'Failed Commercial' & 'Needing to do a Better Trimming Job' & 'Being Paperless'

Añadido: 2026-05-28

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[00:01:00]>> I had some stuff in my personal life that I had to do. I was leaving on the road with my band, yada yada yada.

[00:01:09]>> This is the plative Charles Wearing. He says he hired the defendant to make him a 30-second commercial for his roof sanitizing company. And once he got his money, he disappeared. The commercial was never shot or edited. He wasted his hard-earned money and precious time on the slack jaw defended. He wants his $5,000 returned here and now.

[00:01:37]This is the defendant, Nick. He says the planet kept changing his mind about what he wanted the commercial to be. Every time he came up with a concept, the plaintiff changed it at the last minute.

[00:01:48]He admits he got fed up with a wishywashy plainif, but wasted his good time and energy on him, and he deserves to be paid. He's accused of being a commercial failure.

[00:02:05]>> All parties, please raise your right hand.

[00:02:07]>> What you are about to witness is real.

[00:02:10]The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants with a case pending in civil court. Both parties have agreed to drop their claims and have their cases settled here before Judge Marilyn Milan in our forum, the people's court.

[00:02:28]>> Be seated. Come to order, please.

[00:02:32]>> Litigants have been sworn, your honor.

[00:02:33]>> Thank you, Doug.

[00:02:34]>> You're welcome.

[00:02:35]>> Charles Wearing.

[00:02:36]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:02:36]>> You are suing Nick. You've asked to be referred to only by your first name, correct?

[00:02:40]>> Yes.

[00:02:40]>> For $5,000, the statutory maximum in your state. 550 of it. a return of a deposit that you gave him that you think he has not earned and the rest of it for aggravation. Okay. What's going on?

[00:02:52]>> Well, uh I believe I was given Nick's telephone number in March March 23rd to be exact. And uh uh >> what did you want to do with him?

[00:03:02]>> Uh I wanted to make a commercial.

[00:03:03]>> Okay. What? For what?

[00:03:04]>> Roof sanitizing.

[00:03:06]>> That's your business?

[00:03:07]>> Yes.

[00:03:07]>> Roof sanitizing. Okay. And you received his name from whom?

[00:03:10]>> Oh, a friend of his who produced my uh website.

[00:03:14]>> Okay. And so he was going to do what?

[00:03:16]You hired him to do what?

[00:03:17]>> A 30 secondond commercial.

[00:03:19]>> All right. So he's going to produce it.

[00:03:21]>> Yes.

[00:03:21]>> Okay. And what happens >> at the beginning? Uh I I told Nick uh I would be giving him payments. This is how I set it up with the the young man who recommended him to me because I didn't want to be bogged down with one large bill at a certain time. So periodically I would meet with Nick and I would give him money. Um towards the end of it, it just seemed to fall apart.

[00:03:41]Uh he he always had an excuse. I I believe the first excuse was uh he got a job with Cable Vision. Uh very understanding. I said, "Okay, great." Uh the second excuse was I had to move.

[00:03:52]Well, actually uh he played in the band, so he had to go somewhere for two weeks.

[00:03:57]Meanwhile, all the time I'm calling and calling and calling him. Uh the third one, >> you have phone records.

[00:04:02]>> Well, actually, I have not phone records. I have emails and text.

[00:04:05]>> I have that. I was asking about phone records.

[00:04:07]>> No, that's all that's all I have.

[00:04:08]>> Okay, go ahead. Uh so uh >> so that in other words so that I could see how much you're calling him and according to you you're calling him and he's completely unresponsive. Right. So that's what I was trying to say.

[00:04:18]>> A few times he did respond but you know it always ended the same way. He would speak to me. He would promise me something. Um it it always >> How much were you going to pay him to produce this stuff?

[00:04:27]>> Uh originally it was going to be $1,200.

[00:04:29]Then we negotiated again. It went down to 1,200. He wasn't going to do exact >> It was 1,200. It went down to 1,200.

[00:04:34]You're not a very good negotiator.

[00:04:35]>> 1,200 and it went down to 800.

[00:04:37]>> 800. Okay.

[00:04:37]>> All right. I was going to give him some pictures and we were going to have >> Wait, so for 800, how did it change?

[00:04:42]>> Well, because he some of the things that he w he was going to do >> such as >> All right. He was going to uh put the cast together. All right. But at that point, I said, "All right, I tell you what, let me give you some pictures and we'll just have one person talk and uh he agreed. He agreed.

[00:04:56]>> Somebody he provides or somebody >> somebody I provided, >> a satisfied customer.

[00:04:59]>> Yes. Absolutely.

[00:05:00]>> Who can string a sentence?"

[00:05:02]>> Absolutely.

[00:05:02]>> Okay. So, go ahead.

[00:05:04]uh he just always seemed to have a situation going on in his life. Um towards the end I I I couldn't he he didn't respond. So I I I found out where he lived. I went to his house uh spoke to his mother. Mother very nice woman.

[00:05:19]We spoke about Nick and she I said, "You know what? Nick seems like he has so much potential." She says, "Charles, you know, basically I know." She says, "How do you think I feel? You know, uh I have his daughter." And she said basically, I don't know if she was scared that I was going to come back or whatever the case, but I'm pretty sure towards the end of the conversation that was not her fear.

[00:05:37]Uh she said, "I have his daughter and you know Nick doesn't live here. He just comes here to visit his daughter."

[00:05:42]>> I'm sorry. When did you guys agree to do this project?

[00:05:46]>> All right. I believe it was in uh the end of March or the beginning of April.

[00:05:50]>> You have a contract with him in writing.

