02x72 - Bobcat Bitterness

[bunniefuu]

You were hired to do some demolition work?

-Correct.
-You hired an unlicensed contractor

without references,
and you got his number

from a card that he left
on your windshield.

I'm... I'm not really sure, actually,

a hundred percent
on where I found that card.

What does that mean?
It doesn't mean anything.

[Announcer]
This is "Judy Justice".

Michael Attar is suing his former clients,
Mary and Michael Rhodes,

for unpaid demolition work.

[Kevin]
Court come to order.

All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge.
Case 2115, Attar versus Rhodes.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Mr. Attar, you were hired
to do some, according to you,

demolition work
and other work at a property

owned by Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes.

You gave them an estimate
for that work.

I think the estimate was $11,500.
Is that correct?

-Correct.
-[Judge Judy] And it was outlined

what work you were supposed to do.

You started that work,
and according to you,

at some point there was disagreement
with either or both of the Rhodes's,

and they stopped payment on a check

-that they gave you.
-Correct.

And the check that they gave you
was for $4,200.

-And then you stopped work for them.
-Yes, ma'am, we're finished.

So, you're suing them
for the canceled check

and for other unpaid work
that you did,

-that you didn't get paid for.
-Correct.

[Judge Judy]
Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes say

that they were not satisfied
with the quality of your work.

It cost them $9,000 to both replace things
that were stolen from their property

by either you or members of your team,

something which I don't think
that you question,

that somebody from your team,
not you,

somebody from your team,
may have taken

metal property of theirs
that they didn't own.

So, let's go back.
Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes,

is this a new property to you,
or is this a property

that you owned for a while?

-It's a new property to us.
-[Judge Judy] That's what I thought.

-So, is it a private house?
-Uh, yes.

And we were, um, remodeling it.

[Judge Judy]
OK, when did you purchase it?

We purchased in January of 2020.

I'm sorry, 2021.

Is it a single-family residence?

-[Mary Rhodes] Yes.
-[Judge Judy] How much did you pay for it?



Describe the property to me.

It's, uh, in northern Alta Loma
or Rancho Cucamonga.

Um, it's an acre property,
has, um, two levels on it,

and a single-family,
ranch-style home on it

right now.
And what we asked him to do

was demolition the lower half,

-Um...
-[Judge Judy] Do you have a photograph?

-I do.
-[Judge Judy] I'd like to look

at the photograph
of what you wanted him to do.

[Mary Rhodes]
That's what the lower half looked like.

-OK.
-Before.

So, this whole portion you wanted him...

-[Mary Rhodes] Correct.
-To demolish?

-[Mary Rhodes] To demolish.
-And remove the debris?

-And grade flat.
-[Judge Judy] Is that correct, sir?

-I can't see it from here, ma'am.
-[Judge Judy] Okay.

We're gonna show it to you.

To demolish it, flatten it,

fill it in...

-[Mary Rhodes] Remove all the debris.
-[Judge Judy] Mm-hmm.

-Yes.
-[Judge Judy] OK.

And did you have a written contract?

We did not.

Well, that's always a mistake.

-Always.
-[Judge Judy] How did you find him?

[Michael Rhodes]
I believe I got his business card...

uh, it was on, uh, my personal car,
I think, at Home Depot.

We had bought this house,
and we tried to find somebody

to do the work, but...

Mr. Rhodes, let me tell you
that the best way to find somebody

is not somebody
who leaves a card on your car

-at Home Depot.
-Clearly.

-Or anyplace else.
-[Michael Rhodes] Yeah.

It was a difficult time
to find contractors, with Covid,

and everything, at that time.

And, at the time, also going to it,
'cause I read in the paper

somewhere at the time,
he didn't have a license.

[Mary Rhodes]
He did not.

-And you knew he didn't have a license.
-Yeah.

That's the first thing I told them,
Your Honor.

[Judge Judy]
Just a second.

They didn't say no, we didn't know.
They said we knew.

So, you got somebody who had no license

to do what you wanted him to do.

-Mm-hmm.
-[Judge Judy] And you got his number

from a card that he left
on your windshield.

-Did you ask for references?
-Uh, I...

-That's either a yes or a no.
-[Michael Rhodes] No.

No, and I'm...

I'm not really sure, actually,
a hundred percent

on where I found that card,
I think it was...

