02x130 - Teen Caught in the Middle

[bunniefuu]

You were in a relationship
for a period of time

and have two children.

She took the kids out of the state
without my knowledge.

Does you daughter enjoy
a relationship with her father?

No.

Why don't you wait outside.

[announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

[sniffles]

[theme music playing]

[announcer]
Desarae Surrat is suing

her ex-boyfriend, Curtis Vasquez,

for the cost of a car and child care.

[Bailiff]
Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, everyone.

Hello, judge. Case 1295.
Surratt v. Vasquez.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

[Judy]
Miss Surratt, you and Mr. Vasquez

were in a relationship
for a period of time,

- and have two children together.
- Correct.

- How old are the children?
- I have a daughter that's 15,

and I have a son that's 8.

[Judy] How long did you
and Mr. Vasquez live together,

if you did live together?

It was a lot of off and on,

so I would say maybe a combined time
of eight years.

And does your daughter enjoy
a relationship with her father?

Unfortunately, no.

- Is that correct?
- [Curtis] As far as I knew

she had a great relationship with me.

[Judy] When was the last time
you saw your daughter, sir?

[Curtis] We spoke just a couple days ago.

She has more time with friends now,
but I did speak with her, basically...

- [Judy] Is that right?
- That's correct.

- [Judy] Why don't you wait outside.
- Okay.

[Judy] Okay?
Because, Miss Surratt,

I don't believe in,
unless it's absolutely necessary,

and certainly in this situation,

doesn't sound to me as if
it's absolutely necessary,

to have your teenage daughter
as a witness

over a couple of thousand dollars

which you may or may not
be entitled to.

Certainly her father is in touch with her.
She said he's in touch with her.

Which means that they communicate
and that they have a relationship,

because I read the complaint
and I read the answer,

and I have a few basic questions.

You're suing Mr. Vasquez,

who you haven't lived with
in many, many years,

but who you share,
according to what I've read here,

joint legal and physical custody.

- [Judy] Is that correct?
- That is correct, Your Honor.

- [Judy] Is that correct?
- Yes.

- Is that pursuant to a court order?
- Yes.

And when was that court order made?

- I have a copy of it, so I can tell you.
- 2011, Your Honor.

- [Judy] Hmm?
- 2011.

Was there a trial, Mr. Vasquez?

[Curtis]
There was a trial, Your Honor, yeah.

[Judy]
Were you represented by council?

- I represented myself.
- [Judy] And what about the plaintiff?

- Did she have a lawyer?
- She did, Your Honor.

I'd like to see a copy of that order.

This, from 2017.

Well, there was one in 2011?

This is the original one.

Um, it hasn't changed since then.

We have parenting and legal custody,

and a child support order,
which is separate.

Oh, so the 2016 order,
the ex-party order,

originally granted Mr. Vasquez
custody of the children.

Yes, you were the respondent
in that case.

It said, "On October 28th, 2016,
petitioner..."

that is Mr. Vasquez,

"...filed a motion to establish custody
and parenting time.

The petitioner..."
that is Mr. Vasquez,

"...seeks joint legal
and physical custody.

The petitioner also sought
an order granting sole legal custody

of the children based upon
the allegations

that his daughter was watching his son
without supervision

for extended periods of time,

and that his daughter
was not attending school."

Child Protective Services
did an investigation,

and actually found that you were not
sending your daughter to school.

- Correct.
- [Judy] She was staying home babysitting.

Okay, would you tell me,

without my having to go through
this whole thing,

- was there a child support order entered?
- Yes.

Ultimately. And ultimately,
the children remained with you.

- Correct.
- [Judy] Final order.

And what was the child support order?

The child support order initially

was $93 a month.

I think I have a copy of it.

And then to increase,

based off cost-of-living
adjustments every year.

[Judy]
Is that $93 a month for both children?

- For both children, yes.
- [Judy] Okay.

The order was ultimately increased.

How much do you pay
in child support now, sir?

$230 a month, Your Honor.

I'm sorry, that's not the order.

[Judy]
Well, I asked how much you pay.

Were you ever in arrears of payment?

