01x14 - Teen Beach House Birthday Fail

[bunniefuu]

She came into the house?

Yeah. She started, like,
walking up the stairs.

and I was, like, "Hello?"
Like, "How can I help you?"

And she was, like... She, like,
followed us around the house.

Try telling me without
using the word "like."

Okay. [laughs]

[narrator]
This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

Melissa McDermott is suing
property owner Terry Gallimore

for breach of a rental contract.

[Kevin]
All rise! Court come to order!

Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge. We have case #1020,
McDermott versus Gallimore.

[Judy]
Thank you.

This case is a relatively simple one.

Miss McDermott, you want
your money back that you paid

for the use of an Airbnb
that the Defendant owns, it's a home.

You're gonna tell me why
you want your money back.

You didn't use it and spend the night.
I gather that what you were doing

was feting your daughter
for her 17th birthday. Is that right?

[Melissa]
Yes, Your Honor.

How did you find Mr. Gallimore's
house to rent?

Through the website Vrbo. It's ki...
It's similar to an Airbnb website,

where they list their properties
and you can filter through them

to figure out what you want.

[Judy] Did you get a contract
from the Defendant?

-I did.
-May I see it, please?

[Melissa]
Of course.

Mm-hmm.

[Judy] Is this the only contract
that you signed?

Yes, Your Honor.

Okay. So, this is what happened.
You were planning just an evening stay.

How many friends were you having?

Four, I wanna say.

[Judy]
And you arrived after the girls arrived?

That is correct.

[Judy] And that was from Saturday to
Sunday or Friday to Saturday?

It was going to be Friday through Sunday,
was the booking.

And earlier in the booking process,
when I requested to book his property,

you have to kind of describe what you
wanna do there, and I wouldn't have...

[Judy]
I-I don't care about anything other than

what is in this contract.

This contract now encompasses everything
because it's written,

it has every element that exists
between the two of you...

[Melissa]
Yes, ma'am.

...and cannot be changed in any way,
other than in writing

and signed by both parties.

'Cause that's what it is
when you have a contract.

Now, I assume, Mr. Gallimore,
that you're going to tell me

-that this lady, who is your neighbor...
-[Terry] Yes.

-is going to tell me what happened...
-Yes.

on that Friday, which is the 30th.

Would you step up, please?

-Tell me your name.
-Rochelle Webber.

Miss Webber, you're
a next-door neighbor to Mr. Gallimore.

-Yes.
-You recall October the 30th of last year?

-Yes.
-[Judy] Tell me

about what time in the day you noticed
that there were people

entering Mr. Gallimore's house.
He wasn't at home.

Around 5:30.

Tell me what you observed.

There was, it looked like
a bunch of young girls

that were going into
the front door of his house.

Other than the fact that
they were five young girls,

there wasn't anything untoward
about their conduct?

-Uh, no. They were just giggling...
-[Judy] They were just five young girls.

...and doing what girls do, on their
phones and that type of thing.

Right. So, what did you do?

-So, about the same time that I...
-I don't want you to editorialize at all,

-[Rochelle] Okay.
-I just want you to tell me what you did.

Well, I looked out my window and I sh...
I usually leave my windows open,

'cause they... But I shut my window
because there was gonna be people

that were staying there and I didn't wanna

-have to deal with the noise. So...
-Whatever.

Whatever. So far, they weren't
making any noise,

they were five young girls going
into the house at 5:30 in the afternoon.

-Yes.
-[Judy] So, what did you do?

So, I just, I... Like I said,
I shut my window and everything.

At that same time, when I saw them,
Mr. Gallimore sent me a text

saying that somebody entered his house
without an adult,

did I see adults, by chance,
did I see anybody coming into the house?

Okay. So, what he did was text you first.
You didn't call him?

-No.
-Okay. Go ahead.

So, he sent me a text and said,

"I have people that are gonna be
staying in the house,

and it's just young girls,
there's no adults there."

