About 6 months ago I lent my landlord "friend" 22 thousand dollars to help her pay her mortgage. She was in deep dept and was going to lose her house. I was also living there at the time, in one of her rooms she was renting out.
She promised to pay me back by refinancing after I lent her the money, or by getting a loan from the bank. It turned out that she was not able to get the loan, or refinance. And was not able to pay me back. She is now paying me whatever money she can get from her tenants that live in her house now that she rents out. She sleeps in her RV in her backyard and has no other job. One of her other tenants that lived in her guest house failed to pay her and owed her 4 thousand dollars. She had to evict them, and got no money from them. And therefore nothing to give me.
She is 53 years old. I am 27. I just want back my 20 thousand dollars. I live in WA state and just moved here a year ago. I don't know the laws here. And I don't know what to do.
I am currently living in her cottage house but am considering moving back to NY where I came from, a year ago. However I don't want to leave without getting this resolved. She wants to pay me through mail when I move but that is not good enough for me. I have no money because she has it all.
What should I do? Since I can't even afford a lawyer. We did not make any contracts when I loaned her my money. We were friends and I trusted her.
You should get a lawyer. It would be of your best interest and money well spent! That doesn't mean you have to sue her- maybe you can reach some kind of agreement with this "friend". She owns properies and maybe that can be a tool for you. 20 grand is a lot of money and I think you have learned a big lesson here. Good luck.
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January 22, 2009 at 06:02 am
You should get a lawyer. It would be of your best interest and money well spent! That doesn't mean you have to sue her- maybe you can reach some kind of agreement with this "friend". She owns properies and maybe that can be a tool for you. 20 grand is a lot of money and I think you have learned a big lesson here. Good luck.
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January 22, 2009 at 06:34 am
That's tough since you didn't make a contract, because it becomes your word versus the other persons. I would recommend talking to a lawyer and getting their opinion on how you should go about things. I wish you the best of luck.
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January 22, 2009 at 06:54 am
follow your hart. whats meant 2 b will b.
& never forget "no good deed goes unpunished"
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January 22, 2009 at 07:34 am
One must take the word "friend" out of all conversations involving money. At some point we all run into a situation where we lent some money, and it wasn't repaid as fast as we would have liked. At the end of the day it does just become a verbal agreement with generally no one to bear witness to what took place. You may easily be able to keep your friendship together over this, and may not have to go down the legal avenue whatsoever. But, I do have to agree with others that a lawyer is a good idea. You are talking about a sum of money that is not meaningless in the court system's eye and is entitled to more than just arbitration in most states. I would recommend contacting Legal Aid in your area as they have lawyers that will be able to work for you at little to no cost.
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January 22, 2009 at 07:48 am
You've got to get real figures and facts and a payment plan down on paper, signed and notarized by both of you. Good luck on this. I believed she knew what she was doing when she hit you up for that huge sum of money.
Then you get a lawyer. With the legal papers you can try to hold a second on the house. Or third, fourth –no telling what her real situation is. The problem with this is that the folks who hold the first mortgage will always get what they can for the house when it goes into foreclosure and the folks holding the second etc. are often left with nothing for their good intentions.
Wow. Well, maybe you just be real careful. It sounds like she's doing absolutely nothing to improve her financial outlook. Except, perhaps, be looking for another sucker. The fact that she's allowing this to happen to her, complete with tenants who don't pay and no job, is a real red flag that she's not taking any action or responsibility for this debt.
If there is a university near you with a law school perhaps you can seek some advice there for free. I think you need a lawyer but I've no idea how you can get your money.
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January 22, 2009 at 08:23 am
There is no contract? you landed someone $22,000?? are you crazy? If you get a lawyer you have no chance at winning if that situation is like you described it. Just go to her and demand your money, the old school way.
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