Consumer Law, Warranties Business Loan Repayment Question

[disappointed]

I loaned a substantial amount of money(~350K) to a friend to buy a business several years ago. Up until this year, he has been paying both the personal and business loans on time so there have been no issues. As of January, however, he stopped paying both loans because business is down. That said, I know that he is far from broke - just spent 3 weeks in HI - and that he could afford to pay something if he so chose. Both loans are personally guaranteed by him.

Two Questions:

- if we were to to take legal action and sue for payment, would the case be any good? Could the courts force him to at least pay something on a monthly basis?

- he just got married; since his loans were personally guaranteed, is his spouse, who has more assets, now on the hook?

Please advise -

 

[seniorjudge]

Sue the bad person in court.

The court doesn't force anyone to pay anything.

You will have to collect the judgment on your own.

 

[disappointed]

Thanks for the message. So if I do sue and win, what actually happens? The court orders the person to pay...and then I wait once more for payment? And then if he doesn't pay, I sue again?

Also, is there any reason I wouldn't win the law suit given the info I have presented?

 

[dee_dub]

If you win, the court doesn't "order the person to pay". The court says "you're right, he owes you $350K". You then commence to collect from the person. If he doesn't want to pay, you enforce the judgment by garnishing his accounts, wages, registering the judgment against his property, etc.

Given the info you have presented, you wouldn't win. In fact, you don't even have a suit. You haven't said what constitutes default under the loan agreement, and you haven't said that default results in acceleration of the loan so that the balance is immediately payable. There might be other elements missing from an action to collect on a debt as well.