-Okay.
-"Would you please go over there

because I can't have underage kids
staying in my property, you know, it's..."

-Whatever. Is that what he said to you?
-[Rochelle] Yes.

Don't make things up.
Is that what he said,

"Would you please go over there,
I can't have underage people..."

Yes. "I don't want to have underage
people staying in my property,"

and see if there's an adult there.

That's what he wanted to know, if there
was an adult that had actually shown up,

-So... Okay.
-Go ahead. So you went over there...

So I went over there and,
um, I knocked on the door

and I knocked again. And I knew
people had entered into the house,

so, I didn't know if they were
ignoring me, or whatever.

And then, the door was unlocked,
and I opened up the door,

and I said, "Hello?" And then,
all these girls came down from upstairs,

-'cause it's a two-story house.
-[Judy] Mm-hmm.

They all came down from upstairs.

-And?
-And that's when I said,

"Is your mom here,

or the person who's supposed to be
on the contract staying here?"

and one of the young girls said,
"No, she's not."

And I said, "Well, then you
can't be in the house right now,

because you're supposed to be
with the person

who had signed the contract and
everything

to be in the house with them and stuff."

-Is that what you told them?
-Yes.

-[Judy] Is that what he told you to do?
-Yes.

-Is that what you told her to do?
-Yes.

Okay. And they left?

Well, they had some things that they had
put into the garage, and everything,

So, they gathered up their things,
and everything.

-So the girls drove? Did they drive in...
-They drove.

-Yes.
-In two cars?

There was just one car
I saw behind the house.

-Okay.
-And they put their stuff in the car,

and stuff like that, and I just said, "Oh,
you guys might wanna move your car,"

because their car was kinda
parked over a line

that you're not supposed to park over.
You can get a parking ticket or get towed

in the area, 'cause our area's pretty
picky about how you park, and everything.

And so, I was just mentioning to that and,

'cause I didn't think they
were gonna leave.

'Cause they could've hung out until their
person came, and stuff like that.

-[Judy] Hung out where?
-They coulda just sat in their car.

They coulda hung out on the patio
in front of the house, or whatever,

I didn't tell them they had to
leave the property, I just said

they couldn't be in the house,
because that's what Mr. Gallimore said.

They couldn't be in the house.
And so, I had just made comment about,

oh, you guys might wanna move your car,
and at that point, one of the girls says,

"Oh, well, we're probably gonna
go to Walmart, anyways."

So, I assumed that they were leaving.

-I don't care what you assumed.
-Well.

-[Judy] And is that all that you know?
-Yes.

-Okay. And they left?
-I didn't hang out there

to watch their car drive away,
I went back to my house.

-[Judy] They left.
-Because I did what I was asked to do,

and I was done. I wasn't gonna sit there
and babysit them, or anything. So, yeah.

-You left. Okay.
-Yeah, I did. Yeah.

Tell me what happened.

I turned around the corner, and
she started, like, walking up the stairs,

and I was, like, "Hello?"
Like, "How can I help you?"

And she was, like,
"You guys can't be here..."

Try-Try... Try telling me
what you're gonna tell me

without using the word "like."

[theme music playing]

[narrator]
Melissa McDermott

claims Terry Gallimore's neighbor
wrongfully removed

Melissa's 17-year-old daughter and
her friends from his rental property.

Mr. Gallimore, I want you to
take a look at this contract.

Here you go, sir.

And I want you to show me,
because I may be missing it,

where in that contract it gives you
the authority, once you receive the money,

and they've leased the property...
I may have missed it...

To force anybody to eject them
from the property?

It's not in the contract.

If it's not in the contract,
unless you have another contract...

Well, there's something that
she has to sign,

before she can even get the contract,
stating that...

-Okay, I'm gonna take a look at it.
-[Terry] Okay.

Before you got the contract, was there
another document that you had to sign?

No. There's a... On the website,
you request the property

and it gives details of the property,
and there's nothing that you s...

I don't recall signing anything for that.

