Landlords may rule over apartments, but not the courtroom. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the “People’s Court” litigants who give landlords a bad name.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I'm talking about my heart. I'm talking about my soul.
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the people's court litigants
00:09who gave landlords a bad name.
00:12May I?
00:12No, you may not talk ever again in my court.
00:18Number 10. We have the real landlord right here.
00:22Did you think he was the owner?
00:24Uh, yes, until I found out he wasn't.
00:26Larry Stahl hasn't returned a security deposit.
00:29Not so unusual in Judge Millian's courtroom,
00:32but the tenants usually get to move in before they have to sue for a deposit.
00:36Can I ask you a question?
00:37Yep.
00:38How are these people going to get the place October 1st?
00:41I was going to be moving out into my other house. I own a home in Lindenhurst. I was
00:44going to move- the tenant was moving out, I was going over to live there,
00:47and I was really fulfilling the rest of my lease.
00:49Two plaintiffs give Stahl money for a future move-in. The house was never ready.
00:54It turns out Stahl isn't even the owner,
00:57and he has no real right to sublease it as he is being evicted.
01:01I'm going to lose it any second now. Will you please tell me, landlord,
01:05when is it that you find out what is- what shenanigans are going on?
01:09In the kind of dramatic twists courtroom dramas are made of,
01:12the plaintiffs surprise the judge and the defendant by bringing the actual landlord
01:17into court with them.
01:19My lawyer told me to stay away from the house because the eviction process has started.
01:22All the facts make this guy look more like a thief than a landlord.
01:26The judge is so outraged, she awards the plaintiffs double what they sued for.
01:31You look like a fraud because you are a fraud!
01:34Number 9. Hedging her bets.
01:36Tell me what happened.
01:37Plaintiff Shanice Hawkins paid Gladys Hoffman a deposit to secure an apartment,
01:42only for the landlord to change her mind.
01:44Was a topic ever discussed to just go ahead and move in but she'd rent it to you and not
01:48the other people because you'd already put a deposit on it and she can't rent it to other people?
01:54That's the exact opposite of what Hoffman says happened.
01:57It's a case of she said, she said. Only the judge knows the law.
02:01Why are you doing that? She already has the apartment.
02:03That's unfortunate for Hoffman.
02:06You don't get the money back because you already have the apartment.
02:08I can't show it to anybody else.
02:10Then you're showing it to somebody else or you're still negotiating with somebody else
02:14and you're trying to make her pay more for an apartment she already has.
02:18She asked Hawkins for more money than she paid
02:20because other prospective tenants would pay more and move in sooner,
02:24which is exactly what a landlord can't do once they accept a deposit.
02:28You have breached the contract, not her!
02:30You admit that you tell her after taking her thousand,
02:34which means the deal is done, right? That's why it's non-refundable.
02:36Judge Millian asks plainly why the landlord is still showing an apartment that's been spoken for.
02:42It sounds like extortion to her.
02:44You're the one who changed the deal!
02:46The defendant still doesn't understand how dishonestly she behaved.
02:51You changed the deal.
02:51She is not honest. She's not an honest person to tell that the judge.
02:55Number eight, Pollyanna Plaintiff.
02:58What's the first thing that goes wrong?
02:59You should present the best version of yourself in court.
03:02I am a stripper.
03:04Okay.
03:04I was a stripper.
03:06Are you an escort?
03:07No.
03:07Okay. Did you ever tell her that or she's just jumping to conclusions?
03:10She's definitely jumping to conclusions.
03:12But this plaintiff may have gone a little too far
03:14because as more and more details emerged,
03:17she looked less innocent than she pretended to be.
03:20Rita Heidenberg rented a room to defendant Tiana Nichelle Laguerre
03:25and didn't think to ask for pay stubs until after Laguerre moved in.
03:29I felt bad because she was a single mom working two jobs,
03:32working very hard, and I wanted to give her a chance.
03:34She doesn't have a place to stay.
03:35Heidenberg makes references to the defendant's career as an exotic dancer,
03:40exaggerating it to the point of accusing her of illegal activities.
03:44She even admits to calling CPS on the single mother,
03:46but it looks more like retaliation than real concern.
03:50What was white?
03:51You know, wouldn't you think if she said,
03:52I'm renting to a crazy black lady?
03:54But she had-
03:55That it sounded-
03:55I'm just asking you.
03:56She said it.
03:57I am a student of human nature.
03:58I'm just asking you.
03:59Although she is owed the money,
04:01Heidenberg's handling of tenants says that maybe this line of work isn't for her.
04:06Judgment in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $650.
04:09That's my judgment.
04:10Good luck, everybody.
04:11Number 7.
04:12No Privacy.
04:14He's here suing for the return of the $2,000 in rent he paid up front.
04:19Aaron Royles secured a room for his daughter,
04:22a college student, who was living away from home for school.
04:25I was looking for a place for her to stay.
04:27Yes, okay.
