01x44 - Horse Care Barter Battle

[bunniefuu]

She could live there rent-free
in exchange

for taking care of your horses.

Yes.

Police officers arrived on the property
and handcuffed me.

She accused me
of making the horses sick.

That was the start of it.

Wanna tell me what happened?

Don't have attitude. There's only
one attitude here. It's mine.

[announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

[♪ theme music playing]

[announcer] Liz Bucalo is suing
her former friend and landlord,

Jamie Lawrence,
for an ill*gal eviction, moving cost,

and trailer renovations.

[Kevin]
Court, come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge. Case 1091,
Bucalo versus Lawrence.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

[Judge Judy] Ms. Lawrence,
how do you know Mrs. Bucalo?

I met her approximately


She was a client of my husband's.

- [Judge Judy] Client?
- He's an equine veterinarian.

How did you meet her?

I met her. I went to a call with him
when she had a sick horse,

so I think I went there maybe
two or three times.

She had a sick horse,
which means she had property?

Yes. She had property
out in Wine Country area.

And that was 15 years ago.

Over the last 15 years, did you...
you maintained contact with her?

We did like... it seem like yearly
we kept in contact.

Just, "Hi, how are you doing?

How...what's going on in your life,"
you know?

She was always struggling.

She has been in trouble for about 15
years since her husband left, and...

- [Judge Judy] Struggling financially?
- [Jamie] Financially and emotionally.

Financially. Do you still have
the property in Wine Country?

- I do not, no.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

How long
has that property been gone?

In the mortgage, uh, meltdown, uh,
we both lost our houses.

About 2009.

You have a house now?

We're renting right now.

- And you have horses?
- [Jamie] Yes.

- How many?
- I have six.

And I have three ponies.

[Judge Judy]
This is what the lawsuit is about.

According to your papers, Ms. Bucalo,
Ms. Lawrence asked you

if you would be interested in coming
to help take care of her houses.

At that time,
you were in a situation where

having a place to live
looked very appealing.

- Yes.
- Ms. Lawrence offered you

the following proposition.

If you moved a trailer onto her property,

and the trailer belonged not to her
but to a friend of hers?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] And fixed it up,

you could live on the trailer
on her property...

- Mm-hmm.
- [Judge Judy] ...help her take care

of the horses
because she has nine horses.

And the rent for the trailer
and living on her property

would be bartered for your
taking care of her horses.

Yes.

[Judge Judy] That's what you say
the arrangement was.

- Yes.
- Now, did you offer her

to live on your property,
tell her that your

friend had a trailer,
if she paid to have it moved

to your property and she fixed it up,
she could live there rent-free

in exchange for taking care
of your horses?

- Yes. Halfway.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

When she got there,
she just wanted to, you know,

participate in some of the chores.

It's not...we just feed,
we water and clean.

She wouldn't participate.
She wanna be a freeloader.

- She was supposed to be getting a job.
- Okay. That's fine.

Just...but she was going to help
take care of your horses...

- [Jamie] Yes.
- ...in exchange for living

- on your property...
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] ...free if she moved
your friend's trailer?

Your friend's first name is?

- Sheryl.
- Okay.

Now, what month and year did you
come out to Ms. Lawrence's property?

It was August 16th of '20.

And was the trailer already there?

It was brought there
the day prior to that.

Was there any cost in moving it there?

- Very much.
- And what was the cost?

It was...just to move
the trailer itself was $1,586.

And did you pay her for that?

No. I paid directly
to the person that moved it.

Great. So you paid 1,586
to have it moved.

Well, I paid a thousand eighty-six
to the trailer mover,

and I had to pay five hundred dollars
to somebody to disconnect it

from the utilities where it was.

That was in August of 2020?

- Yes.
- And until what month and year

- did you live there?
- January the 9th of 2021.

So for a little over four months?

Well, it wasn't a livable trailer either.

You lived there for a little
over four months?

I did.

- You didn't live anywhere else?
- No.

- You slept there?
- I did, yes.

Okay. And your claim is
that at some point

after inducing you to come out there,
she told you that you had to leave.

You didn't wanna leave.

According to you,
the defendant had you arrested.

- [Liz] Yes.
- Although, you weren't arrested

and taken anywhere. You were,
in fact, detained on the property,

according to you,
until you would agree to move.

- [Liz] Mm-hmm.
- And you are suing her

for an ill*gal eviction,
for your moving cost,

and the money that you spent
in renovating the trailer.

Yes.

- So let's go to January.
- [Liz] Mm-hmm.

