Legal Question in Business Law in Oregon

Unpaid Loan

We have loaned money to friends a non-secured loan (we said we needed to secure it with their home, they kept blowing us off) and they have not kept up with their payments. Now they say their house is being foreclosed on. They have sold the Business they borrowed the money for and are not returning any of our efforts to contact them. We have paperwork saying we have a 10% steak in the business along with the regular payment. Everything was done in the Husbands name but the wife is referenced in the business plan as a part owner/stock holder and in other documents. Yes, we did not handle this correctly to secure our end but we were given the old �I�ll take care of you�, buddy deal. And they have been friends for years and we bought it. Is there some kind of help that we can get to write-up the paperwork to sue them without throwing a bunch more money at this?


Asked on 2/17/09, 1:52 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Meek Daniel W. Meek

Re: Unpaid Loan

You do not state how much you loaned them, so I cannot say whether it would be worthwhile to hire an attorney. It also depends upon the complexity of your agreement with them and the prospects that they will ever pay you, even if you win a judgment against them in court. They may declare bankruptcy, for example. If I were you, however, I would contact an attorney and ask for an initial review of the situation. It might cost you a few hundred dollars.

If you indeed have a signed written contract with them, requiring them to repay the loan on a definite schedule and granting you a 10% ownership of their business, then you would seem to have very good claims to make in court. It does not matter that the wife is referenced "in the business plan." Why would you need to "write-up the paperwork," if you already have a written contract with them.

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Answered on 2/17/09, 9:09 pm


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