-[Judge Judy] It doesn't matter.
-Yeah.

But we... He did tell us
he was in the process

-of getting his license...
-[muttering]

[Mary Rhodes]
...that it was coming.

-[Michael Rhodes] Yeah.
-[sighs]

-[Mary Rhodes chuckles]
-[Michael Rhodes] I know.

What does that mean?
It doesn't mean anything.

You're two intelligent people, OK.

So you hired an unlicensed contractor
to do work on your house

and agreed to pay him $11,500.

Now, Mr. Attar,

the $11,000 included labor and materials,
is that correct?

There was no material.

-Labor and bins.
-[Judge Judy] No mat...

Well, that's material,
labor and bins to remove...

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judge Judy] All the equipment

-that you needed...
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy]
to complete the job.

-Yes, ma'am, I've got pictures...
-[Judge Judy] Is that correct?

[Michael Attar]
of before, too.

Of what I was supposed to do,
and I took a picture...

Well, no... I have that.

You have the wrong picture, Your Honor.

OK, I'd like to see the picture
that he has.

[Michael Attar]
I was supposed to do it from the post

all the way to the other post,

-remove everything.
-[Judge Judy] OK.

And the pool and the deck.

[Judge Judy]
Mr. Attar, the $11,500

was an all-inclusive figure.

Yes, Your Honor.

One of the things that became an issue
is a Bobcat?

Correct.

[Judge Judy]
From what I'm piecing together,

you hired somebody in a Bobcat to do...

a Bobcat, that's a big piece of equipment

that knocks down something.

I rented a Bobcat.

And somebody who operated it?

My worker.

[Judge Judy]
You didn't know how to operate the Bobcat.

I know how to op... operate Bobcat,

but I was controlling
the demolition site, ma'am.

I was, like, many things was going
at the same time,

I had to control everything.

Mr. Attar, something happened
with the Bobcat.

The original one that you got.

-What happened with it?
-It broke down on us.

No.
It didn't break down on them,

it broke down on you.

-On us.
-[Judge Judy] It broke down on you.

-Yes.
-So, what did you do?

I took it back, and the next day

they were supposed to deliver me
another one,

but they sent me a drunk driver
and a broken-down,

another broken-down Bobcat,
I returned it.

At that moment, I asked Mrs. Rhodes,

"Can you please go down...
down Home Depot",

which is, like, a mile away,
so we can all stop wasting time,

-rent a Bobcat and, uh...
-[Judge Judy] Just a second.

Why should she rent a Bobcat, sir?

Your $11,500 included the Bobcat.

-But I was gonna pay for the Bobcat.
-[Judge Judy] No, no, no.

If you're gonna pay for it,
that's one thing.

Then what are you sending her for?

If your $11,500 figure
included all materials,

then she doesn't have to rent a Bobcat.

If you rented one that didn't work,
rent one that works.

How much of a down payment
did they give you?

It was $4,000.

When did you start the job?

I started the job on...

the 15th of, of January.

[Judge Judy]
When did you leave the job?

I was asked to leave on the se...
on the second of February.

-On February 2nd?
-[Michael Attar] Yes, ma'am.

I have to go back
or I'll call the cops on you.

Between January 15th and February 2nd,

other than the $4,000,
did they give you any other money?

Yes, Your Honor, they did.

[Judge Judy]
How much money did they give you?

[Michael Attar]
They gave me up to $7,000.

[Judge Judy]
So they gave you an additional $3,000?

-Yes, in, in $1,000 checks.
-Shhh.

Your Honor, that was
within the first week, we gave him that.

-[Judge Judy] Doesn't matter to me.
-OK.

My question was, between January 15th
and Feburary 2nd,

-they gave you $7,000?
-Correct.

Explain the other $4,200,
which is the check that they...

-Stopped payment?
-[Judge Judy] Stopped payment on.

Yeah. Uh, happily explain to you.

The Bobcat that she rented,
uh, for me on her behalf,

it cost $329 to rent per day.

And I rented for one day only,
but they charged me $800...

-No, that's not correct. [chuckles]
-[Judge Judy] Just a second.

I didn't ask you anything.

OK.

Do you have a photograph

of what the property looked like
when you left?

Yes, ma'am.

The last picture I took.

Before I was kicked out
of the property.

You're talking, I'm not listening to you.

