” meaning they have partners in each country that know specific laws. Then I started doing research and learned that they could sue me if the contract specified Brazil as place for litigation, and it doesn’t. However, they can still sue me in the us and transfer the sentence to Brazil, which is the worst scenario, since I wouldn’t be able to defend myself. All this takes time and money, so I still think it would be a better deal for them to settle the debt with no litigation, since I don’t have property to be garnished. What is weird to me is that the collector must know all this and still he absolutely refuses settle the debt for less than full. As I can’t pay in full I’m basically waiting for them to decide…

Wow, I am so sorry that you are dealing with this @Ana_Heloisa_Santiago

I am not a lawyer and I have not encountered something like this before, so I’m afraid I don’t know how to help. But I am very interested in this and would like to learn more because I know of a lot of people who either have already left, or are seriously considering leaving the US because of their student debt.

Is this a private student loan or a federal student loan. Do you have any paperwork, either from the loan itself or from these debt collectors? I don’t know Portuguese, so I probably won’t be much help if the paperwork isn’t in English. But I’d love to take a closer look and try to understand how this is happening, what options you might have, whether this is within their jurisdiction or not, etc. Again I am not a lawyer and I cannot give you legal advice, but I do care deeply about your situation and would love to do whatever I can.

-Thomas

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Hi Thomas!

I sent you some docs and information through private message. Thank you!!

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