04:28Unfortunately, the room was the only way to get to the kitchen
04:31without going outside the house.
04:33The landlord, who lives on site,
04:35said he would not use her rented bedroom for kitchen access.
04:39Is that accurate that you have to go through that bedroom
04:43in order to get to the kitchen?
04:46But that turned out to be a lie.
04:48There's a side entrance.
04:50Go through a gate.
04:52Or you go outside.
04:53Right.
04:53Is it discussed?
04:54Hey, this is weird.
04:55You have to walk through my daughter's bedroom?
04:57Because nobody wants that.
04:58We discussed it.
04:58I said I usually go around through the gate.
05:01Things devolved as the landlord became nosy and overstepping
05:04and belligerently demanded access to the room.
05:07The idea that anyone, landlord or not,
05:10could just traipse through your room without warning is nightmare fuel.
05:14Did you tell him?
05:15Hey, hey, hey, hey, where are you going?
05:17This guy doesn't seem to get it.
05:18In fact, he thinks he suffered undue stress.
05:21While he does get some money back,
05:23the judge is less than sympathetic.
05:25There were rat droppings in the bed.
05:27There's no rats in my house.
05:29Where do you think the rat droppings came from?
05:31From her bed.
05:32Number six, mixing business with pleasure.
05:35Try as she might, Anne-Marie Mahoney can't keep up the pretense
05:38that she's a level-headed victim of bad tenants for long.
05:41I served these tenants with a vacated will.
05:44Well, back it up.
05:45You were dating her mother?
05:47For about a week, and it was not conducive to my lifestyle, Your Honor.
05:51You dated her mother for a week?
05:53She dated a woman briefly,
05:54then rented a room to that woman's family as tenants,
05:57all within the span of a few weeks.
05:59A week, and then I didn't want to be with her anymore.
06:02Mahoney has no compassion.
06:04She speaks callously about her ex's mental health struggles,
06:07but seems unable to see just how horribly she acted in all this.
06:11However, the plaintiff's manipulative behavior gets under the judge's skin.
06:15Well, no, no, go back to the lectern.
06:18Hand my bail—
06:19No, this way.
06:20No, go back to the—
06:21There we go, that's how you do it.
06:23When she realizes she's caught,
06:25Mahoney makes the great decision to accuse the judge of homophobia.
06:28It goes about as well as you'd expect.
06:30I resent that, not only because I have family members
06:33who would be very offended by what you just said.
06:36Get out of here and stop playing victim.
06:38Unbelievable, unbelievable.
06:40Step out.
06:41Number five, cold-hearted landlord.
06:44She's accused of being cold-hearted.
06:47Although plaintiff Richard Crespo is trying to blame everything,
06:51even his weight gain on his landlord,
06:53it's understandable why he's so upset.
06:55Seven years ago, I was asking my wife,
06:57The judge agrees that he and his family were neglected by defendant Helen Theodore,
07:02who took a month to fix a busted boiler in the middle of January.
07:06We had to sleep in families and friends.
07:08I had to go to the gym at two o'clock in the morning
07:10because I got to be at work at five.
07:12I go to the gym to work out, not anymore,
07:14because I want to just take a shower and go to work.
07:16When it became too complicated,
07:18Theodore gave up and told them to buy a boat
07:21to take him to the beach.
07:22I'm not going to go to the beach.
07:24I'm not going to go to the beach.
07:25Theodore gave up and told them to buy a bunch of space heaters
07:28to keep from getting hypothermia.
07:30She simply didn't want to spend the money.
07:32She just smiles as the judge explains why she's awful.
07:36Even Doug Llewellyn, the court reporter,
07:38gets his jabs in when the woman has the nerve to laugh about it.
07:41Number four, a crazy living situation.
07:44Ben says he and his girlfriend rented a room in the defendant's house
07:48and living there was like living in a psych ward.
07:51Exes Sarah Louth and Ben Rosenzweig
07:54have a list of complaints against their landlord,
07:56who rented them a room in his house that has to be heard to be believed.
08:01He's accused of being a trespassing landlord.
08:04Both sides throw allegations of substance use disorder,
08:07harassment, and unsightly damages to the house,
08:10but that's just the tip of the iceberg.
08:13I see in your complaint that someone died in the apartment.
08:18Louth explains how she found the landlord's friend dead on the floor.
08:22Defendant Lee Phillips thinks that's irrelevant to the case.
08:25I never saw a dead person before.
08:28I called the police immediately.
08:30I'm filed on the police record.
08:31I'm the one who made the call.
08:33What happened? Did the guy pass away?
08:35Yes, I don't want to talk about this anymore.
08:36You know, it's not relevant to the case.
08:38Phillips is clearly not cut out for renting out rooms.
08:41In fact, he doesn't even seem to realize he is the landlord.
08:44Have you ever been a landlord before?
08:46I wasn't a landlord, but you were joint tenants.
08:48I don't know why they're calling me a landlord.
08:50He's just the owner of the house, which he rents rooms out of.
