Personal Loan to a business

[american_pit13]

Jurisdiction

New Mexico

I am looking for advice on how to recover a loan made a an individual for her business. She operates using multiple business names and was transfered $35,000 from my account to one of her business accounts. I was friends with her and did not get a contract but have text messages between the two of us going over the terms to start repaying me in the spring/summer of 2022. She refuses to respond anymore to messages or make any kind of payments on the loan.

What action can I take and how to I go about it. Do I need to get a lawyer or start a civil suit?
The wire transfer paper work from the bank and text messages are my only proof of the loan.

 

[retic]

I would definitely get an attorney. $35k isn't a small-claims DIY lawsuit.

 

[adjusterjack]

What action can I take and how to I go about it. Do I need to get a lawyer or start a civil suit?

Do you really need strangers on the internet to answer those questions for you?

The action you take? You sue.

Do you need a lawyer to start a civil suit? In your case, you do.

 

[Tax Counsel]

What action can I take and how to I go about it. Do I need to get a lawyer or start a civil suit?
The wire transfer paper work from the bank and text messages are my only proof of the loan.

In what state are you located and where is she located? Did you make the loan directly to her or to one of her businesses? If you made it to one of her businesses and it's a LLC or corporation with few assets you may find it very hard to get your money back even if you win a lawsuit against the company. Without seeing your e-mails it's hard to say how good a case you have for this being a loan and what the terms of the loan were. You really do need to take all the e-mails, wire transfer documents, etc to a lawyer who litigates contract disputes for advice. The fee you pay for that may save you a lot of aggravation and money later.

Given that she's not responsive to you, my bet is that a lawyer letter (which would be the first thing I'd ususally do for a client in your situation) won't get much of a response. Then you'll have to decide whether time and cost of suing will be worth it given what the lawyer tells you about the chances of success. If the defendant is in another state you may have to sue in that other state, which will increase costs even more for you.

Very important for the future: never lend large amounts of money without a good written contract signed by the other party. It's a whole lot harder to prove an oral contract and its terms than a written contract.

The one bit of solace I can give you is that if you can't collect after making reasonable efforts to get your money back you will be able to take a bad loss tax deduction for the money lost. The amount of tax saved will be just a fraction of what you are owed, but it's better than nothing.

 

[american_pit13]

Do you really need strangers on the internet to answer those questions for you?

The action you take? You sue.

Do you need a lawyer to start a civil suit? In your case, you do.

Clearly I sue. it's very sad that you are a moderator here. The advice given by others specifically "a lawyer who litigates contract disputes for advice" is very helpful unlike your post.

 

[adjusterjack]

The advice given by others specifically "a lawyer who litigates contract disputes for advice" is very helpful

I'm happy that you are happy.

 

[zddoodah]

Personal Loan to a business

I am looking for advice on how to recover a loan made a an individual for her business.

Well...which is it? A loan to a business? Or a loan to an individual for her business? If the former, is the business a corporation? An LLC? A partnership (general or limited)? Etc.? What are the repayment terms? Was the loan documented by a promissory note or other written agreement (for $35k, I sure as heck hope so)? Is the loan secured? If so, what is the security and has your security interest been properly documented?

She operates using multiple business names and was transfered $35,000 from my account to one of her business accounts.

What does "operates using multiple business names" mean?

I ... did not get a contract

Meaning there's no promissory note or other written agreement? For a $35k loan?!

What action can I take and how to I go about it. Do I need to get a lawyer or start a civil suit?

Yes, you should hire a lawyer. However, if you don't have a promissory note or other written agreement, your legal fees will not be recoverable, so you're going to need to spend some time up front figuring out whether the borrower has the means to repay the loan. Most people don't want to throw good money after bad.

The advice given by others specifically "a lawyer who litigates contract disputes for advice" is very helpful

Except that's not really what you want because you don't appear to have a contract dispute. What you want is a collection attorney - one who will be honest with you about your likelihood of winning and collecting on any judgment you might obtain.

And, if your question was "what type of lawyer do I need?" then you ought to have been more clear with your question.