03x56 - From Subsidy to Slander

[bunniefuu]

Did she file an eviction notice
against you?

Yes, ma'am.

She was fussing, yelling, and cussing,
and threatened to beat me up.

She still has property there.

-Oh, yes.
-No, ma'am.

She left a dog.

You took a dog with you?

Yes.

She had two dogs.
Those dogs had puppies.

And she ran a little farm out of my house.

[narrator] This is Judy Justice.

[opening credits music]

[narrator] Keyla Belle is suing
her former landlord, Janita Aikens,

for filing false evictions, slander,
and harassment.

[Kevin] All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge. Case 3076,
Belle vs Aikens.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Ms. Belle, Ms. Aikens was your landlord
for a period of time.

-Yes, ma'am.
-Were there two separate houses?

She live in one; you lived in the other?

-Yes, ma'am.
-But you were next-door neighbors?

Right. Next-door.

-So you have a rental home.
-Yes, ma'am.

How large a home is it?

It's a two bedroom.

Who lived there with you?

Me and my daughter
and my 21-year-old son.

You have dogs.

I have two.

When did you first lease the house
from Ms. Aikens?

I leased from Ms. Aikens
September 29, 2022.

And what was the rent you were paying?

$87.

-A month?
-Yes, ma'am.

So that means you were receiving
Section 8 housing.

-They were paying the rest.
-Yes, ma'am.

And how much rent were you receiving?

A total of $750.

What does your son do?

My son works at a
Steak & Shake restaurant in our hometown.

And your daughter?

She works also.

At what?

-Clothing store.
-And you?

Steak & Shake also.

So you have three full-time employed
people living in your house.

Yes, ma'am.

How do you qualify for Section 8 housing?

Well, everybody at the same time
just started working at the home.

I no longer receive Section 8
at this time.

Well, I know that you don't
because you say that you don't.

And that's part
of your complaint against her.

That because of the fact that she filed
all of these eviction notices against you,

you lost your Section 8 housing.
That's what you say in...

I let it go.

Well, I just want to know how you were
getting it in the first place.

Yeah. I didn't have employment
when I started receiving it.

So it wasn't because of her
that you lost your Section 8 housing.

It was because there were
three employed adults.

No.

So it wasn't because of her.

-It was because of her.
-Impossible.

-That's impossible.
-Okay.

All three of you were working
when you lost your Section 8 housing.

-Yeah.
-There are three adults working.

The government shouldn't be paying $750
or $700 for your rent.

And you were only paying $87.

Well, it ended up changing from $750...
well, from my $87, I ended up paying $350.

When my income went up, I ended up
paying $350 in rent to Ms. Aikens.

-How long did you live there?
-A year.

So I'm crossing out
the part of your complaint

that alleges that because of her conduct
you lost your Section 8 housing.

You lost your Section 8 housing
'cause you didn't qualify for it.

No. I still had it.

What I'm saying to you, as a taxpayer,
you shouldn't have had it.

Three adult people working
in your household,

and the rent is relatively minimal.
$750 is a relatively minimal rent.

It means that each of you
were paying $200...

about $200 a month in rent.

I'm certain that,
even with minimum wage jobs,

that's a reasonable rent.

Okay. So she filed
several eviction notices against you.

-Mm-hmm.
-When, for the first time,

did she file
an eviction notice against you?

And can I see the papers, please?

Um, I found drugs in the...

No, no, no.
You're not answering my question.

My question was when did she first file
an eviction notice against you?

That requires a date when she filed
an eviction notice against you.



No, when was the first time?
Just answer my question.

When was the first time she filed
an eviction notice against you?

October 15, I believe it was.

Okay. October of what year?



May I see it please...
the basis for it?

Did you say October '22
or September '22?

October.

October. So a month after you moved in.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

It was filed the 26th of October.

Okay.



Okay. The hearing date was November 16.
This is what you allege.

"ill*gal drugs in unit."

-Mm-hmm.
-Tell me about that.

Ms. Belle had called me

saying that she had found
fentanyl in the cabinets.

This was done over text message.
She... between over texting and calling.

And um, she said that there was fentanyl
in a sandwich bag.

I do have a picture of it.
It's kind of...

It's only in black-and-white, but um...

Okay. So she called you
and said she found drugs in the house.

Yes, ma'am.

-Okay.
-And I...

Go ahead.

I didn't believe her
because the house had been empty

for four months before she moved in it
and it had been cleaned several times.

Ms. Belle, let me tell you this...

it doesn't make sense for her to call you

and tell you that she found
this bag of drugs in the house

if they were hers.
Do you understand?

Oh, yes, ma'am.

