Complaint Review: Don Jollay - Morris Illinois

How Don Jollay screwed me out of $4000 (and a close friend out of $2000)

During the week of September 24^th, 2012, a close friend contacted me to ask if I had recently been in contact with Don Jollay.  Apparently Don had something “Important” to talk to me about, as he had already approached my close friend in this regard.  I spoke with Don on Friday, September 28^th, 2012. Don told me that he was very close to purchasing a home, though it was being held up because he did not have enough money in a savings account. 

Don went on to say that he need to show his loan officer that he has $10,000 in a savings account in order to get his loan approved.  The loan approval and closing would take place in two weeks.  I asked him what he needed specifically and he stated that he was $4000 short of the $10,000.  Don then asked me for $4000, and I said I’d be happy to help him. It is worth noting that my close friend, that Don had contacted prior to me, had also agreed to lend Don money.  He lent Don $2000.

I agreed to lend Don $4,000 for a few reasons.  Don and I were longtime friends, he was the best man at my wedding and we have a lot of history.  A few years back my wife found Don on Facebook and invited him to a family party at our new home in Frankfort.  The result was rekindling of what I thought was a great friendship.  Thereafter, Don was a regular at our family parties and often the life of the party. 

He and his mother spent Easter at our home in 2012, we’ve been out to dinner with Don and a girlfriend, Don has stayed the night at my home, and we’ve traded countless texts, emails and Facebook posts as banter. I lent Don $4000 because he was a friend in need, because I try to think of myself as a good Christian that can and will lend a helping hand whenever possible. 

I probably do not need to write anything else, I’m sure you know where it goes from there. However, I will continue the story because I feel this story needs to be told. One quick note, I received a new cell phone in February of this year, so everything up to February 16^th is from memory. After Feb 16^th however, I have included the corresponding text messages.

On September 29^th, 2012, $4000 was transferred to Don using PayPal.  Don agreed to pay the PayPal expenses and return the $4000 to me in 2 weeks, after he closed on his new home.  Two weeks came and went, then three weeks, then four.  Don did not contact me during this time, instead I began to reach out via text to see how the closing went. Apparently the closing did not go as planned and the excuses and delays began. 

This continued until the next milestone date which was November 16^th. He indicated that he would certainly close on November 16^th, 2012.  Of course, November 16^th came and went with no contact from Don.  Frustrations began to grow and again I reached out to don via text and VM.

My wife made contact with Don via Facebook the week before Thanksgiving at which time Don indicated that he would be closing right after the holiday.  Thanksgiving came and went, no contact from Don. 

December began with occasional texts to Don, and this now began to be quite uncomfortable.  Not only was I sending texts, my good friend that lent $2000 to him was also sending texts.  All of which were going unanswered.  Once again my wife was able to make contact with him and his excuse this time was that he would close after the “holidays”. 

He indicated that back in November when he mentioned “holiday” he meant at that time, the entire holiday season, and apologized for the confusion. Throughout the month of December occasional text messages were exchanged, usually not related to money, just pleasant banter regarding sports.  In addition, my wife tried to stay in contact with banter via Facebook.  We felt the need to maintain some sort of contact with him as it was becoming apparent that he was avoiding us.   

As the new year began, communication got worse.  The last contact we had with Don was a small exchange of text and Facebook messages New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, every message thereafter in January went unanswered. Don was invited to spend New Year’s Eve at my good friend’s home though he never showed up.  Texts throughout the evening led to this Facebook exchange New Year ’s Day.

Don – 1/1/13, 9:07am - Hey hon. I missed all of you guys as well. I actually did nothing last night. I saw the girls for a while then came home. After these last couple weeks I just can't snap out of things. Luckily the year is new and its all about starting fresh and putting the past behind us. I really hope you guys had a great and safe night though.

Kim – 1/1/13, 2:39pm - Hey trouble :-)  Happy new year. We missed you last night. The shenanigans were kept to a minimum.  You're in a funk because you haven't hung out with any of us. Fix that :-)  Jk, but I do hope the new year brings you happiness, peace and all the things you seek in life!  Love ya!

I continued to try and reach Don via text messages, voice mail messages and Facebook, the below message was sent from my wife to him via Facebook.

