Overhaulin'

Do you think I'll win in court and what do you think of these ppl?

Okay so I had this "mentor" Jamie. I became pregnant and moved out of my apartment. Now she pretty much pressured me to move in with her and her husband. They are in their early 40s, Iam 22. I HAD a beautiful 95 Trans Am in great shape with only 65000miles that I was attempting to sell for quite awhile because I wanted to pay off a credit card bill I had and still have (...) Well they said they wanted to buy it not only because they wanted it but to take the 250/mth payment of my hands So I agreed and did NOT sign a bill of sale because I TRUSTED them They were to make payments of 250/mth until the debt was paid in full I sold it to them for 5grand In the meantime the agreement was that I live there RENT FREE These ppl claimed to care about my, called me family and pretended they were Now we had a falling out and I moved from there and now they are saying I owe them 2600 dollars in back rent A nice cover for the money they owe me for my car I want to sue them in small claims court but im not sure if ill win because i didnt have them sign anything However I have two letters from them and they admit they bought a car and were making payments but lie and say that since i didnt save any money(which i did) the no rent conract is null and void and now i owe them all the back rent for the 26 weeks i stayed there (which just so happens to equal to the amount they have yet to pay on my car) again nice cover up Do I have a leg to stand on in court? I am furious over this, I think its just downright sad and despicable they wanna take almost 3grand from someone half their age I worked for the car and nearly had it paid off And not to mention they are not only taking from me but my son as well They assured me all along" we know you'll be out of work but you'll have the $250 /mth coming from us" Btw I met my mentor thru a program for young adults aged out of foster care, thats how I know them and the director of that program knows there was no rent being charged and said she would go to court with me DO i have a leg to stand on? I live in Michigan if that matters. I am just wondering if verbal contracts for rent stand up in Michigan I find it funny what he said in the letter "since you didnt save the 250 car payment we gave you, our no rent contract is null and void and you owe us 2600 for back rent" wtf? THE LETTERS AR TYPED AND THEY ONLY SIGNED THE ONE ASKING FOR RENT BUT IT DOES MENTION THEY WERE MAKING CAR PAYMENTS AND THEY SENT IT CERTIFIED MAIL SO THERE'S A RECORD AT THE POST OFFICE IF THAT MATTERS AND THE TITLE IS IN JAMIES NAME they paid the remaining loan of 1400 off

Public Comments

1. I live in Michigan.... and no verbal contracts do not tend to stand. You really should have had a written contract about the car and free rent and then had it notarized. Good luck... hope you get a friendly judge.
2. I don't know about Michigan specifically, but when it comes to verbal contracts, it's pretty much your word versus theirs, which is never safe. And the letters wouldn't seem to help much either since they technically notified you that the no-rent contract was null... even if you were saving money, there's no way to prove it, but giving the court what looks like a notification from a landlord for you to pay rent, I would say that won't benefit you. Sorry about your sucky mentors, but I think you're just at a loss here :( good luck
3. Usually verbal contracts do not hold up in court. However, since you have a witness, you might be okay. I would do some background work. Research these people. I bet they've done this many times before. Trust me, you are not their first victim. Try to find their other victims. They sound like professional con artist. You might be the link to break a big case here.
4. hi, im a college student and took a requirement business law class last spring. according to my professor, verbal agreements do not stand a chance in court. you should have it in writing whatever you do in the future, even if it is your family! trust me, it is going to be a battle of words. However, you have two letters saying that they are buying the car. that is something you have to bring and plus you have a person who is willing to go along with you. i wish you the best of luck! gosh, what is this world coming to?