And what happened in January?

Well, on January the 9th, uh,
police officers arrived on the property

- and handcuffed me.
- Just a second.

Something happened before that.

Oh. Prior to that, in December,
the officers came to the property

and informed me that
I had to vacate the premises.

Okay. But something clearly
had to happen with the defendant.

- Oh, yes.
- There had to be

- a precipitating event...
- [Liz] Exactly.

- ...that changed Ms. Lawrence from,
"If you come here,

move this trailer,
you can live rent-free on the property,

just help take care of the horses.

You'll get a job to take care
of the rest of your needs."

I mean, that's a perfectly friendly thing.

I wanna tell you something:
I wouldn't say that to my own children.

"Come, bring your trailer
onto my property.

You can live next door to us."

I like to go and visit,
or I like to see the headlights

and I like to see the taillights.

But she had to be somebody
who cared about you

to invite you to live on her property.

- Not exactly. Not exactly.
- [Judge Judy] Had to be...

Had to be...well, then there has to be
something wrong with you,

because if somebody invites you
to California to change your life

from whatever it was to living
in a trailer that had to be remodeled,

you had to some sort
of confidence in her good nature.

- So there's something wrong...
- [Liz] You would think.

...with her or there's something
wrong with you.

You would think. I actually visited them
in...on July the 5th

prior to my moving there in August,
to sit down, eye to eye,

speak to them about the arrangements,
and make positively certain

that this was how it was going to...
the arrangements was going...

Well, how do you...you don't know
how things are gonna work out?

This is what was tried. I wanna know
what was the precipitating event.

You came out there a couple
of months before, you spoke to them,

both Ms. Lawrence and her husband,
according to what you just told me.

Something had to happen
that caused her to say,

- "I want you off my property."
- Oh, that?

Oh, what do you mean,
"Oh, that?" Oh, that?

Wait. I wanna get back up
to the beginning before...

[Judge Judy] No. I don't want you
to get back up to the beginning.

- I know the beginning.
- [Liz] Okay.

Something happened.
You say she illegally evicted you.

And I have to know what it was
that precipitated this change of attitude.

Okay. Well, I spent $5,000
improving the trailer.

So I said to her,
"I have no problem leaving.

- Give me the money..."
- No. Something happened.

- Oh, she...well, uh...
- You just...

Can I say what I think?

No. You can't tell me
what you think. Tell me...

Her behavior and demeanor
changed drastically.

- Towards you?
- Yes. She accused me

of making her horses sick,
of not taking care...

- Oh, my. No.
- ...of them properly, of breaking...

- Just...shh, shh, shh. Just a second.
- Of breaking things.

- She...and?
- And the handyman

that was doing the work for me
was a friend of hers,

and she came into the trailer
while I was there,

falling down drunk with him
and started getting into a sexual activity

- right in front of me.
- Oh, my God.

So you think that that's why
she told you to leave?

Oh, yeah.

- Don't have attitude. There's only one...
- [Liz] Oh, I don't. I'm sorry.

...attitude here. It's mine.
Stand up straight.

- Sorry.
- Very good.

You remember an incident
with a neighbor in October?

- Yes.
- Wanna you tell me what happened?

[♪ theme music playing]

[announcer] Liz Bucalo is suing
her former friend and landlord,

Jamie Lawrence,
for an ill*gal eviction, moving costs,

and trailer renovations.

Jamie is countersuing for the cost
to repair the trailer.

Now, you had moved in
to the trailer in August.

- Yes.
- Did she have any complaints

- about you in August?
- Did she?

- [Judge Judy] Yes.
- Oh, right away.

[Judge Judy] So right away
she started to complain...

- [Liz] Mm-hmm.
- ...that once you moved out there,

you weren't taking care of the horses.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] So that's in August...

- and September...
- [Liz] Mm-hmm.

...and October?
She was complaining consistently to you

that you weren't taking care
of the horses

and making them sick
and her attitude changed.

Oh, I'm sorry.
Can I make...so can I clear that up?

She went back and forth
with the way she was acting.

I have text messages.
She apologized to me.

She's sorry she acted that way
and everything is gonna be fine

- and, "I want you to stay here."
- I'd like to see... I'd like to...

- I'd like to see them.
- Oh, yes. Of course.

Who wrote, "Sorry, I planned
on emptying the wheel barrel

- when I fed them tonight"?
- I wrote that.

[Judge Judy] And then she wrote,
"No problem. I need to be helping more."

- Yes.
- And then you wrote, "No.

