01x62 - Remodeling & Eviction Nightmare

[bunniefuu]

You were a tenant?

- Yes.
- Tell me why you evicted her.

At that time, when I evicted her,

I have no place to live.

I had to...I had to move into the house,
and...

Well, you're not living there now, right?

- I have an answer.
- I'm not gonna be happy with your answer.

[announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Joni Reed is suing
her former landlord, Al Ramsay,

for wrongful eviction,
a security deposit, and moving costs.

[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

[Kevin] Hello, Judge. Case number 1135B,
Reed versus Ramsay.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

- Kevin?
- [Kevin] Yes.

- What is the name of this witness?
- Eva Traeger.

Would you put her outside, please?
She has...

- [Kevin] Oh.
- ...the next case. If anything,

she's maybe called
as a witness in this case,

but she has nothing to do with this case.

[Kevin] Please follow me.

The bare facts of this case
are relatively simple.

Ms. Reed, you were a tenant
of the defendant's

- from 2017 until this year.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] And you were renting
a rather large piece of property from him.

- How many acres, sir?
- Forty acres, Your Honor.

- You had animals?
- No, I had no animals.

- [Judge Judy] You had no animals?
- No, I had pets, cats and dogs.

- [Judge Judy] How many dogs?
- One dog.

- [Judge Judy] How many cats?
- There were several cats

that were outside, cats that I fed,
but I had two indoor cats.

How many several outdoor cats?

I'd say there was three mother cats,
and I don't know how many baby cats.

- About 17 or 18 cats, Your Honor.
- Okay.

- And one dog?
- One dog.

[Judge Judy] You rented that property,

you rented the main house
on the property.

- Correct.
- [Judge Judy] And the rent,

according to what I read,
was about $950 a month.

Yes, at first.

[Judge Judy] And you started
your tenancy in what month,

Ms. Reed, in 2017?

February 2017.

[Judge Judy] Did you have a written lease?

- No. Oral.
- [Judge Judy] Fine.

This is what the case is about.
Mr. Ramsay, at some point,

wanted you no longer
as a tenant and he retained a lawyer...

- Yes, Your Honor.
- [Judge Judy] ...in order to evict you.

- Correct.
- [Judge Judy] And I see that Mr. Ramsay

has no papers in front of him.

No, I don't, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] Well,
why would that be, Mr. Ramsay?

[Al] Because Ms. Reed moved out
three months ago.

I thought it was all over with.

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

Mr. Ramsay, I'm not gonna be happy
with your answer.

I'm gonna let you know right now.
I'm not gonna be happy with your answer,

unless Ms. Reed has the paperwork
to show me, and she might.

Now, Ms. Reed had paid her rent regularly
during her tenancy,

- correct?
- Yes, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] And you wanted her out
in what month and year?

- [Al] February.
- [Judge Judy] Of this year?

- Yes.
- And you live in the state of California.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] And Ms. Reed is suing you

for fraudulently evicting her in 2021,

and she's suing you for $5,000,
which is the maximum she can sue you

for fraudulently evicting her
from her premises.

Your response is that you hired
an attorney and an eviction company,

- you hired professionals...
- [Al] Yes.

- [Judge Judy] ...to evict her.
- Yes.

- [Judge Judy] And they did.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] And therefore,
it was a perfectly legal eviction.

Yes, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] Well, there are very limited
bases on which you can evict a tenant,

- especially during COVID...
- Okay.

[Judge Judy] ...in California,
not even for non-payment of rent...

- Right.
- ...which you don't even allege here,

- because she...
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] ...did in fact pay her rent.

So the only basis in California

upon which you can rely
in evicting a tenant

is if you or a close relative
intend to move back

into the property or if you intend
and do in fact sell the property.

I assume, sir,
that you still own the property.

Yes, Your Honor.

So I would like you to tell me,
and then of course,

Ms. Reed is going to have
to show me the affidavit,

because you clearly,
when you evict someone,

you have to file an affidavit.

That's why I'm curious
why you have no paperwork.

- Do you understand?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Because that's very easy
if you hired an eviction company.

- They have copies of it.
- [Al] Right.

And the lawyer, he'd certainly
have copies of it, Mr. Ramsay...

