Once upon a time X lived a happy life - until he got a girlfriend. Girlfriend was needy. Very needy. So needy, in fact, that X found that he was unable to pay basic bills. But love does strange things to people, so X sought to get a loan from a friend Y. Friend Y was a lawyer and knew better than to loan money to X without a contract. X signed on the dotted line and continued to satiate girlfriends needs.
Months passed and when the contract between X and Y came due, X (to no one's surprise) had not the money to pay Y. X, it seems, had another friend (Z) who (after much discussion and promises) agreed to pay Y the money X owed. So, to recap, X and Y had a contract. X didn't have the money to pay Y so X got Z to stand in his stead as debtor. This is called a surety contract and Y agreed to accept Z as the surety. In fact, Z insisted Y create a new contract indicating the above facts.
This is where things got dicey. See, after Z paid off X's debt to Y, Y decided to go after X for the original debt (attorney, and all). X cried foul and to the law library he went (after Y filed a lawsuit against him for monies owed on the original contract. Yeah, really sucks to be X.
While all the names have been changed to protect the innocent, the fact remained that Y was being a royal jerk. I suggested X take a look at:
- California Affirmative Defenses (TR; Vol. 2, Chp. 67 (Exoneration of a Surety)
- California Forms of Pleading and Practice (Lexis; Vol. 13, Chp. 140)
- California Law of Contracts (CEB)
- Williston on Contracts (TR)
- Witkin Summary of California Law (TR; Vol. 1)
- Working with Contracts: what law school didn't teach you (PLI)
I also suggested that he file a complaint with the State Bar against Y (because, lawyer?!). While I suspect the Bar won't do anything, at least they'll be a paper trail against the guy that X can show to the judge (you know, when X makes Y look like a total tool in court for double dipping).
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