
Quoting
aardvarc
Got anything in writing? If not, he'll say he was staying short term and no rent was agreed on. Since he wasn't there long enough to establish a history of payments, you'll have no evidence to show the court that he had been paying but stopped. As Missy pointed out, court works on what you can establish. A verbal-only agreement, even with witnesses, still doesn't give the court much to go on, especially if there isn't a history of action that supports that agreement (ie he had paid the correct amount at least once before, or had written a check for a partial amount with a notation that it was a partial payment, etc.).
Friends or not, get things IN WRITING.