Kim – 1/16/13, 3:19pm - hey Don, Could you please call Matt when you get a chance. We'd like to know whats up and touch base with you. Just concerned....Thanks, hugs Kim

Not only did my texts and phone calls go unanswered, but so were texts and phone calls from my good friend and the any texts and Facebook messages from my wife.  Don went completely silent and we were left wondering if he was alright or even still alive. After months of BS and the frustration of having every message as of late go unanswered, I had no other option but to drive to Morris and confront him at his home.  Sunday, January 27^th, 2013, my good friend and I took a drive to Morris and arrived at Don’s home around 10:00am. 

To my surprise, Don’s Ford Excursion was sitting in the driveway and appeared to have been in a violent rollover accident.  All of the windows were broken out, roof was crushed in, axles broken, mud everywhere and covered with a blue tarp. We approached the house, knocked on the door a number of times when finally Don’s mother answered the door.  I asked for Don and she invited us in.  She began to call for Don and eventually made her way up stairs to get him.  We waited in the foyer to see what had become of our once close friend. 

Don emerged, groggy from just being woken up and quite surprised to see me and my good friend.  Don invited us to sit in his living room and we began to have a pretty serious discussion about what had happened to him and when/if the funds lent to him would be repaid. Don assured us that the “no contact” was due to him losing his cell phone during the roll-over accident and gave us his mother’s cell phone number as an alternate way to contact him.  At this time we reassured Don that we were there to help. 

If his life had gotten off track, which it most certainly appeared to have been, we would continue to help him and we implored him to remain in close contact with us.  Don contended that all of the BS was behind him, he was officially closing on the house on February 16^th, 2013 and we could expect to be repaid very shortly thereafter.  A few smiles and man hugs later, we left from what was one of the strangest encounters I’ve had with a “friend” to date.  Don stayed quiet until the following text exchange regarding the closing of his home: 

Me – 2/16/13, 6:05pm - Hey bud, how'd the closing go?  Are you a proud home owner?

Don – 2/16/13, 6:08pm - Lol....yes sir....funds shoukdve Ll be available next week!!!

Me – 2/16/13, 6:08pm - Awesome, congrats!

Don – 2/16/13, 8:24pm - Thx bud

Me – 2/16/13, 9:13pm - Looking forward to the housewarming party.

Once again days began to pass with no communication from Don. In an effort to remain friendly, I asked my wife to send him a message, a reminder message, with the total that was owed:

Kim – 2/25/13, 12:00pm - Hey don, here's the total due 4451.10 (55.80 interest sept-March) and 116.30 PayPal fees.  Matt asked me to put together the total. You can mail a check if you'd like...whatever's easy. Ttyl....ps.congrats on the house :)

With no response to the message that my wife sent, the next day I sent the following:

Me – 2/26/13, 11:19pm - Hey, so I asked Kim to send you a total yesterday, when do you think the funds will be ready? Thx.

The non-communication continued and Don once again seemed to have disappeared.  I began to send text messages, my close friend sent text messages, my wife sent messages via text and Facebook, again, all went unanswered.

Me – 3/3/13, 7:17pm - In case you missed it, sending you this message again. " Hey, so I asked Kim to send you a total yesterday, when do you think the funds will be ready? Thx."

After yet another round of unanswered texts, unanswered phone calls, and absolutely no contact from Don, frustrations hit an all-time high and my approach shifted from being nice to being aggressive. To be clear, getting aggressive and using strong, sometimes foul, language was a strategy to get a response from him. Words were well thought out prior to use as being nice / friendly was not working.  I sent the below referenced email to Don on March 16^th, 2013 at 11:53am (Cc’d my close friend and my wife, and also sent this to him via Facebook messaging):

Don, I’ve tried to contact you by phone and text and have been unsuccessful.  Now I am going to try email and Facebook. When I visited you at your home last month, you indicated that you were closing Feb 16, and I’d have my money back shortly thereafter.  It is now 1 month later and you have disappeared again, what’s it gonna take to get my money back?  I have reached a level of frustration with this.  I lent you money as a friend, you told me at the end of September last year that you only needed it for 2 weeks. 

2 weeks has turned into almost 6 months. I now have college tuition due and you not paying me is screwing me and my family.  If you do not intend to pay me, at least have the common decency to tell me so I can begin to pursue this legally.  I am tired of the “no contact” please let me know what is going on. You owe me $4506.90 which includes the transaction fee and interest for each month, and I expect a certified check or cash.

In addition, I then sent the following text on March 21^st, 2013:

Me – 3/21/13, 8:59am - Don, please contact me as soon as possible.

