A Letter of Demand of Gifted Money

[vlnaes2]

Greetings, the knowledgeables.

I have a candid question for you and would appreciate if anyone could kindly reply to this post. It is my very first potential excursion to the judicial system.

I have just received a letter of demand from a law firm that describes the gifted money as debt and demanding that I contact this firm to arrange a plan to return this money. This money came as a gift from my former professor that I was taking care of who's dying of cancer. I eventually left the professor due to his excessive sexual harassment and impersonating social media accounts designed to create discomfort in my life and defamation whenever I needed to leave the city for work and school (he had an extreme case of separation anxiety, as I was his first genuine friend in 15 years of his solitude life). Indeed, due to sexual harassment, I've severed any contact with him and have notified the school since then. He has also told me that he would show up at my work and made several social media accounts with damaging captions and random pictures of me doing ordinary things that he took without of my knowledge.

There is no documentation of me owing money and it never was. I assume this is a retaliatory action to my ultimate departure from his life as well as telling the school in case he does something similar to other students. I have not pursued any legal actions on his sexual harassment and cyber bullying only due to my gratitude that I once had in his generous help.

1) Should I respond to this letter? If so, personally or through a law professional?
2) Would you take additional legal actions at this point, given his obsession, irrationality, and potential danger? He is still making odd social media accounts and following hundreds of my contacts on it.

Thank you for your help.

S

 

[quincy]

Greetings, the knowledgeables.

I have a candid question for you and would appreciate if anyone could kindly reply to this post. It is my very first potential excursion to the judicial system.

I have just received a letter of demand from a law firm that describes the gifted money as debt and demanding that I contact this firm to arrange a plan to return this money. This money came as a gift from my former professor that I was taking care of who's dying of cancer. I eventually left the professor due to his excessive sexual harassment and impersonating social media accounts designed to create discomfort in my life and defamation whenever I needed to leave the city for work and school (he had an extreme case of separation anxiety, as I was his first genuine friend in 15 years of his solitude life). Indeed, due to sexual harassment, I've severed any contact with him and have notified the school since then. He has also told me that he would show up at my work and made several social media accounts with damaging captions and random pictures of me doing ordinary things that he took without of my knowledge.

There is no documentation of me owing money and it never was. I assume this is a retaliatory action to my ultimate departure from his life as well as telling the school in case he does something similar to other students. I have not pursued any legal actions on his sexual harassment and cyber bullying only due to my gratitude that I once had in his generous help.

1) Should I respond to this letter? If so, personally or through a law professional?
2) Would you take additional legal actions at this point, given his obsession, irrationality, and potential danger? He is still making odd social media accounts and following hundreds of my contacts on it.

Thank you for your help.

S

What is the debt said to be for?

 

[Shadowbunny]

And what US state is this in?

 

[vlnaes2]

What is the debt said to be for?

Hello,

Cancelled checks? I'm not sure. I guess he tried to cancel all the checks months after when I refused sexual advances and let him know that it is not okay. The documentary evidence I assume is his bank statement or some kind of document that sums up the numbers from his bank.

"Please be advised that ________ has retained my services in order to collect a debt owed to him by yourself. _________has provided me with documentary evidence regarding this debt in the form of cancelled checks. The total sum of this debt is $____________.

Please respond to this letter within 14 days of the date of this letter or I will be forced to file a law suit against you. I will request that this debt be reduced to a Judgment and will take all necessary steps to collect on the Judgment including but not limited to garnishment of your wages and a Citation to Discover Assets. The Judgment I will seek will include not only the amount of money you owe to ____ but also any Attoney's fees expended by _____ and Court costs.

I trust you will contact me and make arrangements to repay ____ the monies owed to him."

 

[vlnaes2]

And what US state is this in?

This is Illinois. Thank you.

 

[quincy]

To repeat Shadowbunny's question, what is the name of your state?

Cancelled checks? Were checks made out to you that the professor then tried to cancel? I don't understand.

 

[vlnaes2]

To repeat Shadowbunny's question, what is the name of your state?

Cancelled checks? Were checks made out to you that the professor then tried to cancel? I don't understand.

It is Illinois. Yes, he made them out to me, and have known for months that they were cashed and even discussed how I should spend it. I even rejected some after and he only tried to cancel it through the bank months after they were written and cashed. Of course, the cancellation did not happen. That is the entire extent of the letter, nothing more besides the names.

 

[justalayman]

Your posts are incomplete and confusing. Based on what I read and a bit of guessing;

If sued, respond properly.

Other than that, whether you respond or not is up to you.


Remember, barring written proof this will come down to he said/she said. If the prof can regale the court with a believable story that he loaned you the money and your explantion is not convincing of the opposite, you could lose. The decision is based on a preponderance of the evidence.

 

[quincy]

If you don't believe you owe the professor any money, you can either respond to the attorney letter and tell the attorney that - or you can wait to be sued.

There is no claim being made that you wrote checks out to yourself from his account, is there?

 

[HRZ]

I'm lost in all this...a true gift lacks a quid pro quo ...and if you were paid for care rendered you are entitled to such pay ...it reads like he seeks some sort of reprisal because you terminated the " friendship ."

 

[vlnaes2]

I'm lost in all this...a true gift lacks a quid pro quo ...and if you were paid for care rendered you are entitled to such pay ...it reads like he seeks some sort of reprisal because you terminated the " friendship ."

That is exactly what it is. But legal case is a legal case and I'm not certain what would be the wisest way to handle this.

 

[vlnaes2]

If you don't believe you owe the professor any money, you can either respond to the attorney letter and tell the attorney that - or you can wait to be sued.

There is no claim being made that you wrote checks out to yourself from his account, is there?

Absolutely not. Would you recommend that a lawyer write that instead of myself?

 

[quincy]

Absolutely not. Would you recommend that a lawyer write that instead of myself?

If the professor is a bit crazy, it might help for you to have an attorney contact on your behalf the attorney who sent the letter.

What is the amount of money being demanded?

 

[adjusterjack]

Absolutely not. Would you recommend that a lawyer write that instead of myself?

No. That will cost you a couple of hundred and only give your abuser the satisfaction of knowing that you're spending your money and that he is still in your life.

For the two cents it is worth my "non" legal advice is to ignore any letters from the attorney no matter how scary they seem. Unless your response is "OK, I'll pay" nothing you write is going to make any difference if you are going to get sued anyway nor will it make any difference if you aren't going to be sued.

It's easy enough to pay a lawyer a couple of hundred to write a letter, it's another story to commit thousands of dollars to a lawsuit.

I, too, would like to know how much money is being demanded.

 

[quincy]

Whether an attorney is worth the expense at this point can depend on the amount being demanded by the professor - but the "evidence" the professor apparently is trying to use to support his demand can be best evaluated by an attorney.