My sister in-law wants to sue us!

[help pleeze]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?Maryland
In January my sister in-law decided that she wanted to help us out of debt(we never asked her for help). She paid off our creditors claiming that we could pay her back whenever we could afford it. We never signed anything. Since then she talked us into moving to her state MD. we were in california.She paid for all or moving expenses. Now ever since we moved here she has turned on us. She said we could keep our dog at her house then in 1 month she calls & said we had to get our dog. we couldn't keep it where we are living so we had to take her to the humane society, she called and canceled my email, then denied it, she then sent me a budget of our living expenses and said we could afford to start making payments to her. we told her we could not afford to make pymts at that time. a week later she deposited $400 in our bank account and mailed us a letter saying "i hope you enjoyed the $ i sent". Now she is upset with my husband(her brother) about something and sends us a letter stating that she never wants to talk with us or our children ever again & that she is going to sue us for $12,000. I sent her a letter stating that we intended on making pymts. to her from our income tax refunds. but i think that she will continue with a lawsuit. can she do this? we have only lived in this state for 8 months and are still adjusting to a whole new life. I don't understand how she thinks we could afford to pay her now. I know she doesn't need the money now. She has her own business and is very well off with 2 cars for herself and a 24/7 nanny for her son and she just bought a house. what are our legal rights?

 

[djohnson]

Your legal rights would be to defend yourself or find an attorney to defend you in court. Anyone can sue for about anything. Winning and losing is more up in the air. It sounds like it would be your word against hers. She can prove she gave/loaned you the money. You admit you were going to pay it back so it is a loan. In all this time you should have been trying to make good faith payments to her. Obviously she thinks you can afford if you try, what is wrong with the budget she gave you? I think has tried to help but is feeling used instead. It's hard to help some people that doesn't help thereself and after that length of time and no payments being made to her I can see where she is coming from. She may not sue you and this is her way of scaring you into making payments. It doesn't matter if she needs the money or not. It's the principle behind. She has made her way and tried to help her brother. I think you should come up with a way to make payments.

 

[help pleeze]

We didn't agree with the budget she sent us because her estimations of our bills were wrong. Since we moved my husband's hourly wage is $4 less an hour, our car ins. is doubled what we were paying in ca. and my husband was diagnosed with high blood pressure a couple of months ago and pays about $200 a month on prescriptions. We just paid $350 for my husbands truck reg.(new plates etc.) . if we give her pymts. now then we can't afford to feed our children. she knows that.

 

[klhofbauer]

Here's a suggestion:

Why don't YOU and your husband gather ALL of your bills, copies of about 3 weeks paychecks.

Then, you call your SIL and *ask* her to help you plan out a budget so that you can start paying her back "at least a little bit at a time"??

Have credit cards? Go online and print copies of your last statements if you don't have a paper statement sent to you. Make sure you also have copies of your last few weeks grocery receipts, electric, gas, insurance, medical prescriptions, etc... Then, when you call her, you simply let her know that you would like some HELP.

Believe it or not.. going to her with an attitude like this will ease tensions, and insure to her that you and her brother are willing to take control of your finances and begin paying her back.

If the two of you were mature enough to make the decision to accept her money paying off your bills - then you are mature enough to bite your tongue if she offers you suggestions on how you can work your budget. You may not like at all what she says (and she may be behaving like a royal beeitch) - but given the fact that you will have everything on paper in front of her and show that you are willing to work with her - it may help an awful lot.

 

[help pleeze]

Thank you soooooo much for your advice! It sounds good except for one thing........I emailed her a letter of intent stating that we had intended and are still intending to pay her back with our income tax refunds from year to year until it is paid off(that would probably be about $2,000-$3,000 a year-no way to know for sure). I also printed it and mailed it certified mail so she can't say she never got letter of intent. She replied back to me"I requested and am requesting again never contact me again". I feel like she has had this planned for awhile........ a few months ago she ran my husbands credit again and told him that he would qualify for a home loan if he wanted. why would we attempt a home loan if we hadn't paid her back yet? I think she was trying (she owns a mortgage & title co.)to get us to buy a home so she could put a lein on it. what do you think? if a judge renders a judgement i wonder how much time we will have to pay it off?.?

 

[Tayla]

Thank you soooooo much for your advice! It sounds good except for one thing........I emailed her a letter of intent stating that we had intended and are still intending to pay her back with our income tax refunds from year to year until it is paid off(that would probably be about $2,000-$3,000 a year-no way to know for sure). I also printed it and mailed it certified mail so she can't say she never got letter of intent. She replied back to me"I requested and am requesting again never contact me again". I feel like she has had this planned for awhile........ a few months ago she ran my husbands credit again and told him that he would qualify for a home loan if he wanted. why would we attempt a home loan if we hadn't paid her back yet? I think she was trying (she owns a mortgage & title co.)to get us to buy a home so she could put a lein on it. what do you think? if a judge renders a judgement i wonder how much time we will have to pay it off?.?

1: Was your sister-in-law given authorization to run a credit check? I highly doubt your SIL had written permission from you or your spouse to run the credit check.She cant do it for personal reasons, whether you owe her money or not. Secondly, start sending even a small amount each month. Even if she never cashes the monies, at least you have attempted to rectify the loaned funds. A letter of intent without so much as a payment plan is of no use. Debt owed. Debt needs paid.Ask any judge or lawyer.

 

[ShrimpBurrito]

And when you do get it resolved, whatever the outcome, never ever borrow or accept money expecting to be repaid from a family member again, except as an absolute ground zero last resort. It has little additional benefit over borrowing from another lender, but has WAY more potential negatives, as you have seen.

 

[fuglyduck]

if a judge renders a judgement i wonder how much time we will have to pay it off?.?

I would think most likely that the courts will set you up on a payment schedule, your husbands wages can be elligible for garnishment as well once she recieves a judgement in her favor.