Verbal Agreement

[mslajoie05]

What is the name of your state? NY

I have an ex-girlfriend that in the past had lent me money in the amount of around $1100.00. I made a verbal agreement with her to pay her back. Now that we are no longer together she is pursuing me for the money which she wants in less than a week. I have every intention of paying her back but recently have run into financial issues and cannot afford to pay her now so she's threatening to take me to court for it. She is now asking for more money than i borrowed from her, around $1800.00. She has no written or paper proof of the agreement we made about the money and the details of the agreement. We diagree on this issue about the amount. How liable am i about the money since the verbal agreement was years ago and the amount of the money is not clear and there's no written proof about what i owe her? Also is there a statute of limitations with an oral agreement?

 

[Justice For All]

Yes, the statue of limitations is two years on most agreements. This one all depends on the judge/magistrate, not the law. It is all about what you can prove. Some judges might look into your ex gf eyes and feel sorry for her having you pay whatever she wants. Some judges might dismiss it because of no written contract. Some judges might go half way ordering you to pay 50% of what she claims.

I got two choices for you. If you want to pay her back the regular amount in different payments you can handle, try giving her a check/money order. In the corner of the check have the similiar words: "I will owe $ XXXX.XX amount after you cash this check. If you agree, cash the check." And keep making weekly checks for her to cash like that. The judge might look at it if she was wrong for cashing the check, if she did not agree. But the judge might order you pay the balance immediately. Even though the statue of limitations is two years, the judge might look at this as a new agreement taking another two years to expire.

The other choice is to secrectly record her in person or over the phone talking about the past loan: US Code 18 Section 2511 d http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/18/2511.html
Mention the amount and how it was over two years ago. Never mention you will pay it off now because the judge might look at that as a new agreement. Bring the tape into court (if there is a court case) and explain it to the judge how you recorded both of you legaly mentioning, US Code 18 Section 2511 d. Some judges might listen to it. Some judges might not listen, but give you the favor.

 

[divgradcurl]

The other choice is to secrectly record her in person or over the phone talking about the past loan: US Code 18 Section 2511 d http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/18/2511.html
Mention the amount and how it was over two years ago. Never mention you will pay it off now because the judge might look at that as a new agreement. Bring the tape into court (if there is a court case) and explain it to the judge how you recorded both of you legaly mentioning, US Code 18 Section 2511 d. Some judges might listen to it. Some judges might not listen, but give you the favor.

Why bring up that code section? It has nothing to do with recording a phone conversation that you are a party to, it deals with third-party eavesdropping.

New York is a "one party state," which means that it would be legal under STATE law for the OP to record his conversation without notifying the other party -- but just because it is legal does not mean its admissible -- at least you got that part right!

 

[Justice For All]

Why bring up that code section? It has nothing to do with recording a phone conversation that you are a party to, it deals with third-party eavesdropping.

New York is a "one party state," which means that it would be legal under STATE law for the OP to record his conversation without notifying the other party -- but just because it is legal does not mean its admissible -- at least you got that part right!

Yea, I know what you mean. But I tried that one time in Small Claims. The defendant was telling so many lies. I mentioned to the magistrate how I secrectly recorded our conversation on tape and I was holding it. It straightened up the defendent. The magistrate never listened to my tape, but when she asked the same previous questions to the defendent, he changed over to the truth. That is how I won.

 

[Belle360]

In this situation it probably would be in your best interest to settle with your ex-girlfriend out of court. If you and she can agree on some amount, maybe some where between the $1,100- $1,800.00. If this money was exchanged and the SOL has not expired along with any documentation that she may have, you may lose if it is taken to court. Also, my Husband was in a similar situation. He accepted a loan from a family member (ex-family member now). The family member sued him and did prevail. I remember one thing that they Judge did not like at all was the fact that my husband was sent a "Certified" letter from both this family member and their Legal rep. My husband did not reply to the letter either way, but did sign for it. The Judge made light of the fact that my Husband signed for the letter (they had reciepts from the PO), and he had full knowledge that the money was trying to be collected. Basically, reprimanded my husband "Big Time" for ignoring the letter and never contacting this person to try and work out an acceptable re-payment plan. The Courts do not like that at all, because if some kind of re payment agreement was made between the two parties, it would not have ended up in Court using tax dollars to settle it. My Husband was forced to write a check right then for the total Loan amount and 50% of the Court costs ( his other option if he did not pay right then, was a Levy against his property or wages). Hope you work things out.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Yes, the statue of limitations is two years on most agreements. This one all depends on the judge/magistrate, not the law.

Actually, it's entirely dependant on the law and I can't think of one single SOL that's 2 years (there is one that's 2.5 years, but completely inapplicable to this). The actual SOL is 6 years on contracts (CPLR 213). (Although there's an argument that the 3 years under CPLR 214 could apply).

Try to get your facts straight before spreading misinformation.