[Announcer]
Michael Attar claims his former clients,

Mary and Michael Rhodes,

owe for unpaid demolition work.

Mary and Michael are countersuing
for lost wages, equipment rental,

and missing property.

Now, they paid you $7,000

Right. Correct.

[Judge Judy]
They wrote you another check...

The final check was supposed to be
for $5,000, but they only gave me $4,200,

because they minused $800
for the Bobcat rental.

[Judge Judy]
Just a second.

First of all, the total bill
wasn't seven and five.

Seven and five, even my rudimentary math,
is $12,000.

That would be $500 more
than your agreed contract,

which was for eleven five.

They, again, they gave me $6,500,
'cause they gave me small checks.

-They gave me that first...
-[Judge Judy] Just a second.

then they gave me smaller ones.

Sir, you're the businessman,
whether you have a license or not.

I asked you before, how much money
did they give you

between January 15th and February 2nd,

and you said $7,000.

I didn't write it down, Your Honor.

Well, you're here asking for money,

and you have to write it down,
you have to have some...

I'm asking for work
I've done performed already.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, sir.

[Michael Attar]
And as I did the job, Your Honor,

I did seven, eight other side jobs
for them.

I don't care whether you did
seven or eight side jobs.

Your original agreement with them
was for $11,500,

including all material.

Now, what you said to me
was that they gave you $7,000.

And you said they're supposed
to give me another five.

Well, another five is more
than your quote.

Ma'am, the balance was five.

-H...
-[Michael Attar] The initial check,

then they gave me one thousand,
one thousand, one thousand.

[Judge Judy]
How much money did you give him

-altogether, that he cashed?
-$7,000.

[Judge Judy]
Then they owed you $4,500.

Pursuant to your agreement

-We agreed to $11,000, not eleven five.
-[Michael Attar] Eleven five, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy]
Anybody have any proof...

No, it was only a verbal contract.

[Judge Judy]
of what the agreed amount was?

We had a verbal contract
with me and Mr. Rhodes.

Fine.
I will indicate that it's $11,500.

If they gave you seven,
they don't owe you five,

they owe you the difference
between eleven five

and then the seven
that they gave you.

Now, one of the things
that you disputed, Mr. Attar,

was this Bobcat.

Who paid for the Bobcat?

Show me.

They minused it, they minused it
from the final price.

[Judge Judy]
Just a second.

Was that an argument?

The argument about it, Your Honor,
is they rented for one day,

but they charged me two days.
$800.

There's no Bobcat rental for $800
for two days.

-Do you have the bill for the Bobcat?
-[Mary Rhodes] I do, yes.

-And it was for two days
-If you go over a certain time...

[Mary Rhodes]
because it was returned late.

So they charged a second day.

But in his text messages,
he did request it for two days.

-[Judge Judy] Is that the total price?
-[Mary Rhodes] Yes.

-And I did not subtract it from his...
-[Judge Judy] Just, just...

[Mary Rhodes]
payment.

-Total contract was 652.74?
-Yes.

Do you have a photograph
of what the property looked like

-when you left?
-[Michael Attar] Yes, ma'am.

The last picture I took...

before I was kicked out of the property.

You're talking, I'm not listening to you.

-Just show me a picture.
-Yes, ma'am.

-This is not a picture...
-[Judge Judy] Mr. Attar,

-you're the businessman.
-Yes, ma'am.

-[Judge Judy] This is your company.
-Yes, ma'am.

Company requires: "A", a license
before you operate, which you didn't have.

"B", it requires a written contract.

You're the businessman.

They're people who bought a house
who got your number

off a windshield someplace.

You're the businessman,
and you want the parameters,

you want them fixed.
So I don't know if it's 11,000,

or eleven five.

-Do you understand?
-Very much, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy]
Right. Well, that's your mistake.

You look as if you've probably
been in business for a long time.

Fourteen years.

And is what you're telling me
you don't have written contracts?

All my contracts are verbal.

Then, how many times
have you been in court, sir?

-[Michael Attar] Never.
-Never?

I've never had a stop payment check.

Everybody pays me on time,
Your Honor.

[Judge Judy]
Here's the problem.

So when you finished,
the debris wasn't all removed.

[Michael Attar]
That was, they kept telling me

don't touch it,
their neighbor, cousin,

whoever, was gonna come pick it up.

That was just cut corde wood.

