Personal Loan from Friend

[JustAQuestion1]

Florida
So my father had what was thought to be in a stroke towards the end of June 2018. I had just used all my money for paying bills and I needed to figure out a way to get down there. My friend loaned me 200$ for a rental car to go see him and I told her I was not sure when I would be able to pay her back since I was in between jobs at the moment. She said oh do not worry I know you will pay me back when you are able. So I left it at that, I sent her 75$ shortly after to start paying off the small loan. But she did not accept the payment and was returned to my account days later. By the time the money was returned my bank account was in the negative and I could not send it back. So this is the 4th month since receiving the said loan and now she is taking me to court. I told her I would not be able to pay her anything until the end of this month as my rent is due and I have to use this check to pay it. She is not hearing any of that and has since blocked me off any accounts. In the beginning she said she was okay with me paying off little by little now she is demanding the 200 in full. Yes 200 isn't a lot of money but right now I am not making enough money to pay bills and have 200 to give her right now. Can I really be sued if I told her in the beginning that I was not sure when I could pay her back? I have all of this in messages between us so I have proof.

 

[not2cleverRed]

Yes, you can be sued.

No, the text messages are not necessarily admissible as proof.

No, I am unaware that we have added months to the calendar. If your father's medical event at the end of June was unplanned (the usually are), then your loan was at earlier in late June. July, August, we are now in the first week of September - that is 2 1/2 months, certainly less than 90 days, so I'm not sure where you are getting 4 months.

Perhaps the $75 you attempted to pay her was not accepted due to insufficient funds. After all, if you had sufficient funds to cover the $75, your account would not have been overdrawn when the $75 was "returned". You may be unaware of this, but when you pay someone out of an account that has insufficient funds, they are often charged a fine for the inconvenience. If this happened to your friend, she probably feels very upset that not only have you not made any payments, you have actually cost her more money.

If your friend was fined for the bad check, then in addition to the $200, she may very well be able to ask for that amount to be paid by you as well.

Perhaps, as you are capable of working, you could have asked if you could pay her back in labor.

 

[HighwayMan]

Of course you can be sued. Whether it actually happens is anyone's guess. If I was you I'd get to work, even if you have to take a second job at McDonalds just to cover the $200 you owe. I assume you are working now.

 

[Zigner]

Try to put $2 per day in to a piggy bank (jar, envelope, whatever) until you have the $200, then send it to her.

 

[JustAQuestion1]

I am working at very good job, but my bills are over 4k a month and I just finished my training so I can pick up extra shifts now and I let her know that. Its not like I am not or was not working, I was transferring to another job. She does not want to work with me in paying bit by bit anymore. I sent it to her through facebook. it was cancelled because she didn't accept it but was aware that it was there. if you dont accept a payment on facebook within a week it is returned to the person that placed it. I refuse to meet her in person because she has obviously lost her marbles. I just dont understand why when she gave me the loan she was aware that i was not sure when I could pay her back and that was acceptable. Now it no longer isn't. Its not that I am refusing to pay her but I am unable to pay the entire 200 at once. I just was unsure if this was really a court case because it was understood in the beginning that I did not know when I could pay her back.

 

[HRZ]

There could be a debate as to just when the two of you agreed the loan was due ...but it reads like you are putting this loan at the bottom of your pile ..and that in your own words you have a pretty good job.....my suggestion is find a way to move this mere $200 to top of pile and get it done and move on.

 

[HighwayMan]

WIth $4k worth of monthly bills it certainly sounds like this has been a low priority.

Facebook is hardly a method I would trust to pay anyone anything. Be a responsible adult and send a check or money order and mail it certified return receipt.

I'd also say that since you had $75 set aside for her and then instead of holding onto it, leaving you with only $125 left, you spent it on something else, that you seem to have budgeting issues.

 

[commentator]

Good Lord, how old are you? From the sound of this, about sixteen with your first little job and no sense of what the world asks of you. When has "but I have to pay my billz!" ever been a good excuse for not paying something you basically extorted from your gullible friend? From the sound of it, "...thought to be a stroke....." the emergency turned out not to even be quite the emergency it was originally believed to be. And now your friend hasn't "lost her marbles," she has come to her senses. If you go to court and tell this situation from the point of view you're giving us here, you're going to get at least verbally slapped across the courtroom by the judge. I strongly advise this as something you need to put at the top of your priorities list for your money before you go to court and end up owing more on it.