Former co:worker owes me money - how would small claims make her pay?
Like a dummy I helped a former co:worker out with a loan. She promised to pay me at least a little at a time, and has only repaid $50. I cannot stand to say how much she owes me; she got me when I was feeling generous after a relative left me some money. She is still working (not where I work) and another former co:worker of both of ours, works there too, and has emailed me that she is still there. (I didn’t tell this other person what is going on).
I just sent the “borrower” an email saying she should be paying me something & I’d like her to call/email me. She’s not responding. I haven’t gotten nasty yet. I do know where she works, because I went there to give her the cash.
BUT I DID MAKE HER PUT IN WRITING THAT SHE OWES ME & THE AMOUNT. Plus, she emailed me when she asked for the money, & has emailed me (awhile back) how she promises that she’ll pay.
If I have to go to small claims, can they make her pay, attach her wages etc?
Believe me, I’ll never do this again!
If I do have to take her to small claims, I have “extended” family members who work for the Sheriff’s office, whom I can probably have serve her. I really wish I didn’t have to do this!
It is under the small claims court time limits, it’s been about eight months.
November 16th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Yes as long as the statute of limitations isnt up. I believe most states you have something like 4 years to sue her for the debt. Small claims court will probably cost you about 50 dollars or so to file the complaint but you can get that back when you win a judgement against her. Once you get the judgement, you can use it to garnish her wages/intercept her tax return. Make sure to warn her that if she doesnt start paying, she will end up having to pay court costs, interest and maybe even lawyer fees if you end up going to a lawyer to have them do this work for you when garnishing her wages. Also let her know a judgement on her credit report will hurt her credit score really bad.
Dont worry, we have all loaned money to friends and we all learn this lesson the hard way. For me it was a $1,000 lesson (that i never got back)
November 18th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Don’t get nasty with her, it’ll only make you look bad when you do go to small claims court. Also, keep documentation of all contact you have with her (emails, phone calls, etc). You might want to, in a nice way, let her know that if she doesn’t start paying per your agreement that you will have no other option than to take her to court. That might get her attention. If not, and it’s a large sum of money then I would say, go forward with small claims court. We all make mistakes, don’t be hard on yourself. It’s live and learn~ this thing called life.
Good luck to you!