So I don't understand,
as one of the causes to evict her,

you say, "ill*gal drugs in unit."

That wasn't the first cause for trouble
between her and I.

The first was...
and it was coupled together

within maybe a two or three week span...
so she was smoking in the unit.

I had called her... within three weeks
of her moving into the unit,

I had called the police on her
twice already.

-For what?
-For threatening me, cussing me out.

Coming into the unit,
I believe she was coming up with reasons

to try to get money out of me.

Oh. Okay. Well, when was the first time
you had trouble with her?

It was October 14...

-Okay.
-...that I called the police on her.

-For what?
-I called the police on her

because she was fussing, yelling and
cussing, and threatening to beat me up.

I made a vow that
when I got taken away from my children,

I would never do it again.
So I haven't touched drugs.

When I called Ms. Aikens
and I explained to her the situation,

I felt like I was taken advantage of.

Do you think she knew
that there were drugs in your house?

Honestly, I do.

♪ ♪

[narrator] Keyla Belle claims
her former landlord, Janita Aikens,

filed false evictions and harassed her.

Janita is countersuing Keyla
for a water heater and property damage.

Do you remember what that dispute
was about, Ms. Belle?

The drugs in the kitchen cabinet.

That was about the drugs?
Well, explain it to me.

When I called Ms. Aikens
and explained to her

about drugs being in my kitchen cabinet,

I was convicted
over 15 years ago for drugs.

It was the way I chose, you know,
to support me and my children.

I made a vow that...
when I got taken away from my children...

I would never do it again.
And so I haven't touched drugs.

When I called Ms. Aikens
and explained to her the situation,

I felt like I was taken advantage of.

Do you think she knew that there were
drugs in your house?

Honestly, I do.

Well, what would make you think that?
Did she know about your history?

She does.

Did you tell her?

She's a friend of my aunt.

This is a problem, Ms. Aikens...
this first eviction notice.

I don't know what "anti-social behavior"
is breaking the lease.

What is that?

'Cause ill*gal drugs,
I don't believe were hers.

The house may have been vacant
for four months,

but it's also possible
that somebody else got in there.

There is no question in my mind
that she would not call you

and tell you that she found
drugs in the house.

You Honor, can I just say that
the house was a Section 8 house?

The house had been inspected
several times.

I don't care. I don't care.

-By the inspector.
-I don't care.

I don't know what the inspector did,

whether he opened up cabinets
or whatever...

It just doesn't make sense
for the Plaintiff to call you

and tell you that she found
drugs in the house.

Especially since she didn't want
to move then.

She didn't want to move out of the house.

So why would she call you and say
there were drugs in the house?

I mean, I can understand
if she called and said,

"Listen, there are drugs in the house,
and I don't like what's going on here.

So, I want to move."

But it doesn't make sense
for her to call you...

She didn't say she wanted to move.

No. I said to you it doesn't make sense
for her to call you... Okay.

So, "ill*gal drugs"... forget it.

"Disturbing the peace"...
that's when you got into an altercation

with her about the drugs in the house.
I can see she's emotional about that.

"Anti-social behavior" is
a very large thing.

So, any judge would have
thrown out this complaint,

which I assume they did
because it was nonsense.

-Yes. They...
-Okay. So we have... shh.

We have one nonsense eviction notice.
When was the next eviction notice?

The next one was 11/1.

When was the next eviction notice
you filed against her, Ms. Aikens?

I filed that personally.
I hadn't had a lawyer at that...

I don't care that you had a lawyer.
It's nonsense.

I do believe the next one
was in November.

Okay.

I do believe the next one
was in November,

because I had filed that one incorrectly.

Okay. May I see it, please?

-This. It's that one.
-Thank you.

Okay. So this one says "non-payment."

-Did you pay your rent in December?
-Yes, ma'am.

What non-payment did you sue her for?

Keyla was constantly late with the...

She only lived there for two months
at the time.

Right. So...

She lived there October and November,
and this was filed December 6.

So what non-payment?

She was late with that month's rent.

-Then I filed for non-payment.
-Just a second.

This was filed December 6.

December 6, right.
Rent is due on the first.

Okay. Did you get paid from Section 8?

Yeah. I do believe...

Just a second.
So you got paid from Section 8.

And at that time, Section 8 was paying
the vast majority of it.

She was only paying $87.

So there had to be another reason
you were moving to evict her

other than this minuscule payment.
And it was only the 6th of the month.

It was also about her pit bulls.

I had asked her when we set up the lease.

When we set up the lease, I met with her,
you know, before she moved in.

She told me she had a dog,
and I accepted Keyla.

The only way I accepted Keyla
was that if she had

a kennel put in the back yard
for her two pit bulls.

