What makes a witten agreement a legal document?

[QuestionGurl]

CALIFORNIA-
I owe my cousin and his wife roughly $300 for an apartment deposit. They wrote up a agreement for me to sign stating I owe him and her money for the reasons listed in the agreement. They did not put the amount owed. They stated this will be paid in full by April of 2011. And requested that I make payment arrangements when possible.

I signed the agreement, and his wife signed the agreement.
My cousin did not.

My cousin is now harassing me after I have told him I will pay him by the date indicated on the agreement. I can not set up a payment plan because I am not able to pay anything as of now. But I will have it paid by April 2011.

My boyfriend is an illegal alien. My cousin is threatening to call the cops on him and have him deported if I do not pay him.

It is not even April of 2011, and he is threatening me.

What makes this written agreement legal?
My boyfriend's name is not on it.
My cousin did not sign it
There are no dollar amounts listed.

He can not threaten my boyfriend when his name is not on the agreement.


***Serious answers only*** I am not asking you to judge my boy friend based on his status. I am asking you to answer my question regarding the agreement.

 

[Banned_Princess]

CALIFORNIA-
I owe my cousin and his wife roughly $300 for an apartment deposit. They wrote up a agreement for me to sign stating I owe him and her money for the reasons listed in the agreement. They did not put the amount owed. They stated this will be paid in full by April of 2011. And requested that I make payment arrangements when possible.

I signed the agreement, and his wife signed the agreement.
My cousin did not.

My cousin is now harassing me after I have told him I will pay him by the date indicated on the agreement. I can not set up a payment plan because I am not able to pay anything as of now. But I will have it paid by April 2011.

My boyfriend is an illegal alien. My cousin is threatening to call the cops on him and have him deported if I do not pay him.

It is not even April of 2011, and he is threatening me.

What makes this written agreement legal?
My boyfriend's name is not on it.
My cousin did not sign it
There are no dollar amounts listed.

He can not threaten my boyfriend when his name is not on the agreement.


***Serious answers only*** I am not asking you to judge my boy friend based on his status. I am asking you to answer my question regarding the agreement.

I really hope he does. Your BF should be deported and you should pay your cousins the money you owe them.

The document is good, but they cannot sue you for a year. its good because you signed it.

But when they do sue you, they will win. and the missing dollar amount just makes it easier to say you owe more then 300.00 which I also might do, since you are refusing to even pay ten dollars a week.

He can threaten your SB because he is here illegally and should be deported Immediately. If I were the person you owe money to, I would call the authorities right away. So what about your agreement. he doesn't have to be on the agreement to get kicked out to his country where he probably has a wife and kids.

I hope the rest of the country follows Az's example soon.

 

[swalsh411]

Of course can can threaten to report your boyfriend who is in the country illegally. He could do this whether you pay off the loan or not. Stating one's intention to report a criminal to the authorities is not against the law.

Whether or not the piece of paper constitutes a legally binding contract or not is ultimately only relevant in small claims court. It will be up to the Judge to decide which party is more credible, but unless you are willing to perjure yourself then you will have to admit that the debt is valid.

If you owe the money, then the right thing to do is pay them back as soon as possible.

 

[justalayman]

What makes this written agreement legal?

the writing. I believe the question you meant to ask is; is it enforceable. that is something a court would have to determine if it gets that far.

My boyfriend's name is not on it.

then he is not bound by the contract

My cousin did not sign it

then he is not bound by the contract

There are no dollar amounts listed.

it should have been included but unless you lie about the amount, that is easily obtained evidence once you are in court.

He can not threaten my boyfriend when his name is not on the agreement.

your cousin and your boyfriend have nothing to do with the contract but he can threaten your BF if he wants.

***Serious answers only*** I am not asking you to judge my boy friend based on his status. I am asking you to answer my question regarding the agreement.

my answers were serious.

 

[HomeGuru]

Seriously, the responses were serious.

 

[swalsh411]

Seriously, the responses were serious.

Serious like a fox!