that you don't own
to Ms. Taylor.
She gave you a $1,600 deposit.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: And Ms. Taylor
changed her mind,
doesn't want to move
into the house
and wants her deposit back.
You claim that she can't get her
deposit back
because you took the house off
the market
because she said...
that's what a deposit is.
You lose your deposit
if you decide not to move in.
And that the demands
that she made with regard
to fixing the property
were unreasonable.
She says
they weren't unreasonable.
She wants her money
back plus a lot of nonsense,
but basically,
she wants her money back.
And you claim that she did
some damage to the house
while she was trying
to do renovations to the floor,
so, in addition
to keeping her deposit,
you want another $2,700.
When did you start to rent
this house
for the first time, Ms. Bretz?
>> To Shauntel?
>> Judge Judy: To anyone.
>> I believe 2014, July.
>> Judge Judy: And from 2014
until you accepted the deposit
in April of this year,
how many tenants did you have?
>> One.
>> Judge Judy: And when did you
first
take control of the property?
Was that in July of 2014?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy:
Who lived there before?
Do you know?
>> The same lady
before Shauntel moved in.
>> Judge Judy: And how long had
she been in the house?
>> I think three years.
>> Judge Judy: So at least
for six years,
at least six years,
the house had been rented.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: You don't know
how long before that.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Is that right?
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy:
And you did no remodeling
of the house when
you took control of the house.
>> I did not.
>> Judge Judy:
And you saw the house...
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: ...before you
gave her the $1,600.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy:
And that was sometime in April.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy:
And when did you tell her
that you weren't moving in?
>> Well, the agreement was for
someone to place down a deposit,
and once the deposit was placed,
she would send a team
in to do all of the cleaning,
so I gave her the deposit.
The next day, I gave her
an additional money
to cover...At first,
I gave her a $600 cash deposit.
>> Judge Judy: No, you gave her
$1,600 altogether.
>> Altogether, yes,
I gave her...
>> Judge Judy: Sixteen hundred.
>> ...$1,600.
>> Judge Judy:
Altogether, you gave her $1,600.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: And when were you
supposed to move in?
>> May 1.
>> Judge Judy: And when
did you go into the house?
>> I can't remember
the exact date.
It was like...
>> Judge Judy: In April.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy:
And you started to...
You took control of the house
because you ripped up
the carpeting.
>> Yes, ma'am, with permission.
>> Judge Judy:
She gave you permission to...
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy:
...rip up the carpeting
because the carpeting
was probably disgusting.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: It had probably
been there forever,
and she gave you permission.
Who was supposed to pay
for the replacement floor?
>> The agreement...
Well, so I thought the agreement
was the $1,600 that I gave her
was supposed to be used
because I thought,
at that point in time,
she didn't have the funding
to do the repairs
that was needed,
so I told her that we could use
the money that I gave her,
not making me responsible,
but for funding reasons,
we could use the money
that I gave her
to do the repairs.
That way, I could move in.
>> Judge Judy: Ms. Taylor,
when you move into an apartment,
you gave a month's rent
and a month's security.
That's usual.
You saw this house.
You wanted it.
You wanted to start
renting it on May 1.
Right?
So she was holding it for you.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy:
What would make you think
that the $1,600
that you gave her was anything
but rent and security?
>> Because she pretty much
was refusing to repair it.
I thought maybe
she didn't have the money
to make the repairs.
>> Judge Judy: No, she wasn't
going to make the repairs.
She said, if you want to rip up
the carpet,
you can rip up the carpet,
which you did.
But what would make you think
that she was going to take
that $1,600
that you gave her for rent
and security and not use it
for your first month's rent
and to hold a security?
She was letting you
into the house, clearly,
before your lease started
so that you could do repairs.
>> Well, actually, I was
supposed to just help clean.
>> Judge Judy: Fine.
Did you do that?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: But you also
picked up the carpet.
>> Mm-hmm,
because it was destroyed.
It was disgusting.
>> Judge Judy:
I mean, you had your choice.
Okay.
So did you have a written lease,
by the way?
>> We never made it
to that point.
>> Judge Judy: So you didn't...
Is the house now rented?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Month and date
of the rental and to whom?
>> To Jonathan [bleep].
The month was May 12.
I believe it was
the 12th of May.
>> Judge Judy: For what rent?
>> Seven hundred.
>> Judge Judy:
And what was the rent that
you were charging the plaintiff?
>> Seven hundred.
>> Judge Judy: Did you replace
the flooring?
She lifted the carpet.
Did you...
>> We took all the carpet out.
>> Judge Judy: Yes.
>> And we didn't replace
the carpet, no.
>> Judge Judy: What did you do?
You just left the floors
>> We left the floors.
>> Judge Judy: Left the floors,
and Jonathan moved in in May,
which was the same month
she was supposed to move in.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Correct.
She gets her deposit back,
$1,600.
You have no loss.
Now, as far as the money
owed for damages to the floor,
you just left the floors.
Do you have any receipt
or anything else,
a receipt from a contractor,
anybody who did any work
on these floors?
>> I do.
>> Judge Judy:
I'd like to take a look at it.
When you picked up the carpet,
Ms. Taylor, did you pick up
the tacks and everything else
that went along with it?
>> In one room.
>> Judge Judy: What about
in the rest of the rooms?
>> I never got to finish.
>> Judge Judy: What is this?
>> That was for cleaning up
the carpet, the padding,
the tack strips and the staples.
>> Judge Judy: [ Chuckles ]
Your counterclaim
is dismissed, as well.
She gets her deposit back,
$1,600.