03x102 - Miss Represented and Car Wars: Breakup Edition

[bunniefuu]

This says another female student
is looking for a roommate.

He's misrepresented in his ad.

Correct. So he asked me
to come over for a tour that night.

-He asked if I could show him my buttocks.
-Everything she did was consensual.

[Lukwesa]
And then...

-He asked if I could kiss him.
-She got me evicted.

-Good.
-[announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[theme song]

Lukwesa Morin is suing
her former landlord, Kagan Tatli,

for a security deposit, rent payments,
and sexual harassment.

[Kevin]
Court come to order. All rise.

-[courtroom settles]
-Have a seat, please.

Judge, Case 3145, Morin versus Tatli.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

[Judy] Ms. Morin, you rented a room
allegedly from the defendant.

You never moved in, and there were reasons
that you say you never moved in,

and you want your money back actually for
your rent, and whatever deposit you made.

The rest of it is for
misrepresentation and harassment,

-a bunch of stuff.
-Correct.

[Judy] Tell me when you rented this room
from him and how you found it.

So in October of 2023,

I was looking for another apartment
because my lease was coming to an end.

-So I came across this ad on Craigslist.
-[Judy] May I see it, please?

[Lukwesa] And it was a two bedroom,
two bathroom apartment.

[Judy]
Hold on.

-Did you place this ad, sir?
-Yes, I did.

This says female student
looking for a female roommate.

My ex-girlfriend, when I had her at my
place, she didn't want a guy roommate.

So she posted the ad when she was there.

Well, that's misrepresenting what was
there. You were living in the apartment?

-I was there, not really...
-[Judy makes sound]

-[courtroom laughs]
-Okay.

-[Judy] Were you living in the apartment?
-Yes.

[Judy] So, this is a misrepresentation of
what was supposed to be a female roommate.

So you went and you met him?

-[Lukwesa] Correct. So...
-Who did you think he was?

He said that he was the landlord
according to this lease agreement.

And that's how he
represented himself going forward.

[Judy] When you went to look at...
did you look in the closets?

No, he said that the woman
living there was his girlfriend

and that he would have to give me
the tour because she's not there.

[Judy]
Oh, so he gave you a whole excuse?

-[Lukwesa] Right.
-[Judy] Okay. Can I see the lease, please?

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Okay, so you're the one
who signed this thing as the landlord?

-Right.
-[Judy] Another misrepresentation,

you are not the landlord.

Let me understand this, you had been
living there with your girlfriend?

-Correct.
-[Judy] You had a fight with her?

-Yes, we did.
-[Judy] And she left.

Did she leave to go home to her parents
or did she go someplace else?

-She went home for a little bit.
-How long did she stay at her parents?

-[Kagan] She was there for like two weeks.
-[Judy] Does your girlfriend work?

-Uh, no. She... no.
-[Judy] "Uh" is not an answer.

-I mean, I don't know...
-[Judy] Does your girlfriend work?

...what she's doing right now, she's my ex.
But at the moment, she wasn't working.

-Who was supporting her?
-Her parents and me.

Oh, just a second, her parents and you.
And what was the rent on the apartment?



-[Judy] 2,480.
-Yes.

And how much of the 2,480
were her parents paying?

-Nothing.
-[Judy] Nothing.

-So you were paying the entire rent?
-Exactly.

[Judy]
What was she paying?

She wasn't paying anything.
She was just living with me.

-And you were covering all the expenses?
-Yes.

[Judy] Well, then why did you want
some stranger moving into the apartment?

Do you understand where I'm going?
It doesn't make sense to me, sir.

If you were paying for all the expenses

and your girlfriend,
because you had an argument, moved out,

why you would want
somebody else in there to pay rent

-when you had been paying it all yourself?
-Because my business was slow at the time

and I needed someone else
to take the room.

-[Judy] There you go.
-Right.

-So you needed money, you have...
-[Kagan] Right.

-[Judy] Is she still your girlfriend?
-No.

But she moved back in again after she was...

well, when she was going to move in, she
saw your girlfriend there and you there.

And I assume that when you saw them there,
they weren't in the kitchen.

Where were they? In what room?

Oh, are you asking
if I saw him and his girlfriend?

