Need help getting my $3000 back - Arkansas

[thebirdbath]

I'm in Arkansas, Madison County.

Here is the scenario:

Person A (Me) gives Person B $3000 (interest free) to be the down payment for 10 acres of land. Person A has a reciept from the land seller of the 10 acres.

Person B agrees in written agreement (on piece of paper) to let Person A stay on the land on 1 acre until death as a way to say thank you for the down payment of $3000.

Now, Person B has paid off the land and wants to kick Person A off without repaying the down payment.

Is this a case for small claims court? I care less about the 1 Acre than I do about the $3000. Small claims court is not a court that handles property claims and disputes so is this still a case for small claims court?

Thoughts?

 

[quincy]

The $3000 loan is contractual. A small claims suit is possible.

 

[Zigner]

Did the two parties sign a document stating that the $3k was a gift in order to induce the lender to write the loan?

 

[thebirdbath]

There is nothing in writing saying it was a gift. There is nothing in writing about the $3000 at all except for the receipt given by the original land owner for the $3000 down payment. The only other thing in writing is from Person B giving Person A permission to live on one acre of the land till Person A dies. Signed in sound mind. But like I said, I care less about the land as I do the $3000

 

[Zigner]

I am surprised that any lender wouldn't require such a document.

In any case, you don't have a contract for $3,000.00.

 

[thebirdbath]

We are not really talking about an institutional lender here. It was more of a friend deal. So you don't think this should go to small claims? I have a receipt for the land that Person B bought with the receipt saying it came from Person A. Not person B.

 

[quincy]

I agree with Zigner. It appears now that the $3000 was more in exchange for living on the property and less of a loan that needed to be repaid.

 

[thebirdbath]

Thanks. But now the property buyer is kicking me off the land. I still have the signed agreement saying I can live on the land.

So does she just get to keep my $3000 and I lose on the one acre? Seems like stealing to me.

 

[quincy]

Thanks. But now the property buyer is kicking me off the land. I still have the signed agreement saying I can live on the land.

So does she just get to keep my $3000 and I lose on the one acre? Seems like stealing to me.

Success with a small claims suit will hinge on what you can show the agreement was on the $3000. If you can show the $3000 was a loan, you could get a judgment for $3000.

 

[Zigner]

Thanks. But now the property buyer is kicking me off the land. I still have the signed agreement saying I can live on the land.

So does she just get to keep my $3000 and I lose on the one acre? Seems like stealing to me.

You never "had" one acre to lose.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Sounds like the $3000 was to create a life estate so you could live on the land. It also sounds as you didn't properly do so.

There is no way to prove the $3000 was a loan because the only paperwork says it isn't.

 

[Zigner]

What was the reason for kicking you off the land?
What steps did he take to kick you off the land?

 

[thebirdbath]

Its a she and she says I have to go because she wants to sell the land now that its paid off to someone else. Fine, sell it, but give me my $3000 back is how I see it. She paid a total of $13000 altogether for the land.

I'm on a camper so I can move pretty easy. So its not really a bother to move so much as I would need the money to get somewhere else to live.

 

[quincy]

Litigator, there is no need to keep quoting the original post without adding your comments to that post.