In 90 days.....

Im in MD, on 4/17/2001 I went into a contract agreement with an individual for a loan amount of $1400.00, this was to be payed back to me in payments of $500 monthly or a lump sum of $1400.00 in 90 days from 4/17/2001. (this loan was from me to her). Before I could loan her the entire amount stated on the contract her attitude changed and also some of the bills that I was helping her pay off with this loan I was charged addition fees (by creditors) by paying these on her behalf so I decided not to loan her the entire amount. I have revised a new contract stating the reasons why I could not fullfill the original contract, and mailed it too her. The new amount is $1285.00, that is no owed. I have not heard a peep from this person as to when I will start recieving payments, and since I didnt loan her the entire amount she has a major attitude!!

I have all of my reciepts, for all transaction I made on my accounts for monies loaned.

1) Do I have to wait the 90 days before I can take this matter to small claims court.????

2) are there anymore bases that I need to cover???

[Edited by mzbmer on 06-01-2001 at 03:41 PM]

Without knowing the full details of the agreement and loan, I offer the following GENERAL response....
You cannot take any legal action for breach of the agreement, until it is breached. That will come on the first missed payment. Does the agreement include an 'acceleration clause' (all amounts due and payable on breach)? If so, then you can sue for the entire amount of the loan on the first breach (one month from 4/17 would be May 17th).

If an acceleration was not included, you can sue for each month late but, this will mean 3 lawsuits. I would suggest you wait for the full 90 days and sue for the full amount.

One thing to also consider.. if this person was already having financial problems (enough to warrant the loan from you), what are your chances of getting paid on judgment?? Getting the judgment might be the easy part, getting paid is something else.

Halket thank you very much for your input. I didnt have an acceleration in the contract so I will wait the 90 days before I take any Legal action. I have some other questions

1) Can I have a judgement againt her for these funds..and what does that do to their credit

2) Can I have this person's wages garnished, if so how do I go about doing that?

I would suggest that you go to your local library or large bookstore (or http://www.bn.com) and see if they have a book titled something like "How to win in Small Claims court" preferably for your state.

This book will give you a simple laypersons view of how the system works and what you have to do, also how to collect if you win.

mr. halket
as always i found your post very informative.i wondered if i might ask two questions of you without wasting too much of your valuable time.i am sure you are very competent in your judgment collection efforts but i was just curious as to how easy it is to collect on a judgment in texas, say percentage wise?and the second question is if you make payments to a judgment creditor, even though i realize they are under no obligation to just accept whatever payments you can make, are they less likely to try to garnish your bank account or any other properties?
please keep up the good work!

Q1) "how easy it is to collect on a judgment in texas, say percentage wise?"
A1) It isn't 'easy'. It takes a lot of hard work, investigation experience, familiarity with the legal process, etc. Texas is one of the states that does NOT allow wage garnishment, and we are 'debtor-friendly', allowing the debtor a fairly large amount of exemptions to seizures. However, if you are tenacious, persistent and familiar with the legal processes involved, it can be done with a moderate amount of success. 'Percentage wise', it depends entirely on the case, the debtor and the enforcers abilities.

Q2) "if you make payments to a judgment creditor, even though i realize they are under no obligation to just accept whatever payments you can make, are they less likely to try to garnish your bank account or any other properties?"
A2) A conditional yes. First, I assume that by 'making payments', some agreement has been made as to payment amounts and schedule. If so, and the agreement is being met, I will always forego the cost and time of additional enforcemnt procedures. However, if you mean sending the creditor a 'blind payment' periodically without any discussion, then I would have to consider the debtors situation before making any decisions. For example, if the debtor appears to have reasonable assets, yet only sends a periodic $25.00 payment (with projected payments forever), I will probably consider further enforcement action, but if the debtor is really making his best effort, I probably would just work with him/her.

I hope this answers your questions, and if you have further, please direct them to me off-forum at my address below, in respect to the others on this forum (and this thread originator).

Thanks for the reply Halket..."I GOT THE BOOK"