I have a grandson...

-Was it in the lease?
-Yes, ma'am.

May I see the lease?

Kevin, would you show this
to Ms. Belle, please?

And ask her if that's her signature
and that's the lease.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. So when you moved in,

you knew you had to have
a kennel for your two pit bulls.

Yes, ma'am.

When did you put it in?

That week.

The week that you moved in?

Yes, ma'am.

-Okay.
-No, Your Honor. That didn't happen.

She didn't move a kennel into
the back yard until April of this year.

Your Honor, I've got a video.

-I'd like to take a look at it.
-That's from April of this year.

Ms. Belle, just make sure
that what you're showing me

is two weeks after you moved in.

-Do you understand?
-Okay.

Don't show it to me... don't show it to me
unless the kennel was put in

within two weeks of your moving in.

Okay. This doesn't have a date.

But this is her son attacking me when
the kennel was being put in the back yard.

-In April.
-Shh. Just a second.

-Month and year.
-Okay.

Listen to me carefully, Ms. Belle.

Okay.

Let's not play with each other.

Mm-hmm.

Was the kennel put in
in April 2023?

No, ma'am.
The kennel was in October when I moved in.

Okay. And did you purchase the kennel?

-Um...
-Did you purchase the kennel.

No, I did, but I bought it
from a friend.

Ms. Belle, you know we're in trouble here.

I don't have a receipt for it.

This last one was filed in December 2022,

and it alleges "violation of the lease."

Was the violation of the lease in 2022
that you're referring to

the lack of a kennel in the house
for the two pit bulls?

Yes, ma'am, that's part of it.

Well, the other one was
"utility shut-off." What does that mean?

So her utilities had gotten shut off.

When the gas company came back out
to restore service,

it done something to my hot water tank...
to the hot water tank.

She or someone with her lit
a self-igniting hot water tank, right,

that destroyed the hot water tank
in the property.

-So I then had to shell out $900...
-I got a...

...to replace the hot water tank.

So far, I don't believe that you put in
a kennel when you moved in,

so she's allowed to file this...
this eviction notice.

When was the next one?

-I want you to understand I believe...
-Yes, ma'am.

...that you didn't put in
a kennel for the dogs.

-I hear you.
-Until April 2023.

You hear me?

When you moved out,
did you leave things of yours there?

No.

She left the dog there for ten days
with no heat

and said I exposed the dog
to twenty degree weather.

On Facebook she said that.

Did you leave a dog there?

♪ ♪

[narrator] Keyla Belle is accusing
her former landlord, Janita Aikens,

of harassment
and filing multiple false evictions.

Janita is countersuing Keyla
for a water heater and property damage.

-I want you to understand I believe...
-Yes, ma'am.

that you didn't put in
a kennel for the dogs.

-I hear you.
-Until April 2023.

-You hear me?
-Yeah.

-Okey-dokie.
-[laughing]

Okay. When was the next one?

The next... there's so many, Your Honor.

Oh, that's okay.

I'm telling you you were still there

and you didn't put in a kennel
until April 2023.

You were in violation of your lease
for a very, very long time.

Yeah.

Yeah. You were in violation of your lease
for a very long time.

'Cause I wouldn't like to live
next-door to you

with two pit bulls
roaming around the back yard.

-Right.
-Anything else?

-Not with the evictions.
-Great. So you're next cause of action

is slander, defamation of character.
Tell me what that was.

Um, she made a few Facebook posts
using my name.

In what way?

Saying how much I owed in rent.
Um, saying that I was unable to pay it.

And then there's another one
where she says I tore her house up.

Well, that's what
she's counter-claiming for.

So far, none of that is slanderous.

Yeah. "She lets her animals
tear up the property."

-Ms. Belle...
-Yes, ma'am.

She says back here in August of this year,

"She lies about it... but fails to inform
the magistrate landlords.

"She lets her animals
tear up the property.

'But does she want repairs done? No.
'Why?' you say.

"She engineers lies on Facebook

"to justify her actions
in not giving me access to the property

so it can look like
I'm not doing the repairs."

Well, she put it on Facebook.

Yeah. I know it's what
she put on Facebook.

Your case is dismissed.
All right, so we're finished with you.

Money owed for defamation...
property damage...

How did she damage your property?
That's all I'm interested in.

She lit the self-igniting hot water tank.

Okay. What else?

I had the attorney's fees for her.

What attorney's fees?

The attorney fees about this case.

-They were $875.
-For what?

What case are you talking about?

I'm talking about
the Small Claims court case.

We also talked about tenants' issues.

We also talked about
what I'd be liable for if she...