- Yes.
- ...so that if you threw away yours,

you thought it was all over.
All you had to do is say,

"I need copies of my papers
to bring to the court

- because she's suing me now."
- Yes.

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

[Judge Judy] You wanna explain to me
why you didn't do that?

[Al] Well, I thought it was all over with.

[Judge Judy] Well, I know
you thought it was all over with,

- but you're standing here now.
- [Al] Yeah.

[Judge Judy] Now you're standing here.
And so now...

- [Al] In the state...
- ...you have to tell me.

- You're an intelligent man.
- [Al] In the...in the county...in,

in the Stanislaus County,

they said you're allowed
to evict even, uh...

[Judge Judy] You can't tell me
what the county said to you.

The county doesn't speak.

- I mean, well, my attorney...
- [Judge Judy] Just a second.

You can't tell me what your attorney
told you because that's hearsay.

- Okay.
- What you can do is to bring me

the affidavit that you had signed
in order to get a court to evict.

Well, Your Honor,
we didn't actually go to court.

- We settled outside of court.
- [Judge Judy] Oh, just a second.

- So let's go back.
- [Al] Okay.

- Because you do understand...
- [Al] Yes.

[Judge Judy] ...that if in fact you filed
a document with the court

on which the court relied
that you intended

to move back into the premises,

which was the basis
for your eviction of her,

then that was a fraudulent eviction

'cause you're not living there now,
right?

- [Al] No.
- [Judge Judy] Right.

- I can answer that question.
- But if what you are saying to me

is that you settled the matter
with the plaintiff,

that I'm gonna hear in a minute.

So let me see, Ms. Reed,

the eviction notice that you received,

together with his affidavit
as to why you were being evicted.

This is the notice,

and I have court documentation showing...

- Well, let me see the notice.
- Uh-hmm.

Let me see what it says.

Oh. Very easy.

I'd like you to show this to Mr. Ramsay

because clearly Mr. Ramsay

falsely signed a document

that he intended
to move into the property.

Now...

Thank you.

[Judge Judy] ...that's the document
that you signed.

- Sure.
- [Judge Judy] One of the documents.

I'll take it back now, Kevin.

So that document that you filed
was in fact fraudulent

because you were not moving
into the property

and you don't live on the property now.

- I have an answer.
- Go ahead.

- I was going to move into the property...
- I don't care,

- I'm not moving into your mind.
- [Al] No. No.

No, I mean, uh, the house was so wrecked,
I couldn't move into it.

[Judge Judy] Yeah. Okay.

- Mr. Ramsay?
- [Al] Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy]
I know that slick people will say,

well, if you had to, you say to the court,

"It was my intention
to move into the property,

but because of blah, blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah,

I couldn't move into the property,
but it was in fact my intention."

This face doesn't buy it.

Do you understand? However, Ms. Reed,

you could have fought this eviction,

but Mr. Ramsay says

that you settled
the matter with him, Ms. Reed.

- Yes.
- Did you go to housing court?

[Judy] I don't believe it was housing
court... he actually...I went to court.

- [Judge Judy] You went...
- I fought the eviction through court.

Good. May I see her papers?

- And you had a lawyer?
- [Judy] I did not...

- well, I was represent...
- [Judge Judy] Yes, you did.

I was represented
by California Rural Legal Assistance.

[Judge Judy] Oh, fine. That's fine.
But you were represented.

- [Judy] Yes.
- [Judge Judy] That's a yes.

When you went to court, was there a trial?

I believe there was not a trial.

I think it was a stipulation before trial.

If there's a stipulation before trial,
that means that either

you're still there or you agreed to move
and he paid you some money.

- Okay.
- I've been doing this business

for 50 years, so please,

- let us not...
- [Judy] I'm trying to...

I'm trying to tell you, I went to trial
but I did not have representation,

- and I did move.
- [Al] Just a...just a...

- I did move.
- I asked you a simple question.

- Okay.
- [Judge Judy] Was there a settlement

where Mr. Ramsay paid you money?

- He paid me no money.
- [Judge Judy] Nothing?

- Nothing.
- Is that correct?

- Yes, Your Honor.
- [Judge Judy] Well, go ahead.

[Al] She had an add...an additional
three months after the court,

- I let her stay 'cause she...
- [Judge Judy] Shh.

...didn't have any place to go,
and this and that.