Well, he says he has something
that's signed from you.

-Well, it's not signed. They have to...
-Just a... No, no, no, no. Sir...

They have to check-off on this before
they can even get a lease agreement

saying that they agree to these terms.

If they don't read this and
agree to the terms,

-they don't get a contract.
-[Judy] I don't know... Just a second.

-I don't know that.
-Okay.

That may be true, but I don't know that.

So, if you want to lease to somebody,

and I assume you've been
doing this for awhile,

-Yes.
-[Judy] and you have a contract,

and you specifically want to incorporate
something specifically in that contract,

that requires somebody over the age
of 25, over the age of 40,

over the age of 26, to be there,
it has to be in your contract.

And the only way to modify your contract
is something in writing.

And what you're trying to tell me is,

in order for her
to even look at your property,

she has to agree to terms,
I-I'm assuming this,

and one of the terms is that there
has to be an adult there

-who's over the age of 25, or 26,
-Yes.

and then, if she presses a button
that says agreed...

-Yes.
-[Judy] ...and then you send her a lease.

-Right?
-Yep.

Now, is everything that is contained

in that overall application for a lease

-contained in your lease?
-No.

-[Judy] Does it contain an amount?
-Uh, no.

So, you put in the amount.
Does it contain a date?

-Yes.
-So, that application contains a date.

-The date that they agreed to it.
-[Judy] Right, and that's incorporated

-in your lease.
-[Terry] Yes.

[Judy]
Does it contain who will be present?

-No. It just...
-[Judy] No. You have to adopt it

and put it in your lease.

Does it contain terms that
you will not create noise,

and any noise after 10:00 p.m.,
you will be ejected

and forfeit your deposit.
Did it contain that?

-No.
-And you put that in your lease.

-Yes.
-So, there are some things that you

put in your lease and some things
that you didn't put in your lease.

-Correct.
-But in the only signed agreement

that you have, Mr. Gallimore,
you did not indicate

that someone had to be over 25,
or over 26, or over 24,

in order to ask for an application.

I'm just telling you that
for future reference.

Now, nothing that you heard
suggested any untoward behavior

-when you went to the house.
-No.

You didn't hear screaming, loud music,
the girls were quiet, they were upstairs.

You came in, you actually
opened the door to a premises

that you had no right to go into
because it had been leased premises.

I mean, whether the door was open...
You didn't mean the door was open,

-you meant the door was unlocked.
-Yes.

Okay. Well, you had to open the door
in order to go in.

-[Rochelle] Yeah.
-And when you opened the door,

-you had to say, "Hello?"
-Yes.

You didn't have to scream hello
because there was loud music blaring.

-No.
-Nothing. The girls were upstairs...

-Yes.
-...putting their things away.

And when you said, "You can't be
in the house," were those your words?

-Um, yes.
-Okay.

-Tell me your first name.
-Samantha.

-Samantha, do you remember Miss Webber?
-I do.

Do you remember what happened
when she came into the house?

-I do.
-Tell me what happened.

We all unpacked our stuff from our car
and put it in the garage,

and then we went upstairs and
were just checking out the rooms,

and deciding where we wanted
to go eat for dinner.

And none of us heard the door open.
All we just heard was

someone say hello, like she said,
and I turned around the corner,

and she started, like,
walking up the stairs

and I was, like, "Hello?" like,

-"How can I help you?"
-No.

And she was like,
"You guys can't be here..."

Try-Try... Try telling me
what you're gonna tell me

without using the word "like."

Okay. [laughs] Um,

she said, "You guys can't be here."
She said we were disrupting her dinner,

that we were disrespectful
for being there.

-No, I was not having dinner.
-[Judy] Shh-shh, just a second.

-Don't interrupt her.
-Okay.

I asked her if I would be able
to call my mom and sort it out.

She said there was no point,
there was no one over the age of 25 there.

There was no reason...
We could not be there,

that he had a very strict policy
about that.

