Ok. Suppose the following. I loaned an acquaintance (X) $800 (Canadian) with the understanding that he would pay me back within a couple of weeks. No written agreement, but a witness to the verbal agreement. (Don’t bother pointing out my stupidity, please.)
So that was two months ago. X has since moved (while I was out of the country) and nobody has his contact info, other than a friend of his, who refuses to give it to me. X also gave me a cheque for part of the amount, which bounced.
So… anyone know what I can do about it, and how I would do it?
Did you lend the money in the form of cash or check? Or?
Is there any way to prove the money came from you (besides the witness)?
Small Claims Court.
The fact that he attempted to pay some back with a check (that bounced) may persuade the judge to take your side. Armed with that, and the witness you`ll bring with you that heard the agreement, may help you win.
Getting him into court is harder when you can’t find him. In the US (California) there are ways of attempting service of summons to his last known address with extra efforts. Then if he doesn’t show up to defend himself, you get a default judgment in your favor.
The other issue is finding his money. You would take your court judgment to the sheriff with info as to his bank account, employer, etc, and the sheriff would seize the money and hand it to you.
Having that bounced check is a good thing for you [sort of…]. It shows his bank and account number. It is also evidence of bouncing check, which I believe is a criminal charge, so law enforcement can be looking for him for you.
All true, but the fact is that winning in court is about 1% of the problem. That won’t get you a dime, just proof that you’re owed money. Collecting is tough. There’s a reason collection agencies exist. Noone wants to go to court; they’d rather just harass you until you get sick of them and pay up.
Is the check for an amount close to what you’re owed? one thing you can do is call his bank every day and ask if the check is valid. If one day by luck it is, run to the bank and cash it.
Once upon a time I had a check and they didn’t have sufficient funds. But I was nice, and the girl at the bank was kind enough to tell me that the account was only short by $5 of the check amount. So…
I depositied $5 into the account and cashed the check. Maybe you’ll have similar fortune.
Unfortunately the loan was in cash (yeah way to go, I know), and the cheque was only for $136, which was “what he had” before I went away for a few weeks.
Is there any way that his friend can be forced to give up his contact info, other than a flurry to the midsection?
I’d say to look to collection agencies for the sorts of tactics to use. Basically, you need leverage against the guy: things you can do that will be displeasurable and will persuade him to pay up so they stop.
The easiest is embarassment, i.e making this guy’s ugliness public in front of people he cares about. A couple of ideas:
Start calling the friend every day and asking for the contact info. Spend ten minutes with him every day, explaining how you were kind, and this other guy took advantage of you. Ask him why he’s defending this sort of behavior. Ask him how he can respect his friend. Tell him, “I sure hope you don’t make the mistake I made and trust this guy.” Etc. Basically, hammer on this guy. You have a couple of goals here that you must ask for in each conversation: a) where is the clown who took your money? b) who else knows this guy, and what is their contact info?
#b above is key. Basically, you want to start asking those important in his life how you can get paid what you’re owed by him. A big win is if you can find family members.
Everybody you talk to will try to stonewall you; it’s the nature of friendship. But that’s just the face they’re presenting to you. At the same time, they’ll also be getting disgusted with their friend and pressuring him to pay you. And that’s all you care about. If you can make it so every time he talks to his mother she says “Henry, will you please pay KarmaComa so he stops calling me?”, you’re golden.
Unfortunately, all this takes time; expect to spend at least a couple of hours each week on it. If that’s too much, or if you really don’t enjoy being a thug, consider using a collection agency and giving them a percentage.