Substantial loan to friends.

[DaiYanto]

On behalf of an unwell friend:
My friend made a loan of £52,000 to a couple who were long time partners and friends of his to make up the balance of the purchase of a property on the promise that they would repay him monthly until the debt was cleared. Five years later they havent paid a penny, they have split up acrimoniously and have made no effort to reply to the occasional email. He has very little evidence regarding the loan the messages of which were on a phone he lost. He is in poor health and deeply worried by the situation. The lady lives in the purchased property and has remarried. Could you suggest a way of proceeding, to get the borrowers to acknowledge the debt and to formalise it by way of a written agreement.

[atticus]

You ask "Could you suggest a way of proceeding, to get the borrowers to acknowledge the debt and to formalise it by way of a written agreement." Well, your friend can ask! If acceptable answers are forthcoming, he should get a solicitor to prepare the agreement. I would strongly recommend securing the debt on property.

If there is no reply or no agreement, your friend may well have to sue. I suggest that as a first step he should obtain the land registry* title for the property, to see who is the registered proprietor and whether there are any charges registered.

* https://www.gov.uk/search-property-i...-land-registry

[Matty B]

Just a thought but surely, when they made the purchase they needed to explain where the funds came from. That might be a starting point. Even 30 years ago I had to explain where my deposit came from (parents).

[DaiYanto]

Thank you, I have already checked the land registry, it is registered to the lady with a building society chard at the date of purchase. I've no idea how they explained away the deposit. I'll see if either party will acknowledge the debt.