unsure if this is the correct forum

[BeingBullied]

Problem :

In October of last year, an ex loaned some money to me - and declined to get anything written down.
The offer had been made often, and i declined.
I took the loan on the basis that i could repay the amount over 4 years.

This year my income has been poor - (which was known by all at time of loan) and i have been paying what i can when i can - not small sums.

Now, relations deteriorated to the point that i am being called (number withheld/identified voicemail, @ 10-15 per day) emailed (10-30 per day, harassed daily and it has been ongoing for months - it has gotten to the point where she has asked her relatives to call me as well.I changed my mobile to escape the constant bombardment - and advised ex as to why.

The crux of the matter is this :
the loan given by the ex, she now requires it repaid in full immediately, and has been saying this for months - i told her i have not got that amount of money in one go and cannot get it.

Now, she has begun emailing my employers, friends and informing them of the debt, and she has also had legal threatening letters addressed to me (no return address on reverse) sent to my familys addresses.

ie me - at their address with all details enclosed.

Is this legal intimidation ?
Can lawyers do this ?

I have not disappeared - my address remains valid, my email is in use, and i only changed my mobile for reason of the daily harassment.

I also replied to the lawyers legal threat (14 days "or else") i am prepared to state in a court what and why, but what can i do about the lawyer writing to my family, who have nothing to do with this ?

[TUTTSI]

Re: unsure iif this is the correct forum

Hi BB

A very warm welcome to Legal Beagles.

So when you took the loan you did you not have a signed agreement between two parties, therefore it was it a verbal agreement only?

Do you have any other documentation ie letter from your ex confirming the payment of the loan and the payment structure?

Is there any correspondence whatsoever, between you and your ex agreeing to the loan and was it marked Private and confidential?

Did you agree with your ex a monthly rate for repayment so that it would be repaid in the 4 year period?

Tuttsi

Problem :

In October of last year, an ex loaned some money to me - and declined to get anything written down.
The offer had been made often, and i declined.
I took the loan on the basis that i could repay the amount over 4 years.

This year my income has been poor - (which was known by all at time of loan) and i have been paying what i can when i can - not small sums.

Now, relations deteriorated to the point that i am being called (number withheld/identified voicemail, @ 10-15 per day) emailed (10-30 per day, harassed daily and it has been ongoing for months - it has gotten to the point where she has asked her relatives to call me as well.I changed my mobile to escape the constant bombardment - and advised ex as to why.

The crux of the matter is this :
the loan given by the ex, she now requires it repaid in full immediately, and has been saying this for months - i told her i have not got that amount of money in one go and cannot get it.

Now, she has begun emailing my employers, friends and informing them of the debt, and she has also had legal threatening letters addressed to me (no return address on reverse) sent to my familys addresses.

ie me - at their address with all details enclosed.

Is this legal intimidation ?
Can lawyers do this ?

I have not disappeared - my address remains valid, my email is in use, and i only changed my mobile for reason of the daily harassment.

I also replied to the lawyers legal threat (14 days "or else") i am prepared to state in a court what and why, but what can i do about the lawyer writing to my family, who have nothing to do with this ?

[Mochamoo]

Re: unsure iif this is the correct forum

3rd time lucky...I keep writing big long response to you then getting kicked off the internet by my rubbish router.

Is your ex a lawyer or has she hired a lawyer?

Do you have any emails about the loan?

You need to write to her (so you have a paper trail and send it recorded delivery) Be polite and do not be emotional in the letter. pop it up here first so we can tweak it for you x

Outline your original agreement, request that she stops harassing your friends/family/employer, give her a formal repayment plan (even if its £10 or even £1per month)


If this does go to court the judge will look at an income and expenditure form and give you a repayment plan, they can not get blood out of stone!

Is the amount over £5k?

When did she lend you the money, how much have you paid pack so far?

have a look at this so you can understand a bit more about harassment. Legal Beagles

[BeingBullied]

Re: unsure iif this is the correct forum

only detail in writing (email) was that i paid enough to service the costs of the loan. this changed with time (frequent emails) as it emerged the loan was conditional on a "relationship" - multiple emails received stating she had written off the debt (i ignored these and simply kept paying).

re confidential comment : it never occured to me for one second that either she, or her lawyer would write to me at my employers, friends & family private addresses, with full selective details of this "debt" (14 day notice) and do so to embarass into full payment.

For a lawyer to do this, i am surprised.

At no stage have i not acknowledged the "debt" it was actually termed a loan (emails and conversation) it only became labelled a debt, when she demanded instant payment and started throwing threats in all directions.

My point is this :

i accept and understood a loan requires repayment.
As the loan was offered, on the verbal terms, i accepted.
That she knew of the financial position, and then changed the terms has led to this position.

I cannot "magic" money out of thin air, and have informed her of this, a fact she knew when the funds were loaned.
What i cannot accept, is that, anyone has a right to act in such a malicious manner by distributing personal information to persons that have no responsibility in this matter.

Incidentally, my email system, marks all email as private or high confidential automatically.
There is also a footnote with legal comments as a matter of course.

[Mochamoo]

Re: unsure iif this is the correct forum

Send this to the lawyer... adapt it to suit you include a bit about not contact friends, family ect



As I am sure you are aware Harassment of Debtors is a criminal offence in England and Wales under Section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970.