I was at one point,
and then I caught up.

- So I've been kind of...
- Well, that catching up.

So that 230 may be partly arrears.

What is the order?

Oh, I'm completely caught up
with my child support.

[Judy] So the current order
that you're paying is $230 a month?

- Yes, Your Honor.
- [Judy] Okay.

This is what you're suing for.

It is your claim that Mr. Vasquez
agreed to pay

half of certain sporting fees
that the children had

that are not contained
in the child support order.

And he didn't.
So you're suing him for that.

And he says that you never had
such an agreement,

that you enrolled the children
in sporting activities

and then came to him and said,
"You owe me half."

- Am I reading that correctly?
- Your Honor, that's correct.

- [Judy] That's your position?
- That's correct, Your Honor.

[Judy] Okay, so let's move on
to the plaintiff's position,

that you wanted to change
the child support order

to not what he was paying,
but what he was paying

and half of their sporting activities.

- We actually had a verbal agreement.
- [Judy] Well, I'd like you to tell me

when that took place,
what you said to him,

and what he said to you.

So tell me first
when that verbal agreement took place.

It was 2021, probably.

Just a conversation
between two parents to say...

No, no, it's a conversation
between two parents.

So he's seeing the children,
he's paying his child support.

Whatever the order was.

You have a conversation with him.
Is it on the phone or in person?

[dramatic music]

Mr. Vasquez, your father says
that he gave you the money.

Certainly wasn't today,
because two weeks later

he writes back, "If we could arrange
for me to get the title

while you were here,
that would be awesome."

So the story you just gave me
was a whole lot of "Who shot John?"

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Desarae Surrat claims
her ex-boyfriend, Curtis Vasquez,

owes for the cost of a car
and child care.

Curtis is countersuing for car repairs
and vacation expenses.

Tell me first
when that verbal agreement took place.

It was 2021, probably.

Just a conversation
between two parents to say...

No, no, it's a conversation
between two parents.

- [Desarae] Right.
- So he's seeing the children.

He's paying his child support.
Whatever the order was.

You have a conversation with him.
Is it on the phone or in person?

- No, in person.
- [Judy] At your home?

- Yes.
- [Judy] Okay.

And tell me about the conversation.

What did you say to him,
and what did he say to you?

I don't remember
the exact words, but...

Well, that's why we bring
these things quickly,

- because now it's two years later.
- [Desarae] Yeah.

- [Judy] Right.
- So it was basically, well,

his son wants to play this sport,
Angelina wants to do track.

This is how much it's going to cost.

And his response was just,

"Okay, let me know how much it is,
and I'll pay half."

- [Judy] Okay.
- Your Honor, that's not quite correct.

We don't have this conversation.
We don't have any conversation at all.

We communicate via text,

and I rarely get a response.

- I've taken care of...
- [Judy] Just a sec.

- We're talking about this one instance.
- [Curtis] Okay.

She said that you had
a conversation with her,

where you agreed to pay half
of their sporting events.

Based on that,
I assume that you enrolled the children

in this sporting event,
paid the fee,

and then said to him,
"This is your half."

And he said, "I'm not paying that half."

That's not correct, Your Honor.
I didn't agree to pay half.

[Judy] No, I'm not saying
you agreed to pay half.

That's what her position is.

I actually enrolled my son into soccer.

- [Judy] When?
- It was this summer. In July.

And he was supposed to go for a month,
and she took the kids out of the state

without my knowledge
for an extended vacation.

And so I didn't have her pay half of that,

and when she came back,
she wanted to make that up to him.

- But that's without my knowledge.
- Okay. Okay.

- How much did you pay for soccer?
- $75.

[Judy] So you never had a conversation
with her about paying half of this?

- No, Your Honor.
- And it was never reduced

to a modified order of the court,

because you have
a court order for support.

Okay, so I'm eliminating that.

You want to change order of support,
you have to change it in court.

Now let's move on to the second thing
that you think that he owes you for.

Cell phone.
Let's hear about the cell phone.

He opened a cellphone account
for my daughter.

- [Judy] When?
- I don't know when it was.

