Lending money to friends & family

savvy

Hi clintus, I know what I would do, but probably illegal! :rotfl: Have you read this thread? There may be something of use in there for you
HTH savvy

bristol_pilot

Is there anything in writing to say this is a loan? If you go to court she could say it was a gift and you will lose the case. IMO it is no more that 50-50 that you will see this money again.

westernpromise

bristol_pilot wrote:

Is there anything in writing to say this is a loan? If you go to court she could say it was a gift and you will lose the case. IMO it is no more that 50-50 that you will see this money again.

The OP implied that she had paperwork in which it's clear that repayment was expected. Even if she didn't, I'd guess (although IANAL) there's a still a plausible SCC claim here. Why would the OP just give money away, for instance, to someone who is selling their home? That looks exactly like a bridging loan to me. Courts aren't stupid.

To clintus - only you can decide whether you want to take family to court, but just in case this does go that far, keep every possible scrap of relevant documentation. If you can, get hold of a set of the estate agents' particulars describing her house. You might need those, to prove she really was intending to sell the house. She might try to deny that if trying to claim it's a gift. I wouldn't worry about the absence of a formal loan agreement - I can't imagine a court would expect to see such a thing between family members.

I think I would tell your SIL (in writing) that you need that money back otherwise you may lose your house. If she fails to react, write again to say she repays you or it's debt collectors now and county court for the 20% if need be. It's a letter before action basically, but it's also a bear trap for her. If someone genuinely gave you money, then wrote demanding it back, wouldn't the normal reaction be to say Hey! You gave me that!?! If she doesn't do that, I doubt a court will believe her later. If she does, well, you know what you're going to have to prove.

You then (hopefully) collect 80% sooner rather than later via the DCA and pursue the rest through a court. Good luck.

brindles01

I have just fallen out with my sister over a £900 'loan' that she thought she could just tell us to go whistle for, but after a bit of 'gentle' persuasion we are getting it back at the rate of a tenner a week, but the friendship and contact has now gone for good.

silvercar

Sounds like they don't have the money, so going to court or employing a DCA is not going to get you the money.

Putting a charge on the property will give you the money when they sell provided that there is enough equity in the property for you to get your money.

I don't know how straight forward it is to get a charge put on after the money has been loaned. I would have thought that the home owner would have to agree. I also seem to remember that the mortgage company may be required to agree, as you could prevent a sale if there ever was not enough money to pay you all the charge value.

going2die_rich

Simply tell her she will be paying the full amount else you are sending balif's around and you are sure she knows they wont wait around for the money. That'll scare her into contacting you and coming to some sort of arrangement. I'd suggest a high interest charge.

Me personally, I'd just turn up at her door and "persuade" her to pay

going2die_rich

Make them take a loan out on their house as it's their problem if they don't have the funds not yours. If they have to pay huge interest costs it's their own fault. Simply force them into taking a loan so that you can get your money back

westernpromise

silvercar wrote:

Sounds like they don't have the money, so going to court or employing a DCA is not going to get you the money.

Putting a charge on the property will give you the money when they sell provided that there is enough equity in the property for you to get your money.

So it doesn't solve the problem. There may be a charge on the house but they cannot be forced to sell, and meanwhile the OP needs the money back now.

AMILLIONDOLLARS

what does your fiance or her parents got to say about all this? I think a family conference is no order to find out what exactly is going on, and has the sister really got MS. You also need to find out how badly there are in debt and if there is a realistic chance of you getting your money back. In the meantime, I would not rely on this money for paying your mortgage, is there a possibilty of you or your fiance doing some part-time work to bring in some extra income? does anyone else owe you money, regarding your business, now is the time to send out reminders for payment. You said you had until Christmas to make a go of things, what was your plan if you had no money coming in after Christmas, put this plan into place now, as you are only four months ahead of schedule.

I would go over the the DFW Board and do a statement of Accounts, the folks over there maybe able to help you with budgetting and advice on how to get out of this hole.

Lastly, going to a DCA seemed a bit heavy handed, considering you were dealing with family, and this maybe the cause of the big fall out.

As the saying goes softly, softly catchy monkey. I know this might rub a bit, but you do need to mend some bridges and inorder to find out where you stand, and how far along they are with selling their house if you have them on side you are more likely to get your money back faster.

Good luck

AMD

PS. Going2die_rich - you can't make anyone do anything they don't want to""

lynzpower

Westernpromise, I tohught small claims court only goes up to 5k? Is that not right?