08:53The judge has to set him straight on this and a few more of his responsibilities.
08:57Good luck, folks.
08:59Number three, you look like a slumlord.
09:01What's going on?
09:02The plaintiff is suing for his deposit plus rent paid
09:05because his apartment was illegally rented.
09:08You know that it's an illegal apartment.
09:09You're not allowed to rent it out.
09:10But after talking with the judge,
09:12he explains he's really just interested in the deposit.
09:15When Judge Millian meets his landlord, Roberta,
09:18she doesn't buy any of her stories and evasions about why she was renting
09:22an illegal apartment and making bank while her tenants lived in filth.
09:26You were making how much on that illegal apartment?
09:29$1,200, $1,300 a month?
09:31I did not collect any rent after the July's notice.
09:34Yes, I know.
09:35But before that, you were making $1,300 a month
09:37for how many years without having to...
09:39Your Honor, it was less than a year.
09:41Pictures show all the plaintiff endured,
09:43from leaks to sewage backup to general squalor.
09:46Given the condition of the property,
09:48the judge takes pleasure in hammering the careless defendant.
09:51What is wrong with your brain cells?
09:53She even calls her a slumlord and forces her to give back a month's rent.
09:57It's hard to imagine someone allowing tenants to live like this
10:00no matter how good the money is.
10:02Pay the man.
10:04Number two, will the real landlord please stand up?
10:08All parties, please use your right hand.
10:09In this case, Judge Millian untangles a twisting web of lies, conspiracy, and scams.
10:16Kirby Gaston and Nicole Reason rented an apartment
10:19that defendant Natalie Jean didn't even have the right to sublease,
10:23and she failed to make good on the lease.
10:25Suing Natalie Jean, your landlord, for $4,500 that you want returned to you,
10:31the two months rent you paid, the security deposit, and the dog deposit,
10:34because according to you, she didn't have a right to lease to you to begin with.
10:37What happened?
10:38Jean's defense is that the real owner foreclosed on the house.
10:41This, of course, isn't true.
10:43The true landlord appears on the side of the plaintiffs,
10:46who says the defendant is a squatter who doesn't even have a lease with him.
10:50You are the landlord.
10:51You're the owner of the property.
10:52Yes, I am.
10:53All right.
10:53So now, how long have you been renting to her?
10:56I never gave her a lease.
10:57What little evidence Jean does bring, the judge suspects are forgeries.
11:01Why is that a copy that you are bringing me to?
11:04Why don't you have an original?
11:05Watching the defendant's whole story unravel in real time is a sight to behold,
11:09and Millian has a great time eviscerating her weak arguments,
11:13shaky evidence, and moral character.
11:15I can't hear you.
11:16My proof is in the other room.
11:17Why? You don't think that's gonna come up here?
11:20Yes.
11:22Will somebody please get whatever proof she left in the other room?
11:25Describe the bag it's in.
11:26Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel
11:29and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
11:32You'll have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
11:36If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
11:42Number 1. A Pattern of Behavior
11:45Sue Hoi Tan, you are suing Ellen Rae?
11:47Yes.
11:48Ellen Rae sounds like the landlord and roommate from you know where.
11:52And I was forced to move out of the apartment just weeks after moving in,
11:56after experiencing constant harassment, trespassing, and ultimately physical assault.
12:03Plaintiff Sue Hoi Tan and her witnesses, one of whom is a former tenant of Rae,
12:08say she would enter bedrooms when tenants weren't there.
12:11Let me tell you what is going to happen.
12:13Yeah.
12:13I wouldn't live with you for 22 seconds.
12:16Okay.
12:16You don't have respect of boundaries.
12:19That's not true.
12:19You don't have the right to walk into somebody's room and rearrange their undies.
12:24Rae's reasoning, demeanor, and testimony is questionable to begin with.
12:28It soon becomes clear she has a history of combative and unhinged behavior with her tenants.
12:33The judge soon realizes the landlord is not allowed to charge people to stay in her rent-stabilized
12:39apartment. She accuses Rae of running a scam that allows her to rent out roommates and get
12:43them to pay her rent.
12:45So it is actually illegal to have a roommate,
12:48it's illegal to have a roommate charge more than 50%.
12:51Wait, are you in a rent-controlled apartment?
12:53Yes.
12:56Rent-stabilized?
12:57Rent-stabilized.
12:59Yeah.
13:00But it's furnished and it includes the utility, so it's not overcharged.
13:04The landlord's eccentricities aside,
13:06there's clearly a lot more to her lowdown tactics than meets the eye.
13:10You lost the case right there.
13:12Doors that way.
13:13All right.
13:13You owe her $4,100.
13:15Which of these landlords would be your worst nightmare?
13:18Let us know in the comments.
13:20You sound like a terrible landlord.
13:21I just got to tell you that.
13:22You really do.
13:24I don't know why you're laughing, you should be crying.
13:26All right, you must go that way.
13:27Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
13:31and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.