Keep Yourself Up

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Plain Joanna Jenkins says she knows the defendant because she sells hair products and the defendant does hair.

[00:00:07]Joanna claims she rented a property to the defendant, but she paid her rent and bills late every month, if she paid them at all. Joanna's suing for unpaid rent, bills, and late fees. Defendant Tara Nelson says she's a single mother raising three kids and admits she was short on cash from time to time.

[00:00:26]However, Tara insists she worked off her debt by doing the plaintiff's hair for free. She's counter suing for unpaid wages. Start with you.

[00:00:35]>> I met Tara in 2005.

[00:00:39]I sell professional hair care products and she does hair. So, I know her from the industry. She was always a live wire fly at work. She did a good job. She got three kids with no support and she needed help and I decided to help her out.

[00:00:56]>> Good.

[00:00:56]>> I have properties and she needed a place to stay. She stayed in the property for like 4 months. She didn't find a place.

[00:01:06]This was January of 2006.

[00:01:09]In May of 2006, we signed a lease agreement. The mortgage is higher than the amount that I went ahead and rented it to her for, but she always paid late.

[00:01:19]She didn't pay on time. She didn't pay the full amount. And she only had to pay the gas bill.

[00:01:24]>> How much was the amount to be paid?

[00:01:26]>> 824 >> every month.

[00:01:28]>> Yes. It was a year's lease ended May 2007. She just had to pay the gas bill.

[00:01:34]I covered the water and the electric.

[00:01:36]>> Okay.

[00:01:37]>> And she didn't put the bill in her name.

[00:01:39]She didn't never pay the bill. She paid the rents partially every month from May.

[00:01:44]>> Meaning how much was different different amounts?

[00:01:47]>> She paid 703 every month from May 2006 to May 2007 which >> same amount.

[00:01:56]>> Yep.

[00:01:56]>> Why did she pick 703? Let me hear from her. Ma'am, tell me about this.

[00:02:00]>> Oh my goodness. Uh I I I have my barber stylist >> takes your breath away.

[00:02:06]>> Yes, kind of.

[00:02:07]>> She's not the only one. Okay. She's not the only you.

[00:02:10]>> Okay. I have a worst.

[00:02:11]>> You don't never swoon over me. When I'm out, they say, "Where's Dory?"

[00:02:16]>> You all right, Judge? But we want the handsome.

[00:02:19]>> Go ahead.

[00:02:20]>> Okay, Judge. You got a tight line up there, Judge Matthysse. When I become a celebrity stylist, maybe when I become a celebrity stylist over the >> Yeah, maybe I when I become a celebrity stylist, I can tighten you up. You see, I got the shoes and the shirt to match.

[00:02:34]That's what I do.

[00:02:36]>> All right. Now all you got to do is pay your rent.

[00:02:38]>> You right.

[00:02:42]>> Okay.

[00:02:43]>> No, you are. No, you should want to keep yourself up no matter what your adversity is. And you don't appear to be ghetto or fabulous and that's how you should spend your money. And you look cute. You're right, Dor.

[00:02:55]>> Thank you so much for that.

[00:02:57]>> So, you're not like some of them. don't pay their rent, don't pay their bills, and come out here laid to the bone with every Gucci and Louis you can find. So, I'm glad >> basically I was doing like her and her daughter's hair. So, basically with the unpaid money that I didn't pay, I figured, you know, she would deduct that like off of that because, you know, I was going to >> Did you all discuss that?

[00:03:20]>> Yes, we did.

[00:03:22]>> It does sound like she believed something was case, ma'am. The woman paid the exact amount. She was short the exact amount every single month. And that's just not how it goes. One month she missed 300. Next month she'll miss 200. Next month they'll miss 50. Every single time she only she paid you 703.

[00:03:44]>> Yes sir.

[00:03:45]>> You believed it was because what?

[00:03:47]>> I was doing her hair.

[00:03:48]>> Had you all discussed that though? You can't just do it on your own. Exactly.

[00:03:52]>> What was the discussion and how much did she say? I mean, she said as long as I keep their hair together, she will work with me on that because she can't do hair.

[00:03:59]>> But did you all come up with a price?

[00:04:01]>> Well, I mean, she knows my prices. I mean, >> all right. So, you felt that you were doing her and her daughter's hair for $121 a month.

