Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Georgia
I will give you the short version. I loaned a friend some money. Wrote a check which "noted" on the memo line that the loan was for 1 month. The friend fell into hard times and started bringing me partial payments towards the loan. It has been a year since the loan was made. Recently I contacted the friend and asked if he could complete payment of the loan because I am in need. He told me he would have the money by "Friday". Of course, Friday has come and gone and I did not receive payment. I contacted the friend on Friday by phone and text and he would not respond nor answer my call. Contacted again on Saturday and Sunday and no reply or answer. In one text I explained that I really needed the money and didn't want to ruin our friendship, let me know what he could do. Still no reply. Therefore, my next step was sending a certified letter to his home requesting payment in full within 15 days or a phone call. Of course when he received the letter he contacted me screaming that it was not a loan and I was just helping him out and said if I needed to I could take him to court because I had no proof. I mentioned I had a copy of the check which would be proof enough. We hung up and two minutes later he called my cell, which I didn't answer, and left a message indicating he would file harassment charges if I contacted him again. Which I haven't contacted him by phone or text since the Sunday phone call. The next day I get a phone call from the police indicating they were giving me a warning for harassment due to the correspondence I sent requesting payment of a loan. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, I am going to file a complaint with Magistrate Court for repayment but I know he is going to retaliate by filing a false harassment charge. What are my options? If he files an harassment charge, will the police arrest me on his word without any evidence? I am worried about them showing up at my job and losing my job because of this. I would never have expected this from this person. I guess money does cause people to do crazy things. I can't believe a debt collection letter would be grounds for a harassment claim. If that is the case, can we file harassment charges against all of our creditors and have the police contact them?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Your "short version" omits what actually matters.
How much was "loaned?"
And given the small size of a check, how did you possibly incorporate all the information needed to have an enforeceable obligation including that it was a loan, the length of the loan, the interest rate, the repayment terms, the penalty for non-payment, attorneys fees, etc.?
And what did HE sign?
And you also omitted the language of what you said to him. Given that federal debt collection laws are very specific and strict as to what you can say, how you can say it, etc., did you comply strictly with those?
Additionally, police don't give warnings by phone, so part of your story obviously omits what other police conract there was.
You've learned a hard lesson that one never loans money. Whether you can or should do anything else is something you should sit down and discuss with a lawyer before proceeding.
Your case hinges on whether you can distinguish this transaction from a gift or a loan. To that end, your inscription on the check is relevant, so to is the response/or lack there of from the person who received the funds.
If you would like to discuss this matter further or if you are considering retaining a lawyer to ensure that your actions do not expose you to liability feel free to contact my firm.
Regards,
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