can my friend get out of this?for the pros only.need facts not opinions

thewinkshow

hi again

my mate got refused a bank account last week,they suggested he did a credit check,as he said he had no idea why he would have bad credit.

my friend is 21 and has been working full time for over 1 year.in 2004 when he was 19 he opened up his own business with an older very manipulative friend,he basically got taken for a ride by this guy,everyone tryed to warn him,but his slimy mate has convinced him that opening their own business would bring them millions,my mate was taken in by all this.

my mate did a credit check and much to his annoyance found a default on his report,it was the red one with number 8,i think this is the worst default isnt it?it says its for an unpaid amount from barcalys of around £6000

my mate and his business partner took out a £6000 business loan with barclays.they closed business within a year.my friend was assured that his partner was going to pay the business loan off.

upon investigation it turns out his partner has not been paying the business loan since 2004 when it defaulted.also his partner is in over 20k debts for various other things of which my partner knew nothing,turns out he was doing the business to try and get himself out of debt,theyall now being taken care of via balliffs.

my friend no longer has contact with this guy,and this business loan is the only thing connecting them.my mate doesnt seem to remember signing anything,as everyting for the businees was taken out in the other guys name as he was older,my mate seems to remember that he wasnt old enough to sign for something,he isnt sure what,as he was naive and just along for the ride,but he admit that its very possible that he signed the business loan.

this makes them joint business partners and means my mate is as liable for the debt as his partner,is this true?

now the strange bit.........................

if my friend is on the joint loan,then why has he never been contacted?he swears he has never had one letter from barclays,regarding the business loan,any owed amount or a default,so they not have to by law provide this infomation to him?he didnt know he owed them at all.he has been in full time employment since the business went bust,and if he had know he would of certainly paid the debt off,to avoid a default,like he said it isnt not the money that boithers him,its the default on his account,how bad is a default?will he not get credit for the next 6 years?

ive read on the net about people writing letters asking for a copy of the agreement and the deafult notice within 28 days,and if they cant provide this they have to wipe the debt.

barclays know who my friend is,as they have stated so why have they never been in contact?he has rang a few people about the debt but they dont seem to know anything about it,he is going having a meeting later this week to get to the bottom of it.does my friend have a case?

if its joint does that mean he only owes half the amount,according to barclays the account as been closed.

any advice on this would be very much appreciated

thanks again.

jamesd

He's doing the right thing if he's willing to pay all 6000 himself. Since the other person clearly isn't going to pay, they can come after him for it all if it's a joint debt. They might agree to settle with him for less, but assume it'll be for all plus interest and costs.

He should ask them for all documentation they have about it, particularly the signed agreement to verify that it matches his signature, saying he suspects fraud but can't be certain because it's possible he might have signed it without knowing what it was.

At the moment we don't know if he really did sign up for it or not, so it's tough to give really good suggestions, other than asking for the bank's help in sorting out what happened and indicating that he's willing to discuss settling for a fair portion of the debt now he's aware of it, if he did actually sign up for it. And that that is subject to them agreeing to remove the negative credit reference record that he'd have avoided if he'd known there was a problem.

Better in this case to ask the bank's help in sorting out what actually happened rather than going in with the adversarial approach of telling them to prove the debt. The effect is the same but asking for their help in sorting it out is likely to put them in a more receptive frame of mind later, if settlement is necessary.

Do caution him not to agree that he owes them any money or discuss settlement itself until he has considered whatever documentation they can find and their conclusions. He can easily do that the next day if necessary - for now make them do the leg work of checking the documentation and deciding for themselves whether they think he really did or didn't sign for it.

nrsql

Given the situation you describe I wouldn't be surprised if your friend had signed for the loan - even if it was just signing things put in front of him.
How old was he - he might be too young to have been a partner to the loan.

Probably best to contact Barclays and ask a few questions.
Get a copy of the loan contract so he can verify that he did sign (plead youth and bad memory).
Verify that he was old enough to be considered responsible (CAB maybe).
Ask why he had not heard anything about this - what attempts had Barclays made to contact him.

