Would you go to court for $17,000?

Wanted to give a quick update here.

The guy hasn't paid me a cent since about last December IIRC and following a few broken promises to get on track with his tax refund, I've decided to buy him a shiny new lawsuit. I'm not very optimistic about how a court case is going to actually help the situation here, as I'm sure that when people go to court, the only people sure to benefit are the lawyers. But, I've already paid the $500 retainer for the lawyer to proceed with a lawsuit and even though it feels a little like I'm throwing good money at a lost cause, the option to just give up entirely is just defeatist and I won't think like that.

I have no doubt that I'll 'win' (sarcastic use of the word here) the case and get awarded a judgment in due time. That doesn't mean that I'm going to get my money, but it does mean that I'm going to be one of the first in line if this kid ever does come up with some cash and it probably limits some of his options for sinking deeper into debt as I'll destroy his credit with this suit, which I've warned him would be a consequence many times.

On a very positive note, the last time we spoke, he said that he's seriously considering going into the military. He's studying for the ASVAB so that he can get a good placement and that's very good for both of us since he'll have a stable income and get some much needed structure in his life. Only time will tell if that works out though. This kid talks a good stream of b-s, so this could just be yet another ploy to stall and waste my mothertrucking time.

This whole situation just reminds me that you can't help somebody that doesn't want to help themselves. Ultimately, it's going to be his decision to succeed or fail.

At least now I've got a really good reason for saying No! when people come to borrow money in the future. lol.

Yeah, it would be a good thing if he enlists..

When a soldier is having financial issues, their leadership usually becomes closely involved. Although the commander cannot legally divert the soldier's pay and force him to settle his debts (only a civil court can do this) he has quite a bit of power. The leadership will work with a soldier to establish a plan and "hold his hand" every step of the way to ensure that he follows it and takes care of his business. Being financially delinquent will not be an option for him.

	Quote:
	Soldiers are required to manage their personal affairs satisfactorily and pay their debts promptly. Failure to do so damages their credit reputation and affects the Army’s public image.

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2008/julqtr/pdf/32cfr513.1.pdf

Tim

Just received another invoice from the lawyer today. This ones for about $600. This brings the lawyering costs up to over $2000.

Last I heard of this guy, he was living in a homeless shelter.

Another update for those interested. I've received a couple extra bills from the lawyer over the past few months but nothing really seemed to be happening. Nobody knew where this guy was living, so he couldn't be served papers, so the best option was to publish a notice in the paper and proceed without him.

In September, I received a tip from a friend who saw him working at a local restaurant and they managed to serve him court appearance papers at his job. The final court date was 29-Oct and he admitted liability for the full amount and a judgement for around $24,000 (loan + interested to date + legal fees) was entered.

The problem now is that it's up to me to collect. The lawyer has advised that it would be expensive to garnish his wages (which are very modest) and those costs would fall to me to pay. So I'm basically back to where I started, with the addition of a court recognition of the debt and a wallet that is about $3,500 smaller.

I've spoken with the guy for the first time in months just today and he intends to pay the debt, but we both recognize that it will take some time before he is in a position to do so. I'm inclined to allow him to defer payments and just accrue interest until he has a job which allows him to make payments without having to cut back on basics. The guy is 7 months sober and working to put his life together after going through some very dangerous experiences.

Hopefully this story is a bit of a cautionary tale for anyone out there considering loaning money to someone they know, be it friend, relative, stranger or business associate.

Sounds to me like you don't care about him and he doesn't care about you. Maybe im wrong and he would pay you back if he could, which he obviously can't. Do you no sign of effort on his part? Surely it can't be ok for you if he were that unstable that he would consider suicide as an option...
I don't know the guy but have a feeling that he would pay if he had the financial backing to do so, I don't think he is trying to screw you and hide anything....but again, I don't know your "friend".

I've stopped caring about whether he is successful, yes, and I'm sure he doesn't care about my situation either as he has plenty of his own problems to worry about, as he rightly should.

This guy is characteristically like every other perpetually broke person. If he ever won $1000 on a scratch off lottery ticket (which he probably would have been silly enough to buy in the first place) he would pay his bills that were 3 months due and then go out for a steak dinner to celebrate his good fortune. If anything was left, he'd probably give it to charity before paying off long term debt. Not because of deliberately wanting to not honor his commitments, but because there's more instant gratification tied to putting money in a charity bucket than acheiving some far off long term goal.

Most of the people that I meet that aren't 'lucky' or good with money and saddled with outrageous debt are the same folks that struggle to control other vices and virtues. Whether it's binge drinking, excessive negativity, lack of effort in career development or too much time sitting around playing video games, people that don't properly value the future consequences of their actions usually end up having to accept the consequences if they like it or not.