[Judge Judy] So, is what you're saying
to me that the stipulation was,

when you finally went to court,
in what month?

- June.
- June of this year?

- [Al] Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Is that correct, Ms. Reed?

The paper was filed June,
we went to court in August.

- August of 2021?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Was there a stipulation filed
that you, in settlement of this case,

that you were going to be able to reside
for another three months on the property?

Three weeks
is what the stipulation showed me.

Oh, I'd like to see it.

- This is the stipulation.
- [Judge Judy] May I see it, please?

Okay, Mr. Ramsay.
This is your problem, sir.

This is filed July 21st, and it says,

because of what you swore to,

that you were moving into the premises,

that's the reason for the eviction,

that, based on this,
the rental agreement is cancelled,

a writ of possession
will issue immediately,

that means you're entitled to possession
immediately because of this fraud,

and she has until August 9th,
which is a couple of weeks away,

- not three months.
- Your Honor, I'd let her stay longer

- than the...they...
- [Judge Judy] I don't care.

- Okay.
- [Judge Judy] Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

- Sure.
- And judgment will be entered now,

and that was
by the Judicial Officer Jared [...].

Well, if Jared knew
that what your attorney filed

was a fraudulent document and it was a...

based upon that fraudulent document
that this stipulation was entered,

the judicial officer would be furious,
sir.

- Could I speak, Your Honor?
- Absolutely.

Okay. I initially rented the property
to Joni Reed and her son, Kenny Reed.

She had six more people
move in in trailers

and motorhomes outside the property,
and in trucks.

I told her she couldn't do that there,
my insurance wouldn't cover it.

- Isn't that...
- Hold on.

- [Al] And, and she would never...
- So is what...

- ...do anything about it.
- Sir, just a second.

So is what you're telling me, sir...

[Al] No, that's not why
I evicted her, though.

[Judge Judy] Okay.
Tell me why you evicted her.

[Al] Well, at that time, when I evicted
her, I have no place to live.

I had to...I had to move into the house.

I lost my wife in COVID,
and, uh, I just had no place to live.

[Judge Judy]
Where are you living, sir? Now?

- I live...I live in San Jose.
- What kind of premises?

I have a room with a friend. A friend.

- [Judge Judy] Mr. Ramsay.
- Yes. Yes, Your Honor.

- I mean, I don't have my...
- We're not...

we're not on the same page, sir.

- Where did you live with your wife?
- In my home in San Jose.

[Judge Judy] What's the address
of your home in San Jose?



[Judge Judy] Is that an owned property
or a rental property?

- That's an owned property.
- [Judge Judy] An owned.

Yes. But I don't own it anymore.

[Judge Judy]
Just, just, just, just a second.

Who is the current owner of the property?

I own it half with my ex-wife
and my son lives there.

- Mr. Ramsay.
- Yes, Your Honor.

I don't know how to say this to you, sir,

but you may be able to get over
with some people with that baloney.

- You are not getting over with me.
- I'm not trying to get over...

[Judge Judy] Yeah.
You would not get over with me.

- I would have sympathy with you.
- [Al] I'm not trying to get over...

[Judge Judy] I...just a second.

I have nowhere...I was living...
I was living with friends,

- I lost my house...
- [Al] Yeah.

- ...but I...
- [Al] Yeah.

...still own my house,
but my son lives there.

- [Al] Yeah.
- Mr. Ramsay?

- [Al] Yes, Your Honor.
- Mr. Ramsay.

- [Al] Sure.
- I don't know whether you think...

- Okay.
- ...because I'm a woman judge...

- Can I speak here?
- ...I'm stupid, or because I'm old,

- I'm stupid.
- [Al] No, no.

[Judge Judy] I don't know what you think...
it's very easy, sir.

If you came and said to me
she had tons of people living there,

she brought in people in RVs,
it's 40 acres,

but that's not why I had her evicted,

because we're gonna go back
to this fraudulent document.

No, I, I needed the house
to live in, and I...and, and I...

- Well, you're not living there now.
- [Al] No, of course not.

It's uninhabitable.

[laughs] Okay.
Wait until we get into the next case.

Sir, you've had eight months
to restructure the house,

to do whatever you want to with the house.

Meanwhile you live in San Jose.

- If I looked at the court...
- It's a hundred miles away.

