Do an emailed agreement and corresponding private message qualify as written contract in court?

P

Peter S

Guest
Jurisdiction
California
I have loaned a sum of about $5900 to a friend who had written via email that she agreed to pay me back. The email was dated from almost four years ago (11/29/12) but I have not yet seen any of this money. For about a year now, I have been asking her to pay me back on a number of occasions. She did tell me in December of 2015 via a private post on Facebook that she would pay me back, but that she needed some time--she said she'd pay me back before summer (2016). After telling me that, she stopped talking to me and ignored my efforts to contact her.

It is now November and almost four years to the date of the original agreement email. Do I have a case here in small claims court? Does the fact that the agreement exists in email format mean that it is not a valid written contract, and thus invalid as such in court? In California, I think written contracts have four years of court recognition, while verbal contracts have two years. Does her post to me via the Facebook medium substantiate a verbal agreement that could still hold up as a verbal contract case? I have copies of both correspondences: her message about paying me back before summer and the original email from 4 years ago. What do you suggest I do?
 
The date of the original email is not when the statute of limitations starts running. It starts running on the date of default.

So the big question is: Does your agreement have a deadline for repayment?

If it doesn't and you left that open ended you might have a big problem defining when the default was or if there is ever going to be a default.

If that's the case you might as well just sue for the $4000 and take your chances.
 
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