24 people in his house,
24 people, according to you,
for maybe lunch and dinner.
Well, if they're there for lunch
and dinner, what are they
going to do during the day?
Well, maybe there are other
activities that they can do
in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
but a pool is a very attractive
thing to have
and I assume was one of
the reasons you rented
his house, that he had a pool.
>> Yes, for my --
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
Well, that's clear.
So he said, "You can't have
all those people in the house."
And he said, "And I have
cameras."
That's what he says in his
answer -- "And I have cameras."
So was that what the discussion
turned on?
>> Yes, ma'am,
and then he proceeded to tell me
that all those people going in
and out of his house would run
his electricity bill up
and that we would probably
tear up
the lining in his swimming pool
and that when he saw
more people than that there,
that he would go out
and turn off electrical breaker,
that he had had to do it
many times to run people off.
>> Judge Judy: So?
Well, you were breaking your
agreement with him.
>> But we wouldn't have
that many in the pool,
because most of them are our age
and 80-something years old,
which don't swim.
>> Judge Judy: Well...
[ Laughter ]
...doesn't matter.
You were going to bring twice
as many people into his home
as you agreed
to bring into his home,
and he had every right to say
to you, "That's a breach
of our agreement."
I mean, if one of the reasons
you rented his house
is because it had a pool
and when you arrived there you
found
that he had emptied the pool and
there was no water in the pool,
would you feel
as if he had breached the lease?
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Well, because
you rented a house
with a house and a pool,
and he leased his house to you,
for this short vacation period,
for 12 people, not for 24.
So he said, "You can't have 24."
Now, if you had agreed to have
only 12 in the house,
he would have said, "Fine."
>> He told me that we would get
our money back,
that he had people
looking at the house already.
We would get our money back.
>> Judge Judy: I don't believe
he said that to you.
That doesn't sound right.
I believe he said to you,
"If I can rent the house" --
Because you're there already.
You're supposed
to start the rental.
"If I can rent it for this week,
I'll give you your money back."
Or you could have just said to
him,
"I know what I agreed to here.
We will only have
12 people in the house."
And if the other house where the
other seven people were staying
could have accommodated 20,
you have your parties there.
Right?
>> That's correct as far
as that goes.
>> Judge Judy: Right.
If you have an agreement
with this gentleman
not to have more than
12 people in the house
and he says, "You can certainly
have the property, but you have
to agree to more than 12 people,
and if I see that there are more
than 12 people,
I'm going to run you
out of here."
And it was your decision to say,
"This is where we want
to have our party,"
so you rented someplace else.
And when you rented
someplace else,
you rented it in Hot Springs?
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Did it have a
pool?
>> No, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: So where
did you go with your 12 people?
>> We went to Lake Arkansas
State Park in a cabin.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And where did you
all get together, all 24 of you?
>> At the state park.
>> Judge Judy: Only at the state
park.
You mean you didn't go
to the other house
that could have accommodated 20?
Your husband just told me
that the house
that the seven people rented
could have accommodated 20.
>> Right.
We actually went to where
the grandkids were,
where they were actually
playing in water and stuff.
You know, the older adults went
and stayed at the other house.
>> Your Honor, may I say
something?
I also wanted
to make accommodations,
because the day before, she said
they would only have
three people extra,
so I came up with a no-party
policy that we've used before
that says we will allow up
to three additional guests,
up to the 12, and --
>> Judge Judy: Did she tell you
that there would be
three other people?
>> The day before, she did, and
then that day, I'd ask her --
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
So the day before she arrived,
she said that
they may have three extra --
>> I had called her,
because, as usual,
when you have 12 people up
to the limit, sometimes, people
will try to fudge a little.
So I called up and I said, "I'm
just confirming your number,
and can you tell me your number?
I have you down as 12."
She said,
"There may be a few more."
I said, "How many is a few?"
And she said,
"Well, I'm not really sure."
I said, "I need an exact number,
please."
And she said,
"Well, three, I think."
And so now I'm starting to get
something in my stomach going,
"Wait a second.
Something is not right."
So I told my wife, "We have to
bring the no-party policy out,"
and we gave them the opportunity
to have three at a time.
I don't care which
three it were,
but I let her know that we have
security cameras there,
and if we see more, we have to
come by and end the rental
and they would lose
their security deposit.
We gave them back their security
deposit, and she didn't want
to sign the paper.
>> Judge Judy: Did you
re-rent the house for the week?
>> No, Your Honor.
People that do this kind of
rental, usually January,
February, March, like they do,
for big groups will book a house
with a pool far in advance,
so I opened it up
on the calendar,
and nobody booked.
>> Judge Judy: Well, you could
have stayed there.
You just couldn't have
had any more than 12 people.
That was your choice.
You don't get your money back.
You broke the arrangement.
That's it. We're done.