Interest free loan from friend....now wants interest

[sidjameson]

Gf got herself into a mess. Borrowed money from work colleague. Actually with 3% interest. But no written agreement.

Gf failed business. No way of paying it back.

Now gf got letter from colleagues lawyer saying pay it back by a date or interest will be charged as the law.

 

Gf freaking that "interest as the law states" is 15% and will lead her to a lifetime of debt.

 

She wants to try pay it back.....it's the question of interest that is scaring her.

 

Anyone know if this threat of setting  interest by the law is legal?

[bkk6060]

Maybe get a lawyer and fight it.

Or, do the manly thing and man up and pay it for her.

[oldhippy]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Maybe get a lawyer and fight it.

Or, do the manly thing and man up and pay it for her.

manly thing or buffalo thing?

[sammieuk1]

Run before you end up paying or stay and pay it or your assets will be toast stark choices by the sound of it. How much is owed?????  

[sanuk711]

yes it is legal but at 7%  not 15% even though the law says you can charge 15* the court will strike it down to 7% if it is not commented.

Did she sign a Document ?

 

What if no particular interest rate is specified?

If it is agreed in a contract for a loan of money that interest is payable, but no rate is specified in the contract, the court will order that the parties agree to the rate of 7.5% per year, a rate which is prescribed by law.

https://www.siam-legal.com/litigation/debt-recovery-in-thailand.php

[Upnotover]

Only yesterday there was a GF who couldn't afford the repayments on her bike.  Now one that can't pay back a loan.  Note to self, avoid GF's.  Strikes me that irrespective of the interest rate she wants someone to bail her out.

[ctxa]

1 hour ago, sidjameson said:

Gf got herself into a mess. Borrowed money from work colleague. Actually with 3% interest. But no written agreement.

Gf failed business. No way of paying it back.

Now gf got letter from colleagues lawyer saying pay it back by a date or interest will be charged as the law.

 

Gf freaking that "interest as the law states" is 15% and will lead her to a lifetime of debt.

 

She wants to try pay it back.....it's the question of interest that is scaring her.

 

Anyone know if this threat of setting  interest by the law is legal?

With only a verbal agreement. That work mate could very well claim that your girlfriend cheated him/her and that it was a scam. In which case your girlfriend has an even bigger problem than death for life. 

 

My advice, if she has the money, pay it back right now, the matter of the interests can be arranged later even in court. Without paying back the loaned money, problem will be big!

[Poet]

The 15% is her lawyers letting your gf know that they want the money back, and giving any judge the obvious "do something" move of adjusting it down to the prescribed 7.5%.

You need to either bail her out, giving her a chance to heal relations at work, or cut your losses and leave.

Her work colleague was probably promised that the loan would be short-term, your girlfriend was probably not entirely truthful about the extent of her problems. Part of the implied basis on which the loan was made was probably that you, as her rich farang boyfriend, would be the ultimate guarantor.

The colleague probably has financial constraints of her own, the last thing she wants is to be in the awkward position of chasing up monthly payments. That will poison your girlfriend's career if she remains with that company. It needs to be a clean break.

If you have longterm intentions with this woman, you should also consider the loss of face to you, in the eyes of her colleagues, for not doing the expected thing. It is unfair, I know, but that is how it is.

If you do not have longterm intentions with this woman, bail. There are plenty more fish in the sea and the last thing you need is a life-partner who is unreliable with money. She almost certainly has more outstanding loans that she has not yet told you about.

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Poet

[mr mr]

41 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

Gf got herself into a mess. Borrowed money from work colleague. Actually with 3% interest. But no written agreement.

Gf failed business. No way of paying it back.

Now gf got letter from colleagues lawyer saying pay it back by a date or interest will be charged as the law.

 

Gf freaking that "interest as the law states" is 15% and will lead her to a lifetime of debt.

 

She wants to try pay it back.....it's the question of interest that is scaring her.

 

Anyone know if this threat of setting  interest by the law is legal?

 

sid after it leaves you hands you will never see it again. 

[Kwasaki]

Gf in trouble with borrowing money, thats sounds somewhat familiar to me.

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, sidjameson said:

Gf got herself into a mess. Borrowed money from work colleague. Actually with 3% interest. But no written agreement.

Gf failed business. No way of paying it back.

Now gf got letter from colleagues lawyer saying pay it back by a date or interest will be charged as the law.

 

Gf freaking that "interest as the law states" is 15% and will lead her to a lifetime of debt.

 

She wants to try pay it back.....it's the question of interest that is scaring her.

 

Anyone know if this threat of setting  interest by the law is legal?