Don continued to be silent for more than a month.  To my surprise, after not having heard a peep from Don since February 16^th, 2013 at 8:24pm (34 days), on March 22^nd, 2013 at 5:23pm, Don replied to my email:

Hey Matt,

I apologize for the no contact, I am not going to bore you with the bs. Yes I will be paying you in full. I have no intention of not doing so. I hope to give you a check in the full amount next week. If the amount has changed please let me know. Obviously that goes for XXXX as well. I can not tell you how sorry I am for this affecting your family. I will try to make it up to you, but I'm not sure if its possible.

To which I replied on March 22^nd, 2013 at 7:27pm:

Don,

Thanks so much for contacting me, I can tell you that frustrations were reaching a limit.  Huge relief to hear from you, hope everything is ok. Please feel free to call if you need to chat.

Thanks,

Matt

My response was pleasant in tone as my primary goal was to open some sort of communication with Don in hopes of actually one day seeing Don and being repaid.  During this time my close friend and I kept in contact regarding our various messages and attempts to contact Don as we were both feeling extreme frustration over Don’s lack of communication.  It was becoming ever apparent that there was very little chance of being repaid the money that we had both lent to our “friend”. Though I still held out hope as referenced in the email below that I sent to my close friend on March 23^rd, 2013 at 8:34am in reference to Don’s March 22^nd, 2013 email:

Below is the response that I got from Don.  In addition, Kim got a similar message in Facebook, “Kim please know, and let Matt know, how sorry I am for the negative effect this has had on your family...” 

Uuugh, I cannot help but feel empathy for this guy.  As much as he pisses me off with 6 months of BS, I want to help him and try to restore a friendship.  I told Kim last night, this would not be some easy walk in the park for him.  If I do see him next week, if he does indeed pay me, he and I will have a very serious discussion about how you treat your friends. 

The saga continues...

Don referenced in his March 22^nd, 2013 email that he intended to repay me, and went on to say that he hoped to provide a check in the full amount ”next week”.  Once again days began to rack up with no communication from Don.  Over the course of the next month the following texts were exchanged.

Me – 4/6/13, 1:02pm - Hey, I didn't hear back from you on the email I sent the other day. When and where do you want to meet to drop off the money?

Me – 4/12/13, 6:18pm - Hey, what happened? Another week has passed and you really have me wondering what the hell. If something is up, let me know.

Me – 4/12/13, 7:17pm - Hey, another week has passed, what happened?

Critical mass was reached on April 18^th, 2013.  I was returning from a trip to New York and trading text messages with my wife.  She had read on Facebook that Don was planning on attending a golf outing relatively soon. Having not heard from Don again in almost a month, having phone calls and text messages go unanswered, and having a particular rough trip in NY, I was compelled to send Don te following text message:

Me – 4/18/13, 11:42pm - Dude, what happened to you? I can't believe you are f*cking me like this! Never would have thought you'd do this to us. Is your strategy to just ignore me? I've got news for you, it won't work. I will find you and this time I'm not going to be so nice. What kind of person takes $4000 from someone that is a "good friend" and just disappears, bullshits that friend for over 6 months. Don be a f*cking man, you can't hide from this problem. I am really pissed that i have to do this. That I have to explain to my wife that I lost $4000. F*ck dude if you aren't going to pay me just f*cking say so already. Make contact, do something. Don't make me have to find you, this sucks!

Me – 4/18/13, 11:54pm - Listen, my next move is to post this entire story all over the internet, then come looking for you. Kim tells me something about a golf outing from Facebook, you can count on seeing me there.

Much to my surprise, 9 days later and 35 days since any contact form Don, Don sent the following text message to me, my wife, and my good friend that lent him $2000:

Don – 4/27/13, 9:17am - Hey Im sorry for being completely unavailable. I am not walking away from my responsibility to all of you. I told you I would never do that. Im completely embarrassed as to what has happened.  Everything went haywire and I wasn't around to deal with it. I fully expect the money to be back to you within a week. I know you have heard that 10300 times, but I believe it. Im putting extra on top of what I owe because of the trouble I caused all of you. Trust me it does way on me as well. Matt V I saw you called a couple times this week, I will call you tomorrow afternoon if that works for you. I am truly sorry for the Bs this all has created and will make sure it is taken care of and made right as soon as I can.

Me – 4/27/13, 11:27am - Thanks for the message, I am, and always have been, available be cell, 815-412-XXXX. Look forward to speaking with you.

