Could you be arrested for your debts?

[Quinten]

Is there ever a chance that someone can be arrested for not paying their debts? Can you literally be jailed because of it? I'm not in debt in that way, but I was just curious if anyone was arrested because they couldn't pay their debts back? 

[James]

In the United States I do not think you can be arrested because of debt. There are actions though that can be taken against you by the companies collecting debts. 

An arrest would only come from fraud, theft, or defying an order issued by the courts. 

So a debt collector can get you into civil court but that is about as far as they can go to collect the money. 

[Mila]

You can be held accountable for your debts and have your property and belongings seized but you won't be forced to serve time over it. I guess that is a good thing but still, if they take everything you own that has any value, you have to start over and hope what they took was enough.

[Justin89]

Yeah pretty much what James and Mila said. Debts aren't something you can be arrested for, but you can be forced to pay them off. I've known people who lost everything they owned because they had to pay a large sum of money back. 

 

[Scarlett]

I know a lot of people who lost their homes. That tends to be what happens. If you can't pay the debt, the bank takes it back. Same with cars and other larger purchases. I think smaller items they will be forced to write off, especially if you no longer have them.