Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
A friend of my had lend me money throughout our friendship however she had not request for payments for over 5 years until she start harassing me and making me feel uncomfortable which ended our friendship. She request for the payment and suggest that if I don�t pay her then she will press charges against me. So she drew up a contract which indicates a payment of $250 per month for 5 years to satisfy the loan. I had made about 5 payments already then suddenly she decided in writing that I no longer have to pay the loan back. Then the harassment begin again so I asked her to stop, now she is telling me that I will need to pay her back or else she will press charges and sue me. Is the contract is valid after her written statement that I no longer need to pay her back?
2 Answers from Attorneys
The obvious question is, why, when you owe her about $15,000 and you fully admit you do, and she is wiling to accept payment over 5 years, are you so cheap that you do not want to pay her back something? She either is a very good friend who has helped you over the years with money or she thinks she is in love with you; in any case, you have used her. Sure periodically she starts asking to be repaid, but that is not harassment; would you not ask for repayment from someone who owes you?
Unless you gave something of value for the written statement that the debt no longer needed to be repaid, it is not binding.