If he is liable (and that would be for the full amount - both are liable for that) then maybe ask for a settlement figure - make sure it includes removing the entry on the credit report and get it in writing.

Tell them the situation - he was young and impressionable. It won't make a difference to the facts but might help to show that he's not being confrontational, didn't really know what he was doing and wants help.
Did he have a meeting with a business development manager before taking out the loan?

Xbigman

What sort of partnership was it? Its possible one partner could sign for loans and the like. Personally I would not contact anyone about this debt yet. I'd want the paperwork and the full accounts from the partnership first. What else does the failed business owe? Why did it fail? What was the 6k spent on?
If the other partner was in debt did he strip the business? All those questions should be answered before your friend even thinks about looking into the debt itself.
You say he has phoned people - who? If it is the original creditor and they have no knowledge of the debt that means it was sold on to a debt collector. A DCA will not give a hoot about anything but your friend paying with interest and charges added.

As for that default. Who put it on? If it was the original creditor then it will not be removed for 6 years. If it was the DCA they might agree to remove it if he pays in full, but I doubt it.
Whilst your friend has a default on his record he will not get anything decent, curreny account loan or mortgage. Basic bank accounts and sub prime (high interest) loans and mortgages are all that he will get.
Regards



X

thewinkshow

thanks for the advice,much appriciated

he was 19,is this old enough for a busniness loan?
the money was spent on doing the shop up and buying stock i think
its likely he did sign
its barlcays who issued the default
the account is now closed,and by the looks of it,the debt has been passed on to an agency
dont they have to send you any info regarding a default/or give you notice to pay a debt?my friend got nothing.maybe his partner got the mail but chose not to show my mate,is this possible?
he did have a meeting with a barlcays business manager to start get the loan.
he has spoken to barclays who dont seems to know alot about the debt,he is ringing the business manager who set the loan up today.
if they cant provide any info of any documents sent to my friend,do they have to wipe it?
he is willing to pay it all off,should it come to this.

any more advice on where he stands legally?personally do u think he will or will not get out of this?

i feel very sorry for him,but its not as if he wanst warned.

thanks again

regularsaver1

what address details did they hold for your friend as they may have tried to contact but had incorrect details?

thewinkshow

they have the correct details.he has lived at the same address for the whole 21 years of his life,never moved.when he rings them they know who he is,and where he lives,but know nothing about his debt,they admitted this is strange.maybe when he gets in touch with the orignial business manager,he will be able to shed some light on this.

thanks again mate

Mark7799

thewinkshow wrote:

thanks for the advice,much appriciated

he was 19,is this old enough for a busniness loan? Yes - as long as he's over 18 he's old enough
the money was spent on doing the shop up and buying stock i think seems a reasonable purpose
its likely he did sign
its barlcays who issued the default
the account is now closed,and by the looks of it,the debt has been passed on to an agency
dont they have to send you any info regarding a default/or give you notice to pay a debt?my friend got nothing.maybe his partner got the mail but chose not to show my mate,is this possible? certainly possible, the bank account may only have one address on it for correspondence
he did have a meeting with a barlcays business manager to start get the loan.
he has spoken to barclays who dont seems to know alot about the debt,he is ringing the business manager who set the loan up today.
if they cant provide any info of any documents sent to my friend,do they have to wipe it?
he is willing to pay it all off,should it come to this.

any more advice on where he stands legally?personally do u think he will or will not get out of this? It seems unlikely he has any grounds on what was stated here

i feel very sorry for him,but its not as if he wanst warned.

thanks again

Did your mate and his partner have any sort of partnership agreement? (clutching at straws here)

The other document you/he will need to see is the bank mandate to confirm how many signatures were required to pay money on the account. If it was 'both to sign' he may have a chance

thewinkshow

no they never got any deeds drawn up

i will ask about the signuture thanks again

thewinkshow

bump for more advice

regularsaver1

what happened when he spoke to the business manager you said he was meeting with - who did the application

i think this needs to happen first