02x119 - Teen Party Flood Damage and Inheritance Damages

[bunniefuu]

You were having a party
for one of your kids.

- Yes.
- You were jumping

with full force on that sprinkler head.

You say she didn't properly
supervise your daughter.

Yes, ma'am.

She doesn't require her supervision.

The landlord is holding her responsible.

She's going to lose her housing.

[narrator] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Kara Simmons is suing
her former friend, Jenia Freeman,

for water damage
caused by Jenia's 14-year-old daughter.

[bailiff] Court in order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

- [bailiff] Hello, judge.
- [Judy] Hello.

Case 2180, Simmons versus Freeman.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

Ms. Simmons, how long
have you known Ms. Freeman?

I met her in the third grade,

um, I've seen her a few times since then.

And, you were having a party
for one of your kids?

Yes, my oldest son.

- How old is he?
- Twelve.

And it was a house party.
And, was she invited?

She was invited.
I invited everybody from my...

Facebook, my family and my friends.

- How many people did you have?
- There was about ten kids that came.

And one of those children
was the defendant's daughter, who was 14?

At the time, yes.

- [Judy] Is that you?
- Yes.

Could you stand up next to your mother?

Tell me your first name.

- Niyari.
- And,

did you come with one child
or more, Ms. Freeman?

- Two.
- Your daughter, and who else?

My 11-year-old son.

And at some point in the party,
the kids went outside.

Yeah. So, it was inside of a party room

and they were on the second floor
and they were able to go play

at the equipment
that's on the second floor.

Do you have photographs of the equipment?

I do on my phone. But I have a...
a picture of where...

the, um, her daughter was playing at.

Let me see what you have.

OK.

Come up here.

Is this where you were playing?

- Yeah.
- [Judy] On the grassy area?

More like, uh, so, it was three of us,
we were all sitting right here.

And I just so happened to be,
like, more inside of the planter.

I just wanna know whether you were
in the planter or outside on this grass.

- In here or out here?
- Both.

- So you were both?
- Yeah.

OK. Now, you can go back.

OK. Just for my information,
what were you doing in the planter?

Well, more like I was like on top of it,

not necessarily in it.
I wasn't trying to be in it, but...

my friends were sitting down
and they were talking and...

I didn't wanna sit,
so I was standing up on it.

Standing up on this is not my question.

Were you in the plant
or where the plants were?

- Yes.
- Yes.

Well, you knew you weren't supposed to be
in the plant or where the plants were.

I mean, you're an intelligent girl,
aren't you?

Yeah. So you knew
you weren't supposed to be in here.

- Yes.
- Yes.

[Judy] Right. OK. That's all.

Ditto. I mean, we're not talking
about a homicide here.

We're talking about being some place
you're not supposed to be.

In the planter.

- So it was just the three of you outside.
- Yes.

The two kids who were sitting on the edge

of this planter, where you're supposed
to sit, and you,

who were both on the edge
and inside the planter.

- Yes.
- OK.

Tell me what happened

with the head of the sprinkler system
while you were out there.

So what happened was, we were talking
and playing, and I was running around.

So I was going from the...

On top of it, trying to be tall,
running off the grass onto that steps,

onto the planter, stuff like that.

And somehow, I'm not really sure,
I don't really remember,

but the green thing that was in it,
I don't remember what made me notice it,

but I do remember that my foot
had made contact with it.

And I started to notice it
and I was looking at it, and I was like,

"Something's wrong here."
I'd seen the top

to the green thing and I felt like...

that may have been me who moved it.

So I thought to put it back.

And I was trying to put it back,
it was being mad difficult,

so I started jumping on top of it
to make sure it stayed on top.

[Judy] OK, let's get back to you.

At some point after this happened,
you were contacted

by the landlord of your facility.

Yes. But I didn't know
that she was outside doing that.

I don't care.
She's just acknowledged that she did it.

- Why would that bother you?
- It doesn't bother me.

Well, then it's not relevant.

She acknowledged
that that's what happened.

She was in the wrong place.

- She... broke something.
- [Kara] Mm-hmm.

[Judy] According to her,
she tried to fix it

by jumping on it.

Clearly, the wrong thing to do. So,
if there was damage as a result of that,

there's no question she's responsible.
Since she's a minor,

her mother's responsible.
It's that simple.

OK?

Do you have a video
of what happened that afternoon?

- Yes.
- OK. Can we see that, please?

- This came from security camera?
- Yes.