When did you open
a cellphone account, sir?

About seven years ago.

And he paid it?
He opened an account and he paid it?

Either him or his dad.
It was a business account.

I don't care. You didn't pay it?

- Correct. I didn't pay it.
- [Judy] You didn't pay it.

So your daughter has had a cell phone
for the last seven years.

- Mm-hmm.
- [Judy] Okay.

- And you didn't see the bills for it?
- Correct.

- [Judy] Okay, so he paid it.
- Somebody paid it, yes. Yeah.

- He paid it.
- [Curtis] I paid it, Your Honor.

- [Judy] You didn't pay it?
- Correct.

[Judy] Okay, so now you want money
for a cell phone.

- For what?
- Just for the last six months

that I paid, I never agreed to.

- So I'm just asking for half of that.
- Then take the phone away.

- Well, she's 15...
- [Judy] I understand that.

I understand that.

- Who bought her the phone?
- I bought the phone.

Okay, and how many years ago
did you buy the phone?

It was about a year and a half ago.

[Judy]
Okay and it's paid for on his plan?

No. I paid for the phone cash.

No, no, the bills, ongoing bills,
were paid for by him

on the phone that you bought her
a year and a half ago,

because he said you've been
paying the bills for six months.

- [Desarae] Yup.
- Is that correct?

Whitney, didn't she say, "I've been paying
the bills for the last six months"?

- Yes.
- [Desarae] Correct.

[Judy]
Well, so when you first got the phone,

for a year he was paying the bills.

- Correct. Yes.
- [Judy] Right.

Well, he was paying the bills
for seven years,

but certainly after you bought the phone.

But prior to that,
she had a different phone.

She had to have had a different phone,
because he was paying the phone bills

for six years.

Who bought that phone?

- I don't know.
- Your Honor, I purchased that phone.

- It was the iPhone XR.
- [Judy] Okay.

So you bought the first phone,
you bought a second phone.

Very nice. And he paid the bills,
phone bills, for six years,

and you paid it for the last six months.

It's not part of a court order.
If you agreed to do that, you agreed.

What are you getting courts involved for?

I never agreed to pay the cell phone.

[Judy] Well, he never agreed
to pay his cell phone

when she was 13 or 12.

You're parents.

He paid it for a long time,
now you're paying it.

What do you do for a living, sir?

- I'm a Realtor.
- [Judy] You work in family business?

- [Curtis] Absolutely.
- Tell me about the family business.

It's children first and foremost,
you know.

- What's best for them...
- [Judy] No, no, the family business, sir.

- Oh, the family business.
- You're in real estate.

- Is it a family business?
- It is not a family business.

[Judy]
It's just yours.

- You've been in real estate for how long?
- For about three years now.

And prior to that I was in sales.

That is a family business,
and it's real estate marketing.

That's a family business?
You're not involved with that anymore?

- I am. Yes.
- [Judy] You still are?

- Who owns that business?
- [Curtis] Dad.

- Your father.
- He does, yes.

[Judy]
How many employees did he have?

Uh, just about ten. Ten, Your Honor.

[Judy]
So your father employees ten people,

- and you're one of them?
- That's correct, Your Honor.

And what does your father
pay you annually?

Oh, it's commission only,
so no...no, uh...no benefits.

And in the other real estate operation,

do you have your own office or do you
operate out of your father's office?

- My own office.
- [Judy] Where?

In Maple Grove, Minnesota.

Do you have any employees?

- I don't.
- You work for your father on commission,

- and yourself...
- Commission only.

[Judy]
Commission only. Okay.

- Did you file tax returns last year?
- No, I did not.

[Judy]
Is there any reason for that?

- Just late. Just...
- [Judy] You're late?

- You're a year late.
- [Curtis] Yeah.

What about the year before?
Did you file a tax return?

Yes, I did. Yes, I did, Your Honor.

[Judy]
And how much did you declare as income

the year before last?

It's like 55...55, I think.



Okay, so phone bill.
I've taken care of the phone bill.

You've paid it for her. Fine.

And if you don't want to pay it anymore,

let her get an after-school job
and pay for her own phone.

