Loaned my boss $15k, now she won't pay me back

cmiller633

New Member
Jurisdiction
Pennsylvania
Hi everyone, I'm looking for advice on what to do regarding a personal loan. I loaned my boss $15,000 last May and she has now cut off all contact with me and is refusing to pay me back. During her proposition she offered to give me an extra $3,000 in interest, therefore making the total owed amount $18,000. At this point I don't even care as much about the interest but I do want my original amount back. I've contacted 2 lawyers and had a certified letter sent to her from my first lawyer letting her know she has 10 days to start paying me or I will take her to court. The letter was returned to the law office, so she either didn't receive it or refused to sign for it? I'm not sure. My lawyer says we can move forward with filing a lawsuit, but it'll cost $1,500 just to get started with the suit (I've already put in $700 in legal fees) and then $350 an hour after that. My lawyer says I have a solid case, but I'm afraid I'll have to spend tons of money just to get mine back from her. And I'm also afraid I won't win, or that I'll win but won't ever see anything from her. I can give out more details if anyone has questions, but I wanted to keep it as concise as possible. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated, I feel so stuck and I'm not sure what to do. Thanks.
 
My lawyer says we can move forward with filing a lawsuit, but it'll cost $1,500 just to get started with the suit (I've already put in $700 in legal fees) and then $350 an hour after that.

You can proceed as your attorney suggests.

You can fire your attorney and file the case yourself in small claims court.

Delaware County Small Claims Court, Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, a monetary claim of any amount of money (or articles of equivalent value) below $5,000 as a corporation or a business firm, or below $10,000 as an individual, is legally termed as a small claim.

All cases that revolve around rental delays and landlord/tenant disputes, damaged goods or products, scams, property damage, unpaid debts, small scale disputes, unsatisfactory services, and/or personal injuries are dealt with in a Small Claims Court in Pennsylvania. The small claims court in Pennsylvania specializes in resolving small claims cases. You as a claimant will require an attorney, like the ones in our firm, to help you file a small claim. You are required to demand a certain amount of money from the defendant (which must be less than $5,000 or $10,000, depending on your situation), and present both of your arguments in a hearing in front of a clerk. The issue fee to File A Claim In Small Claims is much less than the expenditure for a bigger district or city court, which is why filing a monetary claim in a small claims court is more advisable, and the help of our legal small claim counselors can be extremely useful in the process. As a plaintiff, you must fill up a statement of complaint or a statement of claim where the details of the incident, evidentiary documentation, and the demanded amount is written down. A copy of your statement of claim and notice form will be sent to your defendant, who is expected to respond to the court within twenty days. If the defendant fails to do so in time, the case will be dismissed without a decree. All this will happen in a small claims court in Pennsylvania.

Small Claims Court Pennsylvania - File Small Claims Court Pennsylvania
 
You're on three websites (so far) this morning.

The answers are likely to be similar on all three.
Lol yep I figured I'd cast as wide of a net as I could and see what advice I can get. I actually posted to 4 different forums. Thank God for helpful people I should've done this a long time ago.
 
Lol yep I figured I'd cast as wide of a net as I could and see what advice I can get. I actually posted to 4 different forums. Thank God for helpful people I should've done this a long time ago.

You should have done it when your boss asked to borrow 15k from you...

Hindsight thread title:

"Boss wants to borrow 15k from me... Would it be a terrible idea to do this?"

;)
 
It's quite possible that your loan is a usurious loan, and possibly even criminal.
 
Did your boss sign a promissory note or loan agreement? If so, does the note or agreement contain a provision that, in the event of litigation, the prevailing party may recover attorneys' fees as part of the judgment?

Do you expect that, if you sue your boss, you'll retain your job?

I'm really not sure what sort of "advice" you're seeking. You already know what to do. Obviously, loaning money to your boss was a terrible idea since suing your boss could get you fired. If you compounded your mistake by not having a properly drafted note/loan agreement, then this may well end up being a very expensive lesson. On the positive side, you know where your boss works, so garnishing her wages will be pretty easy if you get a judgment (assuming PA allows for wage garnishment, which I didn't check).
 
Did your boss sign a promissory note or loan agreement? If so, does the note or agreement contain a provision that, in the event of litigation, the prevailing party may recover attorneys' fees as part of the judgment?

Do you expect that, if you sue your boss, you'll retain your job?

