People's Court: 6-14-12: Lessons to Learn

People need to be able to use common sense in their interactions with others. When this fails, thank goodness for small claims court. We can learn from these experiences.


A father tries to help his son by letting him move back in. The son rents a storage unit for his belongings. He does not make his payments and the father pays the back fees. Now it is up to the son to maintain his payments. He does not. He is a 34 years old  and irresponsible. He does work but does not help with any of the bills. He ignores the e-mail notifications from the storage unit company. Unfortunately, they do not send him a certified notification. This is required by the rules of the industry. The items in the storage unit are thrown out. The owner of the company understands now that this was not a very responsible way to do business. The father also understands that he is enabling his son to be irresponsible. The Judge tries to explain to him that it is time to let his son stand on his own two feet. Let us hope that the money they won from the case goes into a bank account for the son to use when he finally moves out into his own place.

A woman rents an apartment. She finds out after 2 months she needs to move out due to a family emergency. She thinks this is reason not to give notice. It does not work this way. When the landlord lets her know she is not going to get her security deposit back, the tenant returns to the apartment, puts the heat on high and opens all of the windows. Now we find out it was an illegal apartment - who saw this coming? - the Judge cannot award rent money to the landlord. She can award the cost to fix the boiler and because these actions were seen as malicious, she awards punitive damages. The tenant does not get any money back.

A man wants to get his 1976 Buick restored. He takes it to a shop on the recommendation of his brother. The owner is a longtime friend of his. After taking the car and discussing what he wants, he leaves the car and after that no one seems to be on the same page. Their stories are so different, you wonder if they were even in the same room with each other. Written contracts are so important. Receipt for monies given are so important. A contract does not exist if there is not a meeting of the minds, written or verbal. At the end of the case the man does get his money back. His brother, who was in court with him, lets us know this incident is not going to ruin the friendship he has maintained for years. This is always good to hear.


These situations should be able to be resolved and not ruin years of friendship. Unfortunately, in so many cases it does not appear to end this way.


Please let me know your thoughts. Thank you for joining me today.

Remember:

 I believe that love and laughter can only happen when one person takes the time to think about what would cause the other person to feel good.

-Yakov Smirnoff

People's Court: 6-7-12: Consequences

People do not seem to realize their actions have consequences. A landlord moves around a tenant's belongings. Things are broken and missing. She is responsible since she had no right to touch anything. They have a contract and she does not abide by it. She does not seem to understand that she had no right to be so involved in her tenant's living situation. I felt terrible for the tenant, he was in school and was constantly having his life disrupted.

A man buys a car for the mother of his child. Several years later she takes him to court for child support. It is awarded along with back support. He takes the car back. He is angry that she took him to court and does not admit that is the reason he took back the car. It is very apparent from the timing that he was being spiteful. It is a shame that these people do not get along. They are raising a child together. 

A woman hires a contractor to replace the roof of her garage. She is very happy with the work. He returns some of the materials to Home Depot. For some reason, the store gives her the receipts. She has no right to the extra materials or to the money. The contract she signed was for a set amount, including materials and labor. He did the job and that should have been the end of it. She did not even pay him the full amount. He did not file a countersuit, why? His explanation is lack of time. I think he should still file a countersuit, he did the work and is entitled to the money.

When striking a deal with someone, a written contract is very important. People need to understand what they are getting and what they are providing. Please let me know what you think.

Remember: Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

People's Court 6-5-12: Proof Positive

What have we learned today on People's Court? A few friends are out drinking. A young woman's purse disappears. She is very fortunate that the surveillance tapes show someone picking up the purse and putting it under his jacket. Even with photos with this evidence, the young man who has been identified, claims it was an innocent mistake. He was getting the purse for one of his friends. Why didn't she say it was not hers? Why, when he was arrested, he did not ask his friend for the purse back? He could not answer these questions. Also, he said he was guilty when he was arrested. An innocent person does not plead guilty. Much credit is to be given to the boyfriend. He did his research and found this person on Facebook. The young woman did not get her purse back, but did get reimbursed for the cost and everything in it since she had receipts. It is very important in court to have proof.

The second case is about a woman taking a job as a verification specialist. We learn this is to check properties to see if they are vacant. The pay is based on volume. She was not effective in the job according to the employer, so they stopped giving her work. They did owe her money, but not the amount she was asking for. She wanted them to pay for her car, cell phone, cell phone plan and a gps. She claimed she would not have made these purchases if she did not take the job. The employer never said they would reimburse her for these items. She did get paid for the work she completed. In the hallway, she says it was a good job, but did not pay enough. She knew the pay when she took the job!

The last case was sad. A dad suing his ex for overpaid child support. He found out his daughter was not going back to school and had moved into her own apartment. He checked if this was grounds to terminate support and found out it was. He went to court to have the child support order changed. It was granted and backdated to when the young woman moved out on her own. The interesting aspect of this is that the ex did not feel she had to pay the money back since she turned it over to her daughter. The daughter's parting words was that she should not have to pay it back since it was for her. Really!!! Maybe her dad would help her out if she asked him. She did not even talk to him. That is the sad part. There was no relationship between them. Maintaining a relationship with both parents is so important for a child of divorce. Once they are old enough, they can make their own decision regarding the level of the relationship with their parents. It is sad when the parents make that decision for the child.

Please comment on these situations. I would like to know what you think.

Remember: Everything you can imagine is real - Pablo Picasso

People's Court: 6-4-12: Responsibility

Watching People's Court is very educational on many levels. The legal aspect of it is very informative. What I find to be fascinating are the people. From all walks of life, the interactions are awesome. I learn so much every single day. I started this blog last week. I enjoy watching the show and I wanted to share my reactions with you. Please join me on this journey of discovery: learning about others and ourselves.


Today's cases all involve people needing to take responsibility for their actions. In the first case, friends move in together to help each other out. It is not a good situation and quickly falls apart. The arrangement explodes and the shenanigans start. The lack of maturity is embarrassing for all of the adults involved. No one has taken responsibility for their actions. 


In the second case a contract is not honored. The photographer does not get paid for his services. Now so much time has passed and the photo provided has been published. The photographer does not feel this was an agreed upon use and wants more money. The contract was not specific to the use of the photo provided. The contract needed to be more specific. Both parties need to take responsibility for the contract they agreed upon. 


The third case involves children. I do not like to see children in the courtroom. The judge makes it very clear that the 7 year old is not responsible for losing the nintendo game. Also, the mother is not responsible for her son's actions. It is unfortunate the parents did not take the responsibility as parents to keep their sons out of a courtroom. The more important issue here is that I hope the mothers put their feelings aside and let the boys remain friends.


Thank you so much for joining me. Please let me know your thoughts on these situations.


    

Remember:

Continue to smile and enjoy your life.