- That was a task I agreed to do."
- [Liz] Exactly.

"Cool. It's been a huge help."

And that was back in September.

Who wrote, "Can you untie the horses?

I just drove out and forgot
to turn them loose"?

- That was her.
- And you said, "Sorry.

I missed your call.
I took care of the horses."

And she says, "Thanks."

- Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- [Judge Judy] Those are...

- nothing untoward in any of these...
- [Liz] No, everything...oh.

...in any of these
that I'm reading so far.

Oh, and, I'm sorry, in terms of her
complaining about the animals...

[Judge Judy] "I give me a call.
Oh, my God, I forgot to tell you,

I fed the minis today
but not the big horses.

I'm not home yet."
And then she says to you, I assume,

- "I figured it out."
- Mm-hmm. I said, "I figured it out."

I said, "I had taken care
of them already."

There's nothing in any
of these emails that suggests

that there was any animus
in September or October.

The texting was not...
she didn't accuse me via text.

- Everything was verbal.
- [Judge Judy] Well,

but if she was texting you
back and forth, madam,

there would have been
some suggestion in her texts

that she was annoyed with you.

And there's nothing in these texts

from August, September,
and into October

that suggests that she was.

Sorry. I forgot to include that.

[Judge Judy]
Well, now, we're in December.

"Is there a reason you don't
put a blanket on Dragon at night?

When I get back here at 12:00
or 3:00 in the morning,

it's freezing out and she's shivering."

- Is that you or her?
- [Liz] That was me.

- But that annoyed her that I said...
- [Judge Judy] That was...that was you?

- Yeah. She didn't like that I said that.
- [Judge Judy] That was you?

- Yeah.
- [Judge Judy] And she says to you,

in response to that,

"Are you any closer
to finding a place to live?

The landlord here sent me
another email today.

We are not incompliance with our
lease agreement with our landlord."

And you respond to her,

"I'm thinking you should have made
those arrangements

before you invited me here.

What about the $5,000 plus

I've spent to move
and improve the trailer?

Let me call you back in a little bit.
I'm on the freeway. I'm driving."

- Okay. So this is what happened.
- [Liz] Mm-hmm.

[Judge Judy] She's leasing her property.

She said to you in early December
or before

that she is not incompliance
with her lease from the landlord,

and she's told you you're gonna have
to find another place to live.

And you say to her,
"What about the $5,000 I spent

relocating the trailer here in August

and the money that I spent
putting into the trailer to rehab it."

- Then I don't have any more emails.
- She didn't answer.

- Then I have no, no more.
- She didn't answer.

So the, the reason she told you,
you had to move

is because she was in noncompliance
with her lease.

What you're telling me is that you think

it's because you caught her
doing something

that she shouldn't be doing in November

and that's the real reason
she wanted you out.

You don't say anything about that here.

You say,
"Well, you should have thought of that

before you invited me
to live on the property."

Now, is it true
that the lease precluded you

from moving on a trailer
and having somebody else live there?

The size of the trailer was,
um, over the limit.

It's like a pull trailer,
is what I found out.

And the reason...
the way I found that out

was the first problem that she had
was with our neighbor next door.

She end up calling a police on them.
You remember that?

- No, don't look at her.
- Okay.

- Don't look at her.
- [Jamie] She called the police...

[Jamie] ...and then they came out...

- Just a second.
- Okay.

[Judge Judy]
In what month do you allege

that the plaintiff called the police?

- It was October.
- Okay.

Did you...don't have attitude.

- There's only one attitude here.
- [Liz] Oh, I don't. I'm sorry.

It's mine. Stand up straight.

- Sorry.
- [Judge Judy] Very good.

You remember an incident
with a neighbor in October?

- [Liz] Yes.
- Wanna tell me what happened?

[Liz] The neighbor was discharging
a firearm on the property

and California was on fire.

I asked her if she knew
where the shots were coming from

and she said she didn't.
So I climbed up on a hill,

looked over, and saw
where they were coming from.

So I drove over
to the neighbor's property to just ask,

"What are you sh**ting at,"

because we're concerned about fire.

And we...I don't believe it
was legal to do that.

He told me it was legal,
but I had already called the police

because I didn't know who was doing it
and I was very cornered.

So I said,
"I already called the police

and, uh, I'll call them and tell them

that you say that it's your property,
you can sh**t."

Which I did.

So I don't know what happened
after that because I left.

[Judge Judy] So that's
what happened in October.

Anything else happen
with regards to any of the neighbors?