All right. Very, very nice.
It's all very, very nice.

You living some place else now?

Yes, ma'am.

You have another tenant in the house?

No, ma'am. She hasn't released
tenancy from the property,

which is why I keep having
to put notices on the door.

-So I can stay legal.
-What... stop for a second.

What do you mean, "she hasn't released..."

She hasn't given me
the keys back to the property.

She hasn't told me that
she was moving from the property.

My attorney called and, you know,
made contact to ask.

Um, and made me ask her,
and she hasn't moved anything.

You mean she still has property there?

-Oh, yes. She still has property there.
-What does she have?

-She has a bed, a dresser...
-Just a second.

Do you still have any property
that you want in the house?

No, ma'am.

-You don't.
-No.

When you moved out,
did you leave things of yours there?

-No.
-What about a bed?

-No.
-[Janita] A dog.

-What?
-She left a dog there for ten days

with no heat and said I exposed the dog
to twenty degree weather

On Facebook she said that.

Did you leave a dog there?

No, ma'am.

-You took a dog with you.
-Yes.

-Do you have any proof that she...?
-I had them both.

-Did she have three dogs?
-I have two.

No. She said you had three.

She actually had nine.

She had two dogs.
Those dogs had puppies.

And she ran a little farm
out of my house.

Listen to me. You both submitted
yourself to my jurisdiction.

-Yes.
-Say nothing.

She has now gone from the house.

I find that she has acknowledged
that she is no longer a tenant of yours.

Anything in your house
that you do not want to keep

that you think was hers,
you can dispose of.

-Thank you.
-Sell it, throw it away,

change the locks on the door...
the tumbler.

If she didn't give you the keys back,
change the tumbler.

I will prepare that order.

And I will sign it,
and you will agree with it.

-Correct?
-Yes, ma'am.

She's going to dispose
of any property that's there.

She's going to change
the tumbler this week,

-because she should do that anyway.
-Yes.

-Okay?
-She don't own the house.

I don't care who owns the house.
She was your landlord.

That's what she says. So if she wants
to do that, she can do that.

But you have nothing there
that you claim is yours anymore,

and you are no longer
a tenant in that house.

-Correct.
-So whoever owns the house

-can get rid of whatever they want...
-Mm-hmm.

...can change the locks on the doors.
Do you understand?

-Oh, yes, ma'am.
-Perfect. We're finished.

We'll prepare the order for you.
Thank you. Bye.

[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

Overall, I think it was fair.

I like Judge Judy.

I think she is fair,
which is why I agreed to come.

It was ongoing harassment

that, every day, coming home
with a paper posted to the door.

I got a 24-hour notice
that I put on the door

so I could go in and check the heat,

and I discovered
that she had left the dog there.

After she had moved.
After she had transferred her utilities.

The only dog
that was in the house was her.

She left the dog there ten days.

My daughter was burned by a stove
on the property... third degree burns.

I'm sorry your daughter got hurt...
if she got hurt. I wasn't there.

I think stoves are usually, um,
user-friendly.

She said that she's not on the lease,
so she wasn't gonna replace it.

The stove was her responsibility.

I will never rent from her again.
And hopefully, anybody that sees it runs.

I am so elated that she's gone.

I'm just in a better place.

What I would say is, America,
you know, don't do drugs.

So I have to tell you one of my pet peeves

as somebody on the bench,
but, more than that, as just a citizen.

There is a swathe of people

who are Americans who live in this county
who need assistance...

-Mm-hmm.
-...who work... some can't work...

but who work and can't quite make it.
I can't tell you how it bothers me

when somebody has three employed adults
in their house

and applies for and is accepted for
government-assisted housing.

-She knew she wasn't entitled to it.
-Mm-hmm.

You know, you could tell from her look
that she knew she wasn't entitled to it.

And it's just too bad that
the government is so inept

that it can't ferret out
those people who need

and those people who want.

-Mm-hmm.
-Well, there's a big difference.

Need and want are two different things.

It just constantly surprises me
the inefficiency of government

and, really, the way some people
will spend more time scheming

to get what they're not entitled to

than they will spend moving their lives
forward in a positive direction.

It is a very tricky system, you know.

I've dabbled in just seeing
what the process would be like

of applying for any kind
of government assistance

just to try and understand litigants
a bit better who have gone through it,

and it's complicated.
It's nuanced and complicated

and online and there are multiple forms
and this one has to go before this one.

I feel like if you're able to complete
that, you have a skill that could be used

-in a productive way.
-[laughing] That's true.

To make it so that you don't need
to fill out those forms.

-A good point. I never thought of that.
-Yeah.

[narrator] Have you been cheated?


[end credits music]