She, like, followed us around the house,
asked us where the keys were.

Told us that we, like, needed to leave,

that I couldn't park my car there,
that it needed to be moved.

And then, I said, "Okay, we're leaving,"
and she was like, "I'll wait,"

and, like, watched us as we grabbed all of
our stuff and put it back in my car,

and before I could say another word,
she just closed the garage on us.

And then, when I realized that I had
left some stuff in there,

like a birthday sash that I had left,
I went around and tried to go back,

'cause the door was unlocked,
and at that point, it was locked

-and we could not get back in.
-And where did you go, Samantha?

To a parking lot, like, really about,
probably 100, 200 feet away from

the Airbnb, just the nearest parking lot
we could find, to figure out...

-[Judy] What to do.
-What to do, yeah.

Okay, and this was about 5:30?

I would say around that point, yeah.

And that's what you indicated, about 5:30?

Yes. I did not tell them to leave, though.

-I didn't ask you anything else.
-Okay.

-I just said it was about 5:30.
-Yes.

And that was about the same time that you
received a phone call from Mr. Gallimore.

-It was a text message.
-Or a text message.

-Yes. Yes.
-About 5:30.

Okay, now, how far, Miss McDermott,
is where you are

to where the house was?

I'd say probably 50 miles,


So, at that hour, at that time,
it probably took you

an hour, an hour and 15 minutes
to get there?

But when I got the call from her, frantic,
when they were told to leave,

-Yeah. It was a quarter to six.
-I had to take care of a few things,

and then I got in the car and was probably
there in about an hour and 15 minutes.

-[Judy] And she called you at work?
-I had just gotten home from work.

When you say you had
just gotten home from work,

-so, from your house to where it was.
-That's correct.

-It was about an hour and a half.
-And work and my house are same area.

Okay. Just, for my own information,
what did you go home for?

I still had to get some stuff together,
pack, and then,

I was going to possibly have my fiancée
drive me down there

and drop me off,
so we only had the one car,

but at the time I got her call,
he couldn't leave then,

-so I just took off down there.
-[Judy] At the time you got the call,

-he couldn't leave where?
-Originally, he was going to

drive me down there. We were considering
him driving me down there

and dropping me off,
but when I got the call from her...

[Judy] Oh, so that you were going
to wait for him to drop you off.

-Correct, correct.
-Okay, and he was delayed at work.

-Correct.
-[Judy] What time did your fiancée

-get home from work?
-I don't know exactly what time,

but he was arriving about the time
that I just decided to leave

and head down once I found out
they were in the parking lot.

No, then he would have driven you
because you would've been very upset.

So, he wasn't home when you left?

As I recall, he was just getting home
and I was leaving.

That doesn't sound right to me. [chuckles]

'Cause I do, now that I recall,
I was on the phone with Terry

after I got her call, when my fiancée
walked in the front door.

Any reason why he didn't accompany you?

I just went. I was ready to go
at that point.

[Judy]
Hm, not so sure. In any event,

you had called the Defendant
to let the Defendant know

that the girls were coming that day.

That is correct. I left him
a text message and I said that,

if traffic went well, they should
arrive in about an hour.

He said he would unlock the door.
And then, once they got there,

my specific text message is,
"The girls arrived.

I'm still at work and will be
heading down after."

-Um, I have a copy of that.
-I'd like to see it.

There's multiple here.

And then, that's when I did not hear from
him again, he stopped responding.

And about ten minutes later,
I got the call from Samantha

saying the neighbor had came in.

Samantha, did there come a time
that you went back

-to sit on the patio of the house?
-Yes, we did.

Okay. And these were texts back and forth?

Yes. She texts and says, "We will be
arriving in about an hour,

-if traffic goes well."
-No. No, no, no, no.

[theme music playing]

-You want your deposit back.
-Yes.

-Which was how much?
-It was the actual cost of the rental,

-which was $1180.
-Which she already got back,

-by the way.
-Did you get your money back?

