in the matter of
Teat vs. Miller/Hilbun,
step forward.
>> Announcer: Marcus Teat
is suing his neighbors,
Carol Miller and her tenant,
Patrick Hilbun,
for damages to a fence
and harassment.
>> Judge Judy: Mr. Teat,
how long have you been neighbors
to the defendants?
>> About 12 years. Since 2005.
>> Judge Judy: And I assume
you both own your homes.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: I gather from
your complaint, sir,
that you have not had
a pleasant relationship
with the defendants, and that's
been going on for a long time.
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Irritating
things.
You refer to them here.
I'm not getting into them.
I'm not getting into
whether, a year ago, they threw
rabbit carcasses over your
fence, and that was annoying.
I'm just not getting into that.k
for is,
you ask for the defendants
to share the cost
in replacing
or repairing a fence
that you both built together
about eight years ago.
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: And when you
built the fence that separated
your property eight years ago,
had there already
been a fence there?
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: And
it had rotted.
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: It had
to be replaced.
How long have you lived
in your house?
>> Since the early '80s.
>> Judge Judy: And other than
replacing it eight years ago
with the plaintiff,
had you ever replaced
that fence before?
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: Now you say
that the fence has rotted again.
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: And you want them
to split the cost.
Tell me why.
>> Well, I informed Miss Miller
that, as long as the dirt
was in contact with that fence,
it's going to rot out again.
So I informed her, I said,
"Look, the only way
you're going to solve this
is you're going to have to build
a retaining wall to keep
that dirt off of this fence.
I said that's your property.
You're on the uphill side.
What you need to do is control
your property.
She told me she wasn't, uh...
>> Judge Judy: She wasn't
going to build a retaining wall?
>> Right. She's not
responsible for the dirt.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
Just for my own information,
how much do you think it will
cost to put in a new fence?
>> Concrete retainer wall?
I say a couple thousand dollars.
>> Judge Judy: At least.
So you want her to spend several
thousand dollars
to protect your fence?
>> To control her property,
not protect the fence.
>> Judge Judy: When you say
control her property,
you mean when it rains?
The rain brings the dirt down
and hits the fence?
>> Both, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: What
do you mean both?
>> Because what they're doing,
the way they water,
they throw a water hose
out there in the yard and just
turn it on and let it run.
>> Judge Judy: Well,
that would be foolish.
That would probably be
just a foolish thing to do
since you paid for this fence.
>> That's what they do,
Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
May I see photographs just of
this area...
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: ...so that I can
make a more reasoned judgement?
And if the defendants
have photographs, I'd like to
take a look at them, too.
>> Byrd: Do you have
photographs?
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
So this is the fence, and is
this their property or yours?
>> That is their property,
Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Does everyone
have the same wooden fence
that's in your neighborhood?
>> Well, no. On the other side,
there's a cyclone fence, on
the other side of her property.
It's a cyclone fence.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
It's a metal cyclone fence.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: So it's
a metal cyclone fence
that won't rot out.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And what would prevent you,
if you wanted to, Mr. Teat,
from building a fence
on your property,
if you wanted to be fenced away
from them, in some material
other than a wood fence?
>> Well, what had happened,
Your Honor, is the dirt --
See, she's quite a bit higher
than I am on her side of the
fence, so it would still be an
erosion problem because
she's quite a bit higher.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
They didn't do anything to their
property to purposely cause
water erosion onto your
property.
What you want them to do is,
you want them to take active
steps now to change the
topography of their property.
You bought your property
knowing your property was below
and their property was higher.
>> Yes, I did.
>> Judge Judy: And we know that
water runs downhill.
So you know that that happens.
So I would say, since you don't
get along with them,
and they're not going to be
cooperative with you with regard
to replacing this fence
with one that will not erode
owing to water,
that you build a fence,
and you build it from
a non-eroding product,
and build it on your side.
Period. End of discussion.
>> So if they're purposely,
like, throwing a water hose
out there and just turning on
the water and let it run
all night and all day, still?
>> Judge Judy: Oh, I don't know
whether they're doing that, sir.
Mr. Teat, I do not believe
these people, who don't look
like psychotics to me,
in order to spite you,
will pay for water
and let it run all night
just for the purposes
of annoying you
and eroding a common fence
that they helped pay for.
Mr. Teat.
>> Yes?
>> Judge Judy: Build your own
fence on your property.
Build a non-eroding one.
They're not going to pay for it.
We're done. Thank you.