is this?
>> Matthew Lopez.
He is my witness.
He is now my roommate.
>> Judge Judy: He's your witness
to what?
>> Well, to an entire month
in the apartment.
>> Judge Judy: A what?
Speak up.
>> He watched me
in a fire damage,
helped with the damage and then
also helped move me out.
>> Judge Judy: Mm-hmm.
What kind of premises
did you rent to the plaintiff?
>> It's a small studio apartment
that was attached to an extra
building on our church property
that we had remodeled
just for her and her daughter.
>> Judge Judy: How long did you
know her?
>> At least 6-plus years.
>> Judge Judy: And when you say
you remodeled a studio
on church property,
what do you have to do
with the church property?
>> Our church,
we have 70 acres of land.
So we had an extra building
that we used as a garage,
also for our use, a man cave.
And so there was a section
that we converted into a very
nice studio apartment,
that I had planned
to make that arrangement later.
We were hoping
to get a groundskeeper.
It came up when Lisa was needing
a place to stay that --
>> Judge Judy: How did you know
she was needing a place to stay?
>> She was living
with her parents,
and she was complaining weekly
to us about the conditions
and the treatment that she was
getting from her stepdad.
>> Judge Judy: Did you know
what she as doing for a living?
>> Working at Family Dollar.
>> Judge Judy: Do you know
what she was doing there?
>> She started out
as a cashier clerk.
And, since in the last year
or so, she was promoted
to assistant manager.
>> Judge Judy: When did she move
into this studio
that you renovated for her?
>> She would have moved in
in February of 2015.
>> Judge Judy: And were you
charging her rent?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: How much?
>> $500 a month.
>> Judge Judy: Was she able to
pay her rent?
>> No, she could not make
the monthly payments.
So the arrangement
we had came to that,
when she got her tax check,
she had $5,000 for 2015.
So she gave the entire $5,000
and prepaid her rent
for the first
10 months of the year,
which allowed us to do the work
to make the apartment livable.
So she gave the $5,000.
We fixed it up.
She moved in.
She had no rent for 10 months.
And then, at the next year,
February of 2016,
when she got her tax,
she was to catch up
while she was behind
and pay as much in advance
as she could for the next year.
>> Judge Judy: So when
did she give you the tax check?
>> As soon as she got --
>> Judge Judy: Month and year.
>> February of 2015 and then
again in February of 2016.
And she paid in cash,
Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: She paid what in
cash?
>> Her rent.
When she gave the $5,000,
she gave $5,000 in cash.
>> Judge Judy: [ Laughs ]
And she did all of this
because she didn't have money.
She had herself
and her daughter,
so she didn't have money
to pay you rent.
So she waited
to get her tax check,
and she got her tax check,
and she went to some
sort of a bank
and got cash to give to you.
>> To the church.
>> Judge Judy: It gets better.
This person who had no cash
took out renters insurance,
had no money to pay her rent,
paid renters insurance.
And, lo and behold, there was
some sort of fiery smoke
that damaged
a whole bunch of your property.
And I want you to tell me
when this fiery smoke was.
>> Well, I report --
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
>> Oh, go ahead.
>> Judge Judy: Month and year.
>> It was reported to
insurance December 15th of 2016.
>> Judge Judy: Is when there was
a fire.
That's when your $5,000 rent ran
out that you had prepaid
the February before.
So then you were up
to January, right?
And then you would have
to have paid
another $5,000, right?
Because she wasn't
paying any rent.
She was just giving you
every February $5,000 in cash
when she got her tax refund.
Is that right?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Now,
what I would like to see is,
when you first took out
and paid for renters insurance,
month and year.
Don't look confused.
It's a very simple question.
I want to see when you took out
the rent-insurance policy.
Because somebody has renters
insurance,
and you've lived there
for a couple of years,
you would've taken the renters
insurance out
for several years, right?