-[Judy] Yes.
-I had never met the girlfriend.

Was there any reason that you
thought that he had a girlfriend

-who was moving back into the apartment?
-We had talked over WhatsApp

and he explained that they had
a rough patch that they were going through

but that she was coming back

and that, you know, when I had
moved there that she would be there

-and that he would introduce me to her.
-[Judy] Okay.

So, on what day
were you supposed to move in?

-I was supposed to move in November 9th.
-And what was the rent you agreed on?

-I could read it here but you can tell me.
-It says 1,300 but he said it was 1,400.

Okay. Was the rent 1,300 or 1,400?



So, the entire thing together,

-she was supposed to give you $1,400?
-1,400, yes. Correct.

So tell me what happened
that made you uncomfortable.

You gave him the money, you were moving
your things in. Tell me what happened.

So he asked me to come over
for a tour that night

which I went over to see what it was like.
And then I really liked the place,

I mean the amenities for that price
in San Diego, it's a pretty good deal.

And so he asked, you know,
"If you want it, it's yours.

You know, I've had a lot
of other applicants apply for this

but I like, you know,
I like your energy the most

and I feel comfortable
having you move in, you know."

But what difference it make?
He's the landlord.

-Right. So I was just...
-[Judy] He likes...

...I was just really excited
to be living there

and then that I was the one
he chose to live there,

out of his other applicants that
he said he had. And so during the tour,

he showed me just the main common areas,
the common room areas,

and then my room, my bathroom.

And then, he asked if I wanted
to go out later that night

that his friend would be there
to kind of like celebrate me moving in

as well as talk about, you know,
more about the rental

and what my other roommate
was like because I asked him,

you know, "What is she like?
What does she do? How old is she?"

I wanted, you know, information on her.

And he said, "Oh, you would love her.
She's very sweet." So I trusted that, and...

-[Judy] I don't know why.
-Yeah. [chuckles]

So later on, we met at Nolita Hall
and we had like a couple drinks.

His friend didn't show up
so it ended up just being him and I there.

And then, he asked if I wanted
to go back to the apartment

to further talk about
the arrangement and stuff like that.

And I agreed to that.

At the apartment, he had showed me
he had, like, drugs in one of the drawers.

-[Judy] What kind of drugs?
-[Lukwesa] Weed and ecstasy.

And then... he asked if I could kiss him
and... that made me uncomfortable.

He asked if I could show him my buttocks,
that made me uncomfortable.

-And so the next morning, I told him, I...
-[Judy] What do you mean the next morning?

I went from the evening coming in
from drinks to the next morning.

-What happened at night?
-It was basically playing music videos

and then discussing the move in,
when I would be moving in...

[Judy]
Well, that's a long discussion.

-[Lukwesa] ...living there.
-So you spent the whole night there?

No. What ended up happening
is I stayed a couple hours

because I had a few drinks at Nolita Hall

and I didn't wanna drive home
with those drinks in my system.

-Okay.
-[Lukwesa] So I waited a couple hours

-and then I left.
-[Judy] Okay.

[theme music]

[Kagan] And she said,
"Look, I lost so much weight,

I used to have better attributes."
She goes, "Look, I'll show you."

She got up and, like,
she showed me her body,

and we just spent the rest of the night
and nothing happened. I didn't...

[Judy]
What did you apologize for?

You said, "I apologize
for that a million times."

[announcer]
And later today...

While you were canoodling together,
you realized it was a loan.

Then you got into big arguments,
you were taking her off the insurance,

you were on the phone with her, and she
just said, "You can keep the $3,000?"

-Yes, ma'am.
-Uh-uh. It doesn't make sense to me.

[theme music]

[announcer] Lukwesa Morin
claims her former landlord, Kagan Tatli,

owes for a security deposit and rent after
Kagan misrepresented the living situation.

-Now, about what time did you leave?
-This would've been about 1:30.

-[Judy] Okay.
-1:30 or 2:00.

-Then what happened?
-[Lukwesa] Then the next morning,

I remember messaging him,
he was like, "How are you feeling?"

And he apologized. I have that in
text as well if you wanna see that.

-I would.
-[Lukwesa] I have that chat communication.

He said it was a blur and that it wouldn't
happen again. And... one second.

