Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois

Re: Personal Loan to an aquaintence

I would recommend first sending her a demand letter indicating the terms of the agreement and the repayment schedule. Provide a date by which she must contact you to discuss the terms, like a week or two from the date of the letter, and attach a copy of the agreement. If you do not hear from her, you can file a small claims case against her for breach of contract. In your complaint, you will need to indicate when the agreement was made, what the terms of the agreement were, what you did in furtherance of the agreement (i.e., you lent her X amount of money), when she was to have begun repayment, and her failure to do so, then the amount of money you are now owed plus the interest. Be sure to ask for your costs as well (filing and sheriff service). There are a lot of resources on the internet that can help you put together a decent complaint. Otherwise, you can hire an attorney to help you too, or contact your local legal aid agency for help if you can't afford an attorney.