owed $10,000 HELP!!!

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? west virginia. A lifetime friend borrowed a total of 10,000 over a period of 3 months. i recently discovered he has gambled away over 625,000 in the past 2 years leaving him with nothing. the only proof i have this money is owed to me is a "tab" showing dates and how much money was borrowed with our initals. the only thing he has left is 13 acres of land up for sale with an asking price of 170,000. is it possible to put a lien on this land or do i have some other option? my business is in jeopardy and i am in desperate need of this money, not to mention the fact he enters my business at least once a day with no mention of repayment or anything any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. at that price the land will sell quickly!!

mackenzy76 said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? west virginia. A lifetime friend borrowed a total of 10,000 over a period of 3 months. i recently discovered he has gambled away over 625,000 in the past 2 years leaving him with nothing. the only proof i have this money is owed to me is a "tab" showing dates and how much money was borrowed with our initals. the only thing he has left is 13 acres of land up for sale with an asking price of 170,000. is it possible to put a lien on this land or do i have some other option? my business is in jeopardy and i am in desperate need of this money, not to mention the fact he enters my business at least once a day with no mention of repayment or anything any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. at that price the land will sell quickly!!

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This is not a small claims case. You are going to have to use West Virginia's civil court to adjudicate this claim. It won't happen overnight and it will cost you.

not to mention the fact he enters my business at least once a day with no mention of repayment or anything

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so, since you see him daily, what is his response to the question of when is he going to repay you? You do ask him for the money don't you?

It appears the limit for small claims court (magistrate court) is $5k. If you are willing to settle for a judgement for that amount, you can use the small claims court. If the claim over $2500, either party can have the case moved to circuit court.

Sometimes, if you are not going to represent yourself, you need to weigh the limitations of award against the cost of hiring an attorney to represent you in circuit court.

You can represent yourself in either court. The rules are more formal in circuit court.

Also, you need to realize all a court is going to do is formalize the debt. They do not collect it for you. I cannot say with certainty if it is possible but if you want to lien the property, you will need a judgement to place the lien.

thank you for yor advice. to answer your question-yes i have talked to him, i have stressed that i do want my money but i have never stressed how much my business of 6 years depends on this. i have also given him advice about selling his property and ways he could go about getting the money. his reaction is pretty much "i dont have it, i put the property up for sale-theres nothing else i can do for you". the sneaky thing is, he listed the property at 400,000 I told him it would never sell at that price, so did his realtor but now its listed in our real-estate guide at 170,000. i FIRMLY believe he is hopeing to complete the sale before i ''get wind'' of it. should i start with the county clerk and a judgement? I am clueless???

This is NOT a do-it-yourself project. Please get an attorney so that you can have the greatest chance of getting a judgment. And check out the attorney with the West Virginia Bar Association to make sure there are no ethical or misconduct charges against him/her before you hire the person.

Did you ever use a check to pay him or were all payments made in cash? He could lie and say that the initials on the tab are not his, but is there anything else you have that might show evidence that you gave/loaned him this money?

It will take a few months for this court case to play out. You may want to ask your attorney to have this man sign a promissory note that confirms you are owed this money IF he is willing to sign it.

The more and more we talk to him, the more I think you are right. I do believe he is going to try to lie or say what ever he can to get out of this. we have nothing other than this piece of paper. i visited the circuit clerk today and this will be a long involved process. We do need an attorney I just dont think that we can afford it right now but i will definately look into it. thank you all very much. i will let you know what happens.