With...no. Not with...
between my...myself

[Judge Judy]
Myself or any of the neighbors?

- [Liz] No. No.
- Okay. So that was the only interaction

- that you've had?
- [Liz] Yes.

[Judge Judy] Did you have any...
without telling me why,

did you have any contact
with that neighbor?

- Yes, I have.
- Subsequent to that?

- Yes.
- Okay.

Any other problem
that you had with her?

That was the start of it.

She harassed...or not harassed.

She yelled at their children
and scared them, like...

Okay. I don't know about that.
You didn't see it?

- No, I, I wasn't in there.
- You didn't see it?

Okay. So, what I'm asking you is,

is the reason that she had to move

- a problem with your lease?
- [Jamie] Yes.

Or were you just telling her that?

No. That was the problem.

Because the...
next-door neighbor said

she was gonna call
and talk to the owners,

and she said, "By the way, that trailer

that you guys brought in is too big,

and you have to have
certain permits for it."

- Who said?
- Well...just a second.

[Jamie] So she was gonna call
the owner.

Did...just a second.
Did you make inquiries

as to whether or not that was true?

- Yes, it is true.
- Show me.

Well, I just made a couple phone calls
and they said yes.

[Judge Judy]
That's no...that's not good.

You come to court today,
you have to tell me

what size trailer it is
and what the limitations are.

That's what you do
when you come to court.

- You have proof...
- Yes.

...that the trailer had to be moved off
the property

because it was too large
to be on that property

without appropriate permits.

- You have to show me.
- [Jamie] Yes. Mm-hmm.

[Judge Judy]
That's your job as a litigant.

- [Jamie] Yes.
- In any event,

I'm still trying to figure out,

other than that,
for which you have no proof,

there was no reason
that you told her that she had to move?

- No. There was more.
- Well, tell me.

[♪ tense music playing]

That's not receipts for work.

I can't show a receipt
for somebody that I paid them cash.

Well, next time, get a receipt.

[laughs] But I have photographic
evidence of the work being done.

Somebody had to do it,
and somebody got paid for it.

That's not my problem.

[♪ tense music playing]

[announcer]
Liz Bucalo is accusing her

former friend and landlord,
Jamie Lawrence,

of wrongfully evicting her
from Jamie's property

after she paid for trailer renovations.

Jamie says she is owed
for the cost to repair the trailer.

In any event,
I'm still trying to figure out,

other than that,
for which you have no proof,

there was no reason that you
told her that she had to move?

- No. There was more.
- Well, tell me.

The neighbor had another incident...

You can't tell me what the neighbor had
because the neighbor's not here.

Okay. Well, there was just multiple
complaints

- with the neighbor coming...
- [Judge Judy] I don't know about that.

- [Jamie] I know. Yeah.
- Just because you say complaints,

- that's hearsay.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] She moved in in August,
and she invested

so far $1,586
to move the friend's trailer.

And then I haven't heard
of a reason yet

for her to be evicted from the property.

So now I want you to show me receipts

- from what you did inside the trailer...
- Yes.

to improve it, with photographs.

By the way, Sheryl
let you borrow this trailer,

- or was it one that she wasn't using?
- She lent it to her.

- Did they know each other?
- No.

- No. So she lent it to you?
- Yes.

So I assume she wasn't using it?

No, she wasn't using it. No.

And I assume
it was not in a condition to sell.

No. It was just sitting on her property

and they had some office furniture.
They just didn't use it.

[Judge Judy] Well, if you didn't use it
and you didn't want it,

then you can sell it
if it was worth anything.

- Yes. Uh-huh.
- How old a trailer was it?

I believe it's 12 years old.

- I have the paperwork in here.
- Yeah, I'd like to see that.

Let me see it, please.

What is this 996 for?

[Liz] Oh, that was a reimbursement
to her for, uh...

she paid for some of the labor
of the gentleman

that was putting the shower
into the trailer.

There was no shower in there.

No running water,
in fact, until November.

[Judge Judy] Did she give you $996,
Ms. Lawrence, for labor

that you paid for
to have a shower installed?

She paid the 700.

And the rest of it,
I paid for the electrical wire.

[Judge Judy]
We're not talking about what you paid,

I see a money order here to you

made out for $996.29.

What is that for?

You know, I'm sorry.
I don't know. I forgot.

- That was November 27th, 2020.
- November?

Would you should that,
please, to the defendant?

Oh, my goodness.
I'm sorry. I don't remember what...

I remember paying $700 to Reuben
the...that did the labor.

