Can I make her pay the bill?

Question

When I was 18, I was stupid and let my best friend at the time create a cell phone bill under my name under the agreement that she would pay the bill monthly (I know, not the smartest thing to do), and she did for a while but then stopped and ended up having the phone turned off on her and stuck me with a $500 bill. She has said she would pay it time and time again, but we're no longer friends and I honestly don't think she will unless I bring her to small claims court. Is there any way that my case would stand up in court? Or am I pretty much screwed out of the $500.

Answer 1

Anything you have in writing will stand up in court. Or, anything by her own admission will stand up as well. Sure you can probably get a judgement against her, but getting your money can be a different matter. If she is that irresponsible, don't count on it. However, I think you should go after her for the money. Take her to small claims court and take every tiny piece of documentation with you to prove your case.

Answer 2

Yes, you can make her pay the bill. However, you need to be able to prove that you and your friend had an agreement that she would pay the bill. Do you have any writing about the agreement? Were there any people present who were witnesses to this agreement? If you don't have sufficient evidence, you aren't going to prove an agreement to pay. In court, it would be a matter of your word against hers.

If you do go to small claims court and get a judgment against your friend, do you think you will be able to collect it? Does she have a bank account or tangible personal property that can be seized by the sheriff and sold at auction to pay the amount of the judgment? A court judgment is just a piece of paper unless you can levy an account or have assets seized for sale by court authorities.

It does not look encouraging to you, darling.

Answer 3

Since the line is in your name, you are responsible for the bill. A judge would surely see that you would not just get a phone line for a friend and agree to pay for it too, but if there's no evidence that there was an agreement to pay, then it could go either way.

But just because you win a case and she's ordered to pay, either she has the money or she doesn't. If she doesn't, well, you can't get milk from a dead cow.

Answer 4

If you have canceled checks for her part of the phone bill this shows that she was paying the bill in the past This link would be enough to give you a majority of proof and win a small claims court case.

Answer 5

You say when you "were 18". How long ago was that. There may be a statute of limitations. Otherwise, take her to small claims court. you can file pro se. If she does not show, the judge may enter a judgment. Then you have a lot of choices,. If she works, use the judgment to obtain a garnishment on her wages. If she has a car or house, obtain a lien on it. If she has money in the bank, petition the courts to attach that also.

Answer 6

You have lost the 500 dollars. You will also need to check your credit report. If the bill was never paid you probably have late or defaulted payment for the cell phone on it. You may get lucky on the credit report. If it is reported you can contest the debt if your friend was paying the bill at another address or something by saying you never lived at the address listed. If that fails, you need to pay the bill if you want to repair the credit damage. Some damage you will probably just have to suck up.

Answer 7

I think it's worth the try. Small Claims is only an investment of $53 (or so) to file and a day off to go. She might even pay you once she receives the summons from the court.

It's easy to establish that you did this as a favor...

I'm not sure what the statute of limitations is, so check with the courts or on line to see what your state's requirements are.

Answer 8

You have learned a costly lesson here. You had the phone put in your name so the bill is technically yours to pay even if she did make all the calls. Unless you have something in writing that states that she agreed to pay the bill even though it was in your name, you are just out that money. So Sorry but learn from this and do not be so trusting with you credit and your good name.

Answer 9

Get the phone bills. Match the numbers to a reverse phone book on the Web, and then go to small claims court.

Answer 10

sorry for the situation you are in. you are stuck with the bill unless you had a written agreement with her. you can take her to small claims but i think the statue of limitatin is one year or 3 years but just pay for it and hope you learned your lesson. a real friend would never do something like that. good luck