I'm really not sure what sort of "advice" you're seeking. You already know what to do. Obviously, loaning money to your boss was a terrible idea since suing your boss could get you fired. If you compounded your mistake by not having a properly drafted note/loan agreement, then this may well end up being a very expensive lesson. On the positive side, you know where your boss works, so garnishing her wages will be pretty easy if you get a judgment (assuming PA allows for wage garnishment, which I didn't check).

So retaining my job isn't important because I no longer work for her. She made a lot of terrible business decisions and ran her company into the ground, so there is no company to work for anymore. It was thriving for the 3.5 years that I was there, and as soon as she got married she let it all go down the tubes. And that being said I don't believe there will be any wages to garnish, since she doesn't even work a regular job. She only has a few properties and my hope was they could put a lien on one of them to force her to pay me (along with quite a few other people that are also currently suing her).

As far as our loan agreement, there was nothing stating who would cover the legal fees/court costs incase of a lawsuit, which I know was extremely stupid on my part. So I've already pretty much accepted that I won't see any of my legal fees back. I'm not even concerned with the interest either (the $3k she promised me), I just want my original $15k back. We made the agreement through messaging on our business app, and I took screenshots and printed everything out. Both of the attorneys I met with said I have a solid case and my screenshots will hold up in court. The advice I'm seeking is really whether I should take her to small claims court (where I can only receive $12k max), take her to the court of common pleas (where I can get my whole $15k back but will spend A LOT in legal fees that I most likely won't get back), or if I should just let the whole thing go and cut my losses (which I REALLY don't want to do) but I'm just not sure what the best route would be.
 
It's quite possible that your loan is a usurious loan, and possibly even criminal.

This is something I am definitely concerned with, at the time I had no idea that it was usury to get that much in interest. I didn't ask for that much, she offered it to help convince me to do the loan. As they say, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. I definitely should have done my research before agreeing to this.
 
You should have done it when your boss asked to borrow 15k from you...

Hindsight thread title:

"Boss wants to borrow 15k from me... Would it be a terrible idea to do this?"

;)

I agree 100%, I definitely should've thought twice about it and sought out the advice of others. Hindsight really is 20/20. Another red flag was that she was rushing me to send it, she texted me that morning while I was at work training a new employee, and after I agreed she had me leave the employee and go to the bank in the middle of the day to send the wire transfer. It was like she didn't want me to think about it too much or change my mind. I really regret it now that I know the kind of person she is, but she really had me fooled. Still 100% my fault though.
 
The advice I'm seeking is really whether I should take her to small claims court (where I can only receive $12k max), take her to the court of common pleas (where I can get my whole $15k back but will spend A LOT in legal fees that I most likely won't get back), or if I should just let the whole thing go and cut my losses

If you think you'll spend more than $3k in legal fees (and you likely will), then small claims court is likely the best route. Beyond that, these are decisions you'll have to make for yourself.
 
take her to the court of common pleas (where I can get my whole $15k back but will spend A LOT in legal fees

There's no reason you can't sue in the court of common pleas, without an attorney, provided you figure out how to do it and survive the complex procedural issues.
 
If you think you'll spend more than $3k in legal fees (and you likely will), then small claims court is likely the best route. Beyond that, these are decisions you'll have to make for yourself.

This is what I'm thinking as well. I don't want to bury myself in legal fees, and it might not be worth $3k-$5k just to get back $15k, when I can go to small claims for around $100 filing fee and potentially win my $12k (max limit for small claims in my state).
 
There's no reason you can't sue in the court of common pleas, without an attorney, provided you figure out how to do it and survive the complex procedural issues.

Really? I didn't think this was an option. Clearly I do not have a lot of knowledge on the legal system or lawsuits in general. I've never done this before and frankly I'm just afraid I'm going to screw it up.
 
This is what I'm thinking as well. I don't want to bury myself in legal fees, and it might not be worth $3k-$5k just to get back $15k, when I can go to small claims for around $100 filing fee and potentially win my $12k (max limit for small claims in my state).

The various TV legal shows are the easiest option.

The show pays the award, meaning you don't have to try to get paid.

The show pays litigants round trip airfare, airport transportation, hotel expenses, meal, allowances, clothing allowance for taping, appearance fee, and the amount awarded in full.

How to Appear On a Courtroom Television Show: 12 Steps
...


Submit Your Case — Judge Mathis
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TV Court shows. How do the winners get their money due to them?
...
 
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