Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York
Over the course of about a year, I gave approximately $4000.00 to a friend in personal loans with no receipts of such. Long story short, the friendship has since ended and I have received maybe about $500.00 back on this debt. I did however receive a personal handwritten and signed letter from this ex-friends father saying how he considered it to be a family debt etc. etc. If I were to take this ex-friend to small claims court, would this letter help in anyway getting me my money back? Or with no receipts, do I have no chance of winning?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Take him to small claims court and bring the letter. You have nothing to lose.
The letter is technically hearsay -- an out-of-court statement used to proof the truth of the statement. However, the letter may potentially be extremely useful, because, at the very least, you can question your former friend about the letter; who the writer of the letter was; what discussions he had with his father about the loan; and similar issues. That will help to authenticate the letter.
It is also possible that your former friend's father may accompany him to court, in which case you can examine him directly as part of the proceeding.
By the way, if you saved the envelope in which the letter arrived, bring that to court also.
Good luck to you.
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