You want some money back from
Mr. Bishop for a job
in your house that you paid him
for that he didn't do.
>> That's correct.
>> Judge Judy: Mr. Bishop
excuses that he was ready,
willing, and able to do the job,
and he spent some money,
so because he was ready,
willing, and able to do the job,
you don't get back any money.
Mr. Bishop, what is
your regular line of work, sir?
>> Landscaping and trees.
>> Judge Judy: Do you have a
company?
>> I did.
>> Judge Judy: Until when?
>> Until all this happened.
>> Judge Judy: How many years
did you have the company?
>> Less than 1.
>> Judge Judy: What did you do
before?
>> I worked
for another tree company.
>> Judge Judy: How long did you
work for them?
>> 4 1/2 years.
>> Judge Judy: You paid in check
or cash?
>> Cash.
>> Judge Judy: When was the last
time you filed tax returns?
What year?
>> Probably 2011.
>> Judge Judy: Did you have any
reported income this past year?
>> No, ma'am.
Nothing reported, no.
>> Judge Judy: Did you have any
income in 2016?
>> Yes, cash for landscaping
and tree jobs, yes.
>> Judge Judy: How much cash did
you receive from Ms. Novy?
>> She wrote me a check
for $4,096.
>> Judge Judy: And that was
because he came to your house.
What'd he do,
come to your front door and say,
"Your tree needs trimming,"
Ms. Novy?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Do you work?
>> Yes, I do.
>> Judge Judy: What kind of work
do you do?
>> I'm in inventory control.
>> Judge Judy: You work for a
company?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: For how long?
>> Five years for that company.
>> Judge Judy: And you have your
own home?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: You've had
projects in your home before?
>> Absolutely.
>> Judge Judy: What was it about
Mr. Bishop,
who came to your door and said,
"Your tree needs trimming,
I can do that for you,"
that inspired you to write him
a check for $4,000?
>> Announcer: "Jud Well, he hadn
by a couple different times.
My son had answered the door.
He had left his card.
I happened to be home one time
when he did stop by.
We talked about how much
he would charge me
to trim my giant oak tree.
He'd charge me
a couple hundred dollars.
>> Judge Judy: What month was
that?
>> That was in August 2016.
>> Judge Judy: I got that.
>> I said, "Sure."
I hired him and his partner.
They came out.
They did a fabulous job.
I said, "Hey,
I can recommend you to,
you know, all sorts of people."
I brought him next door
to my neighbor's house.
They did work for him
and did a great job.
>> Judge Judy: Tree-trimming?
>> Absolutely, yes.
>> Judge Judy: But this
$4,000 wasn't for tree-trimming.
>> No. No, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: It was for?
>> I asked him if he was able
to do a larger project.
I had some old pavers,
landscaping timbers,
just old plants
and everything else that I
just kind of wanted to remodel.
You know,
it'd been there for 20 years.
>> Judge Judy: You mean
remodel a yard?
>> Yes, remodel
the front of my yard, my patio.
Some of my old pavers
were cracked.
I wanted to replace it with
new -- new planters,
fire pit, and just --
>> Judge Judy: So right now,
he's a tree trimmer.
You have no knowledge
of his expertise
in doing landscaping.
>> No. I did ask him
if he was up for a bigger job.
I explained what I wanted.
And he said --
>> Judge Judy: You're an
intelligent lady, right?
Intelligent people are supposed
to get a reference.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Or two.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Do you have
pictures of what the yard looked
like before you gave him the
$4,000?
>> I do.
>> Judge Judy: I'd like to see
it.
>> That's what it looked
like before.
>> Judge Judy: Byrd, I'm going
to ask to borrow your pen.
Mine just ran out of ink.
>> Byrd: Sure.
>> Judge Judy: Thanks.
Thank you.
>> Byrd: Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: Did he give you
a sketch or anything
about what he was going to do?
>> No, we looked through
several catalogs.
We were picking out
different pavers.
I told him what I had in mind,
and we just collaborated for
a good month on different ideas
and everything else,
what he said he could do.
>> Judge Judy: You want to show
me what your front yard looks
like now?
>> Yes.
Big pile of dirt.
>> Judge Judy: Did you ever have
delivered to your house any
materials?
>> The only material
that was delivered,
and it was after that picture
was taken,
was some paver rock,
a little bit of white rock
so they could
lay the pavers on top of.
>> Judge Judy: And that's it?
>> And that's it.
No planters, no plants,
no fire pit, no pavers,
nothing else.
>> Judge Judy: Ball's in your
court.urt.
>> I tried to get
everything done.
>> Judge Judy: I want to see
your paid bills for merchandise
and where the merchandise
is that was supposed
to go into doing this job.
>> I have a invoice here for...
>> Judge Judy: For what?
>> ...the Bobcat guy
to come excavate all of the...
>> Judge Judy: Great.
>> ...existing material.
And I have the two invoices
for all the material.
>> Judge Judy: Let me see. Paid.
Paid, right?
>> No, ma'am. Not paid.
>> Judge Judy: Oh!
Well, then who cares?
Where's her money?!
Where's her money?
>> My business partner and --
well, ex-business partner
and roommate,
Mr. Hartung, over there,
decided to take what
was left of her money and move.
This young lady here --
>> Judge Judy: You're a hustler.
You're a big-time hustler.
>> How am I a hustler?
>> Judge Judy: You took $4,000
from her and didn't do anything.
>> I didn't take anything
from her.
I took money to do a job.
>> Judge Judy: And you didn't do
the job!
>> Because the money
was taken from me.
>> Judge Judy: Go to the police
and file a police report.
Did you do that?
>> No, ma'am, I did not.
>> Judge Judy: No. Judgment for
the plaintiff in the amount of
$4,000.
Your counterclaim is dismissed.
We're done.