Lending money to friends & family

[Deleted User] · 25 July 2005 at 10:17PM

If the 'friend' works for a company - and there is a complete paper trail your brother may stand a very good chance of recovering his money by ultimately suing the company. (He needs to take advice from a solicitor on this - maybe even the original solicitor he used?) This would come under civil law and most solicitors dealing in contract and tort should be able to deal with this for him.

On the individual side, there is however, what appears to be a criminal offence of theft - i.e. the £62k has been dishonestly appropriated by the 'friend' who has assumed ownership of it by using it for his own purpose (gambling).

Therefore, your brother, in taking civil advice from the solicitor about how to recover the money, should also ask about reporting the theft of the £62k to the police.

If the case goes ahead, the CPS will prosecute.

If it turns out that he was acting independently of the company, and the company can prove this - suing the company may not be possible. (Again, solicitors advice needed here).

If the CPS run with the case, your brother MUST ensure that they are aware he wants his £62k back and that any judgement takes accont of this.

(This avoids having to go back to court seperately - or suing him for the return of the money).

Don't forget to ask about damages and costs in addition to the £62k.

HeMan_3 · 26 July 2005 at 3:20PM

he was acting on his own, the company is a very good companyh and had nothing to do with this.

HeMan_3 · 26 July 2005 at 3:21PM

my brother tape recorded conversations with his friend who was at the time saying how he had purchased all kinds of shares.

Also if he has no assets, then how can the court make him pay back the money?.

zzzLazyDaisy · 26 July 2005 at 3:53PM

Simple answer. It can't.

One of the biggest problems in these cases is not getting judgement, but enforcing the judgement (ie getting your money back).

If he owns a house, you can get a charge against it, so that when he sells it, you get paid out of whatever is left after the mortgage company, solicitor, etc etc have had their cuts.

If he has a bank account, you can ask for a garnishee order, so the bank has to pay the money to you. But the money has to be there, and there is nothing stopping him openng a different bank account.

He is working, so you can get an attachment of earnings order, in which case his company must pay a set sum each payday to you. But that only works as long as he doesn't change his job or become unemployed.

In order to use these methods you must first go to court and get judgement, and the go back to court for an enforcement order. This all costs money. Sure it will be added to the amount he owes you, but you have to pay it up front and then try and get it back from him, aong with the rest.

Or, you can file for bankruptcy against him. That costs money too. It might also cost him his job. In which case he will have even less money to pay the debt, and after a certain time (it used to be three years, but there was talk of reducing it two one year in some cases, but I don't know if that actually happened) the bankruptcy is discharged and the debt is wiped clean. Which doesn't help you.

It is true that you may get some satisfaction if he is prosecuted and ends up with a crimina record. But if your main aim is to et your money back, it probably won't help much.

Sorry I can't be more help.

andyd · 26 July 2005 at 3:56PM

I'd suggest seeing a solic who specialises in breach of contract cases.

If the "friend" wants to avoid bankruptcy then i'd think he'll try to raise the money somehow.

Once your brother issues court proceedings and enters a court judgment against him (he has no defence to the claim IMO) there are various ways to enforce the judgment. One is an Attachment of Earnings Order whereby his employer is ordered by the court to deduct an approp sum from his salary each month to pay off the debt. Your brother could threaten this as i imagine the "friend" would want to avoid his employer knowing about the whole sordid business !!

Hope this helps.

HeMan_3 · 26 July 2005 at 6:28PM

once again thanks!

Heddwen_2 · 27 July 2005 at 6:20PM

Hi

I can relate to this as stupidly I did the same thing years ago!

After a few months of not getting anything back I asked them to write me a repayment scheduleThe person I 'lent' the money to did write me other IOU letters promising to repay it in monthly instalments but when he failed to start those repayments I took him to the small claims court. Who issued a repayment order on them.

Unfortunately again a similarity because, as we discovered, they hadnt been paying their 'share' of the rent all 3 of us tenantsd got chucked out (even though 2 of us were up to date with the rent). With that they moved and we have been unable to trace them. We suspect they are still living / working locally as they have a relationship with children involved. However as someone mentioned above until we can find out a new address either of residence or work conected to them we are powerless!

I have been to the local police station in the past, and the library records to try and find a way of tracing them but to no luck so far.

One day I will hopefully hear news ofthem being around again and then I can find a way to get my savings back.

I can certainly say I have and continue to pay for my stupidity. The money has gone for good (should I ever get it returned it would be like winning the lotterey I feel) I have accepted there is no point in chasing a lost cause now.

We didnt get the honeymoon we planned and I saved for, I didnt even get any wages as they were lent as well (this so called 'loser of a friend' shared a flat with my then fiance and I and we worked together)

I later discovered all my money was being bet on horses and poured into games machines therefore I was fuelling their betting and alcohol addiction! We couldnt see this as ofter they hadnt returned home until early hours so we wernt awake to see them rolling in drunk every time. I also eventually ended up repaying a bank loan this person had as they used me as a guarantor!

SO to recap this individual maggott owes me rent, wages, money lent, and a personal loan. All accumilating intrest from the courts on a daily basis. Yet I have NO hope of ever seeing them or my money again. UNLESS someone out there knows of their whereabouts or of a way to track them down (or a private detective who wants a charity case).

I pay for it every year as life continues to get tougher and every anniversary I get reminded how I screwed up our honeymoon.

Sorry to hear of your similar plight I do feel for you from personal experience and I too feel powerless.

My advice though is move on and dont ever trust anyone again, no matter how much you think you csan trust them. Rebuild your savings and be thankful its another life experience you durvived!

Thanks for listening, it always helps to get it of my concience once in a while.

Keep me updated on how things progress, but dont get obsessed with it.

henhog · 27 July 2005 at 8:46PM

I feel so sorry for you - my poor sister went through exactly the same thing. Lent quite a lot of money to a boyf who actually texted to tell her he wasn't paying her back. She went through all sorts of legal advice (citizens advice, police and a solicitor) and they all said the same things as have already been posted here - in other words, forget it. You do learn a lesson, but you really learn it the hard way. So, sorry, but maybe the saying "what goes around, comes around" is true ...

gravitytolls · 27 July 2005 at 9:44PM

Sadly I think you may have seen the last of your money. You've received lots of good advice, and maybe if you find this person, they'll see sense and do the decent thing.

Don't despair, you were not a fool, it's heartening to hear from people who have enough faith in people to lend their hard earned cash. It's gut wrenching that your trust has been abused this way, but PLEASE don't let it make you mistrustful of everyone, as most people are decent and wouldn't behave so appallingly.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

pennymakespounds · 28 July 2005 at 3:38PM

thanks everyone ... only thing to report is that through someone else we've apparantely had a message from him saying he now has a new job and will be paying back asap...
i'm not going to hold my breath !!!

Lending money to friends & family

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