Legally is my ex BF bound to pay for my furniture and TV if he promised he would? could i sue him? its $5,000.

Question

my exBF, then boyfriend, told me that if i got the apartment he'd pay for half the rent and money for my furniture and TV. he's a doctor with $ to pay me back. i purchased the furn & tv for $5800, (monthly payments at a local furniture store) under my name. we broke up and he never paid me back, i had to pay it because it would ruin my credit and now i am in the process of building my own home. over the last 2 yrs he has continue to track me down to see me and i have seen him on occassion and we remain friends. when i was forced to pay the money in full, i told him about it and he says he will pay me back because he knew he made that arrangement and want sot do the right thing. but he wants to pay me in installments to ensure he will see me (for sex). frustrated and feeling bullied, i recorded a conversation with him admitting that he agreed to pay it and that it was our original arrangment. Do I have grounds to sue him in civil court for my money?

my exBF, then boyfriend, told me that if i got the apartment he'd pay for half the rent and money for my furniture and TV. he's a doctor with $ to pay me back. i purchased the furn & tv for $5800, (monthly payments at a local furniture store) under my name. we broke up and he never paid me back, i had to pay it because it would ruin my credit and now i am in the process of building my own home. over the last 2 yrs he has continue to track me down to see me and i have seen him on occassion and we remain friends. when i was forced to pay the money in full, i told him about it and he says he will pay me back because he knew he made that arrangement and want sot do the right thing. but he wants to pay me in installments to ensure he will see me (for sex). frustrated and feeling bullied, i recorded a conversation with him admitting that he agreed to pay it and that it was our original arrangment. Do I have grounds to sue him in civil court for my money? (I live in Texas)

it has been 2 yrs since we dated, but have remained friends on and off (no sex).

Answer 1

There's a couple of things that could help you here.

First, in Texas, a recorded conversation is admissable as long as at least one person knew the conversation was being recorded. In this case, that would be you. The only other stipulation to this recording is that you must have the other person identify themselves completely with indisputable information for example a SSNo, DL# or some other personaly information. If not.. they can just claim it wasn't them and the tape is not admissible. Also, any evidence you are going to present must be given to his attorney prior to the trial and thus they can use that against you.

Now.. how do you solve the problem First of all. Stop seeing him. You said this is you ex BF, then you should treat him as such. By continueing the on again off again relationship, you are only enabling this behaviour to continue. Then next question is the circumstances under which you two were living together. If you lived together for a set period of time or presented yourselves as married at any time, you have the grounds to file for divorce under the guise of Common Law Marriage. For example, if at any time you signed any type of document that declared you were married then you are immediately married. For example, if the appartment contract stated only married couples and 'sub lettors' then the only way you could have rented the aparment is if you were married.. so you were. Another example that a lot of couples get caught on is taking the married couple discount on auto insurance. If any of these things have happened, then you can file for divorce and ask for 1/2 of everything. You just have to come up with a good formula to determine your assets and liablities while married and then see if that amount is over the amount of the TV and Furn.

Now... let's look at the other side of this. Should a judge look at this he will ask: Who has the property. (You Do) Did Mr X purchase this property under the impression that it would be used by both parites? (He will probably answer yes) If Mr X no longer has access to use the property and the property is in the possession of the person who is paying for it... under what reasoning should Mr. X pay for it? (Because he was sleeping with you at the time?) Could this payment be construed as a payment for sexual favors? You see.. this could turn ugly in court and any good attorney will probably have you look'n like a prostitute.

So... you have difficult road ahead, however, you made the decision to purchase the property and have it in your name exclusively.. so now you must live with that decision. My final suggestion... sell the stuff and buy something that is with in your budget. If you have to take a loss, well.. then consider it a lesson learned and move on. In any case, drop the relationship with him and focus on your life moving foward.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Well, honey, he's stringing you along. If he was going to do the "right thing" and pay up per his agreement, he would have done it. He basically wants a piece of axx and you're letting him have it. So, cut him off and talk to a lawyer. You'll be out maybe an office visit for $50. I'd say after watching episodes on Court TV, you've got a decent chance of having him pay up in court. If you go that route, it may be ugly. I'd just be straight up with him, tell him your feelings of frustration and being bullied. If he cares about you at all, since he's your friend, he'll pay up. If not, he wants you for convenient sex. The furniture is yours, paying full price or not, no arguement there. You should decide if you want to let him use you or not. The furniture is not really the question you should ask yourself about. Just my two cents. Good luck.

Answer 3

Notes are not legally binding, contracts are. The case (assuming you are not a troll, which I suspect) is strikingly similar to the famous case of Lucy v. Zehmer that is included in all first year contract law books. Long story short, two people are drinking heavily at a bar. As a "joke," one writes a contract to sell his farm to the other for some sum of money and signs it. The court held the contract enforceable. Voluntary drunkenness is not a defense to an otherwise valid contract. The will provision won't stand because the document needs to be motorized and executed with an impartial witness (most states have "Dead Man Acts" which will prevent you from testifying to the revocation or creation of a will in which you have an interest). Your lawyer was at hooters.....right.

Answer 4

I am not a lawyer but unless you have something in writing, i.e. a contract you haven't a leg to stand on even if he promised to pay you back. Now if you live in a state that honors verbal contracts like Georgia where a simple handshake enters two people into a legally binding contract then you may have something but it's much harder to prove as you really need witnesses to say that it happened, otherwise it's he said/she said. Also as far as recording him, make sure your state will accept a recording where he was not aware he was being recorded. Again, in Georgia it would be perfectly acceptable in court, but your state may differ.

Answer 5

An oral agreement for goods over $5000 is invalid

Next time you see him, get him to sign a paper acknowledging the debt and agreeing to pay it off. If you see him out, do it in front of a bunch of your friends to get some leverage

Answer 6

Yeah if u have any thing of that sort on paper ,that would be legal papers,that should be signed by both of you.Conversations are unlikeky to be admisable.best of luck.By the looks of it you are moraly on a right grounding,get a lawer or a person with thorough knowledge of law to look into it.

Answer 7

Unfortunetly your case has absolutley no grounds because the contract was no co-signed. This happend to my girlfriend also except reveresed. She co-signed a contract for a friend because they wouldn't lease the property without a co-signer. She failed to return the property and my girlfriends credit was processed.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

You could try. But taped conversations are inadmissable as evidence if the other party didn't know they were being taped. And if you don't have a written contract, it's your word against his. I'd stop sleeping with him until he pays up.

Answer 10

I'm sorry to say, but I believe that as long as he didn't sign anything (contract with store or purchase agreement, or as a co-signer with you) he can't be held for payment.