Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida
libel slander defamation, damages beyond injunction?
I am a recent Ph.D.
When in grad school, my mother co-signed a student
loan fo $4304. on 7-1-03. The loan company sent her
notification on 7-9-03 of the disbursement of the loan.
From July through Dec of 2003 and well after, I
have e-mails from my mother asking about my
professional travel to conferences in Lisbon and Mexico
City asking if she could travel with me, stay in
hotels, etc. They are obviously cordial. I have
many congratulatory e-mails from her and her friends
from when I graduated from March-May 2004. In
February 2005 she became vindictive and accused me
of forging the loan document. She also sent letters to
the bank imputing forgery. She sent me a
letter, certified, on Feb 8, 2005 stating that she had the
addresses, phone numbers and faxes for my
dissertation adivisor, my reference contacts and the
Fulbright Foundation. At the time I was a finalist for a
US government Fulbright award to Europe. The award
was worth $2,600 a month for nine months, plus
additional research/travel/book funds. She listed their
phone number in the ceritified letter, saying that she
would contact them.
She sent this letter to my current employer.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: libel slander defamation, damages beyond injunction?
It is likely your mother does not want to ruin your future. It is not a large loan amount, and it sounds like she does not want to have to pay it. It would probably be in your best interest to repay the loan since it was for your benefit and to have it assigned to you and if possible try to have her released from any obligation. You do not want to be in a battle with your own mother for a number of reasons. It is best that you try to negotiate a deal with her that will satisfy her, without admitting to something you didn't do such as forgery but reassuring her that she will not be responsible for this loan and that it will not have a negative impact on her credit history, if you pay it off. It sounds like you are currently employed and possibly able to pay it for her. She should not be contacting your employers, hopefully, an unemotional/confrontational negotiation/settlement with her will stop any further action by her. If you are unwilling to pay then you may seek legal action, but it may not stop her from contacting other individuals although she could face liability for it in the future.
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