Furthermore, continued telephone calls after the receipt of a request not to call may constitute a criminal offence under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003.

In addition every individual has a right to be free from harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

The offence of causing harassment is arrestable under the provisions of Section 24(2) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and attracts the powers associated with such offences. Additionally Section 3 enables a person who is, or may become, the victim of behaviour prohibited by Section 1 to take civil proceedings against the perpetrator.

Further it is my contention that your company is in breach of the Office of Fair Trading guidelines on harassment.

As you have demonstrably failed to heed my instructions I feel I have no option but to report your conduct to the relevant statutory authorities, including Trading Standards, the Financial Services Authority and the Office of Fair Trading.

If I should receive another telephone call from any person from your company at any point then I will be contacting the police to report the criminal office of harassment and will be naming you in my statement to the police.

I trust that I have made myself clear and that all future correspondence with your company will be in writing.

If you are in any doubt as to what to do with this letter, then I would advise that you consult your corporate counsel.

Yours sincerely

[BeingBullied]

Re: unsure iif this is the correct forum

I have already spoken with the police regarding the personal harassment 4 times this year - and they are aware of the ex's conduct.

I shall draft a polite letter (as outlined above, regarding the harassment of persons i know, and then shall keep the forum posted as to how things unfold, so to speak.

Thankyou for the advice.

regards BB

[Amy]

Re: unsure iif this is the correct forum

I would stop repaying her until and unless she becomes more reasonable. If there is no paperwork for the loan then she is on a sticky wicket, so she needs to be reasonable.

[TANZARELLI]

Re: unsure iif this is the correct forum

"multiple emails received stating she had written off the debt (i ignored these and simply kept paying)."

Well thats the answer in my opinion and I certainly know what I would do now lol.

If you have evidence that says she has wiped the debt then imn my opinion she has wiped the debt so its job done.

[BeingBullied]

Re: unsure iif this is the correct forum

Ignoring or dismissing the "debt" is not an option. I borrowed, and so it needs repayment, and that is what was agreed.
The difficult part, is the instant pay up now or else bit.

If the letter stops her & her lawyer writing to my family,friends & employers with all details, that is a start.

[Mochamoo]

Re: unsure if this is the correct forum

Tanz has a good point though... You could say look you wiped the debt off I am repaying it as I said I would, so can we now please come to a sensible repayment plan? (obviously all in a letter so you have a paper trail x)

[Amy]

Re: unsure if this is the correct forum

She won't start to be reasonable until she realises she cannot treat you like this. You have the trump card here because you have something she wants.

[scoobydoo]

Re: unsure if this is the correct forum

I think the above is a good point. I would let the lawyer know you have the evidence of the emails but have still continued to pay the loan with what you can afford and that you would of course bring that to the courts attention if necessary.

I suppose you have checked the letters are from a genuine company - not just some fly by night on headed paper? Because as you say to write to other people regarding your debt sounds very unusual to me.

[Emerald]

Re: unsure if this is the correct forum

I think I would go with Tanz advice here to alleviate the immediate hassle, send the relevant letters as mentioned above and if it is a bona fide lawyer report thme to who ever is their governing body now - I'll get the link for you.

I understand you want to pay the debt back morally, and I commed you for this, save up the money and deduct the standard amount of £9.25 per hour for the time you have spent on her stupidity in collecting this debt. Start keeping a record of the time you spend on this. Then pay her in one lump sum.

[BeingBullied]

Re: unsure if this is the correct forum

I can assure you that the lawyer who has written to my close family members, work colleagues & friends, is genuine.
I was surprised by this conduct - primarily because i have never declined acceptance of the loan, or stated anywhere i would not honour my agreement.

What i cannot do, is instant full repayment as demanded.
The problem has arisen because of the harassment (email/voicemail/calls etc and the frequency) and now, she has stated 14 days or else etc.

Incidentally, in between legal letters et al, she sent me a holiday postcard .....

My relatives/colleagues/employers (12) have all now written to the lawyer who wrote letters to me at their individual addresses, requesting that he desists from communicating in any form, as it has nothing to do with them, and that i clearly do not reside there.

A fact which the lawyers knew, as they wrote the same letter to my home address.

I have replied and acknowledged receipt of the legal threat (14 day notice) as follows :

I am in receipt of your correspondence dated xx/xx/xxxx. I shall revert to you in due course.

printed name.

I will then consider how to write a letter to the lawyer prior to his expiration of the 14 day period.

[WendyB]

Re: unsure if this is the correct forum

Well forgive me if I've got the wrong end of the stick here, but it seems to me you are going round in circles.

As advised, you should write to the lawyer as above demanding that they stop harassing you, your workmates, relatives etc. Explain the situation as regards the debt and that you have email evidence that the debt was written off, however you have still continued to pay it. Re-iterate that you are willing to pay at xxx pr month.

Then just wait and see what they say. Obviously you do not have the money to pay it all in one go and they know this. they are just using scare tactics in the hope that you will get it from somehere. Which of course you won't. If they threaten court action, then that';s fine. let it go to court and see what the jusdge makes of their tactics. it will clearly be seen as vexatious litigation by a woman scorned, IMO.

By the way, what are the sums of money involved here? I don't think you've mentioned the amounts so far.