People's Court: 6-25-12: Promises

Why do people agree to something and then back out afterwards? This seems to be very common. It is as if their word is not enough. There was a time a handshake was meaningful.

Families are very important. When two people get married it is so nice when the families mesh. This case is about a family torn apart. Traditionally, the bride's family pays for the wedding. The groom's mom paid for the rehearsal dinner and then agrees to pay for the invitations and their family's guests. She denies agreeing to these additional expenses, yet starts making payments after the wedding. After paying back $300.00 she stops making the payments. Her son does not want his new father-in-law to know this, so he continues the payments with his own money. At some point he comes clean and that is when his father-in-law decides to sue for the money. Mother and son do not have the best history. Instead of trying to repair this relationship, these actions are going to further the break. The shame of it is, they do not just make this case about the debt.  Information is brought up about the groom's childhood. This is not necessary to discuss on national TV. The mother is beside herself with emotion. This is so difficult for her. She feels she will never see her grandchildren since her and her son are not talking. She is found liable to pay the balance of what she owes. It is a shame that a family falls apart over $1600.00. I hope this family can get professional counseling and all get along. Do it for the sake of the grandchildren!

A woman lends her ex-boyfriend her car and he gets a parking ticket. Why would she lend her car to someone who has not talked to her for over a month? He calls her out of the blue and tells her a sob story. She falls for it and lends him her car. She has also given him a bus pass to sell. He claims this is a scam but can not prove it. He admits owing her the $20.00 for the bus pass, yet denies that he used her car. He is so unbelievable. He does have to pay her back for the parking ticket, the late fees associated with it and the money for the bus pass. More importantly, this woman needs to stop letting people take advantage of her. She did not hear from this man for over a month and then she lends him her car. He insults her by denying he was ever her boyfriend and describes their relationship as friends with benefits. She needs to protect herself from people like this. Never lend your car to anyone, the consequences can be so much more than parking tickets!

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Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Mahatma Gandhi

People's Court 6-18-12: Honesty

Some of the situations on People's Court are very complicated. The facts of the case are essential. With different stories or no proof, it makes it so much harder to find the truth. Honesty is always the best policy. When it is one person's word against another, a tape recording can be very revealing.

• A car accident occurs. Even though the police are called, the people involved have very different stories. The one driver does not even recall the impact. He claims he did not hear anything because of the rain. When one car hits another, you can feel it. He claims the other car must have hit him, he denies hitting the other car. He also denies what he said at the scene. Enter the tape recording - this was a very good idea! We get to hear part of the conversation. Everything he denied saying, was on the tape. This is so interesting. Why lie about what was said? Does he think it will make him look guilty or stupid or both? It proves he is a liar. How can you believe anything else he says? Since his testimony is so unbelievable, the Judge finds him liable for the damages to the other car. If he would have told the truth, he could have avoided this embarrassment.

• In the next case, a tenant moves out and wants his security deposit back. He has sent the landlord a certified letter requesting the return of his security deposit. The landlord has not responded. When the tenant researches his rights, he find out he is able to receive double his security deposit back. The landlord has not sent him an itemized statement. The landlord does not seem to know his responsibilities. There is no excuse for this. He does not have any proof of the damages he is claiming, he can not keep the security deposit. Also, since he did not provide notification to the tenant, he is required to pay him double. It is so important to know what our rights and responsibilities are. The information is only a click away.

• This situation is very interesting. A management company sends workers into an apartment to paint. There are two workers. The tenant stays home to monitor the activity. She notices one worker walks around the apartment and does not stay in the room where the work is being done. She knows she has put her jewelry on the top of her dresser, she says she took it off because it was too hot! Even though her bedroom door is closed, it is not locked. She did not see the worker go into her bedroom, yet her jewelry is missing. There are so many things she could have done differently.  She could have put the jewelry away or back on. She could have asked him to stop wandering. She could have watched him more closely. She could have asked him to leave. She can not prove he took the jewelry. She claims people have told her this particular worker was a problem. No one has put anything in writing for her. She has no proof. The management company is not found liable for her missing jewelry.

It is important to tell the truth. It is important to know your rights. It is important to protect yourself. If all of these things are in place, the above situations might have turned out differently. Hopefully, all of us, the people involved and the people watching can learn from these experiences.

Please let me know what you think. Thank you for joining me!

Remember:

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy - it's all that matters.

Audrey Hepburn