My Thai sister-in-law stood guarantor for a 'good friend' (as she thought). There were 2 other guarantors, for a 1.2M baht SUV. Unfortunately said 'friend' has stopped making payments and done a runner, they think with the vehicle and boyfriend.

They all hoped the problem would go away, but the 3 guarantors are liable for about 400K each, and the finance company are now threatening to take their homes.

I think they just want the easiest way out, and will try to scrape the money together, but this cannot be right. 'Madame' is swanning around somewhere in a nearly-new SUV with no intention of paying for it or even returning it. I can't believe she would do that to her friends.

My idea is to engage a lawyer/private investigator to find her, take the vehicle and hand it to the finance company or Police. They will sell it at a loss at auction, and there will be fees of course, but it should reduce the bill.

As a foreigner (Brit) my only involvement can be to find/finance a lawyer - I presume the lawyers can recommend private investigators?

Any thoughts, anyone been involved in something like this before? 

Thanks.

Mods - I couldn't find a Legal Forum, so I hope this is the right place.

No need for a gumshoe.

Keep an eye on her FB page

Dumba$$ will be keeping you posted on her whereabouts.

Heck...you might even try to befriend her (on fb)

 

 

 

 

Have you checked guarantee is not a kind of "all for one and one for all"?

Then the lender can go after one og the persons for all the money, and the person has to get the others pay him back their share....

It's just the monotonously repetitive cycle of life in Thailand were each successive generation does the same old idiotic thing.

 

Despite the never ending telling of these situations, people are content with the delusional notion that standing as guarantor has no repercussions.

13 minutes ago, VinnieK said:

No need for a gumshoe.

Keep an eye on her FB page

Dumba$$ will be keeping you posted on her whereabouts.

Heck...you might even try to befriend her (on fb)

 

 

 

 

Quite a good idea, Thais cannot live without social media. I have to wonder what they did before smartphones were invented.

 

There are bad apples in every society. I can remember an American who persuaded me to buy herbal medicines in Australia for him, then stiffed me on what he owed me.

An Australian who used the savings of war widows to get treatment at the Mayo Clinic for stomach cancer. A Thai massage shop proprietor who shot through to Bangkok owing months in rent and power, plus the earnings of the 6 women who worked for her.

Another option may be to approach the police, with a promise of a 20,000 baht reward if they can locate/apprehend the vehicle based on its number plate.

27 minutes ago, VinnieK said:

No need for a gumshoe.

Keep an eye on her FB page

Dumba$$ will be keeping you posted on her whereabouts.

Heck...you might even try to befriend her (on fb)

 

 

 

 

Good idea, lovely irony if I were able to befriend her. Unfortunately it will all be in Thai, but I'll suggest it to the family.

22 minutes ago, Olav Seglem said:

Have you checked guarantee is not a kind of "all for one and one for all"?

Then the lender can go after one og the persons for all the money, and the person has to get the others pay him back their share....

Not a pleasant thought. I haven't got all the contract details, and I would need wifey to translate Thai legalise.

23 minutes ago, Regyai said:

It's just the monotonously repetitive cycle of life in Thailand were each successive generation does the same old idiotic thing.

 

Despite the never ending telling of these situations, people are content with the delusional notion that standing as guarantor has no repercussions.

I know, but these (guarantors) are decent people, just trying to help a friend. 

Most important thing to do is make sure your wife does NOT get 'hit up' for some of the cash by her desperate sister.  Families like to spread the wealth, but they like to spread the debt even more!

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Quite a good idea, Thais cannot live without social media. I have to wonder what they did before smartphones were invented.

 

There are bad apples in every society. I can remember an American who persuaded me to buy herbal medicines in Australia for him, then stiffed me on what he owed me.

An Australian who used the savings of war widows to get treatment at the Mayo Clinic for stomach cancer. A Thai massage shop proprietor who shot through to Bangkok owing months in rent and power, plus the earnings of the 6 women who worked for her.

Another option may be to approach the police, with a promise of a 20,000 baht reward if they can locate/apprehend the vehicle based on its number plate.

Thank you. That final suggestion is an interesting one, and possibly cheaper than going through a lawyer. Police will have access to more information than lawyers. We often complain that the police won't do anything without a reward - but maybe, on this occasion...

 

2 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Most important thing to do is make sure your wife does NOT get 'hit up' for some of the cash by her desperate sister.  Families like to spread the wealth, but they like to spread the debt even more!

Too late for that. Rightly or wrongly we're all 'coming together' to try and help.

1 hour ago, RickBlaine said:

I can't believe she would do that to her friends.

When money is involved , I can believe anything ......if she needed 3 guarantors ,doubt she had the

income to repay for the SUV.

regards Worgeordie

An oh too familiar story...

 

The loan company must have the blue book, they are the owners, so the runaway bird can't road tax it.

But if the guarantors don't cough-up they will probably try and locate the ride, sell it on, then pursue their costs and lost money through the courts, something the guarantors signed up to do. ????