- [Judge Judy] Listen to me, sir.
- Sure.

If I looked at the documents
that you filed

when you brought your case to me

where the people that reached out to you,

it would be at the home
that you co-own in San Jose.

- Mr. Ramsay.
- Yeah. I know.

[Judge Judy] Mr. Ramsay. Look at me, sir.

- [Al] Okay.
- You're done.

- [Al] No, Your Honor.
- Done.

- [Al] I don't live in...
- Hard-boiled.

I don't live at the house in San Jose.

[Judge Judy] Just a second.

That's where it would say you live,
and I tell you what.

[Al] Your Honor, I don't...I do not live
at the house in San Jose.

- I don't live there.
- Tell me your address, sir.



But I'm...I, I don't live there.

Tell me where you live.
That's what I...that was my question.

- Did I ask him that?
- [Al] 137...

- [Shirley] You did.
- "Tell me where you live."

[Al] Yeah. 160 [...] San Jose.

And who lives there, sir?

My brother and his son.

Is your name on the mailbox?

Ramsay. Ramsay, yes.

No, it's 'cause it's my brother's house.

- Judgment, judgment for the plaintiff...
- [Al] Your, Your Honor, wait a minute...

...for the amount of $5,000 as requested,
which is the maximum.

- You committed fraud on the court...
- No, I didn't...

- ...Mr. Ramsay.
- ...Your Honor.

- I'm not happy about that.
- [Al] I did not...

Sit down while we call the next case
because you're also the defendant.

Yeah.

Perfect.

- You know, you're too slick, Mr. Ramsay.
- Oh, gosh.

[Judge Judy]
You have to be orderly and honest.

- I'm honest, Your Honor.
- [Judge Judy] Yeah. Well...

Honest.

I'm honest, honest.

That's, that's...

That's what?

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Eva Traeger is suing
her former landlord, Al Ramsay,

for remodeling services done
to his property.

Stand up, Mr. Ramsay.

Leave that there. Here.

First, let's call the case.

- [Kevin] Raise your hand, please.
- I have the case here.

This is Traeger versus Ramsay.

He's been sworn. Just swear her.

Swear to tell the truth
in these matters today?

- Yes.
- [Kevin] Thank you.

- So this is your case against Mr. Ramsay?
- Yes, Your Honor.

- You knew Mr. Ramsay?
- Yes.

- [Judge Judy] How did you know him?
- I rented from him eight years ago.

- [Judge Judy] All 40 acres?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] For how long did you rent
from him eight years ago?

- Nine months.
- How many horses do you have?

Today, six.

- What other animals do you have?
- Dogs.

- [Judge Judy] How many?
- Six.

[Judge Judy] There came a time
when Ms. Reed moved out of the house

sometime in August.

And somehow, you got in touch with her,

he got in touch with you.

How did that happen?

We talked at the beginning of the year,
like about...

- [Judge Judy] Beginning of?
- Uh, this year.

January, February? When?

It was around April.

Okay. You talked in April.

- On the phone or in person?
- Phone.

All right.
Well, tell me about the conversation.

He said that he had a tenant moving out
that was going through eviction

and it was taking longer.

It was supposed to be sooner
than it turned out to be,

so we just kept in contact
with text message and by cell phone calls.

[Judge Judy] You said
it took longer than he expected it?

[Evanda] He just said that
"She's not out yet,

I'm going to evict her.

Gave her a notice,
and they had to go back to court."

[Judge Judy] And what was the arrangement

that you had with him?

At that time, I had went down
to the property, spoke with him,

we, you know,
just kicked around some ideas,

and I came up with a number
'cause we talked about rent,

and I said, "Well, what's she paying?"
Um, she...he told me 1,100,

and I said, "Okay. Well, you know,
the house is probably gonna need work."

And so we came up with the idea
that I would give him $12,000 for the year

and I would help him with the remodel
of the house or whatever needed done,

I would add my two cents
to help get it done.

- And I...
- [Judge Judy] So, is what you're saying

that you came up with an arrangement

where you would give him $12,000 upfront?

- Or 12,000...
- Yes. For the year.

[Judge Judy] That you would give him
$12,000 in advance.

[Evanda]
Um, well, actually when I moved in

because I already made it firm

that I wouldn't move there
whenever she was living there

'cause he wanted me to come
and stay in my trailer,

and I didn't wanna do that.

