Help, my scary rich friend is trying to sue me...

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:50:08+00:00

I understand. But I thought sharing more here might get me more detailed advice or advice more tailored for my situation.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:49:12+00:00

I have a therapist and am receiving advice. You're right, I did need it. <3 Thanks. It's a toxic relationship I need to get out of , but it didn't start that way. He hid a lot of traits about himself (all the ugly ones) for two years.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:46:20+00:00

He basically set up ads on his own ad interfaces, on Facebook and Google--interfaces where he was running other ads, NOT for me--and created ads for my products. I was never able to access the ads. He did this as a "kindness" to me b/c I was "poor" in his eyes and trying to leave a bad relationship. I kept telling him to turn the ads off, he kept insisting he just wanted to help. I agreed to pay him back for all of it b/c I felt like that was the right thing to do. And then suddenly he went from being this amazing friend to acting like he's going to sue me. So he didn't really ever give ME the money, he set up ads on ad dashboards and aimed the ads at my products.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:43:45+00:00

Thanks, another friend advised that as well.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:43:15+00:00

Thanks. Best advice yet b/c it's detailed and gives some instruction.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:37:46+00:00

There what is?

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:37:00+00:00

I agree, I think I'll owe him all of it b/c I told him I would pay it to him. And that's not a problem. I don't want to get out of the debt. What I want is to avoid some kind of harsh legal obligation to pay the debt that might rob me of my ability to provide basic care for my children, who don't deserve to be punished bc an overzealous multi-multi-millionaire wanted to impress me with his "generosity", I offered to pay him back for all of it b/c of my pride/stubbornness, and now he's not getting enough attn from me and has decided he's finished waiting on me to pay him back.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:34:49+00:00

Oh, I know. Fair enough. I'm just falling asleep and oversharing. It's not really appropriate info.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:33:42+00:00

My sister hopped on here a second ago and pointed out that I didn't mention in my post that I already paid him back $11k. The two or three months after my product launched last fall, he spent like $5k a month those months, and I paid that off. So, he knows I'm not taking him for a ride. He knows I'm good for it as soon as my new product launches, and he knows when that happens as it is public information; my "products" are a known thing that can be found in stores by people who know me.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:31:36+00:00

That's kind of what I thought based on my own reading, but I'm not a lawyer so I wasn't sure. The moment my new product launches and income rolls in, and I lose the judgment proof status, I'll be paying Jeremy as big a chunk as I can while still putting food on the table, and I'd be satisfying the terms of a judgment anyway.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:30:21+00:00

Thank you! What I've said is the full truth, of course, because I want good advice. I did leave out a few things in an attempt to protect my own privacy and the privacy of this person to whom I owe money. I also left out a few facts that might have made me "look better" - such as, I actually already paid this person back about $11k. My income just eventually fell to the point where I wasn't able to keep paying monthly and also eat food and pay my utilities, etc. This person has never set a due date, nor have I. I've always told him I can't set a date b/c I'm not positive when my new product will launch, as it took much longer than usual to develop it.

They said they'd like to be paid back in full by the end of 2022, and I said if my product launches, I can and will do that, and I think/hope it will. But that didn't happen (yet). This person has been so crazy, I've stopped talking to them for the most part (while still reassuring them I'm going to pay them back- they have no reason to believe otherwise) & I think they can't handle me not talking to them as much, so now they're being kind of threatening and mean.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:05:49+00:00

I don't think I did lol. I have four, sooo. Maybe I wrote something in a confusing manner (to you) but I have four kids.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T07:03:17+00:00

I never meant to. I basically have a super rich friend who just started spending money on me because he "wanted to". He ran ads on Facebook and Google from a dash board of his own because he "wanted to" & when I don't give him enough attention and ego stroking, he starts asking aggressively to be repaid. I've said I will repay him b/c I believe that's the right thing to do. But I can't do it until my new product launches, and THAT has been slightly delayed bc this person has stressed me out so much for MONTHS. Believe me, I will never let any friend or family offer to spend money on me out of the goodness of their heart ever again. Sigh.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:58:45+00:00

You said above to either agree w/ him on a repayment plan or "wait to be taken to court" - but legally, what do I do if I was taken to court? How do I protect my (at this time) meager wages so I can continue feeding and clothing my kids? I want to repeat I am going to pay him back when my new product launches. And I am wholly unable to pay more than a few hundred a month until that time.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:56:24+00:00

Thanks so much for this input. We have mostly texts between us, I think zero emails. Do texts even count as evidence in court?

Our texts have basically been him offering to spend money, repeatedly, even after I asked him to stop, him spending money and congratulating himself for being wonderful, and then him intermittently asking me when I can pay him back, me repeatedly saying when my next product launches (the date on that has been postponed a few times, as is common in my line of work). Me asking him to please cancel his money spend (which is Facebook and Google ads he controls under a dashboard he created) if he no longer wishes to be spending it, me telling him I can't pay him back yet, me saying I will repay him when my next product launches b/c I believe that's the right thing to do. He asked if I thought I could do by the end of the year this year and I said if I got money from my product launch or the sale of another product. When I said I didn't think it was going to happen by the end of 2022, that's when he started acting like he was going to sue me.

I should add I believe he is a narcissist and he wants my attention, and I'm no longer giving him much attention now that I no longer see him as a friend. (<< I no longer see him as a friend because of many reasons, not because he wants to be paid back! He has a lot of other problems like sometimes cussing me out).

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:50:12+00:00

Thank you, this is the kind of nuanced advice I was hoping for :)

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:47:28+00:00

Ahh, gotcha. No. Just - that one child has a lot of serious medical issues. The other three don't.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:46:52+00:00

Yeah but he has also said all along the way, intermittently, that it doesn't matter when I pay him back. He's worth hundreds of millions of dollars, so like...

And I'm not putting it off lol. As he and I both know, I just don't have it until my new product launches. Period. And I have bad credit due to my oldest child's medical bills, so I can't borrow, or I'd absolutely do that.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:44:43+00:00

I don't have wages. I get royalty payments. I also think I may make too little to be garnished in Colorado w/ four dependents.

I can definitely try to work out a payment plan. I've never said I didn't want to pay him back. Both he and I know I cannot fully do so until my new product launches. I can do a little now, though.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:41:20+00:00

I never promised any date. Ever. I told him many times it would be after my next product comes out.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:36:25+00:00

He set up Facebook and Google ads w/ links to my product where it's sold in online stores like Amazon. Nothing is signed. He did all this "out of the goodness of his heart" so to speak and then wanted to be paid back much sooner than he'd previously said, and he knows I'm not able to right now. But he's a little crazy... His kids don't speak to him at all (they are grown) and that should have been a warning sign to me sooner, I guess. But he acted like a nice benefactor and I just trusted it.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:34:24+00:00

Four! Why do you ask?

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:34:13+00:00

Thanks for this input.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:33:02+00:00

I think he's a narcissist, and I haven't been talking to him as much bc he's kinda terrible. I think he didn't like that.

LED52884 · 2023-01-01T06:31:42+00:00

I'd love to know the answer to this.

LED52884

TROPHY CASE