[00:05:52]>> Everything was verbal.

[00:05:53]>> Do you have a receipt to show you when you first paid money?

[00:05:56]>> No. No. No, I don't. And how much do you say you paid him >> in total, ma'am?

[00:06:01]>> Yeah.

[00:06:01]>> 550.

[00:06:02]>> And is there any dispute about that?

[00:06:03]>> Um, it was $300.

[00:06:05]>> You say 300 and you say $550?

[00:06:07]>> Yes, sir.

[00:06:08]>> And were you paying in cash?

[00:06:09]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:06:10]>> Why don't you have receipts if you're paying cash?

[00:06:11]>> Well, you know what? Because Nick always offered me a receipt, but you know, >> and you would refuse to take it?

[00:06:15]>> No, no, no. Hear me up. Because you know what? It was never It was just something written on a piece of paper and I know I would have lost it, BUT >> OH, WAIT. OH, WAIT. NO, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT. HE He was trying to force a receipt on me, but I knew I just lose it, so I didn't even bother to get one. Is that really what you just said?

[00:06:31]>> No, actually, you know what? I I went I went on his friend's merit. Me and his associate. Me and his associate. This is how we dealt. So, you know what? I took >> Yeah. You know, we have a name for people like you. We call them litigants because now you're claiming to have paid 550. You have zero proof of it. He is claiming that he only received 300. He could claim 50 bucks at this point and you wouldn't be able to prove a thing.

[00:06:53]And he is saying, "Judge, it was 300 bucks. It was not a penny more. And if you want to prove that it was more than what he has helped you to prove, then you need to show it to me."

[00:07:01]>> Yeah. This is my lesson well learned.

[00:07:03]>> Oh, yeah. I'll say. So, go on. What ends up happening?

[00:07:06]>> February or March. And when does everything go into the toilet with you two?

[00:07:10]>> All right. H >> late July, August.

[00:07:12]>> Yeah. Basically, the commercial was supposed to be shot uh in July.

[00:07:16]>> In July.

[00:07:17]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:07:18]>> All right. And what happened that the commercial didn't get shot? He never showed up to the customer's house.

[00:07:23]>> What day was he supposed to show up to the customer's house?

[00:07:25]>> The 15th of July.

[00:07:26]>> And were you supposed to show up at a customer's house on the 15th of July?

[00:07:30]>> The date may be off. Um, and there's a backstory to why I wasn't sure if I was supposed to show up to you. You'd like me to explain now. I will.

[00:07:38]>> Yes.

[00:07:38]>> Uh, we set it at,200.

[00:07:40]>> Yeah, but he was never going to pay you 1,200. So, >> so I like Charles and there was nothing.

[00:07:44]I said, you know what? Let's make this happen. I want to do this for you. But when it got down to the point of $600 after I already I casted the talent for the commercial. I already wrote a treatment for it. I emailed in the treatment.

[00:07:53]>> Let's write a treatment for it.

[00:07:54]>> Um it's basically explaining everything that's going to go on the commercial, including dialogue.

[00:07:58]>> See the treatment?

[00:07:58]>> Uh sure.

[00:08:07]>> Oh, that's funny. Shot of two women making small talk in a room. In the background through the window, you see the husband fall off a ladder. Small talk continues after laughter. Are they laughing at the guy who fell off the ladder?

[00:08:20]>> Yes.

[00:08:21]>> Woman two explains all her husband had to do was pick up the phone and call RSP. That's your company.

[00:08:28]>> That's the fourth time this week he's fallen off the roof.

[00:08:33]>> Okay. Cute. Do you ever agree to less than 12?

[00:08:36]>> Uh eventually. Yeah. Because I wanted agree to um the first time it was 800, I think, like he said. Um, but we've been back and forth so much, Judge, that I I literally lost track because I have other jobs that I do, too. And I wanted to get this done and over with. Jobs that I usually contract a month and a half, two months done at most. So, after we agreed to 800, he's like, "Well, I'm not sure about the script. Maybe we could just I could have somebody speak." And I'm like, "Listen, man. I don't know what to do." So, after this, he decides he wants to do a some sort of a picture show, like just showing pictures of before and after.

[00:09:07]And now we're at a point where he wants to go down to $600. And I'm like, listen. And he wants >> So, did you end up agreeing to the 600?

[00:09:14]>> He uh Yeah, in a way, yeah, I agree 600.

[00:09:17]>> And then what happened?

[00:09:18]>> He wanted to do a picture show, like, you know, just do before and after this, that, and the other thing, which I hate doing. It's actually more work. So, I suggested to him, I said, Charles, listen, why don't you just let me shoot a um testimonial, >> okay?

[00:09:30]>> Let me shoot let me shoot somebody's, you know, giving a testimonial.

[00:09:32]>> And so, what happened?

[00:09:33]>> So, he finds out he ends up finding somebody he wants to use. Okay? And then we tried to set a shoot date. And then the first time we had two set two set shoot dates and um the first date I don't remember if it was my negligence or or on on his behalf that we couldn't meet up.

[00:09:49]>> Why?

[00:09:49]>> Um I I honestly don't remember. So we said >> Why do you say that that the meetup didn't happen?

[00:09:54]>> Cuz he didn't show up. Okay.

[00:09:56]>> I have a letter.

[00:09:56]>> And there's an affidavit from the guy say it doesn't say a date, but he says after a number of attempts receiving no answer, I informed Charles. At that point, I called the number, agreed to do the commercial on a weekend day at my house. I stayed home all day in anticipation and no one showed up and no one canled and I never heard from the individual.

[00:10:14]>> I called Charles that day to let him know that I couldn't show up.

