Lawyer or collection agency?

Anything signed, on paper?

You mean former friend, I presume. I vote for lawyer. Usually one letter on legal stationery does the trick. This happened to me (once) and I confronted friend and told him that half was a gift and I wanted the other haft asap. It worked.

I had to do this a few times (for work). Usually a strongly worded letter from a lawyer did the trick. And it was cheap to have them write something up. Each time the person/company paid.

Evil henchmen

i think if it’s not in writing you’re kind of screwed. not saying it’s right, i just have a feeling the lawyer will not be able to do much to make the person pay. he could try, but i don’t think you could take the person to court (or at least you wouldn’t be successful in court) if the person decides he doesn’t know what you’re talking about (if he suddenly has memory loss about your loan to him). anyway, plus you have to pay the lawyer. not sure if this is worth your while. you might just take the loss and learn a lesson if it’s not a lot of money.

i lent a friend $6,000 cash once and i was very worried that if she didn’t pay me back, i would have lost $6,000 AND a good friend, neither which i would like to lose. Luckily she paid me back. i was nervous though.

Assassination is always an option

susanc: just curious, are we talking about a lot of money?

Never lend a friend money that you cannot afford to lose.

Small claim court could be an option.

Small claims court is a good idea if you have some form of documentation or proof. After that, a lawyer. Collections typically are not very effective (they collect on 10–30% of cases) and expensive, 30–50% of the amount in question.

susanc: question 2: do you have anything in writing?

thank you all.

Yes, I have a signed note – because:
Yes, it’s a lot of money. I checked with small-claims court and was told that you can’t go there in increments, i.e. ask for a third of the money three different times to get around the maximum allowable amount they will work with.
Yes, I do mean ex-friend.
Yes, evil henchmen is my impulse.

Thank you, syz, for the info on collection agencies. That’s exactly what I wanted to know.

I have a lawyer who’ll write the letter but she went on vacation and referred me to another lawyer who won’t do it because he’s friendly with the perp, etc. The perp is a lawyer too; it’s a small town.

This guy has plenty of money. It’s been interesting to watch him lie.

No, I’m not going to chalk it up to experience. It’s too much money for that.

Good luck, susanc…let us know how it turns out.

I will!

I hate greedy people.