[Judy]
Okay. You remember writing to her,

"What happened last night was just
a big blur. I'm sober 99% of the time,

but I'd never bother you
or make you feel uncomfortable.

-I apologize for that a million times"?
-Yes, Your Honor.

Look, so everything she did
was consensual.

She was showing me her music videos
that she was filming in Maryland.

And then she's like,
"Oh, my God, like, I lost..."

[Judy]
What did you apologize for?

-I will get to that. So she...
-Oh, no, no, get to that now.

-I was... I... but when she moved in...
-[courtroom laughs]

...I told her that we were not gonna
engage in any activities like that.

Like after she moved in.
So we were intoxicated.

It was... she willingly took everything that
she took that night. She drank willingly.

And it was also her idea to come
back to my place to end the night.

And she actually did
spend the night there. That's a lie.

She did not leave until the morning.
She was there all night long.

And she even called her mom next to me.

She was all jolly, happy on drugs
and she was having a good time.

And then she showed me her music
videos that she filmed in Maryland

and she said,
"Look, I lost so much weight,

I used to have better attributes."

And I'm like, "You still look great."
She goes, "Look, I'll show you."

She got up and like,
she showed me her body

and I was like,
"Oh, that's, you know, that's nice."

I was like, "It's okay." Whatever.
And then she sat back down.

And we just spent the rest of the night
and nothing happened.

[Judy]
What did you apologize for?

-[Kagan] I apologized...
-You said,

"I apologize for that a million times."

Because I said that,
"It's not... it's not appropriate,

if you're gonna live with me
and my girlfriend's gonna be around,

what we did was not appropriate.
It will never happen again."

She said,
"I appreciate you saying that to me.

I feel more comfortable now."
So that's what happened.

[Judy] She says to you,

"As long as we can keep things cordial and
on friends terms, I'm happy to move in.

Just didn't want you to go into something
where there were any expectations of me."

And you respond,

"I can't express how grateful I am
to have you move in as a roommate.

What happened last night was just
a big blur. I'm sober 99% of the time.

I'd never bother you
or make you feel uncomfortable.

I apologize for that a million times."

-[Kagan] Yes.
-Yes. Okay. And she never moved in?

No. But that wasn't the reason
why she never moved in.

-I don't think so.
-[Judy] Oh, okay.

Well, why don't you tell me
why you think she didn't move in?

Your Honor, I cannot answer that.

-She's the only one that can answer that.
-[Judy] No, no, no. You said

-I don't think that that's the reason.
-[Kagan] I'm not sure.

She did move in for one day

-and then she moved out the next day.
-[Judy] Just a minute.

You mean the night she stayed over
when you went for some...

[Kagan] No, November 13th she came in
and me and my girlfriend... ex-girlfriend,

were being intimate in the room,
and I thought that,

-"Oh, my God, maybe she heard..." Right.
-[Judy] Oh, well, that's... just a second.

Just a second.
That's what I asked her before...

-[Kagan] Right.
-...when I facetiously said,

"Were they in the kitchen?"

[Kagan] Your Honor, she didn't wanna
meet her. We knocked at her door.

-She said, "Not right now."
-[Judy] Who cares when...

She didn't even come out.

-Who cares?
-[Kagan] So my ex was like,

"Is she that rude?"
I'm like, "She's actually a nice girl."

[Judy]
You have to understand something, sir.

-Yes.
-Your ad misrepresented

what you were selling.

Your ad represented that she was
moving in with a female roommate.

Not you and your girlfriend,
just the girlfriend.

That's a material misrepresentation
of what you were selling.

-Now, did you take her money?
-Your Honor, yes,

-but she was extremely happy.
-[Judy] Yes. You have to give it...

you have to give it back.

You misrepresented to the buyer
what she was buying.

She was buying one room and a bathroom
in a lovely two-bedroom apartment

with a female student roommate,

and what she was getting
were you, and your girlfriend, and her.

-That's what she was getting.
-Your Honor, she got me evicted.

-She went to the leasing office and...
-Good! Great!

-Now, how much did you pay him?
-In total, $1,603.

$1,603...

-[Lukwesa] Yes.
-...is exactly what you get back.

Judgment for the plaintiff.
We're finished.

