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Question about loaned equipment to friend and Small Claims Court

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kapshure

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

My situation is this: I know a guy, whom I've known for quite some time, that I loaned a piece of music equipment to early 2011. Originally he was just going to borrow it for a few months, but the time frame was really never discussed - as the equipment had been sitting in my storage unused. Fast forward to near the end of 2011, I decided that I wanted to sell all of the related musical equipment that I had. He agreed that he was interested in buying said equipment, especially at a package deal, which I was OK with. We postponed this for after the Christmas 2011 holidays as I was out of town.

Once mid-January came, I reached out to him to set a time that we could finalize the sale. Right after that is when he started blowing me off and not returning communication attempts.

Additional background: the equipment type is an expensive mixer. It was purchased in early 2000's, and unfortunately I didnt write the Serial # down when I gave it to him. I know I didnt pay cash for this device, but my bank does not keep financial records after 7 years, so I cant access debit card/point of sale records. I contacted the local store chain where I bought it from, and they dont have customer inventory sales that go back past 2009. I didnt make any written formal agreement when I loaned it to him (like a promissory note, I guess since I had known him for ~10 years I figured that it wouldnt come to this), so I dont have any written record. I have a friend who is a cop and he told me that since I loaned it to him, I cant really report it as stolen. Again, I dont have the serial # either, nor any proof of purchase, so it feels like my word against his.

What I do have though: emails between us that discuss the equipment and his intent to complete the sale, & chat history records

I'm trying to stay above board and handle this maturely. I've called his work and left a voicemail, I've emailed, I've called his cell, I've texted, I've sent IM's, I've sent private message in Facebook -- nothing gets returned. I even tried a Demand Letter and it had sent to his work, stating that I would be engaging in Small Claims court to resolve this.

I wanted to see what the general opinion is here of what are my chances of getting paid for this item and possibly about how much is Small Claims going to cost. He was supposed to pay around $500-$600 for the mixer, so if court costs are, say $400, I wonder if its worth it, and then what my subsequent actions might/could/should be.

Thoughts?
 


sandyclaus

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

My situation is this: I know a guy, whom I've known for quite some time, that I loaned a piece of music equipment to early 2011. Originally he was just going to borrow it for a few months, but the time frame was really never discussed - as the equipment had been sitting in my storage unused. Fast forward to near the end of 2011, I decided that I wanted to sell all of the related musical equipment that I had. He agreed that he was interested in buying said equipment, especially at a package deal, which I was OK with. We postponed this for after the Christmas 2011 holidays as I was out of town.

Once mid-January came, I reached out to him to set a time that we could finalize the sale. Right after that is when he started blowing me off and not returning communication attempts.

Additional background: the equipment type is an expensive mixer. It was purchased in early 2000's, and unfortunately I didnt write the Serial # down when I gave it to him. I know I didnt pay cash for this device, but my bank does not keep financial records after 7 years, so I cant access debit card/point of sale records. I contacted the local store chain where I bought it from, and they dont have customer inventory sales that go back past 2009. I didnt make any written formal agreement when I loaned it to him (like a promissory note, I guess since I had known him for ~10 years I figured that it wouldnt come to this), so I dont have any written record. I have a friend who is a cop and he told me that since I loaned it to him, I cant really report it as stolen. Again, I dont have the serial # either, nor any proof of purchase, so it feels like my word against his.

What I do have though: emails between us that discuss the equipment and his intent to complete the sale, & chat history records

I'm trying to stay above board and handle this maturely. I've called his work and left a voicemail, I've emailed, I've called his cell, I've texted, I've sent IM's, I've sent private message in Facebook -- nothing gets returned. I even tried a Demand Letter and it had sent to his work, stating that I would be engaging in Small Claims court to resolve this.

I wanted to see what the general opinion is here of what are my chances of getting paid for this item and possibly about how much is Small Claims going to cost. He was supposed to pay around $500-$600 for the mixer, so if court costs are, say $400, I wonder if its worth it, and then what my subsequent actions might/could/should be.

Thoughts?
Do you even have anything IN WRITING that equates to a sales agreement (i.e., discussion and agreement on a price, terms of the sale, and an acceptance by the friend)? If not, then good luck having a court order the friend to pay you for the item, as it is unlikely to happen.

If you want to go ahead and sue, go ahead. In California, the costs to file in Small Claims for a claim of $1500 or less is only $30. However, absent a written sales agreement, you'd just be wasting your money.

Why not just take a police escort with you to the friend's house and retrieve your mixer?
 

kapshure

Junior Member
Do you even have anything IN WRITING that equates to a sales agreement (i.e., discussion and agreement on a price, terms of the sale, and an acceptance by the friend)? If not, then good luck having a court order the friend to pay you for the item, as it is unlikely to happen.

If you want to go ahead and sue, go ahead. In California, the costs to file in Small Claims for a claim of $1500 or less is only $30. However, absent a written sales agreement, you'd just be wasting your money.

Why not just take a police escort with you to the friend's house and retrieve your mixer?
I dont have anything in writing, all I have are the chat transcripts and the emails where there is correspondence between us, and you can read where he states is intent to buy the mixer and other equipment.

I hadnt considered a police escort. How would that even be setup? is there a fee? why would they do that in a case like this?

Thanks for the input.
 

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