-So, at the...
-Ju-Just... That's an either yes or a no.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Melissa McDermott
is accusing Terry Gallimore

of ruining her daughter's


by having Melissa's daughter
removed from his property.

You wrote to her and said...
This was after your neighbor

had already told them
to get out of the house,

-and locked the house.
-Right.

The girls went to a parking lot but they
were frightened to be there,

it was getting late, and you texted her
and you said,

"My neighbor let me know that the girls
are sitting on the private patio

and that's okay. Please let me know
when you arrive at the property. Thanks."

Now, you're responding to him
and you're not there yet.

-Correct.
-[Judy] So I would like to know

how you're texting him
when you're driving in the car.

-I-I just did.
-[Judy] You texted him,

you want me to know,

"I didn't like the fact that they were
forced to sit in a parking lot alone

in an unfamiliar territory,
so I told 'em to go and sit there."

And then you wrote, "I'm ten minutes out,
the girls are now on their cars,"

I assume you meant in their cars,

-because they were freezing.
-Right.

And then you write back, "You are more
than welcome to stay at the house.

The neighbor does not have
keys to the house."

-That was hours later, after we had...
-[Judy] Just a second.

"I'm sorry, Terry, I will be having
to find a hotel.

I don't want to have to worry about having
to lock the door at all times

to prevent a stranger from entering.
The keys are on the counter

and the door is locked. Again, if you
do not understand why we have chosen

not to stay, and do not want to
refund of my money,

I won't have a choice but to
seek reimbursement in court.

Again, I'm sorry about your mother
and wish her the best."

What happened with your mother?

-She was in the hospital.
-[Judy] Okay.

So, you must have had a conversation

intervening here, because you were
annoyed at him...

-Very.
-...but yet, you must have said something

about your mother and it was...

We ke... We had several conversations
on the phone.

I told her, I go,
"You're more than welcome

to stay at the house
when you get there.

I'll get you in the house,
but you need to be there.

I can't let five girls
stay at the house by themselves."

By the way, when you were
speaking to her on the phone...

-[Terry] She was at home.
-[Judy] ...she had gotten home already.

-Yes.
-[Judy] With the girls.

No, she was at her house,
the girls were still in Newport.

-Oh, is that right?
-That was the first conversation we had

right after I got the frantic call
from my daughter

saying she was told to leave
by the neighbor.

I got on the phone with Terry and said,

"What just happened?
Why didn't you just call me?"

Just a second.
What time was it that you called her?

We had several... Any time
between 6:30 and almost 8:00.

[Melissa]
I can tell you the exact time.

Yeah, give me the exact time that you were
still talking to him from your house.

I got the call from Samantha at 5:48.
I tried calling him at 5:55,


got on the phone with him.

Okay. When were you still at home
when your fiancée...

-At 6:01 p.m.
-[Judy] When your fiancée was home.

-Correct. That's when I told...
-That was six o'clock?

-Yes, correct.
-That was six o'clock. And what time

-did you arrive at the house?
-I told him at seven...

No, no. What time did you arrive?

I was ten minutes out at 7:38, so... 7:48?

And you decided not to stay.

We decided not to stay at his property.
Correct.

Absolutely right. And you want your
deposit back, which was how much?

It wasn't... The deposit,
he never cashed that check.

It was the actual cost of the rental,
which was $1180.

Which she already got back, by the way.
Vrbo gave her her money back,

back in January, so I'm not even sure
why we're here.

-Did you get your money back?
-So, the...

Just... That's an either yes or a no!
Did you get your money back?

It was reversed through the bank dispute,
but it was,

they said that Terry
did not reimburse it. So,

once we were to get him to reimburse it,
we were gonna give that back to Vrbo.

Did you get your money back?

-Yes.
-[Judy] So then, what are you doing here?

Well, we had filed this
before we found that out.

-[audience groans]
-Just a second.

And when I called Vrbo to find out
why the money was reversed,

it said because we had originally
disputed it with the bank

and they did a long investigation.