Now, the next thing that you're suing for

is, according to your complaint,

you had a car that you weren't using.

Mr. Vasquez has a father
who wanted a car.

It is your claim that Mr. Vasquez,
without your permission,

sold the car, your car,

to his father for $700.

And you didn't get any of that money.

- Correct.
- [Judy] Mr. Vasquez says

his father was going to buy the car.

He drove it. He didn't want to buy it,
because it had issues.

And it's sitting in his father's driveway
waiting for you to come and get it.

And that he never got $700
from his father for the car.

That's his position. Correct?

No, correction. I did get 700,

and paid him back the next day,

because the car broke down
within a day.

- [Judy] Because what?
- It broke down within a day.

Okay, so you did sell it to him.

[Curtis]
Yes. Yes.

We were in the middle
of the transaction.

He paid for the car at the office,
which is about ten miles away from home.

And while driving the car home,
it broke down.

So we hadn't received the title
or anything, so I returned the money.

[dramatic music]

Okay, you planned a trip
to Portugal in August of 2022.

- That's correct.
- Airplane tickets?

Where'd you get the money for all that?

[theme music playing]

[announcer]
Desarae Surratt has accused

her ex-boyfriend, Curtis Vasquez,

of selling her car without her permission.

Curtis claims he refunded the money,

and she can take the car back.

- Okay, so you did sell it to him.
- [Curtis] Yes. Yes.

We were in the middle of the transaction.

He paid for the car at the office,
which is about ten miles away from home.

And while driving the car home,
it broke down.

So we hadn't received the title
or anything, so I returned the money.

[Judy]
Is the car still titled in your name?

- Yes.
- So go get it.

I don't want the car, no.

Well, it's your car.
It's titled in your name.

Yes, but apparently
I have text messages showing

he sold the car without my permission.

Whether he did or not...
He can't sell the car,

because title never transferred.

- Right.
- [Judy] And he's saying

you can go and get the car.
It's sitting in the driveway.

Father doesn't want it.
Title didn't transfer.

He didn't get money
for the car and keep it.

It was a sort of silly transaction,
because what you are suggesting

is he should have said to his father,
"That's it. It was sold. It's sold as-is.

You can't have your $700 back."

Right, and my understanding
is that his dad,

through a conversation
that I had with his dad,

his dad did not get the money back.

[Judy]
You can't tell me about the conversation.

If you have text messages between them,
I would like to see them.

I do. Yes.

So there's those text messages.

And I also have several text messages
where Curtis agrees

to pay me the money, and also...

Shh! "This is Desarae.

Curtis said you would take
possession of the Kia,

but I asked about the title."

"Big Curtis." Is that your father?

- Your Honor, yes, it is.
- [Judy] Okey-dokey.

Mr. Vasquez, your father says
that he gave you the money.

- That's correct.
- [Judy] And that it wasn't...

Certainly wasn't a day,
because two weeks later

he writes back, "Sorry, not good
at checking my texts.

If we can arrange for me
to get the title while you are here,

that would be awesome."

That's two weeks later.
Your father didn't say to her,

"He gave me the money back."
He said, "I want the title."

That's two weeks later.

So the story you just gave me
was a whole lot of "Who shot John?"

Well, Your Honor,
one thing that's cleared up right away

is that it was never sold
without her knowledge.

Just a second.
Not what I'm asking you, sir.

I'm saying that your
original story to me was

that I sold my father the car
with her agreement.

- That's what you say here, for $700.
- That's right.

"He gave me the $700, but this..."

Am I correct, Whitney?

That the car broke down the next day.

He said, "The car broke down
within a day."

Within a day.
And so you gave him his money back.

Well, that's not what
your father says here, sir.

That's not what your father says here.

I went back and forth with him for days,

but I gave him his money back.

No, what you told me was a lie.

You told me it broke down
the day you gave him his money back.

The initial conversation she had
was May 9th.

And then May 16th, she's having
a conversation with Big Curtis.

- That's your father.
- Mm-hmm.

[Judy]
"Sorry for not checking my texts.

Can you get me the title?"

Which means two weeks later,
he wanted the title.

