Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: Payback on a loan

Verbal agreements are legally binding. However, there are a limited number of exceptions under the Statute of Frauds. The Statute of Frauds requires certain agreements to be in writing because of the potential for (as the statute's name indicates) fraud. For example, an agreement to purchase real estate must be in writing. Also an Agreement which, by its terms, cannot be performed in a year's time must be in writing.

Hope this helps.