Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

No. They are two different things. Regarding the debt the friend owes, do you have a written promissory note? If not, do you have anything at all in writing (email, text message, check with the word "loan payment" written in the memo line? If you have a note, does it say that the debt is payable on demand? Or over time?

Depending on what the note says, I would write a letter to him and send certified mail or by UPS and tell him to pay the amount owed or the past due sums in 10 days. If he does not respond, take him to small claims court in the county where he resides (I assume he lives in NC). If he lives out of state, then you will have to sue in that state, not NC. NC does not allow wage garnishment but other states might.

Regarding the tools, I would write him a letter (it can be the same letter as the promissory note) and state that you have the tools (list them). Advise him that if he does not make arrangements in 10 days to retrieve the tools then you are going to sell them and apply the proceeds to the loan balance.

If he does not respond, then if they are expensive, get the tools appraised by a dealer of those kinds of tools (I don't know what kind of tools they are). If we are talking about ordinary screwdrivers and hammers and things, then you can sell them, although used items like this are not going to bring in all that much.

Before you dispose of the items, make sure that you make a list of all the items, take pictures of it and write down what you sold the item for. If you get the tools appraised, get a report of the appraised value of each tool.

You might think this is a lot of work. However, it is better to do your homework now and make preparations, then just sell the tools and have this soon-to-be-ex friend come after you in 2 years and claim that the tools were worth all kinds of money. If you have the evidence to refute this it will make his claim much more diffcult.