Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Tennessee

I lent 400$ to a friend in September of this year to help him pay his rent. He promised to pay me back within the week. It has been over 3 months now and he has made no effort to repay me. I talk to him about once a week and ask if he has the money but every time it is a different excuse. How can I legally go about getting my money back? I'm afraid the only way he will believe I am serious is to file some sort of suit against him.


Asked on 12/21/10, 6:17 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Howard R. Peppel Peppel, Gomes & MacIntosh, P.C.

If your friend will not repay the loan the only options you have are to sue him in the General Sessions Court for the county where he resides or where the loan was made or �write-off� the loan; i.e., forgetting about the loan and trying to recover the funds.

The problem you may have however, is that in the absence of some sort of writing signed by your friend where he admits to the loan in some fashion, is proving the loan was made or that it was a loan and not a gift. If he should deny the loan in court, it would be your word against his and since you would have the burden of proof in a court, you would lose the lawsuit. Of a somewhat related nature, if he should admit that you �gave� him $400.00, he could easily claim that it was a gift and not a loan to be repaid. Once again, in the absence of a writing it would be your word against his and you would lose.

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Answered on 12/27/10, 10:06 am


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