I'm not sure what I should do....any advice would help me.

I loaned a friend several thousand dollars (a bad decision on my part!) to put a hold on a lot for a new house in Las Vegas pending the sale of their current home in San Diego. Well, the house didn't sell and they took it off the market without telling me. Plus, my money was forfeited to the builder because they were unable to purchase the new house. The only response I get from them is that they can't spare any money to me because they have to pay their bills and I've heard all kinds of sob stories over the past two years. Also, I was never told that they have a second mortgage on the San Diego house.

It has now been 22 months and I have only received one payment which was at the beginning of May 2007 and nothing more since then. In October 2007, it will be 2 years since I loaned my friend and her husband the money. I desperately need it back to support myself and to continue my college education. I can no longer live without the money and my friend has been responding less and less to my pleas for repayment.

What should I do??? They now live in Nevada...I live in Arizona...and the house which was supposed to be sold is being rented out in California for a little more than half of the actual mortgage payment. Do I have to continue to suffer for their poor financial decisions?

Unfortunately, the loan itself was a bad decision. If they're not responsive to your demands for payment, you'll have to take them to court, get a judgement, and then start the collections process (because winning and collecting are NOT the same thing!). I suspect that since you're in different states now, that you'll file in your state, they will get served and then just not show up. Good for you, because you pretty much win just by showing up. Downside is collecting. You might get to put a lein on their property, but won't see that money until or unless they sell it. I'd speak to an attorney before beginning the process, as you don't want to incur too much more expense in this process until you understand the possibilities of ever seeing your original money again.

I agree with aardvarc. I also hope that you have it in writing that you loaned them the money. You can locate an attorney through the attorney locator on lawinfo's home page at http://www.lawinfo.com/. Some do offer free consultations.