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Really? AFAIK in my country (Netherlands), a 'verbal agreement' is also legally binding. Is that different in US? Of course it may be harder to proof, but at the end of a website building job there's often enough paper and email trails to make your case.

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A verbal (oral) contract is a contract in the US - though very hard to prove. Chain of custody of the code is one way.

Intellectual property rights are all the rage these days and that would mix into this.

I'm not an american, but yes, I believe verbal contracts do apply in the US. I called it unrealistic because it's much harder to prove. As you pointed out, it's possible.

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