-Thank you very much.
-Thank you.

-[Kevin] This court is adjourned.
-[theme music]

I think she was after money
or she was after this.

I don't know. Maybe she had
this whole thing planned out.

Be extremely careful.
I mean, when you see an ad like that,

"Female occupant looking
for another female roommate."

-Make sure you meet her.
-I did not take advantage of her.

I mean, that was my error,
but I had no reason...

I just... I went in too trusting about it.

I would just be very cautious
because those scams do exist.

Clearest case of misrepresentation,
I think, we've seen thus far.

Easy. She had the original ad that she saw

that enticed her to then go
and meet with the landlord.

And, clearly, he was not
a young female student.

And so that's a pretty material part

of why she was looking
at that particular apartment,

and I think you made the right call. You
gave her back exactly what she paid him,

and I think that's what she's entitled to,
based on the misrepresentation

-that he did.
-[Judy] Yeah. It made it easy

-'cause it was in writing.
-Yeah.

'Cause you can understand
somebody moving in with a female,

-even sight unseen.
-[Sarah] Mhm.

Female student, then she met him,
and certainly he looks reasonable,

-and it was explained who it was.
-Mhm.

-[Judy] It was his girlfriend.
-Yeah.

Didn't realize that they
were a couple moving in.

That's a whole different...

-and so it made...
-Signed up for something different.

Right. Yeah. You're absolutely right.
It was an easy call.

Case number 3066, Whitley versus Forney.
All parties please come forward.

[announcer] Diamond Whitley
is suing her ex-boyfriend, Gavin Forney,

-for a car downpayment and an as*ault.
-Ms. Whitley, you and the defendant

were involved in a relationship
for a period of time.

It is your claim that you loaned him money
for a downpayment on a car.

And you're no longer a couple,
you want the money back.

-that you put down on the car.
-Yeah.

And then you have an allegation of as*ault

that he allegedly committed
about a year ago.

So you'll tell me about what happened,

'cause I assume that
that was the end of your relationship.

-Yes.
-[Judy] Okay.

[theme music]

I was standing up.
Pushed me onto the couch.

Put his hands over my mouth and nose.

I couldn't breathe
for about 30 to 40 seconds.

He let go.
And I drove to the security post.

But by the time the police came,
he had already been out of my home,

off somewhere else.

[theme music]

[announcer] Diamond Whitley
claims her ex-boyfriend, Gavin Forney,

owes for a car downpayment and says
Gavin assaulted her during a fight.

-Now, did you live together?
-Briefly.

-[Judy] From when to when?
-From March 2022 to April of 2022,

-when the as*ault happened.
-[Judy] Okay.

During what part of what month did you
loan him money for a downpayment on a car?

It was March 22nd, 2022.

Tell me the circumstances
surrounding making that loan?

So we were using one car, my car, and the...

For how long? For a week,
two weeks, three weeks?

I don't remember exactly
the amount of time.

How long were you using the same car, sir?

-[Gavin] About four months.
-[Judy] How long did you live together?

She said you lived together
for two months.

We lived together for two months,

but she was staying with me
at my brother's house

prior to me moving into her place.

-And sharing one car?
-[Gavin] Yes, ma'am.

-[Judy] Whose car?
-Her car.

-You didn't have a car?
-No, ma'am.

And then you moved in together

-and you got a car?
-[Gavin] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] How much was
the downpayment on the car?

-Roughly four grand.
-Who put down the downpayment?

She put a portion of the downpayment.

-[Judy] What portion?
-[Gavin] Three grand.

-[Judy] Now, you have the car?
-Yes, ma'am.

-[Judy] Now, you're no longer a couple?
-No, ma'am.

And what about the downpayment?

She verbally told me
that I could keep the downpayment.

[Judy] Tell me when she told you
that you could keep the downpayment?

After I moved out.

[Judy] Okay. So before you moved out,
when you were living together,

sleeping together, eating together,
vacationing together,

-then, you knew it was a loan?
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] After you moved out
and are no longer living together,

sleeping together, dining together,
vacationing together,

then she said, "Forget about it.
You don't owe me any money?"

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Tell me about that.

I can't remember exactly what she said,

but she was saying that she didn't want
any more problems between us

and that I could keep the 3,000
for the downpayment.