Don't tell me what they said.

The refund on booking,
which I would've given you, actually,

I actually think that you
stepped way over the line

in going into the property and
telling the girls to leave.

That's his responsibility, not yours.

I knew he was dealing with his mom
so I said I would help him out, so.

-[Judy] I'm just telling you,
-Okay.

[Judy] it was nervy and bossy,
and you see five 17-year-old girls,

they're very quiet-spoken,

they weren't doing anything wrong,
they weren't disruptive,

they weren't making noise.
And at 5:30 or six o'clock at night,

you don't tell them to go outside,
you can't be here, and lock the door.

That's ridiculous, sit down.

$1180 is what you got back.
You're suing this man for $4,352.

-[Melissa] That is correct.
-[Judy] For what?

We also included the cost of the hotel
we had to find.

[Judy]
That's your problem.

He told you that you could stay there.
You decided not to stay there.

I don't know why you're here.
I don't know why you're wasting my time.

So, lesson is, anything that you want,

the person that rents this house,
to do, to have, to spend, to occupy,

anything that you consider
an integral part of the lease

has to be in that document.

Yeah. That's my, my bad. I thought it
was good 'cause they had to check it off

before they even got that far.

What I'm telling you is,
anything that's important to you,

that number of people, how old they are,
anything, has to be in there.

In any event, you got your money back.
You want the cost of your hotel.

According to you,
you were going to eat in,

and you were forced to go out for meals,
you're charging him for meals.

Miss McDermott, Miss McDermott,
you're smarter than that.

The case is dismissed, we're done.
Thank you.

[Kevin]
Court's adjourned.

[theme music playing]

Well, I was furious. I was furious because
there was nothing that, you know,

he had never said that no one could be
on the property unless they were 25.

I had talked to Melissa before,
saying that

she has to be there when they come in.

I don't allow people to check in
unless the primary renter is there.

I let him know that they were there.
Um, he could've called me like an adult

and worked it out with me.

Younger kids coming in, parents saying
that they're gonna be there,

parents never show up and then
the kids are there for the weekend

or for the four or five days
and they trash the house.

I think, you know, it kinda sucks.
I feel like, you know,

that's what we had planned for the weekend
and it kinda got ruined

and I think the money should've
come out of his pocket, honestly.

I think it's right. I mean,
she got her money back in January,

she filed the case in June,
so how does she not know?

And it is my money, they took it
out of my bank account.

Like, the first shock of it
was pretty scary, but just, after that,

you know, it was kind
of just annoying. [laughs]

I'm gonna definitely alter the contract
to put that in there.

I'll just know better from
this point forward when booking,

to make sure that we get it all together
before we go.

Okay. So, I've never rented an Airbnb.
Have you?

I've tried, but I know that
that age requirement of 25

is listed on a lot of properties
for owners to ensure

that an adult is present at all times.

So each homeowner
can list house rules

-that before you can lease the property...
-Okay.

Get a lease. Got it.

-...you have to agree to those terms.
-Got it.

But to me, it sounded odd that he did not
include those terms in the actual lease,

because as far as I know,
you don't sign off on the house rules,

you just agree to them.
There's no signed...

There's agree, don't agree,
like you get when you...

It's either agree or
you pick a new property.

The homeowner is assuming
that you've read those rules,

and before you proceed to the next step
to receive a lease,

they assume that you've read those rules
and are going to abide by them.

Yeah, but it makes sense to have
those rules, either all of them,

or some of them,
incorporated into a written lease...

-Absolutely.
-...since you don't really sign off

-on those house rules.
-Exactly.

Okay, I got it. Anyway,
she got her money back.

Her daughter is adorable,
she celebrated her 17th birthday.

[chuckles] And the Defendant learned
that he has to modify his lease.

And the nosy neighbor,
she went back to having dinner.

Everybody's happy.

[theme music playing]

[narrator]
Have you been cheated?

[closing theme music]