People's Court: 6-20-12: Family, Friends, Strangers

Welcome to Summer 2012! 

Everyone has so much to deal with. The last thing we want to think about is being taken advantage of. Whether it is by family, friends or strangers. Why should we allow ourselves to treated poorly by others?

This landlord/tenant case is a good illustration of people treating each other poorly. These two women do not get along. The day to day problems are so toxic that they really need to separate from each other. The landlord needs to pursue an eviction of this particular tenant. She feels that illegal activity is occurring in the apartment. The reason for the suit is because of a flood. The landlord is accusing the tenant of leaving the water running in the tub in the middle of the night. She claims to have proof but does not have it with her. She is in court, this is the time to have the proof. The tenant is countersuing for harassment. Again, there is no proof on her part. If she is not happy with her living arrangements, she should move out. She has pictures of the mold in her apartment. It is a very unhealthy environment and she should not have to live there. She says she has called the city and there are violations that have been cited. She should have sued based on the conditions in the apartment. This environment is toxic on many levels. When the case is over neither party gets any money. The tenant needs to realize, it will not truly be over until she moves out.

This is a case about two friends. One lends the other her credit card to buy a camera. This is a very expensive camera she is going to use to venture into a new business.  She begins to make payments. Then, the camera is stolen. Does she still owe her the money? Of course she does. But, now she calls it an investment. She cannot change the agreement after the fact. She owes the money. Is it really that easy? It should be, but now we have another problem. No one kept track of the payments or paying off the credit card. The money situation is a mess. It is left to the Judge to do " a little rough justice". The friend gets back some of the money, not everything she is asking for. The more important question is: Are they still friends? It seems like the friendship is over. What a shame when her friend was there for her when she needed help.

This is a case about a family that has lost their way. A mother and daughter that have been very close are not talking and the daughter has publicly wished death on her mother. How do things get so bad? The daughter put her mother's car in her name. The mother got several parking tickets. The car gets towed. The mother does not pay the tickets. Why? She claims her daughter owed her money from a cell phone years before.  They must have been close for the daughter to help out her mother with the car. There does not seem to be a relationship at this point. The Judge recommends that they stay away from each other or get family counseling if they want to get back together. They do not seem receptive to the idea of repairing the relationship. The daughter says her mother has nothing to do with any of her grandchildren. Such a shame. I do not think families should sue each other. There should be a way to work things out. It is always a heartbreak to see a family divided.

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

Anything you're good at contributes to happiness.

Bertrand Russell

People's Court: 6-13-12: Denial

People are very good at denial in the face of the truth. How is it that it is so easy to deny? Telling the truth is the right thing to do. 

The first case is about 2 friends. He is helping his friend fix her motorcycle. She does not let him know the tags are expired and the bike is not insured. He brings the bike from one location to another. After installing a new battery he takes it for a test ride. He said he is moving it around the house. Yet he is on the road when he crashes into the back of a car. He admits the accident is his fault, although he says the bike malfunctioned. He did pay for the damage to the car, but feels she is asking too much for the repairs. They were not able to negotiate the amount on their own, so they find themselves in court. I do not understand why she did not get a proper estimate for the repairs. She provides a receipt for replacement parts. She is awarded part of the money she is asking for. The bigger question is: are they going to remain friends? They have been friends since childhood and it would seem a shame for that to disappear over this incident. The hallway conversation does not give any specific insight into the friendship question. They both seem like they do not care about holding onto the friendship. How sad!

The second case is about a moving company that damages the pedestal to a table. Although they fix it, the owner does not feel it is fixed properly and it will be unsafe to use. After all, he has grandchildren! The owner of the company feels the signed contract absolves him of responsibility. He was being a "good guy" and repaired it, even though he says legally he did not have to. The Judge points out the incorrect and unclear language in the contract. Also, the clients are not signing in the correct places. He is responsible, although not the entire amount that is being asked for. The owner of the table needs to understand he does not receive replacement value, he receives the depreciated value. The Judge lets him know it is the amount the table would sell for at a garage sale. He is not happy at all!