Some juridic notions to start with

1\ your title is ''interest free loan from friend...''

then you write in your first post ''borrowed money from colleague. Actually with 3% interest''

i am sorry but it's not a ''free loan''. a free loan will be with 0 % interests.

2\ there is no written agreement for the loan, then it's up to the other side to prove 

there is a loan, what was the amount and the reimboursement plan.

Your gf lawyer could perfectly argue that it was a 0% loan between 2colleagues

and the plan was to reimbourse 3% of the capital untill the total amount is reached.

3\ you don't precise what is the amount. it's important, you don't fight the same way for

10 000 bahts or 10 millions.

4\ the letter from the colleague's lawyer can be seen in two ways

- it's a false to implicate you in the scheme (You don't precise if you live or not

with your GF and if you was aware fo the loan before it was done. The ''dramatic'' tone

used here with ''a lifetime of deabt'' sounds like your gf is in Thailand, you are abroad

and she is trying to milking you, sorry if it's not the case but it sounds really familiar)

-it's real and it's just the colleague being afraid of not seing again any of his money

so he is desperatly trying to make some prove (The letter is a start) in the case he had

to sue her in court.

5\ if i was you at the moment there is nothing urgent, give you the time to understand what

are all the elements if you can (It seems you have no clue about a lot of things) and she doesn't have to

do anything at all.

If she is correct and if she wants, she can still continue to reimburse him the 3% on the same basis

it was, she needs to keep a prove of this reimboursement.

 

And she needs to use her time to think how she is going to reimburse one day or another the capital

(Be clear with her now if you want to pay for it or not, if you refuse you will probably be dumped, but if you accept there will be others loans to reimburse in the future, i am sorry but for you it's a lost\lost. The best advice should be probably to find another gf more cautious with her money and her ''investisments'')

 

good luck

[sidjameson]

Thanks for the replies.

This isn't a scam to get money from me. I'm sure of that. ( Caveat that nobody can be sure of anything )

Gf owed the money before she met me. It's 330,000bht and it's on top of other loans. 

She knows I won't bail her out.

She owed the money long time already. It was verbal, year ago she signed paper to say she owed it. Paper gives impression it's interest free now but will turn into interest if not paid.

She won't dump me, I know that.

She was awful with money before I met her. But has been very responsible for the last 5 years. But the past is overwhelming her.

She wants to pay it back. 

[oldhippy]

1 hour ago, sidjameson said:

Thanks for the replies.

This isn't a scam to get money from me. I'm sure of that. ( Caveat that nobody can be sure of anything )

Gf owed the money before she met me. It's 330,000bht and it's on top of other loans. 

She knows I won't bail her out.

She owed the money long time already. It was verbal, year ago she signed paper to say she owed it. Paper gives impression it's interest free now but will turn into interest if not paid.

She won't dump me, I know that.

She was awful with money before I met her. But has been very responsible for the last 5 years. But the past is overwhelming her.

She wants to pay it back. 

Sorry to hear these details.

Your gf seems to be honest but irresponsible.

So that raises the question: Can we farangs play the role of the social security system that Thailand does not have?

The answer to that question is clear... but it goes in against our Farang mindset.

Been there, done that, and regretted it - but would probably do it again.

 

[ctxa]

1 hour ago, sidjameson said:

Thanks for the replies.

This isn't a scam to get money from me. I'm sure of that. ( Caveat that nobody can be sure of anything )

Gf owed the money before she met me. It's 330,000bht and it's on top of other loans. 

She knows I won't bail her out.

She owed the money long time already. It was verbal, year ago she signed paper to say she owed it. Paper gives impression it's interest free now but will turn into interest if not paid.

She won't dump me, I know that.

She was awful with money before I met her. But has been very responsible for the last 5 years. But the past is overwhelming her.

She wants to pay it back. 

330,000 THB is barely 100 times of fun if you had to pay for "it", keep that in mind ????

 

So if after 5 years in a relationship with her you are sure that you want that girlfriend, then bail her out, before that colleague takes her to court. Else, don't bother with it and let her deal with it herself..

Edited February 3, 2021 by ctxa

[kingofthemountain]

31 minutes ago, sidjameson said:

Thanks for the replies.

This isn't a scam to get money from me. I'm sure of that. ( Caveat that nobody can be sure of anything )

Gf owed the money before she met me. It's 330,000bht and it's on top of other loans. 

She knows I won't bail her out.

She owed the money long time already. It was verbal, year ago she signed paper to say she owed it. Paper gives impression it's interest free now but will turn into interest if not paid.

She won't dump me, I know that.

She was awful with money before I met her. But has been very responsible for the last 5 years. But the past is overwhelming her.

