Montreal (Canada). 1981. A group of 4 individuals lent cash money to 5 other individuals to purchase an apartment building. Deed of sale at notary showed only the 5 names, the same for the bank mortgage. Informal agreement (not notarised) signed by all 9 people for the money that was lent. Terms of agreement were that each of the 4 individuals were given a percentage (the amount of money they lent divided by the original purchase price). When the building was sold, each person was to get his percentage of the sale price. In addition, each person was to get his percentage of whatever operating profits the building generated for each year it was owned.
During the past 25 years, 2 of the original 5 owners sold their shares to the others. Today there are only 3 owners shown on the deed of sale. Also, 3 of the 4 lenders sold their shares to the original owners and received the money due to them. I am the 1 lender still remaining along with the 3 owners.
January 2006. The building was sold to a third-party and the 3 owners took their proceeds of sale as the legal owners as per deed of sale. 2 of the 3 now refuse to pay me the money that is owed to me. After a verbal agreement years ago, I never took any of the annual profits, expecting to get them all together at the end. Therefore, the total amount due to me from the sale and from the profits is about $120,000 (Canadian), or $40,000 per owner. I have received payment in full from 1 owner only, leaving a balance of about $80,000.
To complicate the matter, I do not live in Montreal any longer; I now live in Europe. These people have been friends for many years and I later married one of the original 5 individuals. (He is the 1 owner who paid me.) He spoke to them after the sale of the building about the money due to me but to no avail. He feels that there is a conflict of interest if he gets involved and wants me to handle things myself. (He still owns another apartment building in Montreal with the same 2 other individuals; they are still his active business partners.) I have sent 3 letters to these 2 owners since February 2006 and have not received even a phone call back, let alone a letter. Clearly, legal action seems to me to be the only alternative. Is it worth it (or will the lawyer and court fees get most of the money)? Am I able to claim extra money for interest on money due, my personal expenses and loss of income at my job if I have to take a trip to Canada? Is there any time limit that I should keep in mind if I do take legal action? Are there any other ideas of what else I can do?
Thank you for any help you can offer!!! It is greatly appreciated!

I don't profess expertise in Canadian law, but they do follow common law traditions. It's a contractual claim, so normally it would be assignable - which means you can assign your claim to somebody else, and they can pursue it. You may also try to get a lawyer who will work on the basis that the legal fee will be a percentage of the total recovery.

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Thank you Aaron for your help. Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'assignable'. Does that mean giving someone in Canada (a friend or relative, for example) a power of attorney to act on my behalf and try to chase/pressure the others to give me the money as opposed to going to a lawyer?

No - assignment actually transfers your rights. See this wikipedia article .

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