Borrowing from a friend

BobQ · 10 July 2017 at 9:03PM

I think your friend behaved very stupidly in borrowing on a CC to give you a loan, more likely he is trying it on.

My view is that if you knew that he was doing this there is an obligation to pay more, but not without real evidence.

If he never told you that he was borrowing at high rates I do not think that means you are obliged to pay him more than a reasonable interest (say what he would have got if he had put the money in a savings account) which you seem to have done.

Your friend is not authorised to loan money at commercial rates and to try to persuade you to keep paying is unfair and unenforceable.

Just because your friend has a credit card debt trying to persuade you to pay it off is unfair.

I would ask him for a copy of his CC statements that show he withdrew money at the time he loaned it to you and see if it approaches the sum you borrowed. If you do I suspect he will not provide it.

Annie35 · 10 July 2017 at 9:25PM

sounds like loan sharking no?

tempus_fugit · 10 July 2017 at 11:15PM

I don't understand how the amount outstanding suddenly went from £10k to £30k, something's not right here. My feeling is that if someone lending you money wants it paid back with interest then they have to have a formal agreement detailing how much you have to pay back and when, otherwise how could anyone ever borrow any money and know how much they were going to be liable to pay back? If it's not in writing but you knew that there would be some interest to pay then I would just offer to pay the original sum plus a reasonable amount of interest. This may or may not work but it shows the reason why these things should be agreed, preferably in writing, before you start. The lack of one could go against you but it could just as easily go against the other side, hence why coming to some agreement on what has to be repaid may be an idea, as the friend would have to prove the interest being charged if it came to them taking legal action against you. Also, as regards them wanting the money now, they would have a hard time forcing you to do that if there was no indication of a timescale when the money was lent. All in all a bit of a pickle, but I wouldn't just agree to the £30k just like that.