[00:10:17]>> Why?

[00:10:18]>> I I honestly don't remember at this point.

[00:10:20]>> Okay. Well, that's sort of a slack jaw.

[00:10:21]And then what when's the second date?

[00:10:23]>> Um I called him for whatever reason. I don't know if I couldn't find the something had happened with my kid. I take a doctor or something. Okay. Um, and I just I couldn't I just couldn't get there. And we just after that we just >> it was a falling out and I had to leave.

[00:10:36]And by this point I was >> Okay. But then at Why wouldn't you Okay, it's sounding really lame. I mean, you're saying, "Yeah, we had the whole thing set up. I didn't show up, but I'm not returning any money."

[00:10:45]>> Well, that's not true because I said to him, I sent an email to him saying, "Charles, listen. And I'm sorry we did not get get to conduct business as planned because it got prolonged so much and I put off so many other jobs because I just wanted to get his done and over with and I had some stuff in my personal life that I had to do. I was leaving on the road with my band yada yada yada. I know we had a contract with him but I don't know how much longer he's going to be putting this off for. So I said >> what difference does it make? It's no skin off your nose until it has to be done. The only thing you have to do is actually show up and tape it.

[00:11:13]>> Trust me. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with this any longer. I look I understand exactly what's going on.

[00:11:20]You've got him. He wants a Cesby Deill production and he wants it for 20 cents.

[00:11:24]I understand. He's changing his mind about how he wants to approach it. All of a sudden, the quote you gave him doesn't seem worth your while. And then in the meantime, it's like, well, I'm going to pay you in drips and I get it.

[00:11:33]I know what's going on. But how do you possibly think that you can keep 500 or $300 or $550 or whatever the figure is if you didn't really do anything other than the five sentences that I saw there? You admit yourself that you had set up a date and you admit you didn't show up the day where it would have been concluded. You would have taped the guy, done a little editing, boom, gotten the rest of your money and everybody's happy and I don't have to meet you.

[00:11:55]>> Right?

[00:11:56]>> But that's not what happened. You bail and then you send him an email that he found insulting. You send him an email saying, you know, I'm going to return some I'm sorry business didn't go as planned, so I'll return some of your money. You found that email insulting.

[00:12:08]So you end up sending him an email that you of course find insulting and that's how everything crumbles and you all end up in front of me. He sends you an email saying you know I feel sorry for your mother and your daughter and this is how you treat your parents and your child and >> right you stole from money >> PS drugs kill. Who signs an email like that really?

[00:12:25]>> What was that about?

[00:12:26]>> Welcome back to the people's court.

[00:12:27]Harvey Leven here. So why are verbal contracts a bad idea?

[00:12:31]>> Because people don't keep their word and you don't have proof later that they said what they said. They >> Well, you go to court and you say, "Hey, they said this. What's the problem with that?

[00:12:40]>> Well, I've said a lot of things in the past that I probably won't keep myself.

[00:12:43]You can never really control what you're going to say when you're asked straight up.

[00:12:47]>> What I say something, you told me this.

[00:12:50]What are you going to say if you're in court?

[00:12:52]>> Whatever is to my favor. People can change their minds.

[00:12:54]>> Or people can lie.

[00:12:55]>> Or people can lie.

[00:12:56]>> And if it's not in writing, they can get away with it.

[00:12:57]>> There's no proof.

[00:12:58]>> Okay. Going inside the courtroom. The way he was acting. I mean, purposely.

[00:13:02]>> He has drugs killed.

[00:13:03]>> No. Well, you know what? He kept avoiding me. You know what? Honestly, I don't think he did this on purpose. I think he just had a lot of things going on in his life that caused this uh person. I like him. I I like the guy that introduced him to him.

[00:13:14]>> Can I just show you like what an actual like my contract just so I have some sort of >> You want to show me a contract in another case?

[00:13:21]>> Yeah. I I would like to >> I don't want to see a contract in another case. When you have a lawsuit on that case, I'll look at that contract.

[00:13:26]I'm looking at the contract in this case. Hold on. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

[00:13:33]Poof. Okay. This is what I have. I have what you gentlemen bring me. Okay. You have a commercial you want to shoot and then you you you you're just you're chiseling away at the price over and over and over trying to make it so that in the end maybe you owe him money. You have a commitment you make to somebody.

[00:13:49]You regret making the commitment because he's just he's just like wearing you down with, you know, either changes or or or wanting less more money cut off or whatever it is. But each time you agree to money cut off is a time that you have a new contract. even if it's a verbal contract. And if you guys have a say a set date when it was supposed to happen, then it was supposed to happen. You have candidly admitted to me that it didn't happen. I've got you saying it's no more than 300 and you're positive about that.

[00:14:16]I've got you saying it's 550 and you can't prove it's 550. We're done. So, what you've been able to prove in this courtroom, thankfully for you, is what he admits to, which is a 300, which I don't believe now. So, that's phase one.

[00:14:29]What you're able to prove is 300. Now, he claims, "Well, I should be able to keep some money, and I disagree entirely. I'm going to order him to pay you back $300." That's my verdict. $300 verdict for the plaintiff.

[00:14:45]>> Well, the plaintiff will get $300 on this judgment. The defendant right here, what's your reaction to him getting that?

[00:14:50]>> I I don't really know. You know, I went into this ready to help him out, and I don't know. It's just It's upsetting.

[00:14:57]>> You have you made commercials before?

[00:14:59]This would be my first uh commercial, but I've done documentaries. I've worked for television network.

[00:15:04]>> This got pretty personal between the two of you.