The third case involves an illegal apartment. The owner of the house purchased the house with an existing tenant. He claims he had no idea that it was an illegal apartment. He then builds an additional apartment without permits. Now he would seem to be very aware that the apartments are not legal. One of the tenants starts a fire, fire department comes out, lets everyone know the illegal status of the apartments. What I find so interesting is that the landlord returned the security deposit to the tenant that started the fire and was not returning it to the other tenant. Well, she gets the money she is asking for.

The landlord now has to admit he knows the apartments are illegal and will go through the proper channels.

Please let me know what you think of these situations. Thank you for joining me today.

Remember: Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.  

-Abraham Lincoln

People's Court: 6-11-12: Voodoo Curse

Another exciting day on People's Court. Three new cases today. Let's get started...

A woman wants a granite countertop in her kitchen. The store she goes to sends a subcontractor to her house to measure. She gives him a check and cash. Not only does she not get a receipt for the payment, she does not fill out the check. She leaves it blank instead of writing the name of the store. Of course, the subcontractor happens to be a thief. He deposits the check and takes the cash. The store owner thinks she is dealing directly with the sub and cutting him out of the picture. When she tries to get her money back, the store owner realizes what has happened and is able to get some of the money back from the sub. He is responsible to pay her the rest of the money. Now he can go after the sub if he chooses to. The woman does realize that she made a mistake, the way she wrote the check, giving the cash and not getting a receipt. She does not think threatening a voodoo curse was a mistake!

The second case involves family. A brother suing his brother. It is a shame to watch a family fall apart right in front of you. The Judge wonders whether the one brother is clueless or evil. She quickly finds out as the brother tells one lie after another. He let his brother sublet his rent controlled apartment when there was a balance due. He collected rent from his brother and pocketed it. He lied about receiving money even though he signed a receipt. He illegally locked his brother out of the apartment. The brother that was taken advantage of won the case and seemed like a really nice guy. There was mention of a sister. She was not in the courtroom. This seems to be common when family members do not want to be caught in the middle. The consensus is that the brother is evil!

The last case is a traffic accident. The young man that caused the accident admits it in court. On his written response to the complaint, he stated he was not at fault. The truth comes out, he admits he is responsible but feels the estimate is too high. He actually obtained two estimates from pictures of the damage to the other vehicle. This does benefit him, since the Judge takes this into consideration. It was very impressive for this young man to get the estimates. 

People do constantly amaze. Sometimes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way. The important thing is to always think about what you are doing. Do not let people take advantage of you.

Please let me know what you think of these situations. Thank you for joining me today.

Remember:

They can't hurt you unless you let them. - Anonymous

People's Court: 6-8-12: Contracts

More stories today that make you say - Really!!!!. A woman is buying a car from a family friend. He claims he tries to talk her out of it, yet he still sells it to her. They have a very detailed contract of sale. He retains possession of the car, while she is making payments. She wants to "borrow" it for the weekend, but has no intention of returning it in a timely manner. This does not go well and becomes the beginning of the end... Then she claims that he wanted to trade sexual favors for the car. He denies this also. The contract they have agreed to is binding. Why do they think they can change it now? 

Next there is a lawyer who does not provide a retainer agreement to a client. He tries to bill her for many hours of telephone calls. It seems she was picking his brains so she could file paperwork on her own. They both were wrong and seem to deserve each other. This man should know better since he is an attorney. Why would he do business this way?

The last case seems to be such a waste of everyone's time. A recently purchased used vehicle breaks down. It is still under the warranty. When the young man calls the dealer, he is told they do not pay for nor provide tow service. Why would be wrong in recommending a tow company? What has happened to common courtesy?

Please let me know what you think about these situations.

Thank you for joining me today.

