Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Iowa
Hi, My roommate currently owes me a large amount of money (Over $1,000) and I want to have a written agreement that he will pay the exact amount by a certain date.The reason he owes me this amount of money is because earlier in the year he had hidden the electric bills from me when we agreed to pay half each. Our power was then shut off for delinquency of payments. I then had to use MY OWN MONEY to pay off the delinquent payment as well as the re-installation fee. He agreed verbally that he would pay me this money back promptly. Well he has yet to pay me a single dime back of this money.
Then I allow him to borrow my car to drive to and from work because I had class early in the morning. He took this as an opportunity to go to a bar get drunk and proceed to drive my car. He was arrested for OWI, and had my car impounded. I needed my car to drive to work and class as well so once again I had to use MY OWN MONEY to pay the fine and impound fee. Once again he has yet to pay me back for this. He is now unable to pay his part of the utilities in our house and continues to drink and smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. I am becoming very angry with him and want a legal binding document that holds him responsible id he does not pay by a set date.
How do I go about doing writing this agreement for him to pay me? What do I write in the agreement? Do I need proof of ALL the money he owes me? Do I need a witness present? Should I get a lawyer involved now? Help me please and thank you.
-Angry, Poor, and Broke College Student (Thanks to his roommate.)
2 Answers from Attorneys
You can make any sort of agreement you like, but if this person's going to stiff you, what makes you think he'll pay you because of a sheet of paper? What you need to do is get rid of your roommate.
Do you consider your roommate a friend? If so, you need to consider whether your friendship is worth losing over money. Whenever I loan money to friends or family, I consider it a gift, because often, you will be on the bottom of their list of things that need to be paid.
If he is not a friend, you need to consider how much time, energy, and money you are going to throw at this debt. Even with the most well-written, iron-clad, air-tight agreement, it is only as good as your roommate's ability to pay. If you sue him and win, it will be up to you to collect the money from him. If he has no money, cannot collect. Either way, your best bet is probably to sit down with him and have a serious discussion about it.
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