Returning to USA with bad credit after 10 years?

Question

I may be returning to USA after 10 years for a brief stay. When I was in the US,
I owed some money to the shop cards [jc Penney, mont Ward, etc] and had one bad check for around 140$. These I could not pay.

I wish to find out what could be the worst that can happen. In the worst case,
I am ready to pay the money which is around 1700$ in all.

I am not returning to the same state where I stayed 10 years before and I am not planning to apply for any loans.

I will only need a bank account and also a credit card. Please let me know
if my normal life would be affected.

HOW DO I KNOW FOR SURE THAT MY STAY IN USA WILL NOT BE AFFECTED IN ANY WAY - WILL MY CREDIT HISTORY BE STILL IN RECORD. I WISH TO MAKE SURE THIS BEFORE I PLAN TO COME TO THE USA.

- I had one bad check which I could not pay around 140$
- I owed money of the order of 1700$ in total to some shop cards
- this happened 10 years ago

Your answer is appreciated.

Thanks

Suk.

Answer 1

The statute of limitations could have been tolled while you were away, meaning the clock stopped.

In addition your creditors could have obtained a default judgement against you as well and that could still be in place.

The worst possibility is that the US government has you marked as an undesirable due to you having stiffed your creditors in the past and they may not allow you to return (assuming you are not a US citizen).

But what is most likely is that it is all in the distant past and nobody will come after you for the debt if you return.

Answer 2

Since it has been 10 years, your credit history should be wiped clean of the previous debts. Your new problem will be that you don't have any recent activity (it will be like you haven't established any credit.)