is suing his former tenant,
Jennifer Shealy,
for unpaid rent
and stolen property.
>> Judge Judy: Mr. Benjamin,
the defendant was your tenant.
>> That's correct.
>> Judge Judy: And it is your
claim that she didn't pay rent
during the time she was there,
she owes you for rent and that
she also took appliances
when she left the premises
that had you had purchased.
>> That's correct.
>> Judge Judy: Ms. Shealy
has a whole bunch of excuses,
so I'm just going to start
getting some facts from her.
When did you move into
Mr. Benjamin's house,
month and year?
>> Month and year, July 2016.
>> Judge Judy: Prior to moving
into Mr. Benjamin's house,
where did you live?
>> It's another house that I had
moved into, and that had
flooded.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
>> Okay.
>> Judge Judy: You lived in
another house?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: In what city?
>> Jacksonville, Florida.
>> Judge Judy: How long did you
live in that house?
>> Four years.
>> Judge Judy: Who did you live
there with?
>> My kids.
>> Judge Judy: How many?
>> I have four children.
>> Judge Judy: What happened
to that house?
>> A storm had came,
and it had started getting bad
in the backyard.
The back of the house started,
like, kind of going down,
and they weren't trying to get
it jacked up because in Florida,
they're below sea level,
so you have to get the houses
jacked up every now and then.
They weren't trying to do it,
so I fulfilled my lease and,
like, a month before my lease
was over I paid that
month's rent, and I had just --
>> Judge Judy: All right.
So let's move on to July.
>> Yeah.
>> Judge Judy: Mm-hmm.
July of 2016, is that when
she moved in?
>> July the 1st, 2016.
>> Judge Judy: And did you have
a lease?
>> I did have a lease.
However, the plumbing was
distorted throughout the house.
>> Judge Judy: You're talking
about Mr. Benjamin's house?
>> Mr. Benjamin's house.
>> Judge Judy: Then you don't
move in.
>> Exactly.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
Then you don't move in.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: But you did move
in?
But you did move in?
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Good.
And you lived there
with your four children in July?
>> No, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Where did you
live in July?
>> In a motel that he provided.
>> Judge Judy: And did you pay
rent?
>> Yes, I paid -- Okay.
>> Judge Judy: You paid rent in
July.
How much?
>> $1,750,
but the situation at the house,
the carpet and everything, was
messed up.
>> Judge Judy: Listen to me.
>> Okay.
>> Judge Judy: I don't want you
to tell me what was wrong with
the house.
>> Okay.
Judge Judy: It's a free country.
You don't like the house, you
don't move in.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: You don't take
the house.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: Let's start.
You paid rent in July,
and things weren't
to your satisfaction.
Mr. Benjamin used your rent
money to pay for a motel, or he
paid for the motel himself?
>> He paid for the hotel
himself.
The money that I gave him,
he used to get the floor fixed,
which me and my family --
it was paying for it.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
>> We paid for us to live there.
>> Judge Judy: Shh.
How much did she pay you
when she moved in?
>> $400 for a deposit,
$850 for the first month rent.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And when did she go
to a motel with her children?
>> It was approximately 8 July
and checked out 11 July.
It was just for that weekend.
>> Judge Judy: Did you pay
for that motel?
>> Yes, I did.
>> Judge Judy: And tell me why
she had to go for a motel that
>> She called me and told me
that the plumbing was bad,
and it was very, very stink in
the house, that she couldn't
bear it, so that's why
I put her in the motel
while I sent a plumber
out there to fix the problem,
and he did fix the problem
that weekend.
>> Judge Judy: What was the
problem?
>> He said it was backed up.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
>> The plumbing was backed up.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
So now you have zero, five,
eight and four, 12,
$1,250
is what she gave you in July.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
When did you move out of
Mr. Benjamin's house,
Ms. Shealy?
>> I moved out the day after
Thanksgiving when my house was
shoot -- There was a shoot-out.
Oh, okay.
Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: I said,
"When did you move out?"
>> Okay.
November 26th, 2016.
>> Judge Judy: So you were there
August, September, October, and
November, 4 months.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: Did you pay rent
in any of those 4 months --
August, September,
October, or November?
>> I paid him rent in September.
I gave him rent, but that's what
I was trying to tell you.
The money that I gave him in the
beginning, we did the work
for the house so that paid.
Our work paid for the house.
He's trying to --
I kept giving him money,
and he had -- the house, my kids
were getting sick.
There was mildew.
>> Judge Judy: Ms. Shealy --
Ms. Shealy, I don't --
Listen to me.
>> Yeah. You don't care?
>> Judge Judy: No.
>> Okay.
>> Judge Judy: I want to know.
You lived in his house
for 4 months.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: What I want
to know is of the 4 months,
July, August, September,
October, November, 5 months.
We've already accounted for
July.
>> Mm-hmm. Okay.
>> Judge Judy: And the rent was
$850?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: A month.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: And you paid
for July.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: For the next
4 months that you lived there,
how many times
did you give him $850?
>> I gave him once.
>> Judge Judy: Once.
In what month?
>> In September
for October's rent.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
>> Because the work that I did
paid for August and September,
so while he's sitting up here
trying to do all this, like --
This was a mutual agreement.
>> Judge Judy: Show me.
>> I can't.
It was something we discussed.
Like, he got paperwork,
so it's whatever.
>> Judge