Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New Jersey

Re: Personal Debt Collection

First, do you have a signed Note? What DO you have documenting the loan? A canceled check with a "loan" notation on it? Do you have written demands for payment to the "friend"? IF you don't have enough to go straight to court, I suggest you first put the whole scenario in writing, laying out when, where, how much, why he needed the loan, perhaps why he wasn't going to a bank, the terms you agreed to, including when he was to repay. Something such as, "Dear A-hole, You asked me to loan you $88,000 for ____ , because you couldn't/didn't want to borrow from a bank. You said you would be able to pay me back within X months/years. You said you would get a mortgage/borrow from your parents/ however he expected to be able to pay you back. You agreed to pay me X% interest on the loan/or/I wasn't going to charge you any interest because it was a sort term X month loan, but I clearly did not agree to you failing to pay me back after X months, so I now expect X% interest, because I am losing that amount of interest from my retirement account (or where ever you had or would have invested that money). etc. I have demanded payment X times (list dates if possible), but to date you have not repaid me. Please at least respond and explain why you have not paid me to date, and when you expect to make repayment." Hopefully he responds, but he probably will not write to you. If he calls, you put what he said in writing, and mail that to him too. The idea is to try to get him to admit to the debt and demand for payment. If he never responds, you can still use your letter, because the reasonable and prudent person WOULD respond if someone sent such a letter. --- Good luck.

Re: Personal Debt Collection

first, you have a person like me growl loudly at him, try to shake him up and get him to act fairly and reasonably and set up repayment.

if he will not, someone like me sues him for you, and you force him to pay the court judgment.

I have been doing these for, oh, many years. I am doing one now, for a fellow who lent $36,000 to his sister in law's brother.

This person is no longer your friend.

Get a lawyer, and take action.

Call me if you like, sounds like you could use some guidance.

My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.

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Re: Personal Debt Collection

You should certainly have legal options available to you for recouping the money. The more documentation you have--ideally, a writing in the way of your "friend's" promise to pay you back--the better. It's always possible that your friend may claim the money was a "gift," or may have some other defense. All of this will depend upon more precisely examining the facts of your situation. At the outset, however, you should be best served by an attorney, or a law firm such as ours, contacting your friend and demanding repayment. We practice in New York and New Jersey.

Re: Personal Debt Collection

I agree with Mr. Davies. Your other "option" is to call the police, but I really doubt you'll get that far. Thus, your best bet for this amount of money is to call an attorney such as Mr. Davies. I'd be happy to help you, but I would probably be too expensive for this type of case.