She wants to pay it back. 

You are welcome

 

imo if she involves you now, it's because as you say she is now overwhelmed with the situation.

 

You state you are not going to bail her, and i think it's better to not do it, as she could think

at some point you are going to ''save'' her again in the future whatever the situation she is.

 

However you can still help her, but you need to know the exact situation, if you are not at the

moment in Thailand, it's near to impossible, If you are in Thailand, it will be hard but it's possible

you have to see all her bookbanks, all the papers about the debt and so on.

 

Be crystal clear, if she try to hide something, even something she consider as not important

she can start to search  new bf.

 

If she gives you all the elements you ask, i recomand to negociate a reimbursment with you, the colleague

the lawyer and your GF plus another person of confiance (If you don't speak Thai this person must be able to translate for you, don't trust your gf for an accurate traduction or you will probably understand only what they want you understand) and do together a precise plan for the next years, 330 000 is not the end of the world, if she is able to work and save 5000\month she can sort the situation in about 5 years. 

 

Of course if you can help with a first payement of 30 000 it could help in the negociation

but don't handle this money to your gf.

 

If you are not in Thailand (You haven't answered on this 

very important point) forget my advice, it's not going to work.

Talking about work you don't precise if she is actualy working or not?

If she has at the moment 0 income it's not going to help.

If she works you need to help her to do a budget, and to see where she can save money

and how she can earn more.

Most of the Thais have no idea of how to manage the monthly money, usualy they spend

their wage in the firts days then they rely on credits or other loops for the rest of the month

and they think all it's ok, sabai sabai, sanuk sanuk, untill the s'...t hit the fan !

[mr mr]

1 hour ago, sidjameson said:

She knows I won't bail her out.

 

ill take that bet. 

[CharlieH]

Tell her to tell whoever it is to take her to court.

That will take a long time even if they actually bother.

Then the court will accept whatever is a realistic amount to pay based on her circumstances/job etc.

Once thats done she then has a manageable amount to pay regularly, no worry and its paid when its paid or as soon as she chooses to settle it.

Winning in court does not guarantee receipt of payment of any kind.

 

Tell her thats how you face and deal with your responsibilities, not by running hiding or hoping a sob story to the boyfriend will work.

 

 

 

[GrandPapillon]

1 hour ago, sidjameson said:

Thanks for the replies.

This isn't a scam to get money from me. I'm sure of that. ( Caveat that nobody can be sure of anything )

Gf owed the money before she met me. It's 330,000bht and it's on top of other loans. 

She knows I won't bail her out.

She owed the money long time already. It was verbal, year ago she signed paper to say she owed it. Paper gives impression it's interest free now but will turn into interest if not paid.

She won't dump me, I know that.

She was awful with money before I met her. But has been very responsible for the last 5 years. But the past is overwhelming her.

She wants to pay it back. 

the judge will ask to find a deal for repayment, setup a schedule of payment approved by the judge, repay over 10 years for example

 

she can default again after 1 year, and the other party will have to go to court again, and start the whole process, and re-negotiate the schedule of payments. That's how Thais do it. Eventually, the other party will give up because too much problem.

[oldhippy]

...and nobody spares any thoughts for the collegue that lend the money without contract, without interest....

 

[kingofthemountain]

49 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

...and nobody spares any thoughts for the collegue that lend the money without contract, without interest....

 

Yes honestly i feel sorry for the colleage

 

unfortunately my life experience taught me something:

if you loan money to a friend, you have a big risk to lose your money AND your friend

i did it 2 times (Of course at 0% interests) and lose some money (Not all) and the

2 friends in the process. The most painfull wasn't the money loss.

 

before someone says i have to chose my friends in a better way, i don't have a lot of them

as i am very picky about it, only 3 friends and we were friends from a very long time

(2 from the college years)

i still have the last one of my friends, but i let now the banks do their job when people want a loan

Edited February 3, 2021 by kingofthemountain

[digibum]

2 hours ago, kingofthemountain said:

Be crystal clear, if she try to hide something, even something she consider as not important

she can start to search  new bf.

As much as I agree with the sentiment, it’s almost an impossible criteria.  
 

 

[GrandPapillon]

2 hours ago, oldhippy said:

...and nobody spares any thoughts for the collegue that lend the money without contract, without interest....

 

in Thailand, never expect a Thai to pay you back, money given, money lost

[RichardColeman]

5 hours ago, sidjameson said:

Gf owed the money before she met me. It's 330,000bht and it's on top of other loans. 

So she took out a loan 330,000 baht loan and didn't pay off her other loans ? Think I'd leave it mate. She does not seem to learn from her past mistakes.