I wrote him a check,
so that's what she's reimbursing.

So the rest of it,
I don't know. I'm sorry.

- Work for trailer.
- It was the electric bill.

Oh, okay. Oops.

I'm sorry. I didn't...I don't know.

Let me refresh your memory.

So the $700 was paying me back

and the 200 was for the electric bill.

Did you pay for your own utilities?

- Yes.
- To whom?

She paid and I reimbursed her.

Okay. So she said she paid $700

- for the labor...
- [Liz] Yes.

...and the other was for utility bill.

Yes. That wasn't all of the labor, though.
That was just a part of it.

That was just on the install
of the shower.

You'll see in the pictures,
show all the work that was done.

The first picture with the dog in it,

that's what the trailer looked like
when I got there

with nothing hooked up.

It was just bare, nothing.

Would you have her show me
what the trailer looked like?

One picture or two,

what it looked like when you got it

and what it looked like when you left.

Other than the labor for the shower,
what did you pay for?

Other than the labor for the shower,
what did you pay for?

Oh, me? I'm so sorry.

- I thought you were asking her.
- [Judge Judy] Yeah.

- No, you.
- Oh.

Um, all the other parts.
Everything. All the...

I just wanna see the receipts.
I don't wanna see this.

[Liz] Oh, you know what?
Oh, okay. Here's how that happened.

Reuben, he bought the products
at the store

and paid cash for them,
and I reimbursed him in cash.

Well, I can't help you for that.

[Liz] Well, what I did was I had to take
money out of the bank,

- so that's why I put those there.
- Well, I don't care.

- That's not receipts for work.
- [Liz] Okay.

Well, I can't...I can't show a receipt
for somebody that I've paid them cash.

Well, next time, get a receipt.

[Liz] Well...but I have photographic
evidence of the work being done.

Somebody had to do it
and somebody got paid for it.

It certainly didn't get done for free.

That's not my problem.

Are these before or after?

-[Liz] That's after.
-Before or after?

Oh, there's only one from before.
I'm sorry.

Only one. The one with the dog in it.

[Judge Judy] The one that the dog's in
doesn't show me the inside of the trailer,

only the outside.

[Liz] Well, the inside is...
I, I didn't do anything

besides put the shower

- and the...and the, you know...
- I do. I do know.

Okay. So far $2,286 is what it costs you

to move into the trailer,

and you did live there
for about four months for free.

Now, you have a counterclaim,

and your counterclaim
is for money owed for repair costs

- to the trailer.
- Mm-hmm.

[Judge Judy] I wanna see
your photographs of the trailer

before she moved in and after she left.

I don't have...the same picture
she showed you.

That trailer was in fine condition.

It was just...we needed to remove
the shower to take that back.

They don't want a shower in it.

There's a big hole in the bottom and I...

- Oh, I don't care.
- [Jamie] Actually, I do have, um...

I actually don't care.

- [Liz] Oh, my God.
- [Jamie] Okay.

- You gave her permission to do that.
- No, I didn't.

Well, you had to have given her
permission to do that.

- [Liz] It's in the text messages.
- [Judge Judy] Don't speak.

You had to have given
a permission to do that.

- You paid Reuben.
- Yes.

Your counterclaim is dismissed.

Judgment for the plaintiff
in the amount of $2,286.

- We're finished. Thank you.
- [Kevin] Court is adjourned.

It was livable. It was a office trailer.

I lived in a trailer
that didn't have running water

for three of those four months.

It has a bathroom in it and a sink,
so...it's an office trailer.

When I went there, it was to live
in a trailer that wasn't livable.

Probably the neighbor started it.

No harassment with the neighbors, no.

That was the beginning of the down.

She's done this to other people.
It's not just me.

I'm just glad this is over with.

[Judge Judy] I have a feeling
that there were a lot more layers

to that case than we exposed,

but there's no question in my mind

that the defendant invited
the plaintiff to come to her property,

that they had
sort of a business relationship

that I couldn't find any valid reason,
any reason that she had

for telling her that she was no longer
welcome on the property.

Something happened there
which suggests me

that you're never supposed
to mix business, and landlord

and friend, and part-time employee.

- All of those things get pretty dicey.
- Yeah.

So, she actually lived there rent-free

if she spent a little more money
to fix up the place.

I'm not concerned about that.

But I thought she was entitled
to get back her moving cost

and what she put into the place,
which is a bathroom.

- You agree?
- Yeah. I agree.

I hope so. [laughs]

[narrator] Want justice?



[tense music playing]