Mr. Riemenschneider,
you and the defendant
were a couple and rented
an apartment together.
What month and year
did you lease the apartment?
>> Originally we leased
the apartment several years ago.
I think it's in July of 2013.
>> Judge Judy: Did you renew the
lease?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: The last renewal
of the lease was when?
>> That would have been
last year.
>> Judge Judy: Month?
>> Month, I would say probably
around June.
>> Judge Judy: And then there
came a time when the
relationship broke down,
and that was when?
>> I couldn't exactly
give a date, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: How about a
month?
>> A month? I would say --
>> Judge Judy: Do you know?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: What month?
>> Thanksgiving Day
last year, 2015.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
Now, so, you had a long-term,
live-in relationship.
You renewed the lease
at least twice.
Did you own two cars?
>> Separate vehicles? Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Yes.
You had a job?
>> Yes, part-time.
I was going to school full-time,
as well.
>> Judge Judy: How were you
supporting yourself
other than the part-time job?
>> Student loans, grants,
and scholarships
that I received.
>> Judge Judy: And what were you
doing, Ms. Anderson?
>> In November --
>> Judge Judy: Not in November.
In 2015.
>> I was working.
>> Judge Judy: For whom?
>> Part-time.
>> Judge Judy: For whom?
>> At a gift shop in a museum.
>> Judge Judy: And what were you
doing with the other part-time?
>> I just had that job,
which I still carry now.
>> Judge Judy: How do you
support yourself?
>> With this job.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
So, you both were working
part-time.
May have had student loans.
I don't know what else you did
to complete your income package.
But each one of you
were paying your own bills.
Correct?
You bought your own clothes?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: You bought your
own clothes?
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: You paid your own
car note and insurance?
>> That's right.
>> Judge Judy: You paid your own
car note and insurance?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: And that was out
of a checking account?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: That was out of a
checking account?
>> That's right.
>> Judge Judy: Did you ever have
a joint checking account?
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
Then you had other bills.
Then you had basic household
bills.
How much was the rent?
>> Recently, it was $750,
Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
So, it was $750.
And how was the rent split?
>> I would say 50/50,
Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: What do you mean,
you would say?
What does that mean?
>> I paid my half.
When she couldn't afford her
half, I had to cover it.
>> Judge Judy: So, you covered
her half of the rent?
>> A lot of times, yes.
>> Judge Judy: Is that correct?
>> That is correct,
with an exception that
I paid for other bills,
including electricity bills
and gas bills
and other things on top of that.
>> Judge Judy: What other
things?
>> Groceries every now and then.
The cable bill
and the Internet bills every now
and then, too --
what I could pay.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
So, what you're telling me is
when you could afford it,
you paid half of the rent.
When you couldn't
afford it, he covered the rent.
>> Correct, with his agreement.
>> Judge Judy: And you also
paid, when you could, the
electric bill and some
groceries.
>> And including
the gas bill, too.
>> Judge Judy: And a gas bill.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
Then in November, things went
south, and this is what the case
is about.
There came a time,
Ms. Anderson,
when neither one of you
wanted to leave the apartment.
Each one of you
wanted the apartment, and so
we were at a stalemate.
You're each on the lease
and decided to do what I think
is impossible to do after a
long-term relationship --
stay in an apartment together
and run your lives separately.
But you, sir,
say that there came a point
where Ms. Anderson wanted
to remain in the apartment,
wanted you to leave --
stopped paying rent at all.
And when was that?
>> I couldn't say exactly,
Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Well, listen
to me.
This is a court.
This is not a guessing game.
You filed a lawsuit.
Your lawsuit said at some point
she stopped paying any rent.
She stopped paying any bills.
She was basically a squatter
because you were no longer a
couple.
So you have to tell me
when that happened.
In what month?
>> I couldn't tell you exactly
what month, Your Honor,
because, for example,
all of last year,
I paid for every month.
Even some of these bills
she speaks of, Your Honor --
the cable bill, the gas bill --
I paid those, as well.
>> Judge Judy: I don't care.
As long as you're in a couple
relationship and enjoying each
other, sharing a bedroom,
sharing a life together,
doing things together
as a couple, I don't care
whether she paid the rent
or she didn't pay the rent.
Then you're no longer a couple
and no longer have the perks
of the relationship.
No longer
go out to dinner together,
go to a movie together,
snuggle at night together.
She might even bring a new
boyfriend --
Is that a new boyfriend?
Might even bring
a new boyfriend home at night.
So, at that point, that person
is no longer your girlfriend
or your partner.
She becomes your roommate.
Once she becomes your roommate,
she's got to pay her bills!
So I'm going to ask you again.
In what month after November of
2015 did she stop paying rent?
>> In November.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And when did she move out?
>> She moved out in June
of this year.