[00:15:06]>> Yeah. I mean, him telling me that I use drugs and something about my do I >> My daughter is my life and I don't know what he's talking about as far as that goes, but >> it is what it is.

[00:15:15]>> All right. You just head right around the corner here with Officer Macintosh, please.

[00:15:19]>> All right. So, come on in here. You didn't get everything you sued for cuz you couldn't prove too much either.

[00:15:24]>> What's your reaction to this?

[00:15:25]>> Uh, unfortunately, uh, I didn't have the receipts. Uh, he knows what I gave him.

[00:15:30]Uh, and as far as me mentioning his daughter, I'm only going by what his mother told me. Personally, I don't think Nick did this on purpose. I think he was just so toboggled with things in his life >> and I got caught up in the mix. That >> Yeah. Also, you tried to get something for as low a price as you could. You get what you pay for.

[00:15:45]>> No, no, no. Actually, what happened is this right here. He kept blowing me off.

[00:15:48]Every time he blew me off, the price would go lower and lower and lower and lower and lower. That's That's what happened.

[00:15:54]>> Goes Harvey. Okay. I don't care if you really really want something really really badly and they're asking for terms the other side is asking for terms that don't make sense. You got to be willing to walk away from a deal if it's a bad deal even if you really want the item. That will do it for this case litigance for the next case on the way into the courtroom right now.

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[00:17:16]This is the player, Warren Carlson. He says his neighbor, the defendant, should have trimmed her trees properly because a huge limb fell onto some of his trees, breaking them. When he went to discuss the matter with her, all she had to say was, "I'm a single mother." Huh? He's suing for $480, the amount it cost him to rectify the situation.

[00:17:43]This is the defendant, Karen Burger. She says there was a huge snowstorm. She lost power for a week and the next thing she knows her neighbors complaining about a branch that fell on his evergreen tree. She doesn't understand this whole thing because the plan of first notified her 4 months after the snowstorm. And who in the world knows when the branch fell and how it fell?

[00:18:04]Bottom line, she's not responsible for an act of God. She's accused of being a real prune.

[00:18:17]All parties, please raise your right hands.

[00:18:18]>> Thank you, Douglas. Warren Carlson.

[00:18:20]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:18:20]>> And you are suing Karen Burgerer.

[00:18:22]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:18:23]>> Your neighbor for $480. The cost that you had to pay to cut down and remove a tree branch that had fallen from a tree on her property. Uh, actually was still sort of hanging according to you, right?

[00:18:33]Over your property. Okay. What happened?

[00:18:36]>> Uh, well, there wasn't >> How long have you lived there?

[00:18:39]>> 42 years.

[00:18:40]>> Oh my goodness. How long have you lived there?

[00:18:41]>> Um, just 5 years, your honor.

[00:18:43]>> Okay. And did you two know each other or you never really saw each other? You're back to back.

[00:18:47]>> Back to back.

[00:18:48]>> So, you don't really see each other. All right. So, how big are your properties?

[00:18:53]>> Mine is close to 2 acres.

[00:18:54]>> Okay. And how about yours? More or less.

[00:18:57]>> 18 and 12 acres.

[00:18:58]>> 18 and 12.

[00:18:59]>> Yeah.

[00:19:00]>> Okay. So, what happened?

[00:19:01]>> Well, like I say, there was a snowstorm.

[00:19:04]I don't know which one. We had a few of them. And a large branch from on M. Miss Burgerer's property broke. It didn't break completely off the tree, but it broke and it's hanging over my evergreen trees onto my lawn.

[00:19:20]>> What separates your property from hers?

[00:19:22]Is there a fence?

[00:19:24]>> No, there isn't a fence.

[00:19:25]>> Okay.

[00:19:26]>> Uh when I moved in there in 70, I have that line surveyed and I put up a line of evergreen trees, which is a border, >> right?

[00:19:38]>> And a property line really. Well, every trees are in into my right not right on the line, but into my property away.

[00:19:47]>> Okay. So, there was a storm on what day?

[00:19:50]>> Uh, I don't know which we had a few of them. I don't know which one caused this ranch to break.

[00:19:56]>> When did you first notice it?

[00:19:59]>> Probably in January.

[00:20:01]>> In January. And then what? What did you do when you noticed it? Uh, I called Miss Burgerer uh February 2nd and uh I got her answer machine. I guess she monitors her calls or she monitors my call and >> or she was available to pick up and >> uh and I I told her that there was a branch on her property that's hanging over into my property and she said, "Did she call you back?" Yeah, she did call me back and she was angry.

[00:20:33]>> Why was she angry?

[00:20:34]>> I don't know. Well, we had dealings before.

[00:20:37]>> Oh, you did? What were the dealings you had before?

[00:20:39]>> Well, Mr. Carlson has sued me before.

[00:20:41]>> Oh, really?

[00:20:42]>> Yes.

[00:20:43]>> Oh, so this is not your first rodeo with him?

[00:20:45]>> No. No, ma'am.

[00:20:45]>> What did he see you before? For >> there was a pool. My pool collapsed in my backyard. And it's it's a very long story. It's was decided. It was Mr. Carlson. It was found in his favor and I paid the court as I was supposed to and it's over and done with.

[00:21:00]>> But but just give me like the gist. How did you win? It was the middle of winter. Wait, wait, let me ask.

[00:21:06]Overground or inground?

[00:21:08]>> Above ground pool >> and it collapsed. So water >> water well it was frozen so water didn't really go anywhere.

[00:21:14]>> So what were the damages on his place?

[00:21:17]>> There was some erosion some soil erosion that he was suing.

[00:21:20]>> And so how much was the judgment for?

[00:21:22]>> Um nearly $800.