Okay. So you said to him,
"We'll make a formal lease."

Yeah.

[Judge Judy]
When did you move into the property?

I moved my horses the night of August 9th.

- [Judge Judy] So when she left?
- She was still there, actually.

That was her last day.
She had to be out by court order.

By court order, yes.

[Judge Judy]
So when you had your discussion with him,

the discussion was that you were
gonna give him $12,000 for rent...

- [Evanda] Yes.
- ...and move your horses in.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] And you would do

whatever work in the house
that had to be done.

- With him.
- [Judge Judy] With him.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

So it was your intention
in his statement

that he was going to lease
this house to you for a year?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] For $12,000 for the year.

Once the house got all readied up,
he was gonna help you get it readied up,

you were gonna get it readied up,

and you moved the horses
in the same night,

so that the horses had a place to stay.

And your lawsuit
is not for illegally evicting you

- because you were never his tenant.
- No.

- 'Cause you never paid him any money.
- Correct.

[Judge Judy]
Your lawsuit against the defendant

is more interesting.

You say that you did contracting work
on the house,

- and then he told you to leave.
- Yes.

So you wanna be paid for the work
you did on the house.

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] Now, the horses moved in

on August 9th. When did you move in?

On the property?

I don't care if it was in an RV or a tent,
or anything else.

When did you start to stay there?

August 10th,
I moved my stuff, my trailers, trucks.

I couldn't unpack 'em because we didn't
have a house to put them into,

- so it was August...
- [Judge Judy] Just a second.

So you moved your trailer
onto the property?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Well then, you're there,

August 10th, the day after you moved
your horses on the property.

- And on what date did you leave?
- September 22nd.

[Judge Judy] Okay. And between August 10th
and September 22nd,

- your horses were there?
- Yes.

- [Judge Judy] How many horses?
- Eleven.

[Judge Judy] Were they all yours
or were you boarding them?

- Mine.
- What kind of work do you do?

Pony parties.

[Judge Judy] Were you working
between August and September?

[Evanda] No. Actually,
I had two pony parties between that.

[Judge Judy] Well then, don't say no.
You say, "Yes, I had..."

- Yes.
- "...a pony party. I had two."

- So you continued to run your business.
- Yes.

Did you pay the defendant

- any rent for the horses?
- No.

[Judge Judy]
So you continued to do your business

but paid him no rent.

- Did you in fact live on his premises?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Did you in fact
pay him any rent on his premises?

- No.
- So for that month and a half,

you had free board for your horses
and a free place to live for yourself.

- That'd be fair.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy]
Now, this is what your lawsuit is about,

and I do not have...
I don't think a counterclaim.

No. So you're gonna tell me, Ms. Traeger,

what you think he owes you money for.

The work I did on his house,
the remodeling,

and the demolition of the house,
and I offered to give him the money,

the 12,000, upfront
and he wouldn't accept it.

[Judge Judy]
I don't care what you offered.

You're suing him for work
you did on the house.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Now,

I'd like you to tell me
how much you spent on materials

for the work that you did on the house,
that you have receipts for.

$1,609.

- Did he give you the money for that?
- No.

Your Honor,
I have it on Venmo on my phone,

that I gave her the money for that.

[Judge Judy] Just a second.
I'd like to see that.

And I'd like to see his account.

[Al] Right there. That's one of 'em.

And that's the other.

[Judge Judy] Sarah, these numbers
are for me, would you, please?

Sure. I have a calculator, Your Honor.

Just slide it, that's one of them there.

So you gave her $300? That's...

I don't know what the amount was,
Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] He's gonna show you.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

I see the things from Home Depot.

Ms. Traeger, what did you buy
at Habitat for Humanity?

We bought flooring, paint...

- Who's we?
- [Evanda] Uh, Al went with me.

- I, I paid that...
- [Judge Judy] Just a second.

If he went with you, then he paid.

- [Al] I paid...
- Oh, one...no, that was a separate.

- That was a separate...
- [Judge Judy] If he went with you then.

- [Al] I paid, Your Honor.
- [Evanda] No, that was his...

he bought flooring there
one time we went there,

and the other times I went there,
I had to get supplies.

