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A friend owes me $300. We had filed out a promissory note in which she promised to pay me back by February 2009, but she never payed me back. We then agreed to have her pay me $50 per week. She made only 2 payments, the last of which was May 16th, and then she's avoided contact with me. I finally tracked her down today and threatened to take her to court if she doesn't agree to some form of payment plan to pay me the remaining $200. She told me she would pay me $25 tomorrow, but she absolutely refused to sign any agreement on a payment plan. I've recorded the phone conversation where this took place, so I have proof that she refused to get an agreement written on paper. What would be the best thing to do at this point? I'm afraid that if I take any money she tries to give me tomorrow without a written agreement then I'll weaken my case. Can anyone give me some advice of what I should do next?
State/Country relating to Question: Illinois Already Tried: Since February (when she had first promised to pay me the money back) I've given her an extra month to pay me the money. Then I agreed to have her pay me in $50/week installments, but she only made two payments (once in April, and once in May.) After that she stopped answering my calls & text messages. I sent her a letter by mail, but she didn't respond. I then called her from a different phone in July and she pick up right away, but as soon as I told her it was me, she hung up. I had sent her another letter telling I'm willing to work out a new payment plan if that would help, but she didn't respond. I also left her voicemails saying the same thing, but still no response. I then told her that if I don't hear from her and get a new payment deal worked out by the end of this weekend, then I'm taking this issue to court. She called me today basically telling me she didn't have my money and didn't respond to any of my calls or messages because she had nothing to say to me. She then said she'd give me $25 tomorrow, but absolutely refused to put any agreement down in writing. I've recorded that phone conversation along with a few others where she had promised to call me back to talk about the money, but then never called back. I still have the promissory note and the text message conversation where we agreed to the $50/week payment plan back in April.
You should make demand in writing for the amount due. Then sue in Small Claims court. If you get payment by check which is not in full, endorse it as "without prejudice" to guard against a claim that it was received as payment in full.
I've written 2 letters to her so far demanding my money back. What should I do if she gives me cash instead of a check?
If in cash, be sure you have a witness to the payment and provide a receipt and be sure to mark the receipt as without prejudice. Consider instead seeking a check or payment in full.
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