Singapore Expats

i have a friend "A"who had signed as a gurantor for "B", not knowing the content. a witness was also not present at that time as "B" approach "A" with a form askin him to sign. my friend then received a call from the finance company few days later askin whether he had signed a particular form. he said yes

now that "B" is unable to to pay for the loan, "A" have to pay for the loan.
the finance company had engage a lawyer to ask "A" to propose a solution, if not they will proced to sue.

"A" wrote in a letter, agreeing to pay the loan over a period of time and at the same time questioning the validity of the contract, as a witness was not present at the time of signing the contract.

they replied sayin that they will look into the case.

after a few weeks, although "A" had agreed to pay the sum, they want to bring the case up to court.

i will like to know what can be done in this situation. Also, is the contract valid if a witness is not present at the time of signing a contract?

helpneeded wrote:i have a friend "A"who had signed as a gurantor for "B", not knowing the content. a witness was also not present at that time as "B" approach "A" with a form askin him to sign. my friend then received a call from the finance company few days later askin whether he had signed a particular form. he said yes

now that "B" is unable to to pay for the loan, "A" have to pay for the loan.
the finance company had engage a lawyer to ask "A" to propose a solution, if not they will proced to sue.

"A" wrote in a letter, agreeing to pay the loan over a period of time and at the same time questioning the validity of the contract, as a witness was not present at the time of signing the contract.

they replied sayin that they will look into the case.

after a few weeks, although "A" had agreed to pay the sum, they want to bring the case up to court.

i will like to know what can be done in this situation. Also, is the contract valid if a witness is not present at the time of signing a contract?

Why don't u get your friend to get a professional legal advice? If u r in Singapore, the following info might be useful:

Blk 148 Bukit Batok Street 11 (PAP Branch). Tel:6561 4656. Opens to public. Every Friday fr 8pm.

The above provides free legal advices.

helpneeded wrote:i have a friend "A"who had signed as a gurantor for "B", not knowing the content. a witness was also not present at that time as "B" approach "A" with a form askin him to sign. my friend then received a call from the finance company few days later askin whether he had signed a particular form. he said yes

now that "B" is unable to to pay for the loan, "A" have to pay for the loan.
the finance company had engage a lawyer to ask "A" to propose a solution, if not they will proced to sue.

"A" wrote in a letter, agreeing to pay the loan over a period of time and at the same time questioning the validity of the contract, as a witness was not present at the time of signing the contract.

they replied sayin that they will look into the case.

after a few weeks, although "A" had agreed to pay the sum, they want to bring the case up to court.

i will like to know what can be done in this situation. Also, is the contract valid if a witness is not present at the time of signing a contract?

From the information you have supplied and with my knowledge of the law I would say that there is really no way around it for your friend. The witness part is basically just to assure the identity of the person signing the document. Since your friend has admitted to signing the document the witness part becomes irrelevant. It is only if your friend contest ever having signed the document that the witness part becomes important.

So, if your friend has been so improvident as to sign a document without knowing the content perhaps he should just pay the loan and consider it payment for a learning experience.