[00:21:24]>> Okay. All right. All right. And that happened how long ago?

[00:21:26]>> Um 2008.

[00:21:29]>> Okay. So when he calls you, uh he's not your favorite person in the neighborhood.

[00:21:34]>> My anxiety level clearly went up. And in addition to that, there were some other there are some other separate issues going on in my life that had absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Carlson, but I was not expecting it to be a pleasant call because he's never called just to say hi.

[00:21:47]>> No. So he calls you and he says, "You need to remove a branch of >> says you need to remove this branch."

[00:21:52]And my resp I I I was astonished because when he called me, his indication to me was that it had happened during the October storm that we had last year.

[00:22:00]>> Okay.

[00:22:01]>> And I said, you know, sir, I he he assumed that I knew that the branches were hanging and they were touching his evergreen trees. And I said, I would have no way of knowing that unless I came on your property, which I don't have occasion to do. And but >> you don't you can't see this from your >> There's a pretty good piece of woods between his house and my house. I'd have to estimate it's about 20 feet between his house and my house of just trees and and shrubs and growth. It's never maintained by I don't know if Mr. Carlson maintains his side because I can't see it, but I never go into it.

[00:22:31]>> So, you tell him, "Okay, but once he tells it to you, what's me?" And I said, "Well, I need to go take a look at it because I don't know where my property line ends." I said, "I don't know that it's marked. I don't know what's what. I need to figure out what my responsibility is and I'll get back to you." So, a short time after that, a friend of mine had called that had um some real estate experience, for lack of a better term, and he said, "Let me just come over and take a look. Maybe I can help you find the pins and we can see if it's your property or not." So, he came over with another friend and we kind of looked in the woods and he said, "You know, Karen, I don't see any pins." So, you can look at the survey map, but it's going to be hard to tell unless you really have a surveyor come out here and figure it out and that's going to cost you $1,000. It's not worth it. But you need to figure out what your liability is because there's issues related to an act of God snowstorm dropping a tree branch that it may or may not be your responsibility, especially if it's on his property or it's close to the line.

[00:23:24]>> Is it on his property or your property?

[00:23:26]Or you don't know?

[00:23:27]>> I'm not entirely sure you're on yours.

[00:23:29]>> I'm assuming it's mine. I would have to believe that I've only been there 5 years. He's been there 42. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that the tree is on my property. But you feel that you don't have to pay to have the limb removed because >> where it fell, it was still in the woods. It's hanging from the tree. And I understood from what I all the research that I did online and between talking to my insurance agent and talking to actually a friend who's an attorney, but not a real estate attorney that he I basically been warned by Mr. Carlson that the damage exists, but it wasn't harming anything to my knowledge. So, it wasn't necessary for me to necessarily remove it at that time. And I could kind of take my time with it. And I called him and I explained to him. I said, "This branch, you know, it didn't fall because the tree was sick and I failed to take care of it. It didn't fall because of something that I did. It was just an effect of the snowstorm. I had branches covering >> for what? It's now been though how long?"

[00:24:23]>> And it had been a couple weeks.

[00:24:25]>> Let's say it had been a couple months before he notifies you, but he's notified you in February. So, >> no. And I called him a couple of week spoke a few weeks after that.

[00:24:33]>> And then you told I never heard anything.

[00:24:35]>> Wait, wait, what's to hear more?

[00:24:37]Everything's been said. What is it you say?

[00:24:39]>> I had left it with Mr. Carlson. I said, "Sir, to and I point blank, this is not my financial responsibility from the best I can."

[00:24:47]>> It's not that you said I can take my time with it. What you said to him was I'm not responsible to remove it. You have pictures.

[00:24:54]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:24:56]If you if it's way I'm talking if it's November 1st and the October 31st snowstorm has happened uh and a tree from your property is struck down by God in his anger and falls on his car. He cannot sue you >> and say it's your fault unless he can prove that there's something you did wrong such as the tree was diseased, you knew or should have known it was diseased and you didn't remove it even though it was a hazard to him.

[00:25:27]>> I understand.

[00:25:29]>> So if this defendant really did have notice that the branches were precarious, did nothing about it, is the defendant responsible?

[00:25:36]>> Absolutely he is. I mean, if you receive notice of somebody's defective, then you need to correct it.

[00:25:40]>> You agree with that?

[00:25:41]>> Absolutely. You need to take care of your own property >> and being on notice is critical here, right?

[00:25:46]>> Definitely, you need to notice and uh know what you're doing about your property and things.

[00:25:51]>> Fair enough. Going inside the courtroom.

[00:25:53]>> If the tree is healthy and the tree is growing over and providing a shade he does not like, he can take a >> chainsaw.

[00:26:06]Yes, chainsaw. He can take a chainsaw.

[00:26:10]>> He can go all the way up and take out anything that is above him at his cost. He can't sue you to pay for that. What we have here is different.

[00:26:22]An act of God may have struck it down during a storm. That's not your fault.

[00:26:26]But but at some point, you as a homeowner have an obligation to clean up.

[00:26:32]And I know that it hasn't ruined anything other than his spruces, but he cares about his spruces and he doesn't wanted to continue to spend time there.

[00:26:40]And we're not talking about like a little branch, right? It's this enormous branch.

[00:26:45]>> Wow. It's really very wooded back there.

[00:26:47]I understand what you're saying. You're like, I can't even believe this is coming up because we'll do it. See, I would I got to be honest with you. I'd have had somebody climb that thing with a and let it and decay it over on your side and who cares? It'll it'll decay.

[00:27:00]>> May I I I left it with Mr. Carlson. I said, "If you have if you through your due diligence discover something else, please get back to me and let me know."

