My daughter: Invited to present her court case on TV!

[Mallory]

About a year ago, my youngest daughter plunked down a bunch of money to pay for her share of the security deposit and six months rent on a house that she and some friends were going to share off-campus. Then she went to Australia for her semester abroad. When she returned she found out that the other women had rented her room to someone else, so she asked for her money back. Well, the young woman in charge of the finances for the house refused to give her back her money. After a couple of fruitless negotiating sessions over coffee, my daughter finally filed a case against her in small claims court. The trial date here is still a couple of months away.

Today she got a letter from one of the producers of the Judge Joe Brown reality television show saying researchers had recommended her case to him and she's been invited to try her case on the TV show if she'd like. In addition to receiving her money back (should she win) she'll also be paid an appearance fee and all travel expenses to Hollywood California for herself and any witnesses she may need.

Do you guys think she should do it? Or just stick with the real court system here in Oregon?

 

[sidious618]

Real courts. I'm pretty sure Brown is drunk most of the time on his show.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

My question is, would the appearance fee pay her back?

 

[Mallory]

I don't know yet. Her initial response to going was "absolutely not" until I pointed out that the appearance fee might cover her loss PLUS she'd be getting an all expense paid trip to Hollywood. So she's going to call the guy tomorrow and get the details.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

One never knows, Mallory. It might be a good thing... ^^ She needs to be sure she has all the evidence and is dressed well.

 

[CaptainHawk1]

Judge Joe Brown is like any other Judge show in that it's not actually a court but binding arbitration. However, it should be understood that although binding arbitration is not a court proceeding per se, it is an integral part of the civil procedure (that we like to call Alternative Dispute Resolution) process so don't dismiss out of hand as not "a real court" because binding arbitration usually carries as much weight as a court ruling. What actually happens is that an arbitrator imposes a settlement.

Judge Joe was actually discovered by the producers of Judge Judy and the way they run things is identical. Both parties agree in writing to comply with whatever the arbitrator (Judge Joe) decides. The big advantage over scenarios like this is that your not out any out-of pocket expenses and you're goingto make few bucks regardless of the situation and have a fun experience and be on national TV! Here in Las Vegas it costs around $200 to file a small claims case so it's usually not cost effective to go into small claims court for a few hundred dollars.

The problem I've always had with Judge Joe is that he makes decisions quite often based on his own sense of justice and not the law.

The difference with Judge Judy is that as much as she rips people into assholes, she actually makes her decisions based on equity (which is what small claims cases are decided on) and the law itself.

Judge Joe just tends to arbitrarily decide how things should go which in this case may actually work to your daughter's benefit.

I say go for it. You've got absolutely nothing to lose and it'll get resolved a lot quicker than if you have to wait for your local courts.

 

[pookha]

how much does she want to be on tv not just once but for how long this thing is in syndication.

 

[troisboobs]

Although Judge Joe Brown is kinda an asshole, your daughters case seems pretty solid! That would be a fun experience, I think and a free mini vacation!

 

[Scout101]

sure, why not, sounds like fun, and could get a little more money out of the deal.

As for the case itself, seems pretty straight-forward. She paid her share of the rent, she 'owned' the empty room whether she ever went into it or not. What SHOULD have happened is that your daughter should have been smart enough to sublet the room herself and recover the money, but that train has sailed. Now that your daughter paid the rent AND the new roommate paid the rent, there's extra money that belongs to your daughter.

A judge TV show might lean more in your favor than a "real" court, as the obvious "right thing" is on your side...

 

[JAG]

I say she should go for it. The appearance fee will probably cover most of her loss, and a free trip to boot.

 

[All Seeing Eye]

DO IT! she'll get to embarrass this other woman on national TV. Bwahahahahaha.

 

[Evil_Kirkneivel]

Obviously, you and she will find out more details soon, but my understanding (of the way Judge Judy works, anyway) is that both parties 'win'. Since others who appear to know more say this isn't so, then perhaps my information means that the appearance fee is so hefty that it will easily cover the amount she may be out. So even if she loses, she will come out ahead, monetarily speaking.

 

[Mallory]

^ That's kind of my take on it as well.

What SHOULD have happened is that your daughter should have been smart enough to sublet the room herself and recover the money, but that train has sailed.

She tried, but not too many students are interested in hanging college during the summer. My daughter's original plan was to stay there and work over the summer, so she needed a place to stay. At the last minute the Australian opportunity came up and you just can't say no to something like that.

I won't be finding out anything more until Tuesday. She's in Minnesota for Easter weekend and doesn't want to bother with this until she gets back.

 

[wamdue]

im British and have only ever seen Judge Judy, so my attitude is differnt, but I dont think I would.

 

[Omnius]

In addition to receiving her money back (should she win) she'll also be paid an appearance fee and all travel expenses to Hollywood California for herself and any witnesses she may need.

I recall you speaking about your daughters trip. Does that count?
I've never been to California..

 

[CaptainHawk1]

Although Judge Joe Brown is kinda an asshole, your daughters case seems pretty solid! That would be a fun experience, I think and a free mini vacation!

Yeah, there's a bit of unjust enrichment going on there. They can't keep her portion of the security deposit.

 

[Data Holmes]

DO IT! she'll get to embarrass this other woman on national TV. Bwahahahahaha.

What he said.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

I gotta go with no. I'm the kind of person that doesn't want his dirty laundry aired for all to see.

 

[dkehler]

I like Judge Joe Brown, so I recommend she do it.

A few things:

-- sounds like your daughter has a case, although it probably depends on details like whether or not the person who took your daughter's place paid a full share of the rent. Perhaps she was all they could get and only agreed to rent on the condition that she only pay the balance of what your daughter would have had to pay.

-- I'm not sure if Judge Joe Brown is filmed in Hollywood. Some of them are in Chicago or New York.

-- I don't think the appearance fee is enough to cover all judgments. For example, the People's Court makes mention that judgments are subtracted from the appearance fee and if any is left over, it is given to the litigant.

Anyway, she decides to go, it would be interesting if you could give us details of the experience.

 

[Mallory]

I think my daughter has a damned good case. She paid for a room for six months, she has the canceled checks made out to the defendant with the memo line filled out with "Security Deposit", "June Rent", etc., all cashed by the defendant. She never lived there and she never moved any of her stuff into the house. And the other girl paid the exact same amount as my daughter did. So what happened is that the defendant simply pocketed my daughter's money while renting the same room to someone else.

Lastly, the letter explicitly stated that all travel expenses to/from Hollywood would be paid. So I'm pretty sure this show is filmed there.

And don't worry, if she does do it I'll be more than happy to post the details of her experience. This kind of thing doesn't happen to most of us.