-Did she say that over the phone?
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Tell me about the phone call.
Who called whom?

-I believe I called her.
-[Judy] What did you call her for?

[Gavin] 'Cause, at the time,
I had her on my insurance.

And when we got in the relationship,
she got in a car accident.

So after the relationship,
I didn't wanna keep her on the insurance

just in case she would get in another car
accident. So we were talking about that.

And then I did tell her
that I was taking her off the insurance,

and it was supposed to be that.
And then we got in a big argument

and she basically told me that I can
keep the 3,000 for the downpayment.

[Judy] That sounds ridiculous.
You mean you got into a...

[wheezes] While you were canoodling
together, you realized it was a loan.

Then you got into big arguments,

you were taking her off the insurance,
you were on the phone with her,

and she just said to you,
"You can keep the $3,000?"

-Yes, ma'am.
-Uh-uh. Doesn't make sense to me.

Anyway, if she said it,
she didn't mean it, 'cause you're here.

And, originally,
you knew it was a loan, right?

-[Gavin] Yes, ma'am.
-And it's your car.

-It's now in your name?
-Yes, ma'am.

-[Judy] Alone?
-[Gavin] Yes, ma'am.

Good. Okay.

Ms. Whitley, you wanna
tell me about this as*ault?

-When it happened?
-[Diamond] Yes.

[Judy] 'Cause I see that some
of the facts have changed a little bit.

There's a little confusion
about specific details,

but what happened is on
the night-slash-morning

of April 14th to April 15th,

we had gotten into an argument
because of infidelity reasons.

And I had told him that I did not want to
sleep in the same room or same bed as him.

And he wasn't very fond of that idea,
so he got mad and went out to his car.

I thought that he was gonna
be gone the whole entire night.

He wasn't. He came back in
and he tried to sleep in the bed with me.

I still did not wanna sleep
in the same bed as him, so I got up.

I went to the living room.
He followed behind me.

Was demanding that I go back into
the room, go back into the room.

I said, "No, no, no." He got very mad.
I was standing up.

Pushed me onto the couch.
Put his hands over my mouth and nose.

I couldn't breathe
for about 30 to 40 seconds.

He let go and he told me, "Are you going
to get back into the room now?"

I said, "Yes, I'm gonna
go back into the room."

Instead I ran out the door to my car.

I didn't have my glasses.
I didn't have anything but my keys.

And I drove to the security post
at my apartment complex.

And they dispatched police for me,
but by the time the police came,

he had already been out of my home,
in his car, off somewhere else.

So not excusing anybody putting
their hands on anybody else

for anything other than fondness,

what he did was put his hands over
your nose and your mouth like this

for about 30 seconds?

-[Diamond] Yeah.
-[Judy] Is that what happened?

It was with the intent
of having me not breathe.

Okay. Anything else? No? Good.

Judgment for the plaintiff for the amount
of $3,000. We're finished. Thank you.

-[Kevin] This court is adjourned.
-[theme music]

It was basically just over the $3,000
for the downpayment of the car.

You look in the phone and you find the
messages and it speaks for themselves.

She told me I could keep it
and she didn't... you know,

basically, now it shows
that I'm not supposed to keep it.

So I definitely understand.

You can't really refute evidence
like that, so... [chuckles]

-Time to part ways.
-Don't loan money. [chuckles]

[Sarah] I think you hit the nail
on the head out there

with when you were living together

and would sort of be under
the impression that it was a gift

because it's your loved one and you're
in this healthy, happy relationship,

and you gave me money for a car
and now we don't have to share a car.

I could see how that would be a gift.
But he seemed to have seen it in reverse,

that once he moved out

and the relationship, you know,
degraded, at that point, it was a gift?

-It just didn't make sense.
-Yeah. I didn't go through the spiel.

I've been through it so many times.
Don't co-sign a loan for anybody.

Not a child, not a mate.
But they lived together for two months.

-Yeah.
-Two months.

Three grand is a lot
for a two-month, you know, trial.

Yeah. You know, she's a working lady,
it's hard to put together $3,000.

-Well, I'm glad she got it back.
-Me too.

[announcer] Are you a victim of a scam?


[theme music]