[00:27:07]>> But it doesn't matter. I just have to call it. I have to call what it is that is the right thing.

[00:27:13]>> Your honor, when he then sent me the subpoena, I got no copy of the bill. I have no way of verifying what work was done if it was more than that tree. I had no view of an estimate before he brought me to small claims court, which legally I would have imagined. He's not he's not a pleasant neighbor. I understand. Here you go. Here's the because I do have a way of telling I have the bill, but you should have the bill. And I can't even confirm by talking to that individual if that was the work that was done. This is a hand printed.

[00:27:41]>> Yeah. Your apparently your your standards are a little higher than mine cuz uh I see Do you have proof of payment of that or did How did you pay that?

[00:27:49]>> Uh yeah, I paid it with a check.

[00:27:51]>> Do you have the check?

[00:27:52]>> I have a copy of it.

[00:27:53]>> Yeah. Can I see it?

[00:27:54]>> See, it's a really it's it's a lot of branch. It's, you know, we're talking about something that's a good >> It's hard to tell, >> but you know, we're talking about 20 or 30 feet of width from this limb, from this branch that's coming out of the tree. Yeah. Go ahead.

[00:28:12]>> I'm I I SURRENDER all I did all my homework. I did all my due diligence.

[00:28:21]>> I know, but Right. I know. It's just that there's there's some legal concepts that I think you're you're mixing at some point. Like just imagine if his let's say like if if his spruce had been struck by lightning and then it fell all over your property and he said, "No, it's your problem. It's not mine." Of course not. It's his problem. He's got to get it off and so do you. Even though the fact that it's a branch doesn't doesn't make a difference. If it had hit his car, he can't sue you for his car damage because you didn't make this branch fall. But that's not what this is about. Homeowners do have a responsibility to keep it up. Um, $480 verdict for the pliff. Good luck. Good luck on the third time he takes you to court. I hope you win on that one.

[00:28:57]>> Thank you.

[00:28:59]>> I surrender. Uh, come on. And that's not a good way to to uh >> to defend yourself in the courtroom.

[00:29:05]>> It's not, but I'm just glad that it's over and I appreciate the judge's time today.

[00:29:09]>> Yeah. Well, you're welcome. On her behalf, but he's still your neighbor, right?

[00:29:13]>> Yes.

[00:29:14]>> And you have to coexist with him. Why are you moving or somebody moving?

[00:29:18]>> You never know.

[00:29:19]>> Well, for the time being. So, uh, how are you going to bring peace to the valley?

[00:29:24]>> Sir, what happened happened and I just have to let it go and move on.

[00:29:28]>> Okay. See you.

[00:29:30]>> Thank you very much.

[00:29:31]>> All right, sir. The judge the judge said you're not a very >> You didn't have to say anything.

[00:29:37]>> No, you're you did a pretty good job in the court, but the judge said you're not a very good neighbor. Did you hear her say that?

[00:29:42]>> Why not?

[00:29:44]I only want what's mine.

[00:29:47]Yeah, maybe you could have uh cooperated with her a little more, worked with her a little more.

[00:29:52]>> Well, I not she didn't tell the truth.

[00:29:55]She said she contact me. She didn't. I called her in February and I told her, asked her to let me know what she's going to do and I heard nothing and I called her in May and then I didn't hear anything and here I am.

[00:30:09]>> So, you think you are a good neighbor?

[00:30:11]>> Well, yeah, I'm all right.

[00:30:12]>> Is she a good neighbor?

[00:30:13]>> Bad. I'm not a bad guy. Okay, you know, notice is the key here that if you have somebody who creates a precarious situation that could damage your property, a neighbor, send them an email. Once they get that email, you have gold in your hands because if you've made it clear and if you taken pictures and they do nothing, they're they're messed up and they're going to lose. That will do it for this case litigance for the next case on the way into the courtroom right now.

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[00:31:06]This is the plaintiff, Lorie Hill Jocelyn. She says she purchased a border collie named Tucker from the defendant and two years later she still can't get the dog's papers so she can breed him.

[00:31:18]She's out of patience and it's a doggone shame it's come to this a lawsuit. She's sewing for $2,000 the amount she's owed.

[00:31:33]This is the defendant Barbara. She says she's bred Collies for close to 20 years and is quite shocked to be here today.

[00:31:40]The plaintiff stated she was looking for a nice pet for her family and she was going to have it neutered. She never made any promises she'd provide the paperwork necessary for breeding. Can't believe this woman has changed her mind and can't believe she's being dragged into court like this. She's accused of being paperless.

[00:32:04]All parties, please raise your right hands.

[00:32:05]>> Thank you, Douglas. You're welcome.

[00:32:07]Okay. Lorie Hill Jocelyn. Yes.

[00:32:09]>> You are suing Barbara for $2,000 that you say she owes you as a result of breaching the contract on a sale of a dog to you. Tell me what's going on.

[00:32:19]>> Um, in March of 2011, I searched online for border collies. It's not a very popular breed in our area. I'm from Rhode Island. So, I found this ad by the defendant on breeders.net advertising the uh triple registered watercoly puppies.

[00:32:38]>> What would triple registered mean?

[00:32:40]>> They could be registered in three different border border collie associations. Maybe the American Kennel Club. I'm not sure. It would depend on the background of the dogs.

[00:32:50]>> Okay. Can be triple registered.

[00:32:52]Registered ABCA. What does registered ABCA mean?

[00:32:56]>> Registered ABC is American Border Collie Association. Both parents are registered.

[00:33:00]>> But both parents are.

[00:33:01]>> Yes.