And then your father says about you,

"Curtis owes me big-time money,
and I can't get money from him either."

- That's your father.
- Yeah, that's correct, Your Honor.

[Judy]
Big Curtis says to her,

"Can you tell me what problem
does Curtis have

that causes him to spend
massive amounts of money

in such a short period of time?"

She answers, "Drugs, alcohol, gambling."

You know, "He's a functional addict."

He even got around $40,000,
and he blew every penny.

So the $700 you gave him
for the car,

I'm just going to file in small claims.

For whatever reason,
he's refusing to give it to me.

It's not your fault
that he stole the money from me.

Just FYI, I have no issue
giving you the title."

Okay.

So far he owes you $700
for the car.

And then we're finished.

Get Big Curtis the title.

Mail it to him.
He sends you his address.

- [Judy] Okay? Great.
- Yes.

Now you have a counterclaim,
Mr. Vasquez.

Yes, Your Honor. I have some...

[Judy]
Ah, ah, ah.

Don't give me all that nonsense.

- [chuckles]
- You say that the plaintiff

canceled a vacation trip.

You made plane arrangements
to take your children somewhere,

and she took the children out of state.

And car repairs
that you gave her money for.

Car repairs.

Two hundred and fifty dollars.

"I helped her repair her car
and spent $250 on parts."

When was that?

That was the car in question
that we were just talking about.

I actually...

[Judy] Okay, you planned a trip
to Portugal in August of 2022.

That's correct.

Airplane tickets.

Where'd you get the money for all that?

My parents helped me
with the purchase of the kids' tickets.

- Why?
- Because I couldn't afford all of them.

[Judy]
Who was going on the trip?

It was going to be my wife,
myself, and two kids.

Did you go on the vacation
to Portugal with your wife?

No, we did not make it.

- [Judy] You did not make it?
- Correct.

- Why?
- [Curtis] Because she is responsible...

[Judy]
No, no, no. Not her.

Not with your two kids.
Did you go with your wife?

- No, I didn't.
- [Judy] Why?

I didn't want to go without the kids.

The whole purpose was to bring the kids
to see the grandparents.

- [Judy] Does your wife work?
- Yes.

[Judy]
What kind of work does she do?

- She's a bartender.
- [Judy] Mm-hmm.

Judgement for the plaintiff
in the amount of $700.

Don't make any more private agreements
with him, madam.

I think it's a big mistake.

- [Desarae] I agree.
- We're done. Counterclaim's dismissed.

Your Honor, I had one more...

I just ruled
that your counterclaim is dismissed.

You're finished.

I'm a little disappointed
that I didn't get everything

that I felt that I was owed.

Well, I'm a bit disappointed.

I felt like I had a lot more
coming my way.

Number one,
I will not do him any favors.

I've taken care of my kids financially
for the last seven years.

Especially of monetary value.

If she feels entitled to six months,
so be it.

But I didn't agree to it.

I hope that this is kind of
a wake-up call to him.

It's completely ridiculous.

I'm just tired of having my name
dragged through the mud.

To do honest business,

whether it's in personal relationship
or business.

I take care of my kids.

He's got a long history,

long history of owing money,
not paying it back.

Always have, and I always will,
regardless.

He runs through family and friends,

and he'll dry your pocketbooks
and laugh out the door.

He doesn't care.

You know, claim money for a cell phone
that, you know, I bought.

And, you know, I think this is
all to do with spite.

Just my kids.

At the end of the day,
whatever's best for them.

I just want to be there for the kids,
and I want to be done with the drama.

I have very little to say about that case.

Very little thoughts,
except that Big Curtis,

the defendant's father,

doesn't like him.

I didn't get to read the messages,

- but I'll take your word for it.
- Clearly. He said,

"What is he doing with all the money?"

You know, my initial reading
of that case was,

"Maybe she's being unreasonable."

[chuckling]
She's really not being unreasonable.

- Yeah.
- I have a feeling there's not a lot more

to "Little Curtis" than we were
able to see today

that his father, Big Curtis,
understands.

[announcer] Want justice?


[theme music playing]