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

[Kail]

If it were Judge Judy I'd say go for it.

 

[dkehler]

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.

Interesting. What is the defendant's theory as to why she should keep the money then? Do you know?

Well, I simply wasn't sure about the location, but since the letter said Hollywood, then Hollywood it must be.

Please do let us know. I'm very interested in how these things work. Thanks!

 

[Mallory]

Interesting. What is the defendant's theory as to why she should keep the money then? Do you know?

I'm not sure she has one besides "I don't have the money any more". To be honest, I think she simply spent it figuring my daughter would never ask for it back.

And looking back at my previous reply, in hindsight it seems a bit confrontational. That was unintended and for that I apologize. I was tired at the time and I posted too quickly without giving my response the due care it deserved.

 

[dkehler]

Interesting. What is the defendant's theory as to why she should keep the money then? Do you know?

I'm not sure she has one besides "I don't have the money any more". To be honest, I think she simply spent it figuring my daughter would never ask for it back.

And looking back at my previous reply, in hindsight it seems a bit confrontational. That was unintended and for that I apologize. I was tired at the time and I posted too quickly without giving my response the due care it deserved.

It's all good, my friend. From the sounds of it, your daughter has an open and shut case. In fact, if the defendant gets lippy with Judge Joe Brown, he is liable to add additional damages on top of his judgment.

It never fails to amaze me how people will come to court with literally no defence. Perhaps they just want to be on TV.

 

[Holdfast]

It sounds like fun. Provided her fee is suitably generous, why not?

 

[Roger Wilco]

Interesting, I thought the people on these court-shows were all actors and the "cases" fictional.

I would go for it, in the worst case she'll get a free vacation out of it and a fun video to show her kids some day.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I've never heard of the show, but I'd go for it just for the free trip. Sounds like a no-lose proposition.

Of course, both parties would have to agree, and I have a feeling that the other woman probably won't.

 

[Captain Shaw]

I've never heard of the show, but I'd go for it just for the free trip. Sounds like a no-lose proposition.

Of course, both parties would have to agree, and I have a feeling that the other woman probably won't.

Well if the other women is getting paid also she might say yes because no matter what court they go to i have a feeling this women is going to be in need of some cash soon

 

[TheBrew]

Yeah, you might actually be able to get the money faster as you'll know she just got paid.

 

[Crusher Disciple]

Tell her to wear a Star Trek uniform to court. Judges love that.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I've never heard of the show, but I'd go for it just for the free trip. Sounds like a no-lose proposition.

Of course, both parties would have to agree, and I have a feeling that the other woman probably won't.

Well if the other women is getting paid also she might say yes because no matter what court they go to i have a feeling this women is going to be in need of some cash soon

Yeah, that's a good point. She might do it just for the vacation.

 

[Mallory]

Of course, both parties would have to agree, and I have a feeling that the other woman probably won't.

I'm not so sure that the defendant wouldn't agree to it. If she loses at least the appearance fee will lessen the financial impact.

Yeah, you might actually be able to get the money faster as you'll know she just got paid.

Actually, the show itself guarantees that any awards will be paid within thirty days. I'm not quite sure yet how they manage that.

 

[Kail]

You know, in "real" court, winning does not mean you get the money. The court does not collect for you, it's just the first step. You have to continue to press it and maybe eventually you can get wages garnished. Maybe.

 

[Mallory]

Thats's another reason why I think she should do it.

 

[TheBrew]

Thinking this through, if the roommate wants to do, that means she has no confidence in her ability to 'win' and wants to use the show to get some money back.

 

[CaptainHawk1]

Of course, both parties would have to agree, and I have a feeling that the other woman probably won't.

I'm not so sure that the defendant wouldn't agree to it. If she loses at least the appearance fee will lessen the financial impact.

Yeah, you might actually be able to get the money faster as you'll know she just got paid.

Actually, the show itself guarantees that any awards will be paid within thirty days. I'm not quite sure yet how they manage that.

Couple of things:

First, whether or not she paid rent, yadda, yadda... doesn't matter. The issue here is the security deposit which is totally separate which she has absolutely no right to keep.

Considringthat her excuse is that she simply doesn't have it, this is going to be a pretty easy case.

Second, it would be foolish not to agree to this as she's risking a civil judgment against in a regular court which if she doesn't pay can adversely affect her credit and like you said, she's going to get paid for going to the show any way.

Third, the producers can guarantee payment of awards within 30 days because they pay the awards out of a fund established ahead of time. If you read the credits at the end of any of the judge shows, they explain this.

Unfortunately, if your daughter wins, the defendant will be out no money and although may have lost, will really wind up winning in the end, any way, so they learn nothing.

Still, though, it's more than likely that your daughter will get her money back. There's really no way to defend not returning a security deposit.

How much money are we talking about? You never said.

 

[Mallory]

How much money are we talking about? You never said.

$1500 total, I'm not sure about the breakdown between the security deposit and the rent.

 

[CaptainHawk1]

How much money are we talking about? You never said.

$1500 total, I'm not sure about the breakdown between the security deposit and the rent.

Dude!

That's easy money.. tell her to go for it.

Also, coming from someone in the legal field, this a one-shot deal so go for kitchen sink approach. In other words, sue for other stuff, too. Don't go for pain and suffering because that's just silly (but she might be able to get something for her aggravation), but it's not out of the realm of possibility that she could sue for expenses associated with the action (I assume she had to pay a fee to fille in small claims in your jurisdiction) or for interest that could have accrued if the money was in a the bank, or whateve relse this has cost her.

You can't ask for too much. You may not get all of it, but you'll get what's fair. However, if you don't try to ask for the other expenses, there's no way you'll get any of them.

Seriously... she should do this. It'll be fun, she's guaranteed to get paid if she wins (which is definitely not a certainty in small claims as it's up to the winner to enforce collection) and she's gonna make some extra cash on top of it.

Plus, she gets to go to Hollywood!

 

[FrontLine]

I say go for it.

 

[Spot's Meow]

It sounds like the only real loss here would be that the other girl doesn't "learn her lesson," but if you care more about actually getting the money than revenge, this shouldn't bother you too much.

And even on the crazy off chance that your daughter loses her case, she still gets paid for appearing and a free trip.