Q: I got screwed out of some money by a "friend.". For me, it's a lot. I sure could use it returned.
This is what happened.
On February 19, 2014, I loaned $2,500 to a friend of mine living and going to college in
Portland. His name is DW. He was born on August 3, 1984. He asked for
the financial help and promised to pay me back and stay in touch with me. I knew him when I lived in Chicago a few years back. We exchanged maybe two or three emails in February 2014. He was in his last semester of college in Portland and needed to come up with the $2,500 to complete his tuition bill for his last semester. He told me he was a teacher's assistant at
an elementary school and once he got his degree, he had a position at a middle school already lined up. He said he would be able to repay me by May 2014.
I'm not kidding once he got the money, he ceased communicating with me. He fell off the grid. He promised to stay in touch and since that time - I tried to communicate with him without any success connecting. He is located in Portland, Oregon.
A: First and foremost, do you have this loan in a signed writing? You likely have a few issues to consider. If you are local, you can simply sue him in small claims court - fast, comparatively cheap, and a Judgment is just as enforceable as one from regular circuit court. If you don't, you would need to use an attorney and would likely cost more than the amount you are owed. You likely could set the case up in advance such that if you won in court, you would not only win the $2500 owed, but also your attorney's fees, so it might not be a deal killer per se. Either way however, you still need to be able to find him to serve him with the court papers and the real issue is whether you would ever be able to collect the money even if you got a Judgment. If not, you would just be throwing good money after bad. If you think you can, it may be worth the effort. Bottom line is the only way you can forcibly collect is to sue him in a local Portland court, either small claims or regular circuit court with an attorney. Good luck.
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