- OK. You were in the white shorts, right?
- Yes.

- What are you bending down to pick up?
- The top.

- You mean it's that heavy...
- [Niyari overlapping]

Shhh...

OK. I got it.
Well, you understand, Ms. Freeman,

if Ms. Simmons can establish

that something that your daughter did,

which she did on purpose,

knowing she wasn't supposed to be there,

your responsible for the damage she did

as a result of...
that's probably a sprinkler head.

- Do you understand that?
- Yes, ma'am.

OK. Because you say in your answer

that you left for a period of time

and she didn't properly supervise
your daughter.

- Yes, ma'am.
- Well, that's not true.

'Cause your daughter's 14 years old,

she's old enough
to be outside unsupervised.

There were younger children out there

who knew enough
not to jump around in the planter.

She was the only one
who jumped around the planter,

- she was the oldest one out there.
- OK.

- Do you understand?
- Yeah.

She was supposed to supervise them.
If there was a six-year-old who did that,

and she's outside, you would let
a 14-year-old take care of a six-year-old.

And she doesn't require her supervision.

And when she had a problem that day,

and clearly it was a problem,
with somebody else's property,

when the two of you
were home that evening,

- did she tell you she had had a problem?
- No, ma'am.

- She didn't tell you anything about it?
- No.

- That she broke something?
- No, ma'am.

OK. When did she finally tell you
she broke something?

When Kara contacted me
that the apartments were contacting her,

then I asked her about it,
and she told me what she told you.

Great.

Can I see the letter
from the complex, please?

- Do you know how many children she has?
- She has three children.

So she's dispossessed from her apartment.
That's four people who are homeless.

She's gonna lose this housing, unless...

she pays the damage
that your daughter caused.

That doesn't seem reasonable,
for her to lose her housing, does it?

[narrator] And later today...

There's no question in my mind
that you left this mess

because she was quadrupling your rent.

But, you were annoyed...

you're still not allowed
to leave a place like this.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Kara Simmons claims
her former friend, Jenia Freeman,

owes for water damage caused
by Jenia's 14-year-old daughter.

So, what this says...

is that they looked at this video,
'cause they tried to determine

what caused the leak,

in a "commercial business
operating in the building."

"The leak caused substantial damage.
$9,927,"

to be exact, as a result.

'Cause this was a water pipe,
and it was broken.

OK. And it tells her that
unless they get these $9,927,

she's going to lose her housing.

- Right?
- Yes.

[Judy's hand thudding] Your fault.

What can I tell you?

Don't let your mother answer,
I'm asking you. What's the issue?

You caused the damage.
Whether you accidentally hit

that pipe initially,
you knew you shouldn't have been there.

And it's clear
that whatever you were doing,

you were jumping with full force,
with both feet

on that pipe.

That's clear. You tried to pick it up.

You leaned over at least twice
to try to pick it up.

And then put it down,
and then stomped on it.

Clearly, you weren't supposed to be there.

The landlord is holding her responsible
because, under the terms of her lease,

she's responsible for any damage
caused by not only

a member of her household,
but an invited guest.

- Do you understand?
- Yes.

OK. So, sometimes,
if you're acting stupid,

nothing happens. Sometimes,
if you're acting stupid,

a lot of things happen.

Do you know how many children she has?

- She has three children.
- [Judy] They all live at home?

- They are with her, yes.
- Yeah. So,

if she's dispossessed from her apartment,

that's four people who are homeless.

She's gonna lose this housing unless...

she pays the damage
that your daughter caused.

That doesn't seem reasonable,

- for her to lose her housing, does it?
- No, ma'am.

Judgment for the plaintiff,
for the amount of 10 thousand dollars.

We're finished. Thank you very much.

[bailiff] This court is adjourned.

The truth is, is that you
don't host a party and you don't...

watch the children
that are on your property.

They're teenagers.
They're old enough to be outside alone.

All of those children were in the planter
at some point. But it's fine.

There were no other children
in the planter.

I would think that there should've been
something for like

flood, fire, or earthquake damage
in place, so... I don't know.

But she should take responsibility
for her daughter, that's...

not my responsibility.

[Judy] Relatively simple.

You know? I think
that there is an age, Sarah,

where, even under these circumstances,

- a child can be out unsupervised.
- Mm-hmm.

Certainly, the defendant's defense
and her...

answer, said that her daughter was out
unsupervised because she left

the party for something
for a short period of time.

Well, there's no issue.
They're a 14-year-old.

