Help! My friend won't pay what he owes!?

[Andy L.]

Let's suppose you had a proper written contract, because the comments outside of it are not very strong to make a case.
In Tennessee,
You have to send a demand letter to the person that owes you money. That is required. They have 30 days to pay. Then, when they don't, you file in small claims court. The person owing you money needs to be served, and that could take a week, and then they have 14 days to respond to it. After that, if they did not respond, you can file for a summary judgement. If they respond to the notice, a trial date is set in 6 - 8 weeks from the receipt of the answer. If in a trial they don't like the result, it is about $300 to $400 to file an appeal.

If successful in this you get a court judgement, and still have to collect the money.
Along the way,
Filing Fee (One Defendant)Up to $1,500.00 = $60.00
Garnishment to try to collect as in garnishing wages $30.00
Executionfee $30.00
Certified Mail (1oz.)Any Amount$10.86
SubpoenasAny Amount$20.00 per subpoena
If the loan contract included collection fee clauses, you can add that to the amount owed as you put more money into this.

It is better to learn a lesson. You do not LOAN money. You are giving a gift, that you would like reciprocated one day, but don't expect every to get lent money paid back or you live a life of disappointment. Not only do you lose the money, you also feel miserable about it.