Me – 5/6/13, 11:50am - So I'm a bit at a loss here. Are you still planning on calling?

Me – 5/15/13, 12:04pm - Are we going to start this nonsense again??  I appreciate that you sent a message to us on the 27th, and I eagerly awaited your call on the 28th.  Surprise, no phone call, now I'm left twiddling my thumbs waiting for you to reach out.  Don, a little communication goes a long way.  The last thing that I want to do, or even have time to do, is to come find you.  If you are truly sorry (per your messages below) about all that has transpired, then do the right thing, reach out, talk to me, talk to Kim, talk to XXXX, for f*cks sake do something! This is not how you treat “friends”.

April 27^th, 2013 was the last time I heard from Don.  His text message on April 27^th was nothing more than a lie.  Not sure what his intention was in sending that message, the message was a lie and he had been lying to us since day one. 

Left with no other alternative, on June 28^th, 2013, I filed small claim against Don in Will County.  Our initial court date was set for July 23^rd, 2013. In addition, in June, I searched the Grundy County case watch system and discovered that Don was a defendant in the following case:

2013LM66, Forcible Entry & Detainer,

Default Judgment For Michelle Evans, against Mr. Jollay Jollay for $4800 “PLTF PRESENT. DFDT NOT PRESENT. CAUSE COMES ON FOR SUMMONS RETURN. BY DEFAULT POSSESSION OF THE PREMISES IS GRANTED IN FAVOR OF THE PLTF TO BE EXECUTED ON 5-4-13 AT 11:59 P.M. AND MONEY JUDGMENT IN THE AMOUNT $4,800.00, PLUS COSTS OF $189.00.”

Basically what all that means is that Don was being evicted from his home.  Our concern was that since we filed a claim against him and he was now being evicted from his home, (1716 Jennifer Ct, Morris Il) we would not be able to find him to have him served the court summons.

On July 5^th, 2013, I drove to Morris, to the Grundy County Sheriff’s office, to pay for the Sheriff to serve process. Prior to going to the Sherriff’s office, I drove past Don’s house on Jennifer Ct. Based on the eviction judgment entered against him I did not expect for him to still be living there.  I had hoped that if there was someone else there, they may know where to find him.  As I approached the house, I noticed a Polaris (toy hauler) trailer in the driveway, and a pair of work boots on the front door step.

It appeared as though someone was living at the home and I could see people walking around inside of the house.  As such, I knocked on the door.  To my surprise Don’s son answered the door.  After a brief dialog, Don’s son told me that Don still lived at this house.  In addition, Don’s mother confirmed he lived there and that they were moving out on July 15^th.  I asked them both to let Don know that I was looking for him and then left the premises.

Armed with this new information I proceeded to the Grundy County Sherriff’s office, paid to have Don served, and let them know Don was moving on July 15^th, 2013.

On July 23^rd, 2013, I arrived at the Will County Court House, proceeded to room 111 and waited for Don to arrive.  Don did not show up and when our case was called, a default judgment was awarded to me against Don.  I then proceeded to the clerk’s office to file a citation to discover assets and prepare and a wage garnishment form.  A new “asset discovery” court date was set for August 30^th, 2013. 

After court, I sent the following text to Don:

Me – 7/23/13 - No surprise that you didn't show up in court today! I now have a judgment against you for $4900+. Next step is an asset discovery and wage garnishment hearing. Avoid that one and a warrant will be issued for your arrest. You really going to continue ignore me? Some friend you turned out to be. Can't believe you've done this to us.

In early August, my wife was contacted by another person that Don is having legal troubles with, via Facebook.  During that conversation we were informed of Don’s new address in Morris, 301 Ottawa St.  With that information, on August 9^th, 2013, I once again I drove to Morris to, to the Grundy County Sheriff’s office, to pay to have Don served. 

On August 30^th, 2013, I arrived at the Will County court house, proceeded to room 111 and waited for Don to arrive. Once again Don did not show up when our case was called. As such, I petitioned the court for a “Rule to Show Cause”. This means that Don now must show up in court and explain why he has not shown up to his previous court date. Failure to show up for this one can result in a warrant being issued for his arrest. A new court date has been set for September 27^th, 2013. I'll update this report as new events transpire, we’ll see what happens next…

Don is a deadbeat and I doubt he will show up for court on the next court date. Avoid doing business with Don at all costs. Even if you think he is your "good friend", he is not.  He is simply looking for an opportunity to screw you.