What do you do when you are lied to?

[DeborahGomez]

Either be personal or business. Not talking about being cheated on. Example you buy a store from a jerk and he cooked the books and sales are not what it should be. OR if a friend lends you money but won't pay back.

Do you say my fault for being stupid or do you take legal action.

In the case with the friend. Do you just ignore him and never lend money to anyone else and never trust again?.

 

[Tim O]

Chalk it up as a learning experience dude. Don't dwell on it or you will get ulcers. We've all been burned once too many times.

 

[weemundo]

Lie back :666:.

 

[encynicks]

Never trust that person again.

As for anything more, it depends. Some i've cast off, some I've made pay.

It's toughest when it's one you love and thought loved you. It's never the same.

 

[Barbaros]

well if you lie to moi, no hugs from moi!

 

[Mikeasaurus]

Well, you're talking two entirely different things: business (aka cooking the books) or personal.

There really isn't any legal recourse with a personal loan unless you had a specific meeting of the minds as to repayment terms etc. Even better if you write it down.

Businesswise, if you purchased a business from someone and the numbers put forth as part of the deal you do have legal recourse and if you so choose, you can cancel the deal and get your money back. The problem there is proving the seller actually provided false information. If you gained access to his actual numbers via an official source (revenue Canada perhaps) and can prove it, I sue the pants off him.

One of the things I learned LONG ago is if you lend someone money, NEVER expect it back, no matter what they say. One of the things about a personal loan, 9 times out of 10 if they are so bad at managing their money that they have to come to you for a loan, they'll never be in a position to have excess cash available to repay you.

 

[Manushi G]

When buying a business due dilligence is a must. Have a condition in the deal that allows you to spend a week working the business with the seller. If the numbers don't match the deal is off and you're only out the time spent.

Personal is a different animal. I agree if you lend money to a friend or relative do it without the expectations of being paid back.

 

[Icegoat]

What happens is it is a signed contract agreed by both parties but verbally one is led on that the sales are much higher. Can you sue for lying verbally?.

 

[mckenziecalhoun]

I'm not 100% sure about Canadian Law, but in the US, as long as you have a "meeting of the minds" then yes, you can sue over a verbal agreement or in this case, false evidence of the true value of the business being purchased.

The issue is though it is hard to prove unless you have witnesses. Unbiased witnesses are even better (ie: employees not involved in the deal, a notary, lawyer, or other professional. Kind of like when you're making a real estate offer and they ask for an impartial witness...usually it's the receptionist.

For eg: I recently sued a non-paying customer. During the settlement meeting my lawyer said to the customer: did you ask him to do it? Yes. Did he tell you how much approximately it would cost to do it? Yes. Did he do it to your satisfaction? Yes. Then why won't you pay? (at that point their lawyer said "ok, I think it's time to separate and we'll start the negotiation process....".....even though I didn't have anything on paper, that was sufficient.