>> Judge Judy: Miss Pleva, the
defendant was your tenant...
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: ...in a house
that you currently have listed
for sale.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And it is your
claim that she damaged the
house.
You want some $2,500
for the damage.
When did you purchase the house?
>> I bought the property in
July 2014, and I lived in the
home for three months, and then
I ended up renting the home
in October.
>> Judge Judy: Why?
>> Because the commute
was too far.
I work downtown,
and so the drive was
too much.
>> Judge Judy: Well, the house
didn't move, and downtown didn't
move.
You mean you didn't make that
trip before you bought
the house?
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
You purchased it for how much?
>> I bought the home for
$118,000.
>> Judge Judy: And when did the
defendant move in?
>> October 2014.
>> Judge Judy: Why didn't you
put it up for sale in October?
>> I had just purchased the
home.
I had only owned it
for three months.
I did not want to turn around
and sell it.
I wanted to keep it as my
retirement.
>> Judge Judy: What changed your
mind?
>> What changed my mind is I had
a hard tenant that cost me a lot
of money, and I could not afford
to keep it and pay taxes after
dealing with repairs.
>> Judge Judy: So the house
needed a lot of repairs?
>> Yeah.
>> Judge Judy: What kind of
repairs did it need?
>> The garage door was broken.
I had missing garage-door
openers.
They re-keyed --
>> Judge Judy: No, I'm not
talking about them.
I'm talking about what repairs
had to be done with the house
that had nothing to do with the
defendant?
>> When I purchased it, none.
>> Judge Judy: What about the
leaks outside?
>> The leaks outside happened
after she moved in.
She complained that the hose on
the outside was leaking, and
causing her water bill to be
rising, and so I kept sending a
handyman out there.
He actually put a repair kit
on it.
And he provided receipts.
I have invoices.
And when she claimed that it was
leaking, he kept going out and
saying that there's nothing.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And what did you put it on the
market for?
>> Because it --
>> Judge Judy: No, what.
For what amount?
>> I put it on for $139,900.
>> Judge Judy: In what month did
you put it on the market?
>> I want to say, beginning of
September.
>> Judge Judy: And on what date
did you move out?
>> I moved out of the home in
the month of --
>> I moved out August 8th.
>> Judge Judy: What was the rent
you were paying?
>> $1,000 a month.
>> Judge Judy: You moved in in
what month?
>> October 15, 2014.
>> Judge Judy: You paid your
rent?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: There's no
indication that she did not pay
her rent, correct?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And you moved to evict her
in July.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: What reason did
you give her for wanting her
out of the premises?
>> Since the time that she moved
in, I had multiple complaints
from the neighbors, and also a
landscaper refused to go back to
the house, saying that people
were offering him drugs.
And I just had an agreement with
her that she was gonna move her
daughter in for an additional
fee of $300, and then when it
came time to pay up, she didn't
pay, and she made every excuse
why not to pay.
And so I just got an attorney
at that point.
>> Judge Judy: So she wanted
to add a tenant.
>> Right.
But the tenant was more than
just her daughter.
It was her daughter, her
daughter's boyfriend, and then
her daughter's daughter.
And I don't even know if it was
truly her daughter.
>> Judge Judy: But she asked you
before that happened?
>> Just for the daughter.
Not the boyfriend and the baby.
>> Judge Judy: Got it. Okay.
Did you have a lease agreement
with her?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And the lease
agreement provided for who to
live there?
>> The husband, the wife, and
three minor children.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And this was the daughter that
you wanted to move in, her
boyfriend, and the baby were not
among those children,
is that correct?
I only asked for my daughter and
her baby to move in.
And, no, they were not among
those children.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And did they in fact move in?
>> She had given me verbal
permission, so yes.
>> Judge Judy: Did you also have
an agreement to pay more rent?
>> At that time, the lease was
not modified.
We were in the process of
dealing with modifying the
lease.
>> Judge Judy: You mean to pay
more rent.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Well, it would
seem to me that you'd do that
simultaneously.
That you say, "I want another
family to move in," and she
says, "Fine, but your rent is
going to be increased by such
and such an amount."
That's not something
that you do, "You can move the
new family in, but we can worry
about the additional rent
later."
That doesn't make sense.
Did you agree to pay her an
additional $300 a month?
>> In the beginning, yes.
>> Judge Judy: Did you ever pay
the $300 a month?
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: And how many
months did your daughter and her
baby and maybe the boyfriend
live there?
>> Two weeks.
>> Judge Judy: Two weeks.
Okay.
And that was in what month?
>> May.
>> Judge Judy: Anybody else move
into the house?
>> No, that's -- at the time, it
was my daughter and my grand--
Nobody else had lived with me.
>> Judge Judy: Nobody else.
Just you and the people who were
basic to the lease.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: You have any
proof otherwise?
>> In the month of April, she
asked to add on her daughter, so
her daughter's been staying
since April.
>> Judge Judy: She said she
moved out in May.
Do you have any indication that
the daughter did not
move out in May?
>> Yes, I do have an indication
that her daughter did not move
out in May.
I have a rental application that
she applied for her daughter to
move in May 17th.
>> Judge Judy: The middle
of May.
But she said she moved out in
May, and she was there
only two weeks.
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: Is that what you
said to me?
>> Correct, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: May I see
pictures of the damage, please?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Well,
this isn't damage.
This is garbage.
>> Okay.
>> Judge Judy: And is what
you're showing me the
broken screen?
>> Broken screen, yes.
>> Judge Judy: How did the