I got flooring and I got paint.
And I got...

How many times
did you go with her to help?

[Al] Just, just one time, Your Honor.
I bought the flooring.

- [Evanda] Yeah.
- [Judge Judy] How much was the flooring?

- Three, four hundred dollars.
- It's not looking good for you...

- [Al] Your Honor.
- ...you understand that?

If you would have said that
you can evict her for being a nuisance,

put it in here!

- That's the basis for your eviction.
- At the...at the...at the time,

- I needed the house to live in.
- No, that's baloney because...

- [Al] No, it's not baloney. It's...
- That's...

No, it's not. And I opened the door,
and I couldn't believe...

- [Judge Judy] That...
- ...what I'm seeing.

- Yeah. That's, that's such baloney.
- [Al] Okay.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Eva Traeger
claims her former landlord,

Al Ramsay, owes for remodeling services
she did to his property.

- [Al] Your Honor...
- It's not looking good for you.

- [Al] Your Honor...
- You understand that?

...I also gave her workers' money,
but I know that doesn't...I,

- I shouldn't have got...
- [Judge Judy] No, no, no, no, no.

I just wanna see
where she gets $5,000 from.

She's living rent-free on your property

with 11 horses and doing business there.

- No, I didn't do business there.
- [Judge Judy] Of course you did.

- You kept your horses there.
- Oh.

And she kept...she, she ate all my alfalfa.

[Judge Judy] Just a second.

May have done that too,
the horses have to eat.

- But it was my alfalfa.
- [Judge Judy] Mr. Ramsay...

Mr. Ramsay, I told her.

It's not going well for her.
Right now, you're living rent-free,

you're boarding 11 horses free,
you're continuing to do your business.

I wasn't sure
about all these little tiny receipts,

but some of them...the only big one
is from Habitat for Humanity,

and that went...which you gave me
as something that you paid for.

- You didn't. He did.
- No, I, I paid. He has his own receipt.

- No.
- That was mine.

- [Judge Judy] No. I don't believe that.
- So these all added,

uh, come to $1,354 and 44 cents.

- [Judge Judy] Okay. Thank you.
- Uh-hmm.

And I have from Mr. Ramsay,

a payment to you in the amount of $300.

So that leaves a thousand dollars
that you spent in materials

for which you say
you were not compensated, right?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Now, Mr. Ramsay.

[Al] Yes, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] I don't care about her labor

or her workers 'cause you said

you paid the workers
and she has no proof to the contrary.

[Evanda] He doesn't.
He hasn't paid, I have it right here.

- Hasn't paid what?
- He hasn't paid the laborers. Uh...

[Judge Judy] Oh, they should sue him.

- Did you pay the laborers?
- [Al] Yes, Your Honor.

- How much?
- Three, four hundred dollars.

I don't know, I...it was a couple
different guys, and...in there.

- [Judge Judy] It's a slippery...
- All the work they did,

- it was like the little rascals...
- [Judge Judy] Hmm?

...did it, I had to redo everything.

[Judge Judy]
You know, you're too slick, Mr. Ramsay.

- Oh, gosh.
- [Judge Judy] Really.

You have to be orderly and honest.

[Al] I'm honest, Your Honor.

Yeah. Well...

Honest.

I'm honest, honest.

That's, that's...

That's what?

[Al] If I could really tell you,
well, I mean, uh, you know,

is it...is it legal for her
to bring motorhomes on my ranch...

- [Judge Judy] No.
- ...and have people live in them?

- Is that...
- Absolutely not.

[Al] And, and, and then when I told her
to do something about it,

she doesn't do anything about it?

[Judge Judy] Just a second.
It's absolutely not, Mr. Ramsay.

- [Al] Okay. Then what do you do?
- [Judge Judy] It's absolutely not.

- The answer is, I don't know what you do.
- [Al] I mean, you're a judge.

- Can't you tell me what you would do?
- [Judge Judy] Mr. Ramsay,

the problem with everyone
who chooses to be a landlord,

- especially now...
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] ...is that they're in a vise.

They're told they can't evict anybody
and some people...

well, it was, the moratorium is over,
but there was a moratorium.

But during COVID, you couldn't evict her
because she was a nuisance.

- That's not true in Stanislaus county.
- [Judge Judy] Then...

- well...
- [Al] That's not...

