Posted by k greene on March 23, 2001 at 17:51:21:
I am in the same boat with a larger loan. Jimmy Napier many years ago wrote you should not lend to friends or family unsecured. Your main objective is to get paid and by getting a judgement that is what you will have a judgement and no cash . Keep working with them and hopefully you will get paid slowly but surely. Next time get it secured. I will do the same. Good luck
Big Headache and no Tylenol in sight - Posted by Steve - NY
Posted by Steve - NY on March 22, 2001 at 14:15:25:
I gave my friend a short-term business loan (I hear the groans already) to get the business moving a little better due to the demand for product outweighing the supply. The loan amount was $2,800 and I used my Discover card to get the cash for them since they agreed to pay all interest, fees, and any other related charges as well as give me 10% for three months use of the money. The loan started Nov. 22 of last year and was due Feb 28. Every payment was late by as much as 3 weeks. They said they don’t have the money but I see they paid their rent, electric, cable, phone, and bought a used car. I finally got a payment of $665 from them just last week because I threatened to sue them and that was the absolute minimum amount I would accept before going to the court house. They have either zero or derogatory credit so the loan was impossible to get on their own and business was suffering for it. Guess that’s what I get for helping out a desperate person, lesson learned. My question, since the friendship is most definately over at this point, is what is the best way to collect this debt? I am under time constraints since I am looking to purchase a house in April and need this line of credit paid in full before even attempting to get a mortgage. I would like nothing more than to take control of the business and sell it for what is owed, it’s only worth about the amount of the loan anyway and is a home business that is doing fairly well but could be nice if it were not so poorly managed. I told them my plans of purchasing a house in April and the loan can not extend beyond Feb. in case I find something I liked early. Just short of holding her at gunpoint, how can I force them to get this thing paid within the next two weeks?