Remember:

Laugh when you can,
apologize when you should,
and let go of what you can't change.
Life's too short to be anything... but happy.
- Anonymous

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

12-12-12 People's Court Blog: Family Blues

What an amazing date - 12-12-12! Every time I wrote it today I felt like it was something special. Life is special and we need to treasure every day and every experience. I do not want to look back and have regrets. 
Since it is a week of repeat episodes, here is a blast from the past. On June 2nd of this year, I wrote this, but did not post it. I do not know why! 
Enjoy!

Thank you for joining me today.

Family members suing each other on People's Court can be so sad. A father buys a car and tells his daughter he will transfer the title after it is paid off. After several late payments, he gets the police involved and takes the license plates off the car. After that he will only talk to his son-in-law and not his daughter. She does not like this and stops talking to her father. She will not let him see his grandchildren. Why must the children suffer when the adults fight? This is a recurring theme and is so so sad. The father and the daughter also exchange vile text messages. He is so immature, even the Judge tells him to grow up and act like an adult.

They seem to reconcile in the hallway, telling each other that they love each other. Hopefully, this is sincere and they can be a family again. The grandchildren should not miss out on a relationship with their grandparents.

The next case is a rental situation. The tenant is renting retail space. He feels threatened by the landlord and does not renew his lease. There was a mix-up with one month's rent being paid twice and the landlord tried to claim this was an automatic renewal of the lease. The lease had some very specific clauses that the tenant followed to the letter. He got back his rent, did not have to renew the lease and even had his attorney's fee reimbursed. This is why it is very important to read the lease and understand it.

The last case was about a friend lending her car to another friend. What amazed me was how the young man who borrowed the car behaved. He totally dismissed his responsibility for the damages, even though he was at fault. The insurance covered the damages and he was being sued for the deductible and the rental car. He was very flippant and did not even care that his friend had laid out the money. His response was that she lent him the keys so she was responsible. He lost - no surprise. It was so sad, in the hallway interview it was so clear the girl had a crush on him and this incident did not seem to have any effect on her. I get the impression she would do this again under similar circumstances. We do need to learn from our mistakes. 

Please let me know what you think about these situations. 

Thought for the day:

We are responsible for our own happiness

Knowing Yourself

Thank you for joining me today...
Family situations on People's Court are so interesting. Such a sad case, a mother suing her daughter. The mother believes her daughter stole her jewelry when she moved out. The daughter says she was kicked out and denies stealing the jewelry. The daughter moved back in when she was pregnant. The family is so shattered, the daughter now lives with the maternal grandmother. No one is speaking to each other. The baby will never know her grandmother. The mother is so angry, she left a text message for her daughter's friend that she hates her daughter and would not even attend the funeral of her own mom when she passes.
How do things get this bad? This family needs counseling, not court.
A woman purchases a pellet stove. The installation is done incorrectly. A fire occurs. No one is hurt, thank goodness.The contractor will not admit there were mistakes, even though it is documented. He continually interrupts the judge and is kicked out of the courtroom. What has happened to respect? He did not like that he had to "just" answer questions and could not explain his case. That is what testifying is - the judge asks, you answer.
A dog in an apartment does damage. The damage is so obvious in the pictures. The tenant continually tries to minimize it. The landlord has pictures. It is so true that a picture is worth a thousand words. The tenant does not get back her security deposit. It is very important to show that you have left the apartment in the same condition you received it. Pictures before and after are essential.
I think the family situations are so sad when they leave the courtroom and it is obvious they are not going to patch things up. This is one of these cases where it would be so nice if there was a family counselor waiting outside. Many times the judge will discuss the future of the family, pushing people in the right direction. In this case, the damage is so deep and raw, she did not even attempt it. Sometimes, there is no possibility of patching things up, People can only take so much and when you are hurt by those that you have spent your life with, it is time to let go. That is a great lesson for today - recognize when it is time to walk away.

Thought for the day:

Be true to yourself.