Doesn't need to be constantly supervised.

You usually use
a 14-year-old to babysit...

- to supervise other young children.
- [Sarah] ...to supervise others.

I do think it was an accident.

I think that she knew she probably
wasn't supposed to be in the planter.

But once we saw the video...

It was playful. They were playing
a ball from up high,

down low. I understood
the situation after we saw it.

You also understood that the stomping
full force as a 14-year-old

could do some real damage.
Especially inside a planter

that's supposed to be...

- A planter... area...
- ...a delicate, untouched area.

So I understood, I think
the defendants were in a tough position.

They knew it was their fault.

I appreciated
that they took responsibility.

- Well, sort of. The daughter did.
- For... did...

The daughter did.
I'm not so sure about the mother, but...

I think the mother saw the big price tag
attached to the responsibility

- and maybe tried to backtrack a little.
- Right. Right.

But, yeah. I mean, accidents...
accidents happen.

But there are big consequences

- for... I...
- She learned that lesson,

- this young woman today.
- I hope that they did.

Case 2185, Francis versus Morris.

All parties please step forward.

[narrator] Danielle and Michael Francis
are suing their former tenant,

Anthony Morris, for property damage
and loss of income.

- Ms. Francis?
- Yes, ma'am.

- Who is this?
- This is my husband.

Well, this has to do
with the ownership of a home.

Do you both own the home or just,
did you inherit the home?

It doesn't have to do
with ownership of the home,

it's a case about property damage.

- I understand that.
- Yes, ma'am.

- But somebody owns the home.
- I do.

- Who owns the home, is the question.
- I do.

- Not your husband.
- Correct.

Have a seat.

Let's not confuse it.

Ms. Francis...

- ...you had a brother.
- Yes, ma'am.

- Whose name was?
- Julius.

- How old was he?
- My brother was 38.

- And your brother owned the home.
- Yes.

How long did your brother own this home?

He just purchased the home in 2017.

Do you know how much he paid for it?

'Bout $123,000.

- Was there a mortgage on the house?
- Yes, ma'am.

How much is left on the mortgage?

Hundred and ten thousand now.

[Judy] Do you know how much it's worth?

- Yes, ma'am.
- How much?

It's worth 213,000 now.

- So almost double.
- Yes, ma'am.

Now,
your brother passed away when?

June of 2020.

- From what?
- Uh, pancreatic cancer.

So it was relatively fast.

Yes, it was. He was
actually diagnosed in, uh... 2019.

So in early 2019 I became his caregiver.

Taking him back and forth to the doctor
and chemo visits, as well as my husband.

OK. Now,

- Mr. Morris.
- Yes, ma'am.

You had been a roommate of Julius.

- That is correct.
- For how long?

I moved into the house on...

October 19, 2019.

- And you paid rent?
- Yes, ma'am.

Now, when Julius got sick,
according to what I read,

you never moved
into the house with Julius,

you just took him
to where he needed to be.

Is that correct?
You lived with your husband?

- Yes, ma'am.
- You lived with your husband,

and you came as needed to take
your brother to medical appointments, etc.

- You lived in the house with him.
- Correct.

- Is that correct?
- Partially.

What's not partially?

At the end of my brother's illness
I moved in with him, because...

- How much before?
- Um, I would say...

March of 2020.

So for a couple of months

towards the end, you moved in.
But, during the course of the year,

you lived with your husband,

- and you lived in the house with Julius.
- Yes, ma'am.

And, when you were living
in the house with Julius,

did you give any assistance to him?

- In any way?
- Uh, yes, ma'am.

I took him to the hospital

several times. I cooked for him,
and I pretty much did the chores

and ran errands for him.

Did you know him
before you moved into the house?

I did not.

After Julius passed away,

- you inherited the house.
- Yes, ma'am.

- Did he have a will?
- Yes, ma'am.

And the will specifically
gave you the house?

- Yes, ma'am.
- And you and the defendant

determined that he would remain a tenant

in June of 2020, is that correct?

That's correct. Yes, ma'am.

There came a time
when you moved out, Mr. Morris.

Yes, that's correct.

And, what month and year did you move out?

June... 1st, I believe, uh,

- 20... 22. Correct.
- [Judy] 22.

And what was the reason
that you moved out?

I moved out because the rent
had gone up for a second time.

What was it when you were living
with Julius?

Six hundred and fifty dollars.

[Judy] And then, when Ms. Francis
inherited the house,

- did she modify the rent?
- She did.