[Judge Judy]
No. There's brick, there's wood,

-there's cement.
-We cleaned all that.

-I came, uh, I personally cleaned...
-[Judge Judy] Just a second.

What I asked you, Mr. Attar,

was show me a picture
of the property when you left.

This is the picture that you showed me.

[Michael Attar]
That was the last, before I had more work,

I came in and did more...
I wasn't taking pictures,

I was not expecting somebody
to stop payment on a check, Your Honor.

-I was not expecting that.
-[Mary Rhodes] I have pictures

of what it looked like when he left.

[Judge Judy]
Well, what are you showing me, here,

this brick that's here?

They piled it there
and then left it there.

-That's what they wanted...
-[Judge Judy] Shhh!

It was supposed to be removed.

So this is the back.

[Mary Rhodes]
That's a picture of the sagging patio,

because he removed part of the supports
that were holding up the patio,

that he wasn't supposed to,
so it's now sagging.

[Judge Judy]
Now, this is the picture that you gave me

when you told me
this is what you wanted...

-[Mary Rhodes] Mm-hmm.
-Level, cleared and made flat.

-[Mary Rhodes] Right.
-Now, I want to see your picture

of what this looked like when he left.

You have it, it's in, it's
in some of those photos.

[Michael Attar]
That's leveled.

-You're talking about this?
-[Michael Attar] Yes.

[Mary Rhodes]
That's part of it.

Th... The close-up, that's part of it.

[Judge Judy]
Well, it looks like most of the stuff

is done.
It looked like a lot of clean-up left.

No, ma'am, we'd done all the clean-up.

Well, I would've seen that, sir.

Then what you're supposed to do
is take a photograph.

It was also,
it was also buried underneath.

These are the photos
of when we did it ourselves,

and really leveled it out.

And as we were doing that

we found so much buried underneath

that should have been removed,

but his Bobcat person buried it all.

-[Michael Attar] Your Honor?
-He buried the...

All the debris,
all the concrete, brick, and...

[Judge Judy]
OK, let me see the bill from the...

-Your Honor?
-[Judge Judy] Shhh!

[Mary Rhodes]
No, we did it ourselves.

We rented equipment
and did it ourselves.

-On his vacation.
-Oh. Nice.

[Judge Judy]
OK. $4,500 is so far what's owed

on this contract.

Now, your counterclaim
is money owed for lost work,

equipment rentals,

labor and missing damages to property.

What money owed for lost work?

[Mary Rhodes]
During the second week

that he was working,

he called and said
that his crew had left...

this was the second day of,
use of, supposed to be

-use of the Bobcat that I rented.
-I fired him, Your Honor.

OK, if you interrupt me again,
I'm just dismissing your case.

-Do you understand?
-Thank you, Your Honor.

-[Judge Judy] Understand?
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy]
Very good.

Just explain "lost work".

-Who's lost work?
-His.

[Judge Judy]
Oh, I get it.

-Well, he called and said his crew left,
-[Judge Judy] Forget it.

he can't finish the job...

You weren't living there?

-Not yet, no.
-[Judge Judy] You weren't living there.

You want to go, go.

I'm not interested in his lost wages
for taking care of his house.

So far, you owe the man

the balance on his contract,
unless you had somebody else do it,

which is absolutely fine,

and I would look at that,
removal of debris, what it cost you,

and you're absolutely entitled to that.

Deducted from what you owe him,

which is $4,500.

-But he didn't finish the job.
-[Judge Judy] Just a second.

You tell me, how am I supposed to gauge

how much of the job he didn't finish?

Did he not complete $2,500 worth?

$3,500 worth?

$1,500 worth?

[Mary Rhodes]
I think the seven we paid him

was overpaid.
He didn't have to end up

removing an entire pool.
He only had to remove...

That's your problem.

Just a second. I read that.

You said it's not a big pool,
it wasn't eight feet,

it was only 24 inches.

-He gave you a price
-Mm-hmm.

to level everything.

Nothing delineated,
nothing in a written contract.

The pool turns out to be two feet

instead of six feet, or two feet
instead of eight feet,

well, if he was the contractor,
and he came out,

and he looked at the pool, and he said,
oh, this is an eight-foot pool,

and it turned out it's a 12-foot pool,
he'd be stuck with eleven five.

Just like you're stuck with eleven five,
because it was shallower.

