Cash loan to a friend,

simonineaston

Anyone who asks someone to lend them money hasn't properly got their head round the concept of friendship...

jonesMUFCforever

I have only one thing to say DON'T DO IT ON ANY LEVEL!!!!!!!

Just think for one moment if you were carrying out this project - if you needed money would you not approach the lender with an existing mortgage first or perhaps your bank for a loan or one of the supermarket lenders? If you hold a decent credit file you would expect any of them to want to lend to you.
Now fast forward your friend seems to be struggling to find the money - WHY? Is he in over his head with this and other debts? Is there equity in the property if it sells?

Don't lend to this friend.................unless you are happy to write it off when it goes pear shape.

Robisere

simonineaston wrote: »

Anyone who asks someone to lend them money hasn't properly got their head round the concept of friendship...

Absolutely agree with that. Many years ago, I was burned by just such a borrower who needed the money to buy a van for his small business. I set up a repayment procedure with him. He repaid a little over 10% and stopped. When I went to his house some miles away to ask why, it was empty. I never saw him again, and I had counted him a lifelong friend.

Just don't do it, there is no way to get it back if he runs into another cash problem. Renovating a property is a minefield: one problem shows up another. My dd and partner are doing just that at the moment and it is almost done after around 15 months, but many unforeseen and expensive extra problems have arisen.

TrustyOven

Just don't do it!

If you want many many examples where things turned bad, between friends and also close family, read this old thread:

"Lending money to friends & family"
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/76953

27cool

The OP seems to have vanished. Or are they just weighing up the wealth of advice not to do it.

MrBluesky_2

Thank you for the advice,

My friend is retired and is unable to get funds from the usual outlets and have maxed out their credit cards.
I also believe there are several charges (apart from a mortgage provider) on their property,so if it went that far i would be low on the pecking list.
Their property is being sold after renovation (they are moving abroad and have a property abroad). friend has told me i will get my £18k back plus £6k when they sell although the £6k incentive is attractive,i have now decided to contact a solicitor when back from my holiday.
If ( when) the solicitor finds excessive charges on their property or any other negative information then i will my back out of the loan.

Thank you for the heads up.

System

Banks need the money less than you do, let them be the lender, it's quite fair that they charge interest for this as youd be sacrificing interest and taking risk

Helvetica_Van_Buren

If you lend it to you friend, please make sure you come back in a few months when they have stopped paying you back (if they ever began) and they've stopped answering your calls to ask how you can get your money back and how you were stupid for even considering it and how you're never going to do it again because THIS WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN.

BrassicWoman

They can sell the property as is, now, to someone looking for a fixer upper; it does not need to be finished, to be sold. This seems their best course of action.

vacheron

MrBluesky wrote: »

Thank you for the advice,

My friend is retired and is unable to get funds from the usual outlets and have maxed out their credit cards.
I also believe there are several charges (apart from a mortgage provider) on their property,so if it went that far i would be low on the pecking list.
Their property is being sold after renovation (they are moving abroad and have a property abroad). friend has told me i will get my £18k back plus £6k when they sell although the £6k incentive is attractive,i have now decided to contact a solicitor when back from my holiday.
If ( when) the solicitor finds excessive charges on their property or any other negative information then i will my back out of the loan.

Thank you for the heads up.

Everything you mention about your friend in this post points to the fact that they are financially overextended and desperate.

Think about it, they are prepared to pay a 6k (33%) incentive for the loan of money and still ALL the usual professional lenders have assessed their risk as too great!

They are retired so their income will probably not be very high. certainly not as high as it used to be.

You would be at the back of what sounds like a long queue to someone who have financially overextended themselves and are giving you promises of "jam tomorrow" and can easily take off abroad with little warning.

There are so many alarm bells ringing here it's hard to concentrate to type!