I made a very bad mistake by agreeing to take out a $5000 loan for a friend who has no credit so he could keep his car and not go into bankruptcy. He has three jobs and initially said it would be no problem paying it off each month. He recently accumulated some heavy medical expenses and said he wouldn't be able to pay it off...at least for a while. So now I'm stuck with having to pay this $5000 loan off. My question is, would I have any chance at winning a case in small claims court over this? I didn't even think to have him sign an agreement with me when I took the loan out. Is the verbal agreement he gave me good enough? Any help would be greatly appreciated, cause I really don't know what to do and I'm really getting freaked out about it. Thanks in advance!
2007-03-20 06:32:32 · 6 answers · asked by Ryan H 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
In response to Jeffrey's answer, I'll include some more details. The loan was taken out in January of 2007, so i'm guessing the statute of limitations should not apply to this. As far as witnesses... when I applied for the loan, my friend was with, and I told the loan officer that I was taking the loan out for that friend. She took his information down, but didn't have him sign anything. Immediately after getting the loan check, we went to his bank to make the deposit in his account. After depositing the check, he added me to his bank account so I could keep track of payments and his balance (which was only $3 when I checked it a few minutes ago). The payments so far have all been made from his bank account (which also has my name on it). I'm now realizing it may not have been a good idea to have my name put on his account.
2007-03-20 07:54:49 · update #1
Oh, one other thing... The vehicle is a Ford Focus (2006 I believe). He bought it brand new sometime last year and still has it...
2007-03-20 08:15:58 · update #2
You are going to have difficulty in winning this case, because you have several separate problems, each of which is hard to
get past.
First, how long since you gave the loan? The statute of
limitations on value of a thing taken and kept is 3 years. The
alternative is breach of a verbal contract, which is 2 years.
Second, under the so called "Statute of Frauds" a number
of classes of contracts are required to be written to be enforceable. One of which is transfer of property (here $)
of $400 or more.
Finally, are there any witnesses to this deal, or evidence of
the cash transfer?
What you may try is, assuming that the above statutes have not run, is sending a demand letter for repayment of what you are owed. If he pays, fine. If not, you may pursue an action called a constructive trust on the vehicle, assuming
that he even still owns it. The vehicle may not even be worth what you are owed, but its better than nothing. Second, file a legal action, (again, assuming that you are njot barred by statute of limitation) and seek relief there. If he sold the vehicle, and converted it to something else, your theory then
becomes an equitable lien on whatever the car was converted for. If you can show that you made the transfer, and that you did so for the purpose of a loan, on which you expected repayment which was wrongly not made, then a court could create a so called "quasi contract" which would basically allow you to recover. Depending on what the limit is in the local small claim court, you may be able to recover the
whole amounrt as expectancy damages. I hope this helps.
2007-03-20 06:53:35 · answer #1 · answered by Jeffrey V 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For Finance and credit solutions I recommend this website where you can find all the solutions. http://creditandfinancesolution.info/index.html?src=dokwrVX18
RE :Can you take someone to court for not paying back a loan you took out for them?
I made a very bad mistake by agreeing to take out a $5000 loan for a friend who has no credit so he could keep his car and not go into bankruptcy. He has three jobs and initially said it would be no problem paying it off each month. He recently accumulated some heavy medical expenses and said he wouldn't be able to pay it off...at least for a while. So now I'm stuck with having to pay this $5000 loan off. My question is, would I have any chance at winning a case in small claims court over this? I didn't even think to have him sign an agreement with me when I took the loan out. Is the verbal agreement he gave me good enough? Any help would be greatly appreciated, cause I really don't know what to do and I'm really getting freaked out about it. Thanks in advance!
Update: In response to Jeffrey's answer, I'll include some more details. The loan was taken out in January of 2007, so i'm guessing the statute of limitations should not apply to this. As far as witnesses... when I applied for the loan, my friend was with, and I told the loan officer that I was taking the loan out for that friend. She took his information down, but didn't have him sign anything. Immediately after getting the loan check, we went to his bank to make the deposit in his account. After depositing the check, he added me to his bank account so I could keep track of payments and his balance (which was only $3 when I checked it a few minutes ago). The payments so far have all been made from his bank account (which also has my name on it). I'm now realizing it may not have been a good idea to have my name put on his account.
Update 2: Oh, one other thing... The vehicle is a Ford Focus (2006 I believe). He bought it brand new sometime last year and still has it...
Follow 5 answers
2016-11-11 14:01:13 · answer #2 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I searched all over the internet and came upon a bunch of scams. Nevertheless this did it for me= loandirectory.info-
RE Can you take someone to court for not paying back a loan you took out for them?
I made a very bad mistake by agreeing to take out a $5000 loan for a friend who has no credit so he could keep his car and not go into bankruptcy. He has three jobs and initially said it would be no problem paying it off each month. He recently accumulated some heavy medical expenses and said he wouldn't be able to pay it off...at least for a while. So now I'm stuck with having to pay this $5000 loan off. My question is, would I have any chance at winning a case in small claims court over this? I didn't even think to have him sign an agreement with me when I took the loan out. Is the verbal agreement he gave me good enough? Any help would be greatly appreciated, cause I really don't know what to do and I'm really getting freaked out about it. Thanks in advance!
2014-09-04 16:49:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are in deep trouble. An oral agreement of this type is as good as the paper it was written on. If you can get him to confess in court that he accepted the money from you with the understanding that he would pay it back and then present the evidence of the few payments he made, showing a history of your dealings in the matter, then you might be able to convince the court that you had an oral contract. Chances are you will end up in a case of may word against his situation and barring some form of written evidence to the contrary, this will look like a gift. If that happens, you are stuck.
2007-03-20 06:39:47 · answer #4 · answered by rac 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can contact an attorney and maybe file this in civil court, but the burden of proof is yours. You need to prove that you loaned this person money on the premise that he/she would pay you back, if you cannot prove this, then you have just learned a very expensive lesson. Get it in writing.
2007-03-20 06:40:12 · answer #5 · answered by NolaDawn 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Uh...as to if they are federal, probably not; depending on ifyoou wrote a bad check that covers the loan; that's sometimes how that scam worked. Everything else there is accurate. Plan on paying legal fees, costs and interest if they sue; probably closer to $750
2016-03-16 23:31:46 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