[00:33:01]>> Got it. First and last litter. Totally closing breeding part. Time to retire.

[00:33:08]>> This is Daisy's first and last litter.

[00:33:10]Have I mentioned it's Daisy's first and last litter? Daisy's 5 years of age. We have three left. Dropped our price to 5.90. Okay. All right. So, go ahead. I called the defendant and uh arranged to go the next day to see the puppies, which we did. Paid her and came home with the dog. I >> How much did you pay?

[00:33:32]>> 5.90.

[00:33:33]>> Okay. Do you have the paperwork from the sale?

[00:33:35]>> Um, no. She asked for cash only.

[00:33:38]>> Okay.

[00:33:39]>> She told my You don't have a sale a contract? You could pay with cash and still have a contract?

[00:33:44]>> No. She stated she would send me the paperwork as soon as they came back from the uh water collie association from registration.

[00:33:54]>> So she was going to register the the puppy for you.

[00:33:57]>> The breeder needs to send in the information on the litter to the to whatever association and then they send back papers and I believe the ownership like from the defendant to myself would be there's another form they have to fill out. Are they registering the actual pups?

[00:34:15]>> Yes.

[00:34:15]>> Okay.

[00:34:16]>> The ABAC paperwork states that the breeder has to be the person that submits the paperwork >> because according to you, you're waiting for paperwork for over a year.

[00:34:25]>> Yes.

[00:34:25]>> Okay. And what happens?

[00:34:27]>> I have been in constant contact with the defendant for Facebook and all these messages for the past year asking continuously asking for the registration. Do you have any lineage to show pedigree? It's taken this long. And she still hasn't. Well, she did send it in apparently >> when >> um I was just in contact with the Border Collie Association and they informed me that the pup the litter was registered in December to the defendant >> in December.

[00:34:57]>> In descendant.

[00:34:58]>> And you bought the dog when?

[00:35:00]>> Last March.

[00:35:01]>> So in May of last year, I don't know if you got my last message. Can you tell me if Tucker aka Jake was your name for the dog? Yes.

[00:35:08]>> Okay. has any recent pedigree that did hurting. Tucker says, "Hi, still no word on the ABCA papers. Sorry I'm impatient.

[00:35:17]Just don't want to forget." Then a few weeks later, she she messages you again and she waits another couple of weeks.

[00:35:23]How are things going? Any luck with those registration numbers and dog names. I will assist in making phone calls or something if it'll help. Your daughter answers that you're in the hospital. She waits another couple of weeks. every couple weeks she's she's messaging you still waiting for the registration paperwork. Please send her registration with the father's number.

[00:35:41]I'll be calling ABCA to try to verify the litter. I'm sorry about your health difficulties, but it's not as though she wasn't patient. So, what's your what is your defense to this? Cuz she's now suing you for the cost of the dog, the training that she feels was wasted because a dog couldn't get did wasn't registered because you weren't cooperating. The vet bills.

[00:35:59]>> Vet bills.

[00:36:00]>> Vet all the dogs vet bills. You going to return the dog?

[00:36:03]No, but >> I know not. I hope no. The day I get the answer yes is the day that I I just hang it up. Gone fishing >> and loss of income from not being able to breed. So, why is this happening?

[00:36:17]>> Okay. First off, here's a non a non-breeding contract. Okay. Most of my dogs when I do sell them go with a non-breeding contract.

[00:36:25]>> Why? Wait, stop. You have a non-breeding contract in this case?

[00:36:28]>> Yes.

[00:36:29]>> In this case?

[00:36:30]>> Yes.

[00:36:30]>> That she signed?

[00:36:31]>> No, that she did not sign. It came in from the ABC. A I've sent it to her twice. This is the third.

[00:36:37]>> No, no, no, no, no. This is a contracts case for me. You can't make her do something she didn't agree to do beforehand. FIRST OF ALL, WHY would you not Why would you care? Why is it your business? Like, in other words, what reason would you have to not want someone you sell a dog to to breed?

[00:36:51]>> Because they're like part of they're part they're part of my family. I want to know that they're going to be taken care of. She's never bred before. I want to make sure the dogs are going to be taken care of. That's why I ask them all the time to have the dogs neutered. All the >> Wait, wait, wait, wait.

[00:37:05]>> Okay.

[00:37:05]>> Why is getting a dog neutered mean that you're going to take better care of them than breeding the dog?

[00:37:10]>> That that's showing that you're not going to let the dog just go breed everything in sight or you're not just going to have a litter of puppies if it's a female and just keep breeding and breeding and breeding. You just don't want to do that to an animal.

[00:37:21]>> Okay, but between breeding, breeding, and breeding and just breeding once, there's a big difference. like why why do you get to decide whether her animal breeds?

[00:37:29]>> Okay, so the plaintiff never agreed in the contract uh that the dog would not be bred. Can the defendant now try to prove somehow that oh that was the agreement even though that contract doesn't say anything about it?

[00:37:40]>> It's back to if it's not in the contract, it's not in the contract.

[00:37:43]>> You buying that?

[00:37:44]>> Absolutely. It should be stipulated in the contract if the dog's me not meant to be.

[00:37:47]>> Can you try to prove somebody agreed to something after the contract was signed?

[00:37:50]Can you prove that?

[00:37:51]>> Well, I just think it's the owner's responsibility to take care of the animals. So therefore, if it's not listed in the contract, then it should not be bred.

[00:37:57]>> Fair enough. Going inside the going inside the courtroom.

[00:37:59]>> I feel that I have a right for because I have worked very hard on these lines. My >> So you feel that other pet owners are not qualified to know when enough is enough?

[00:38:09]>> A lot of them don't. Nope.