In what month?

I'm not specifically, uh,
I can't answer that question.

What did she raise the rent to?

Approximately... $1,200.

- Was that the first increase?
- That was. Correct.

How long did that increase stay in place?

That had to be for a year,
that was the term of that lease.

And what happened after the year?

- She raised the rent again.
- To what?

Well, that's when I...
didn't accept that lease, uh...

- [Judy] What did she ask?
- 1,575.

- She wanted 1,575?
- Yes, ma'am.

And you determined that that
was too much rent for you.

- I did.
- So,

- you gave notice you were leaving.
- I did.

She's gonna show me what she considers

$5,000 worth of damage
to the house.

- I wanna see it.
- Yes, ma'am.

Now I want you to show me
what damage you are ascribing to him

- from the house.
- OK.

- I have the pictures here, your Honor.
- Okey-dokey.

[narrator] Danielle and Michael Francis

claim their former tenant, Anthony Morris,

damaged their property
while renting from them.

When did you give notice you were leaving?

Thirty days before June 1st.

OK. And when was the lease up?

June 1st, it would expire.

Now, after your brother passed away
and you inherited the house

did you maintain the same rent
that he was paying to your brother?

- No, ma'am.
- Cause they... OK.

So, when did you raise his rent
and to what amount?

I raised the rent in November...

- OK.
- ...of 2021.

- To what?
- To 1,495.

That was the first time
your raised his rent.

- Yes, ma'am.
- OK.

And you knew what his rent was
when he was living with your brother.

Correct.

And how much was his rent
when he was living with your brother?

- It was 625.
- So, in fact,

you increased his rent a little over 200%.

Yes, ma'am, your Honor.
Can I explain the reason to that?

- No. It's irrelevant what the reason was.
- OK.

He was paying rent of six and a quarter,
you raised it to fifteen hundred.

Now, at the end of that term,
were you going to raise his rent again?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Yes. To what?

It was gonna be
a 80 dollar increase, to 1,575.

Now, during that two-month period
that you lived in the house,

you had no issue with regard to the way
Mr. Morris maintained the house,

while you were living there
with your brother.

And that fact is buttressed by the fact
that you maintained him as a tenant.

- Right?
- Correct.

OK. So you saw the way
that he maintained the house,

and having seen that,
you continued him as a tenant.

Correct.

And you raised his rent substantially,
and he paid that rent.

Correct.

And he paid that rent sufficiently so that
you were prepared to re-rent him

the house, but you just wanted
a little more money.

- Correct.
- Correct.

Now, now he moves out on June 1st

- of this year.
- Mm-hmm.

And now you say that he caused

almost $5,000 worth of damage.

And, because he had damaged,

you lost income,
'cause you couldn't rerent the house.

- Correct.
- He... you moved out in...

- June of 2020?
- Yes, ma'am.

You have a new tenant in the house.

Yes, ma'am. I do now.

And how much rent is she paying?

She is paying 2,200 a month.

And when did her lease start?

Her lease started in September.

So, uh, your premises was not rented

- for two months.
- Correct.

And when it was rented,
from the two-year period of time

between your brother's death
and your re-renting the house,

the rent went from six and a quarter

- to 2,200.
- Yes, ma'am.

Doesn't sound
like you're losing any money.

- Well, there's a... OK.
- Just a second.

Doesn't sound
like you're losing any money.

So I'm not interested
in the loss of income that you had,

you had no loss of income.

Anybody who's leasing the house
can't rent from June 1st.

House has to be painted,
normal wear and tear,

you may have to redo carpeting.
That's the normal wear and tear.

Had to be done, cause that's what you do
when you wanna get $2,200 rent

from somebody for a house.

You have to paint it up,
you have to freshen it up,

you have to do all of those things.

So what I want to see from you
are photographs

of what... other than cleaning
out the house,

which Mr. Morris acknowledges,

for whatever reason,
there was stuff left in the house.

- Correct, sir?
- Yes, ma'am.

- That belonged to you.
- Yes, ma'am.

- And that you didn't clean out.
- I did not.

Now, you left on June 1st.

And I'm telling her
that she's gonna show me

what she considers $5,000
worth of damage to the house.

- I wanna see it.
- Yes, ma'am.

You agree that you left
some stuff in the house.

She probably has a bill
for cleaning out some of that stuff

that she's entitled to.

Now I want you to show me what damage
you are describing to him from the house.

OK.

- I have the pictures here, your Honor.
- Okey-dokey.

