Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in California

Re: collecting on a promissory note

I may be able to help you. Please contact me or my assistant Mary for free consultation.

Re: collecting on a promissory note

Depending on the terms of the note, you can sue and get judgment, or arbitrate, and upon the award get a judgment. You will then have to find assets sufficient to satisfy your loan, not necessarily an easy task. Good luck!

Re: collecting on a promissory note

You should first make a formal, written demand for the money. Consider hiring a lawyer to write the letter for you. A letter sent via certified mail from an attorney can be quite effective.

If that doesn't work and if the amount is less than $5,000, you should sue him in small claims court. If the amount is over $5,000, your best bet might still be to sue him in small claims court. You can try to get him to consent to having the entire disputed amount taken care of in small claims court. If he won't consent, you may prefer to stay in small claims court even though your recovery will be limited to $5k.

Suing in Superior Court can be so expensive that it makes no sense to pursue a claim there. The most important factor in deciding where to sue will be the amount of the note. If your amount is large enough, you might be able to get an attorney to take it on contingency.

It's possible that your note confers additional rights upon you as a result of his breach. Feel free to contact me to discuss.

Best of luck,

Ben