7 minutes ago, RickBlaine said:

Too late for that. Rightly or wrongly we're all 'coming together' to try and help.

So with your SIL potentially on the hook for the entire 1.2 million, how much will be your share? As the rich farang, it will probably be substantial.

6 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

When money is involved , I can believe anything ......if she needed 3 guarantors ,doubt she had the

income to repay for the SUV.

regards Worgeordie

Yes. 'Doubt she had the income...' The borrower has to be responsible for their actions, but ideally the finance company would also get it in the neck from the Financial Ombudsman for irresponsible lending. No one's holding their breath.

5 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

So with your SIL potentially on the hook for the entire 1.2 million, how much will be your share? As the rich farang, it will probably be substantial.

'rich farang' Ha ha, someone's going to be disappointed. 

10 minutes ago, transam said:

An oh too familiar story...

 

The loan company must have the blue book, they are the owners, so the runaway bird can't road tax it.

But if the guarantors don't cough-up they will probably try and locate the ride, sell it on, then pursue their costs and lost money through the courts, something the guarantors signed up to do. ????

you can pay road tax with just a photocopy of the blue book, people on finances do it all the time, the book can be updated later

2 minutes ago, digbeth said:

you can pay road tax with just a photocopy of the blue book, people on finances do it all the time, the book can be updated later

They probably reported the car as stolen, so if she tries to pay tax it will be flagged.

10 minutes ago, transam said:

An oh too familiar story...

 

The loan company must have the blue book, they are the owners, so the runaway bird can't road tax it.

But if the guarantors don't cough-up they will probably try and locate the ride, sell it on, then pursue their costs and lost money through the courts, something the guarantors signed up to do. ????

When we've had cars on finance, we had a photocopy of the owners book so we could get tax (the finance co kept the book till the final payment). I hope she's taxing the car, so she doesn't get stopped at every checkpoint, as it should make it easier to narrow it down to a province. 

I did wonder why the finance co haven't already looked for the car (maybe they have). I guess it's cheaper and easier to go after the guarantors.

29 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Families like to spread the wealth, but they like to spread the debt even more!

This!

1 minute ago, FriendlyFarang said:

They probably reported the car as stolen, so if she tries to pay tax it will be flagged.

Do you know if that's always done? If so, it suggests she's not taxing it, or the company would have her.

We need to talk to a lawyer about options.

3 minutes ago, RickBlaine said:

I did wonder why the finance co haven't already looked for the car (maybe they have). I guess it's cheaper and easier to go after the guarantors.

They probably do both, look for the car and demand money from the guarantors, they will take whatever they can get first.

4 minutes ago, FriendlyFarang said:

They probably reported the car as stolen, so if she tries to pay tax it will be flagged.

And since when has being remiss on one's road tax commitment been a deterrent to anything here?

1 minute ago, RickBlaine said:

Do you know if that's always done? If so, it suggests she's not taxing it, or the company would have her.

We need to talk to a lawyer about options.

Legally it’s the bank’s car, she is just renting it. If she doesn’t pay the rent the bank demands their car back and any outstanding costs. If she doesn’t return the car I’m certain that they will report it as stolen.

Well  even the police get caught..a policeman became gaurentor for his policeman friend.. the policeman friend ended up in monkey house.. can't pay..and the gaurentor policeman lost there house..  as still had to make payments... . So don't become a gaurentor at all..

32 minutes ago, yeahbutif said:

... . So don't become a gaurentor at all..

A futile lament

 

Ive actually asked a local about to sign on the dotted line if he'd be prepared to use his house to get finance for a new pick-up and then give it to his friend in the hope of him paying him back for it.

This was met with abject horror at the very thought of it, but the tacit fact that it was in essence no different to the guarantorship he was so eager to embark on - was something beyond his willingness to accept.

My wife went guarantor for friends motorcycle, letters of demand started arriving, ignored for a long time, finally wife made contact explained she had never had finance in her life and she had only signed document to witness friends signature,end of story she was no longer chased as guarantor .

 

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

When money is involved , I can believe anything ......if she needed 3 guarantors ,doubt she had the

income to repay for the SUV.

regards Worgeordie

Its a simple equation that leads to the obvious answer, none of them were adjudged capable of being able to pay the loan. But bundled together on a 'jointly and severally liable' basis the finance supplier felt confident enough to take the risk.

 

 

2 hours ago, RickBlaine said:

I know, but these (guarantors) are decent people, just trying to help a friend. 

And that is the problem - the pull on their heartstrings overpowers what little common sense they have.

A common thing in Thailand greed gets the better of people trying find them in Thailand is like the saying a needle in a hay stack.

 

Unless there is a report of an accident police are useless.

 

They will get rid of the SUV as well soon enough.

1 hour ago, FriendlyFarang said:

Legally it’s the bank’s car, she is just renting it. If she doesn’t pay the rent the bank demands their car back and any outstanding costs. If she doesn’t return the car I’m certain that they will report it as stolen.

The bank can 'demand' all they like, the problem is firstly to find her and the car.