Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania
my question is if you owe someone $150.00 and you let them know that you will pay them next week and they keep harassing you everyday about it and go as far as kicking your front door in am i obligated to pay this person $150.00 when it costs me twice that amout to buy a new door and get someone to install it?
1 Answer from Attorneys
These are two different issues. You borrowed the money and you are obligated to repay it. The lender is not authorized to kick in your front door though and the lender should be responsible for the property damage which they caused.
You can do a couple things. One, you can sue in small claims for the ENTIRE amount of the damage - the new front door plus labor to install, if any. Understand that the other person can file a counterclaim for the money owed. A judge could find that the payments offset and find that the other person has to pay you for the door and labor minus what you owe on the loan.
The other way to do this is pay and then sue them. The lender will not be able to counterclaim for the loan if its paid and they will then owe you the full amount.
Or you can see about pressing criminal charges for the damage to their door. You still owe the loan.
This conduct on the part of the lender is inexcusable.