Um, also, can I present an evidence?

What the room that the defendant
rented out, what it looked like

prior to the damages?

No. I don't see any damages, I see mess.

There's pictures in there, your Honor.

- I'm looking.
- Just, uh...

The carpet was damaged very badly.

He messed up my mattress
in my second bedroom.

The doors was damaged.
He actually changed the lock

on the second bedroom door
and the master room bedroom door

- without my... uh...
- Do you see all this stuff?

- Shhh... Just a second.
- Yes, ma'am.

- This is all your junk, right?
- Yes, ma'am.

OK. So you should have a substantial bill

- for cleaning and getting rid of this.
- Yes.

I'd like to see it.

Here you go.

[Judy] So you paid $760.

to clean out the house,
make it move-in clean.

- Yes, ma'am.
- That's what you're entitled to,

Ms. Francis.

Seven hundred and sixty dollars.
You can't leave a place like that.

Also, your Honor, um,
I had other damages as well.

- My microwave was broken.
- I don't know who broke that.

- And you don't know. I don't. Who knows.
- It was working when he was there.

May have been working,
may have been not working.

Everything was in top-notch condition.
From appliances,

to flooring, when Mr. Morris
was at the house.

So he broke my microwave.

- Fix it.
- I have fixed it

and I'm asking for the cost
of a replacement for a new one.

- No, way.
- Why not?

Because I'm not convinced, madam,
that somebody who, according to you,

helped you with your brother,
was there and supportive,

for the last year of his life...

He certainly left a mess.

- Which you're not supposed to do, sir.
- I understand.

You're not supposed to leave a mess.

- And this is clearly a mess. And...
- Mm-hmm.

...there's no question in my mind
that you left this mess

because she was quadrupling your rent.

But to her, this is a business.

And she's not living there
with her husband,

this has now become a business investment.

- Yeah.
- [Judy] Her investment

increased in value.
It was really Julius' investment,

but it increased in real estate value.

And instead of seeing $600 a month,
which probably doesn't cover

the taxes and mortgage,
she now has a profit.

Because she's now getting
$2,200 a month from somebody

and that covers, of course, her mortgage

and whatever taxes they are.

You were annoyed.

You're still not allowed
to leave a place like this.

Seven hundred and sixty dollars.
Judgment for the plaintiff.

- We're done.
- This court is adjourned.

It's kinda upsetting,
because the defendant really

trashed my brother's house, given that...

uh, we considered him like family.

I was like family with him, I took care
of the brother for a long period of time.

I wouldn't have left the house like that.

And for him to turn around and do this,
and cause all those damages

and then get off scot-free...
is... is heartbreaking.

Number one, there were no damages.

You know what? Um...

Nothing good ever comes
to someone who does people like this.

Money does change people,
and so, you have to be careful.

Be careful who you rent to.

So I just did some research on the home
while we were out there,

and I found some
interesting information

just based on some of
the plaintiff's claims.

So I did find that the house
was sold to the brother in 2017

for 123,000.

But the plaintiff listed the home
for rent for the first time

July 22nd for $2,300.

Listed for rent,
when she became the owner.

And he moved out in June.

- Beginning of June.
- In June.

So her claim for lost income
doesn't really make sense

because she had it listed,
on Zillow, at least.

I'm not sure. It could've been listed
before then, that's just when Zillow

- picked up on it. I'm not sure...
- Picked it up.

...how their algorithms work, but...

She was unable to get the 2,300,

presumably, because
she reduced it to 2,200 dollars

in August of 2022.

And then it was removed later in August
at that 2,200 dollar mark.

- Presumably, whoever, the new tenant...
- Who currently...

...that she now has.

- So she had no real lost income.
- Exactly.

She had the month of maybe July, but,
if you have a tenant moving out June 1st,

you give yourself two-weeks notice
as a landlord anyway

to make the necessary painting...

- Sometimes it takes a little bit...
- Exactly,

and you don't find the tenant right away.
So, based on that, I...

wouldn't have given her any lost...

- Any lost income.
- ...income.

From the pro... He left the house a mess.

He did. He left boxes, he acknowledged it.

He left the place a mess.
He left food in the refrigerator.

And there's no way in one day

- which he says he was gonna...
- He was gonna move all that himself.

move all that stuff out. He was annoyed.

Then you can't leave stuff...

- True.
- ...that way.

- So she got her clean-up bill.
- Yeah.

- All she was entitled to.
- Fair.

[narrator] Want justice?