Now, you owe him $4,500,

unless you want to produce for me bills

that you have for rental equipment, etc.,
and I will absolutely deduct that

from the $4,500.

Just give me the bills
and the amount of equipment.

Don't... Say nothing, Mr. Attar.

Mr. Rhodes, did you rent a Bobcat?

-The one that I cleaned up the yard with?
-[Judge Judy] Yes.

-Uh, I, I rented a piece of equipment...
-Jump up!

[Michael Rhodes]
Yes.

And you know how they pick up metal?

No, I don't know that, sir.

I'm a television personality.

I don't know about people
driving down the street to pick up metal.

I've never had somebody
drive down the street

and say, "I'm looking for metal."

They don't even come down my street
and ask if I want sharp knives.

[Announcer]
Michael Attar has accused

his former clients,
Mary and Michael Rhodes,

of refusing to pay for demolition work.

Mary and Michael claim
he never finished the job

and stole their property.

Now, what did you rent?

-A skip loader.
-[Judge Judy] That's different

-from a Bobcat.
-Yes, that's correct.

-Smaller?
-I would say, bigger.

Bigger. And do you remember
how much it cost you?

Uhh... [exhales]

[Judge Judy]
Did you rent it from Home Depot?

No, no, no.
It's from a local rental yard.

I think it was in, um...

-All the equipment we rented
-in Ontario.

-was $1,300.
-Yeah.

-Find it.
-[Michael Rhodes] Yeah.

-[Mary Rhodes] I...
-Find the bill.

They didn't print it, so...
oh, my God...

How many days did you have it, Mr. Rhodes?

Four.

[Judge Judy]
I'm dismissing your counterclaim,

Mrs. Rhodes.
Do you want to know why?

Because I asked him a specific question,
and you answered.

-OK.
-[Judge Judy] Do you understand?

-Sure.
-[Judge Judy] You understand?

[Judge Judy]
That part of your counterclaim,

'cause you don't have it,
you can't find it,

So, so far, you owe him $4,500.

Not $8,600, but $4,500.

Now, do you have any proof

that Mr. Attar or someone from his team

stole copper piping or whatever piping

that you claim is missing?

Do you have any proof
that either Mr. Attar

or anyone under his authority
took property from you?

Yes. We have text messages
back and forth.

[Judge Judy]
OK, I'll read them.

OK. So, what you're referring to
with regard to the stolen property is,

You sent a picture, and there's
a little piece of pipe there,

one piece of pipe, and you say,

"Mike, did you or your guys
happen to grind off two metal poles

in concrete blocks?
The kids use those for volleyball nets."

And he says, "Oh, my God, no, sir,
but I am guessing the person

whom I gave my metal to, no problem,
Michael, please give..."

and I don't see the rest of this message.

Yeah. So, the... that was the beginning
of things we noticed that were missing.

Oh. I don't care.
If-If this is what you're talking about?

Yes, he's saying he let a metal person
onto our yard,

-[Judge Judy] OK.
-and they went and took everything

-that was metal.
-[Judge Judy] OK.

OK. Now, Mr. Attar...

-Yes, Your Honor?
-[Judge Judy] I want you to tell me

about the missing metal on this property.

She was standing right there,
and I had, there was a metal guy

driving down the street.

And you know, how they pick up metal?

No, I don't know that, sir.
I'm a television personality.

I don't know about people driving
down the street to pick up metal.

I've never had somebody
drive down the street and say,

"I'm looking for metal."

They don't even come down my street
and ask if I want sharp knives.

-Okay.
-[Judge Judy] Do you understand?

-Very much, Your Honor.
-[Judge Judy] Do you understand?

-Very much, Your Honor.
-OK. Who is this person...

This person was picking up metal.

And I asked her permission
that maybe he comes on the property...

-[Judge Judy] Just a second.
-Yes, ma'am.

Was this person
picking up metal for nothing?

-Yes.
-[Judge Judy] Just a second.

Yeah.

You're a business guy, Mr. Attar.

Somebody drives down the street
and says, you know,

"I see you doing construction.

Is there any metal around here
that you want me to dispose of?"

-Yes, ma'am, they do it a lot.
-[Judge Judy] Yes.

And then they look around...

this is what you're telling me...
they look around,

and they take the metal for nothing?

Yes, ma'am.
That's to be cheaper for me,

instead of load it on my trailer
and take to the recycling tow yard...