[00:04:12]>> Yeah.

[00:04:14]>> So, why did you say that? You didn't know how you I'm sorry. You're right, >> ma'am. Did you all ever had that discussion?

[00:04:20]>> No. And I was using my products. When you pay a stylist to do your hair, they have their own products.

[00:04:27]>> Yeah. Just because she >> And that was like a gesture cuz she always late.

[00:04:31]>> Just because she use your products, she use her hands.

[00:04:35]>> I have professional top-of-the-line products and you have to pay for them and she was using them for free to do our hair.

[00:04:43]>> What money did she receive for her labor?

[00:04:46]>> First off, my mortgage payment is over $1,100. Her lease was for $8.24. I was helping her out anyways.

[00:04:53]>> She agreed to that.

[00:04:54]>> Okay. So, I've been doing all the extra.

[00:04:56]That was an extra gesture for her.

[00:04:58]>> I understand. But my point to you is we can only operate on agreements, not what you were doing out of the goodness amount.

[00:05:07]>> I believe you did. I don't believe this woman picked $121 just out of the air that she was going to uh miss every month. What's the unpaid bills? Your gas bill. You have that now. I believe that.

[00:05:19]If Why didn't you get the gas put in your name and pay?

[00:05:23]>> I owed I owed a prior bill and she knew that >> and you couldn't get it in your name.

[00:05:27]What was the agreement?

[00:05:28]>> She was supposed to have the gas bill put in her name and she's supposed to pay the gas bill.

[00:05:32]>> Were you supposed to pay all of the gas?

[00:05:35]>> No, that's not >> Then what did you mean by Hold on. What did you mean by >> I couldn't put the gas in my name because I owed a former bill? And she knew that.

[00:05:46]>> She She knew that. That's why I didn't have to put the gas down.

[00:05:49]>> Did she live there with you?

[00:05:51]>> No.

[00:05:51]>> So, who should have paid the gas?

[00:05:53]>> I mean, I know, but she was saying that would be that would be deducted off as well.

[00:05:57]>> No. No, I don't believe she said that.

[00:06:00]>> No, it's in the lease agreement.

[00:06:02]>> And unfortunately, ma'am, as I think about it, you can't really change the terms of the lease with a new verbal agreement. If she said, "Okay, deduct my hair uh my hair dues from your rent." She would have to put that in the lease for it to be binding. 1,500 for your unpaid wages.

[00:06:25]How? So, if >> I'm not taking that as considered, that would have been payment to me. I mean, that should that should have been coming off of Yeah.

[00:06:32]>> the hair.

[00:06:33]>> Yeah.

[00:06:34]>> Now, you just tried to get it by taking it off the rent, >> right? Now you want to double up and get paid.

[00:06:41]>> No, no, no, no, no. I don't want to be paid for it. That was how it was supposed to be. Me just it just coming off that I don't want >> I didn't want none of the money.

[00:06:49]>> You don't want the unpaid wages.

[00:06:50]>> I mean, that's not It would have been the other way. But what I'm saying with her suing me for 3,000. Okay. Basically, if she got over that's 45,000.

[00:07:00]>> You're not going to knock anything off this woman doing you and your daughter's hair every single month.

[00:07:06]Uh again, my mortgage was over 1,100. I let her stay four months. Get out of here. And I paid bills that I wouldn't >> say. I see why you so successful in your business.

[00:07:19]>> You know what? And I would never take nothing from her. And I, you know, I look at her like she is a good business woman. But you know what? Money can never ruin a friendship. If it do, hey, >> see how nice she is. See how good she is.

[00:07:29]>> Look how good I been. You know it.

[00:07:33]>> That's how it's supposed to be. I got to give your money and let you keep rolling. $3,000 for the plainif and I'm going to have to dismiss your unpaid wages because there was never an agreement. You were doing it assuming she would be nice and do the right thing. Now you know she's a crook.

[00:07:49]Everybody ain't right. You know that's right.

[00:07:52]>> Don't let it ruin your friendship. All right. There's a lot of crooks I'm sure that you friends with. So we all have crooked friends. But just you just try to get everything in writing in the future. All right.

[00:08:04]>> Okay. All right.

[00:08:05]>> Have a good day. 3,000 for the plaintiff was this.

[00:08:08]>> Thank you. Thank you.