My neighbor's rental dispute in Phoenix taught me a hard lesson about verbal agreements

Last summer I helped my neighbor fix his garage door in exchange for him letting me park my trailer on his driveway. We shook hands and that was it. Three months later he sold the house and the new owner had my trailer towed at my expense. Cost me $275 to get it back plus a storage fee. Now I get every single trade or favor written down even if it's just a text message. Has anyone else gotten burned by a handshake deal that went south?

2 comments

2 Comments

henry_anderson541d agoProlific Poster

Oh man, that sucks lmao. I learned the same lesson the hard way when my buddy promised to help me move if I bought pizza, then ghosted me on moving day and I had to do it all myself. Now I get everything in writing even if it makes me feel like a lawyer texting my own friends.

quinn3411d ago

Funny enough, I used to think getting things in writing was just overly paranoid... but watching people flake on simple stuff like that changed my whole view. It's not about being cold or untrusting, it's just protecting yourself from the chaos. Better to feel awkward for a second than to end up stuck moving boxes alone with a cold pizza.