Family member owes money

[Jenesis]

So he simply took something I said the wrong way and blew it all out of proportion and won’t even talk about it. I have tried over 10 times to get him to talk but he won’t even acknowledge me. You guys are all right never lend money to family. Ya never know how money changes people. At first they are so nice until they get the cash.

That is an amazing excuse to just start a fight. Gaslighting you into believing it is your fault but he has been waiting for a way to break the relationship so he doesn’t have to pay. It is a classic move.

Take his ass to court. I would and have spent thousands to get back money owed. I will pay 3K to get 10K and the satisfaction of forcing him to do it. Go all the way too. Seized house, or garnished wages. The whole nine.

 

[richaceg]

That is an amazing excuse to just start a fight. Gaslighting you into believing it is your fault but he has been waiting for a way to break the relationship so he doesn’t have to pay. It is a classic move.

Take his ass to court. I would and have spent thousands to get back money owed. I will pay 3K to get 10K and the satisfaction of forcing him to do it. Go all the way too. Seized house, or garnished wages. The whole nine.

Hook line sinker ... but that only works if you're naive...

 

[Scholar]

I lent him the money for a down payment for a house. Now he’s making good money. Doesn’t talk to me over a real small stupid disagreement. He text me if I want the money take him to court.

If he was dumb enough to actually acknowledge the debt in a text, teach him a good lesson and take him to court. I hope that the text was relatively recent.

"Ontario collection laws put a limit on how long creditors have to pursue certain collection actions when you default on your debt payments. In Ontario, creditors only have two years from the date of the last charge, last payment or written acknowledgement of the debt to take legal collection actions."

Don't wait until you are barred from action by the Statute of Limitations.

 

[bazokajoe]

So I lent a family member say between 10,000 and 20,000 bucks 10 years ago and now the relationship isn’t good and he won’t pay. All I have is text messages about the money. Just wondering if anyone has ever taken a family member to court.

If you have nothing in writing you are pretty much screwed.
Never lend money to family or friends. You just learned a lesson the hard way.

 

[glamphotographer]

Like leaving an SP a deposit, you'll never get it back.

 

[kherg007]

I lent him the money for a down payment for a house. Now he’s making good money. Doesn’t talk to me over a real small stupid disagreement. He text me if I want the money take him to court.

That's the theme of half the judge Judy episodes. Money lent, disagreement, then the borrower feels they don't have to return the money because their feelings were hurt.
However, legally that's irrelevant (in the USA) and the borrower always lose.
Take him to court. Ask for the money and court fees. Good luck!

 

[EddieBrock1500]

That’s embarrassing for your family member that he’s acting like that. If I borrowed money from my worst enemy I’d still try to pay it back

 

[Downtime]

Last time we spoke was 7 months ago. That’s when he said take him to court. All my family knows about this and think he’s being stupid. I did not have nothing in writing. My bad.

 

[KalEl1970]

Last time we spoke was 7 months ago. That’s when he said take him to court. All my family knows about this and think he’s being stupid. I did not have nothing in writing. My bad.

A contract does not have to be in writing. Verbal contracts can be enforceable, just harder to prove, for obvious reasons.

If you had an original cheque and wrote “loan” on it, that would be strong evidence. So would any texts or emails. Or witnesses to the agreement if you could get them to swear to it.

Otherwise, you have your own word against his. And the fact that people don’t usually hand over $10k+ “gifts” with no expectation of repayment should work in your favour, though no guarantees.

 

[Ebony Booty Lover]

Absolutely sue his dead beat ass. Let it be known to everyone as well to shame him.

From one dead beat to another this guy would know.

 

[IM469]

If only we didn't sleep through Shakespeare ...
'Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend, ...'

 

[The Oracle]

Reading all the posts here... This is exactly why lawyers remain in business, despite the power of the internet.
Feel free to TL/DR everything up until this post:

$10-$20 K loan 10 years ago.
1 - You're in small claims court territory;
2 - It was TEN years ago.

There's only a rudimentary outline of the circumstances you have provided, but:
First, it will cost you ~$500-750 to get up and running. You'll have to prepare a claim; serve it; file it. Sure, you can prep it yourself, but then you're stuck with it so don't make any mistakes (there's a reason why in a simple fender bender, lawyers initially claim everything under the sun [and, beyond the sun] as the fault of either party). Then, your affidavits to go with it all.
Further, you're statute barred from making your claim. The 'Statute of Limitations' is two years... And you're at ten. So, you'll end up with, at best, a judge saying, "Yup, he owes you some money, but he actually doesn't owe you anymore."

Don't believe me?
Keyboard lawyers, rejoice, I come with examples.
See, for example: 2016 ONCA 559.
But, wait, you think your situation is different than all others covered by the limitation period and you're someone special?
Are you more special than an entire Indigenous Nation? As they, at best, got "Declaratory Relief" (see above about "He was bad, but, you're late."
See: Shot Both Sides v Canada, 2024 SCC 12.

To quote Ellis in No Country for Old Men:
"All the time you spend trying to get back what's been took from ya, more's going out the door. After a while, you just have to try to get a tourniquet on it."

End of the day though? Spend ~$500 to go to a lawyer and get a 2 hour consult (1 hour of them to review an outline and a "brief" series of relevant documents, and another hour to walk you through it all). Don't spend good money chasing bad money. Hell, this is an escort forum, if you want to throw a few thousand away, let alone waste countless hours, just leave The Lounge and move down to the Escort & Massage advertiser threads - at least that way you'll have a smile on your face after spending a load of money, rather than your lawyer/paralegal/etc. when they cash your retainer cheque and monthly top ups.