So, what metal did they take, sir?

-I assume you watched.
-Everything that I gave him.

-What did you give him?
-[Michael Attar] What was there.

Nobody went up there
and cut no poles, ma'am.

[Judge Judy]
Well, they sent you a picture

of a pole, sir.
And in response to the picture

of the pole, you said, "Oh, my God,

I'm guessing the person
whom I gave my metal to,

-[Michael Attar] I'm guessing.
-[Judge Judy] No problem,

and then you say later,
tell me what it is,

and I will either look high and low
to get it back,

or replace it.
That's what you say.

-Yes, I would replace it.
-[Judge Judy] That's what you say.

Yeah, I would replace it.

[Judge Judy]
Now, next question.

I need an itemized list
of what the value was of the metal taken.

I know there's a list of everything.

They're listed in there.

[Judge Judy]
What is this?

[Mary Rhodes]
Those are all the damages,

but the metal is listed
in there separately

of the items that are missing.

No, it isn't.
This is a whole bunch of other things

that you've prepared for this case.

[Mary Rhodes]
It's in there, underneath.

There's the horse feeder,

part of the corral was cut off...

[Judge Judy]
But this is something that you wrote

-yourself.
-[Mary Rhodes] Yes, you said

-an itemized list...
-[Judge Judy] This isn't a...

If they took six feet of pipe,
get me a bill from Home Depot

-for the replacement of that pipe.
-[Mary Rhodes] Oh.

-I have...
-[Judge Judy] All the bills

for the replacement of metal.

Not what you prepared
for this litigation.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood.
Itemized list.

[Judge Judy]
Did you take down a horse corral?

No, Your Honor, I did not
take down a horse corral.

-I had nothing to do...
-[Judge Judy] Horse corral, is that metal,

-or is it...
-It's made out of galvanized metal, yeah.

They cut pieces off of that
that were sticking up,

-to take, to recycle, I guess.
-[Judge Judy] Just a second.

-Was there a four-sided horse corral,
-[Mary Rhodes] Yes.

-that looked like this,
-[Mary Rhodes] Yes.

-that they took down...
-They cut pieces that were sticking up

above the horse corral,
attached to the horse corral.

[Judge Judy]
You're being petty. You're being petty.

$306, Ramm's price.

Galvanized wall-mounted horse feeder.

-Did you take a horse feeder?
-[Michael Attar] No, Your Honor,

-I got no...
-You owe Mr. Attar $4,500.

Judgment for the plaintiff.
Your counterclaim's dismissed.

-We're finished.
-[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

Well, he... his equipment broke,

and he wanted us
to rent the equipment for him.

The equipment died because...
things breaks down.

And then the next day, he calls
and says he can't finish it.

At that moment,
I didn't have a credit card

to my name.

And that's the honest truth.

So, we pretty much figured
that was job abandonment at that point.

Yeah, I'm gonna have a written contract
in the future.

-Don't hire him.
-Always hire a professional.

I could not believe
that your first question to him,

when he said that he'd been working
as a contractor

for 14 years was, and you've been working
all 14 of those years unlicensed?

-Oh, yeah. [chuckles]
-I was waiting for the question.

I was waiting at the edge of my seat,
and it never came.

-Different minds.
-[chuckling]

[Judge Judy]
Yeah. Should've slipped me a note.

-I should've.
-You should've slipped me a note.

No, that actually didn't cross my mind,
but that's a good question.

Oral contracts and no license.

And no license, but there's no question
he did the work.

-Yeah.
-He did the work,

and they were really dickering over
the, who was gonna absorb the cost

of the second Bobcat that they had to get,

which was really ridiculous.

If they had had another contractor
who came and completed the job,

-You would've noted that.
-[Judge Judy] I would've deducted it

from the $4,500 that they owed him.

[Judge Judy]
But absent that, the fact

he rented some sort of piece of equipment,
and came and cleaned up the property

-Yeah.
-[Judge Judy] was not important to me,

and the rest of their case was nonsense.

Next time, they won't employ somebody

-for $11,000
-Big job.

from a card from your windshield.

At Home Depot.

From, you know, from wherever,
and not say,

OK, listen, maybe I give him a shot.

Give me three
of your last references to call.

It's a good lesson to people out there,
doing work.

I don't understand that.
Well, anyway...

We're done.

[Announcer]
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