former friend claims I owe him more money ?

[pitbullofbrum]

Good Morning all,

 

I was wondering if someone could offer me some advice with an issue I have with a former friend.

 

Back in 2012 my friend (who is extremely wealthy) gave me 2k to help me out with some serious issues I was having with debt collectors, he wanted to be more than friends shall we say and to this end he gave me another 2k early 2013 and another 2k late 2013 by way of bank deposits. I understood at the time that these were gifts and no verbal or written contract was drawn up.

 

Once he realised that I was not that way inclined / spurned his advances, he started to get nasty and demanded the last payment he made to me to be paid back to him (which I had no means of doing)

 

I was in a position to start to pay this money back in 2015 by way of monthly payments into his bank account after he started to hassle me, and have now cleared the money he originally wanted so stopped the regular payments.

 

Trouble is he has started to to text me and ask for the payments to continue otherwise he will take me to court.......

 

I can no longer continue to be held over a barrel whilst he demands payments from me as I have a small income and a large family to feed. When if ever will he stop to ask me for money ?

 

Please let me know your thoughts and if indeed he could take me to court and obtain a CCJ

 

The other option of giving up my will to him is unthinkable, I just want this guy out of my life

 

Please help

[dx100uk]

If they were gifts I think not

[BankFodder]

I think that the best thing for you would be if he did take you to court. Then you could bring it all into the light and have it dealt with once and for all.

 

If he is as wealthy as you say then frankly I doubt whether he will take it to court but on the other hand he may continue to make your life difficult.

 

Are you dealing with him on the telephone? Or how is he communicating with you?

[pitbullofbrum]

Me and this guy work for the same large organisation, all be it in different departments. The guy in question is a senior manager .....

 

I blocked his number a long time ago, but he has since messaged me from a different phone that I have also blocked

[BankFodder]

I think it would be a very good move to read our customer services guide. Once you have read it, implement the advice there – and then unblock the numbers and allow him to have phone calls with you. You may well find that the things that are said could be very useful if push comes to shove

[BazzaS]

Is there any documentation of the agreement between you regarding loan v. gift?

 

If not there will be a (rebuttable) presumption of it being a loan, if they aren’t e.g. immediate family or they have been supporting you for your day to day ‘necessities”.

The presumption is rebuttable, but you’d have to persuade a Court it was a gift, rather than him persuading them it was a loan ....

[BazzaS]

Re-reading, there is a further point:

 

“I was in a position to start to pay this money back in 2015 by way of monthly payments into his bank account after he started to hassle me, and have now cleared the money he originally wanted so stopped the regular payments.”

 

You can expect a court to consider (or even ask outright!) : “Why did you make ‘repayments’ starting in 2015 if it was a gift and not a loan?”

[dx100uk]

poss the 1st £2k was

but not the latter two?

[pitbullofbrum]

Yes that is correct,

"poss the 1st £2k was

but not the latter two?"

And there was no documentation, he just said it was a present, but when I spurned his advance he said he wanted it back ... hence the delay in time ... but that was only for the first amount

[mormoset]

stop the phone calls change the telephone number, causing distress

 

however, you must check all your files for evidence that you paid the alleged money,

 

so he can not come back to you. People do change their minds.

 

but give nothing away of your intentions do they know where you live, you could try CAB and set up a payment plan, on your means and out goings if it would help, and if he took you to court you could show he was being unfair

 

it sounds that he a bit mean

[pitbullofbrum]

Thankyou,

Yes I have evidence I have paid the amount back by way of bank transfers (FIRST 2k), I do not see why I should pay money back he gave me as a gift and then when he feels as though he is not getting what he wanted he says "ok then you can pay me all that money back", its like blackmail !

[BazzaS]

It may come down to who a Court believes.

You that the last two were gifts despite the first being a loan (else why would you repay it?)

Him that all 3 were loans (but, then, why did he make a further loan when you hadn’t repaid the 2nd sum ....)

 

Again, the (rebuttable) presumption that it was a loan counts against you ; how would you aim to rebut it?

[king12345]

If i was the judge i would think exactly along the lines of BazzaS.

A guy gave you a 2k loan (no doubt about it as you repaid it, it was a loan).

Then twice more he gave you money.

Why would he gift it to you if you are not related and not in any sort of relationship?

Very few people give away money to strangers/work colleagues.

And i would be careful bringing up the argument about him wanting more of a friendship from you.

He could respond by saying that you made him think he had a chance just to convince him to lend you more money.

Anyhow, why would you accept a "gift" from a stranger?

Get a repayment plan in place, let him know and start paying him back.

That's the most honourable and proud thing you can do.

Keeping the money and risking a ccj would inevitably lead to being laughed at in your place of employment.

[pitbullofbrum]

Thanks for the advice,

I have not had any sort of letter through the post yet, but if I do i would request to see what evidence he has before we go to court, I will keep you guys updated on the progress.

[hightail]

Very few people give away money to strangers/work colleagues.

And i would be careful bringing up the argument about him wanting more of a friendship from you.

He could respond by saying that you made him think he had a chance just to convince him to lend you more money

Well I'm glad somebody has asked these questions because it's been bugging me. It's usually a big no no for somebody in a senior position to be involved with or pressure anyone junior to them in any way so there's obviously something we're not being told.