Financing things for Family members...UPDATED!

E

EJC+1

250+ Posts
Not sure where to start here but if some of you remember, I financed $13000 in furniture for my brother 14 months ago at 0% interest. 12 months passed and no payments were made...$3000 in interest kicked in. Please remember that I did this as a return favor as he got me into my new house and gave me his $7500 realtor's commission. He also helped sell my old house for nothing.

It's now 2 months later, and he's only paid $700....he still owes $15300 on the debt in my name.

Ok so here goes....

What legal recourse do I have with this situation if he starts missing payments? Do I sue? Place a lien on his property?

What are my options? (please...serious responses only as this has been the source of much tension in my household as you can imagine.)
 
"I may do a favor for you and you may do me a favor. I owe you nothing and you owe me nothing."
Salt could be poured into the wound but i don't think there is a need for it. I'm assuming lesson learned?
 
as long as he makes the payments on time, what can you do. i still can't believe he asked for a favor to pay him back for helping with the house.

that is the equivalent of your brother wanting something in return for getting you a good deal on a car.... when he sells cars for a living.

asswipe.
 
$15,300 total "loaned" to brother:

minus $7500 commission he gave you,

minus some value for helping sell your home (say, $3000),

= $4,800 difference.

Coincidentally, $4,800 is the EXACT cost of tuition to learn the lesson of "do not enter into such arrangements in the future."

Thus, your accounts are square.
 
Wait....

Your brother effectively gave you the realtor's commissions for your old and new house (those commissions would be about the $15300 he owes you) and you want to sue him and put a lien on his property?

Is there something I'm missing?
 
So there is basically a high interest credit card in your name with a furniture store, and he is paying it off a little at a time?

If I were you, I would start paying it off as soon as possible. Then ask your brother to repay you. It doesn't help you or him to have the credit card paid off slowly.

A standard life lesson is that when you co-sign for someone that cannot get credit you are basically buying the item for them since the odds of them paying it are slim.
 
You guys seem to have a healthy relationship, healthy boundaries and great decision making skills.

This sounds like a bad Bud Light "Dude" commercial.
 
I have a suggestion

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dude, its like no one who reads this thread has normal reading comprehension.

The man has pretty clearly spelled out what happened, and he called this an update thread- and even mentions the previous thread in his OP.

as many of us have said on the previous thread,, and myself more vocally, your brother doesnt have the money. That is as clear as day. You said he was a real estate agent, well, the market in Texas is good, but its obvious he cant pay it.

You may just need to go get a personal unsecured loan at your bank (probably around 11% interest) and just pay off the store (whos probably charging 22% or higher) and pay it down yourself.

You arent going to get paid back without a HUGE ******* family battle.

At this point, like Brisket said, its a $5000 lesson, and if by some miracle, he actually pays you back, consider it like you hit the lottery- a windfall.
 
I am assuming the furniture is considered collateral. If so then negotiate the return of the collateral and offer a settlement of the remaining debt for say $2000-$5000. Then refinance the settlement debt (if necessary) at a lower interest rate someplace else.
 
Brisket with the best post on the thread imo.

It's your stupid tax to pay. Get the furniture, sell it or give it back, pay the difference and consider it a lesson learned and stupid tax.
 
Brisket and KC-97 nailed it. It was a mistake to give your money to your brother if you still wanted said money (this is what you did by co-signing). It would also be wrong to take from your brother what you already gave him. You have learned a painful lesson, and hopefully, so vicariously have readers of this thread.
 
I always thought that you don't loand somebody money that you don't mind never coming back to you. Like buying somebody a ticket to a game and they never pay you back. Oh well. No big loss.

13k is a **** load of furniture. either you have a ton of money and you are just being a bit of an *** for asking how to sue him when he did help you out with the commission or you made a very bad loan.
 
1) why would a broke mofo want $13k in furniture? do you guys live in Dallas?

2) why lend a broke mofo $13k for **** collateral like that...

solution: don't sue your brother, the furniture is in your name, return, sell it, or put in your house. whatever loss you have, take it as a lesson learned.
 
the only leverage you have is trying to get him to start paying down the financing. If not you have a houseful of furniture in his home.

The real problem is when he misses payments. I would probably start planning to make these myself, because when he fucks up... and he will... guess whose credit gets the black mark?

If you were willing to sign for the note originally you might as well refinance it at a lower rate if you can, and set your brother up with a monthly draft to cover the note or at least make some headway.

That was a big nut to bite off, but he saved you a big *** chunk in commissions as well...
 
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