...then, then you should have alleged it
in your paper.

- Mr. Ramsay...
- [Al] She...

...your paper tried to use
God's two ears and one mouth.

Listen, if you would have said
not in Stanislaus County,

that you could evict her
for being a nuisance, put it in here!

- That's the basis...
- At the...at the...

- ...for your eviction.
- ...at the time,

I needed the house to live in.

- [Judge Judy] Now that's baloney. It's...
- No, it's not baloney.

- [Judge Judy] That's...
- No, it's not.

And I opened the door
and I couldn't believe...

- [Judge Judy] That...
- ...what I was seeing.

- Yeah. That's, that's such baloney.
- [Al] Okay.

Yeah. That's baloney, Mr. Ramsay,
and I don't believe you.

So far, you have a thousand dollars'
worth of material

that you're entitled to, madam, period.

You lived there for six weeks
with your eleven horses and paid nothing,

so consider this thousand dollars a gift,

- do you understand?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Judgment for the plaintiff
for the amount of a thousand dollars.

Court is adjourned.

- Uh, it was pretty bad.
- The place was deplorable.

When I moved in, I maintained it
the whole time I lived there.

- The house is full of c*ck.
- The roaches, you can't get rid of.

They come from up...underneath the house
because we live next to a dairy.

Full of mice.
I, I couldn't even go in there.

I wanted...I didn't want
anything to do with the house.

The mice, it's something
you have to live with on a farm,

but the house
was beautiful when I left it.

I have photographs,
it was perfectly clean,

you could have moved into it.

It's still vacant, just needed work done.

He lies about everything he says.

He said that he was gonna move
into the house, he had her move in,

he was already moving trailers in
before she even left again.

[scoffs] Oh, gosh. No.

They never even looked
at why I wanted the house back.

He just continues with lies down the road,
all the way.

- To live in.
- I...redid his whole house for nothing.

No, I didn't like the work.
Just...I had to redo everything.

Because I was supposed to live
in the house and he wasn't doing the work.

No, I just said to her
it's not gonna work out and she just left.

And I was living nowhere.

Don't do it.

[Judge Judy] You know, I see cases
like this and I think about balance.

- Uh-hmm.
- [Judge Judy] And the law

has displayed a sympathy
for those people who, by virtue of COVID,

could work, and despite stimulus,

- are still not paying rent...
- Uh-hmm.

...'cause they needed
the money for other things.

I have a great deal of sympathy
for landlords

because that's their business.

It's like bringing somebody in, Sarah.
[chuckles]

It's like saying, "Sarah,
you gonna be the law clerk.

But, we're not gonna pay you
'cause it's COVID."

Your reaction to that would be?

It's a tough spot to put both parties
in, I can sympathize with both sides.

I just think that COVID
had an impact on every business,

you know, on rent, on custody,
on evictions, everything.

So I think that both sides
are in a tough spot,

but you still have to act accordingly,
and you can't lie to the court,

you can't submit fraudulent papers
just because you're in a tough spot

along with everybody else,

doesn't give you the right
to then do the wrong thing.

Perpetrate a fraud on the court.

- That was his problem.
- Uh-hmm.

[Judge Judy] Isn't it interesting
that a whole industry,

- there are eviction practitioners.
- Uh-hmm.

[Judge Judy] And it's so interesting
that these eviction practitioners

who actually have to be scrutinized
will say to somebody like this man

who says she's a nuisance.

She moved other people onto the property,
and...which I probably believe...

- Uh-hmm.
- ...is true, 'cause it's 40 acres,

and she'll say to a friend, you know,

"You can move in your RV there
and stay there,"

so the place was a mess.

- But he couldn't evict her.
- For that reason.

[Judge Judy] For that reason. At all.

So it was ordered
to the least difficult allegation

to prove and the one that is foolproof.

- And a loophole.
- [Judge Judy] And a loophole.

Yeah. And a loophole.

- So, for that, you can't reward him.
- Uh-hmm. I agree.

So he got punished.

But this lady had sort of a free place
to live for a month

and a half with...along with her
eleven horses and six dogs, so.

- Her materials, she was entitled to...
- Uh-hmm.

...for nothing else.

I think we did a good job.

Yeah. I agree.

[announcer] Want justice?


[theme music playing]