email agreements

[p_henson]

I've never used this before, so I'll do the best I can to be brief.

I'm in California. About 6 months ago, I broke up with my ex-girlfriend of 2 years. We had been engaged to be married. At the time of the break up, I offered to give her a little money every month until she got back on her feet. Well, her father turned the agreement around to me paying her back for purchases she had made for "us" on her credit card and paying back money she says she had in her savings account when we got together.

The majority of the purchases were for household items, furniture, etc. There was a few things which could be considered primarily "mine" such as a plane ticket for my daughter to come visit. The initial meeting to discuss this arrangement took place at there house, with my ex, her father and mother sitting on one side of the table a me on the other. I told them they could have all the furniture but he still thought I should have to pay for the difference between the purchase price and the current value or something like that. I was so upset at the time (it was a VERY awkward situation to be in), that I verbally agreed to look at the arrangement he came up with.

The first time he communicated with me was via email. The agreement said I owed something like $6000. I immediately objected because I may have wanted things to be over, but I also didn't want to get totally screwed. My ex had destroyed some of my clothes and broke a $1000 guitar, so I told him he needed to come up with something more fair. He suggested I propose something, so I did. He agreed with my proposal. All of this communication and the final agreement was done via email.

During the communications, he informed me that I would owe the money to him, not Tina, because they had already taken over her finances. I started worrying at that point because things had already gone beyond the generosity I was willing to show.

A few weeks after this happened, at the urging of a friend, I contacted a lawyer about whether or not I should have to pay this money. The lawyer (2 of them) said that, no, I don't have to pay anything. We weren't married, they took all the property, so I was not obligated to pay anything.

I had also borrowed $1000 from her parents to purchase the engagement ring. I don't dispute that amount, but I haven't been able to finish paying it off yet because of money problems. I still owe $800 for that plus he wants another $2800 plus interest. Well, I basically ignored it hoping it would go away (my second mistake). He contacted a local collection agency. I ignored them also (my third mistake) until they sent a notice saying they were going to take me to small claims court.

I immediately called them to try and explain why I refused to pay the larger portion of the debt but that I was willing to pay the $800 immediately if it would squash the whole thing. I was under the impression that the email communication in which I agreed to pay the $2800 plus interest was not legally binding. I was informed by the collection agent that they had contacted the small claims advisor and were told that email IS legally binding.

I'm questioning this because I could right now create a fake document that looks exactly like an email that forgives me of all the debt. How can something without a signature or being witnessed be considered legally binding?

Any assistance or advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm seriously losing sleep over this mess.

Thanks in advance.

 

[loku]

Courts have consistently found e-mail contracts valid. Remember, a contract to pay money does not have to be in writing. The e-mail agreement is acceptable evidence of the agreement.

 

[p_henson]

Accepting that point, what would be the best way to proceed in defending myself?

I'm pretty naive in this entire arena, but I was under the impression that a contract entered into while under duress or mental/emotional stress could be found to be invalid. If at the time of entering the contract the individual was mislead about their rights and obligations for instance, and found out after the fact that the obligations did not exist, would that, in anyone's opinion, be a viable defense against honoring the contract?

I can admit I should have checked my legal postion BEFORE agreeing to anything, but I was so desperate to put the situation behind me that it wasn't until several weeks later I was convinced to check my legal position. I'm feeling very "against the wall" so to speak because of my reluctance to deal with the situation at the time. Any advice would really be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[lawrat]

duress is only used if you had a gun to your head : i.e. direct physical harm or threat of harm

 

[loku]

I don’t think you have a way out of this. At the time you agreed to the payment, your rights and obligations to your ex were unclear. You agreed to make the payment as a settlement of whatever those obligations were. I believe that is valid consideration for a contract.

As for your mistake of fact as to your liability, that would only be a defense for you if you can prove that the other side either knew (or should have known), that your liability was a mistake.

The only other possibility I can think of is that you can argue that the mistake was so serious that enforcing the contract would be unconsionable (so unjust as to offend the conscience).