Verbal covenants

[stevejeri]

A friend gave us 3 acres, with the verbal agreement that if we ever decided to vacate, they would pay us for our improvements and we would give the land back to them. After 2.5 years, (drilling water well, building house, etc) they want us to leave and say we have no covenant. They gave us a deed when we took posession, but it was never recorded because I didn't want their land tied up in legal proceedings I was in. When I decided to record the deed, they wanted to include in it the return to them land deal we made, so I gave it to them, they had the new one drawn up, and before they gave it to us, they decided we needed to go. So I have no paperwork, only our verbal agreement. Do I have any right to monetary compensation for improvements?

Thanks,
Steve