[00:38:11]>> That's it.

[00:38:12]>> That's my honest to god opinion. Yes, >> that's fine. Now, do you have her agreeing when she buys the dog to say I won't breed the dog?

[00:38:20]>> Yes, you did.

[00:38:20]>> Okay. Show me where she agreed. Watch this. Did you agree to that?

[00:38:23]>> No. Okay, now you got to show me how she agreed to your in, you know, incredibly ownorous condition. I need to see the contract where she agreed.

[00:38:32]>> It was a verbal agreement.

[00:38:34]>> Did you agree verbally?

[00:38:35]>> Now what? Let me ask a question. Did you just find out that they were A B C E D?

[00:38:40]What is it?

[00:38:41]>> Yes, I did just uh Thursday, I believe it was. I got the email back.

[00:38:45]>> That sort of changes a little bit for you because now the dog is registered.

[00:38:48]Uh, no. Because see, I've never done this before with border colleagues and the border. My understanding from the registration paper is she needs to see ownership or something.

[00:39:00]>> I'm not sure. This is >> Yeah. And now look at that. Isn't that rich? Now you want stuff that you didn't get at the time of the sale. Hand that over. One more.

[00:39:07]>> These are papers she was supposed to send over sent in. Those are actual registration. How she registers.

[00:39:12]>> When we bought the dog, she agreed not to >> Stop. Stop. Stop. Listen to my question.

[00:39:18]Hand me. You said this latest time on Thursday. That's what I want. Hand that over, please.

[00:39:23]>> That's the latest the email I received from the border collie association.

[00:39:27]>> They were normal registrations. A previous owner will have to sign the original certificate in the bottom left corner and complete with the new owner's name, address, and date of sale. Either the previous owner or the new owner can send it in. Okay. All right. So, the way this works is that this for for the loop to be completed, this would have to be filled out by you. Yes.

[00:39:51]>> With her name.

[00:39:53]>> Yes.

[00:39:53]>> And her address.

[00:39:55]>> Yes.

[00:39:56]>> And not the non-breeding status if I find that she's correct in terms of what the contract was.

[00:40:02]>> Yes. But she purchased a pet.

[00:40:04]>> Okay. We're not going over that over and over again. Okay. you have agreed to come here and I am the judge of your case and I am telling you that you cannot prove to me that she agreed to be non-breeding. So I do not find that to be a clause in the contract. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to order you to finish filling this out so that she can register the dog the way you advertise the dog can be registered.

[00:40:24]>> Okay.

[00:40:25]>> All right.

[00:40:25]>> Could I say one more thing, please? In reference to like agility and hurting, they do not need registration, >> right? Um go ahead and sign that for me.

[00:40:37]See, for me, it's just a simple contracts case, you know, that the that the advertisement said that and so she I need to make sure she gets the benefit of the bargain. That's all it is. Um, but based on her signature, I'm also not going to order her to pay you any money because this should do it, right?

[00:40:54]>> True.

[00:40:54]>> Okay. Good luck, folks. All right. I wish you luck with your health.

[00:40:58]>> Thank you.

[00:40:58]>> And good luck with Jake. Do I get a picture of Jake at least? Can I see it?

[00:41:00]>> Here.

[00:41:01]>> There we go.

[00:41:01]>> I've got >> Oh my god. I've got I've got Daisy and the puppies and the other five. Yep.

[00:41:08]>> Oh my god.

[00:41:12]>> Why wouldn't you want to ride?

[00:41:14]>> This is where I realized how ugly my dog is.

[00:41:18]>> I love my dog, but my dog has got to be one of the ugliest dogs on the planet.

[00:41:24]Look how beautiful this dog is. I think uh I think we've done this one. Okay, thank you folks and good luck.

[00:41:30]>> Thank you.

[00:41:33]Well, here comes the defendant coming out of the courtroom. Okay. Just right here next. That's good. Right there. Uh, yeah. Um, how are you after that case?

[00:41:39]>> Well, I'm a little disappointed that she did get the, you know, full registration papers on the dogs.

[00:41:44]>> Well, you don't trust them.

[00:41:45]>> It's not that I don't trust them. I just don't want my lines overused. I >> That's what I mean. That's my question.

[00:41:50]You don't trust them to handle the dog properly?

[00:41:52]>> It has nothing to do with trust. It has to do with breeding the dogs and the lines and overbreeding and so forth and so You don't trust them to handle the dogs properly and breed them properly.

[00:42:02]>> I don't know them in that respect.

[00:42:05]>> So, >> well, good luck. Good luck with everything. All right. Right down right down this way.

[00:42:09]>> Take your time heading out. All right.

[00:42:11]So, come on in here. You got the papers you wanted, courtesy of the judge's ruling here. What's What's your feeling on this?

[00:42:17]>> I'm just glad it's over.

[00:42:18]>> That's it. Aren't you glad you got the papers there and can do what you want with the dogs?

[00:42:22]>> That's Yeah, that's what I came here for.

[00:42:23]>> Yeah. So, what are you going to do with this dog? She's She doesn't trust you to breed the dog properly. She's worried about overbreeding.

[00:42:31]>> I'm not even considering breeding at this point unless he does phenomenal in agility or herd and I won't even consider breeding him.

[00:42:38]>> It's a cute dog. Jake's a cute dog.

[00:42:40]>> Thank you, >> Harvey. Okay, Kurt, here's the deal. Uh, you can have an oral supplement to a written contract. The problem is it is so dicey that if you have a written contract, then the immediate question, why wouldn't you write the supplemental information? Now too, if you are involved in a contractual situation and you want to add something, just simply add it in writing.

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