They tried to vote me out of my own club.
You claimed that he took money from the club account?
Yes.
No, ma'am.
When they tried to kick me out-- yes, ma'am, I, I did...
- Oh, absolutely right. - [Zeb] I took it 'cause it's my club.
It was for the club. It was OPM, other people's money.
It wasn't your money.
[announcer] This is Judy Justice.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Michael Mitchell is suing card club founder Zeb Lollis
for stolen money from the club's bank account
and the use of the club's name.
[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.
Have a seat, please.
Case 1097, Mitchell versus Lollis.
- Thank you. - You're welcome, Judge.
[Judge Judy] Mr. Mitchell, let me understand what your position is.
- You live in... - Jacksonville.
- [Judge Judy] In Florida? - Yes, ma'am.
And several years ago,
Mr. Lollis started a club to play cards?
- Correct. - He named the club?
- Correct. - [Judge Judy] And the name
that he gave the club was...
1st Coast Bid Players.
Where did you get the name from?
Well, Jacksonville is considered the First Coast,
and when I first moved to Jacksonville in 2016, I didn't have any friends.
I didn't know anyone.
So, I have a passion for playing cards,
bid whist, and I started the club for--on meet-up.
And we started with, like, four people and it just grew on.
I--don't just give me the whole story.
- I asked you where the name came from. - Oh, I just created the name.
- [Judge Judy] Okay. - Just from being First Coast.
And at first, there were just a few people,
as the defendant says, were club members,
and then it started to grow.
In what year did you become a member of the club?
I became a member--uh,
I became an official member of the club in July 2017.
[Judge Judy] And you must have become an official member of the club
because you heard about it
and thought it would be fun and interesting.
Right. When I first heard about it, Judge,
they weren't taking any memberships,
'cause I heard about it in May 2017
and membership was closed.
So that's why I became an official member in July.
[Judge Judy] And being a club member meant that a couple of times a week,
you got together with other people who played this card game, which was...
Bid whist, B-I-D W-H-I-S-T, bid whist.
Don't know how to play it. My sole game is gin rummy.
That's the only thing I know how to play.
But I'm sure you enjoy it.
I'm not even gonna ask you to explain to me what the game is,
because I probably wouldn't understand it anyway.
But the reason you wanted so badly and you waited,
it was because the club had a reputation?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] Club that he started.
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] And he grew?
- Yes. - So this is what this case is about.
In 2021, the club grew to almost a hundred people, eighty people.
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] And they held an election,
I don't know how the election was held,
and the defendant was no longer an officer of the club.
Correct.
And it is your claim--two things,
first, you claim that he took money from the club account,
because he charged dues to be a club member.
- Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] When you
became a club member in 2017, you paid dues?
- Correct. - How much did you pay?
Uh, at that time, the dues were $25 a year per member.
And did you pay it in check or cash?
- Cash. - [Judge Judy] And you were told that
this $25 a year was to do what?
It was to purchase the cards
and help pay for venues and things of that nature
- that the club was... - [Judge Judy] For parties, for people...
- Yeah, right. - ...for their birthday or...
- [Michael] Things like that. - Things like that.
That's pretty reasonable dues.
And then the dues were raised?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] When?
The dues was raised in July 2019
to $70 a year per member.
- Did you pay it in check or cash? - [Michael] Cash.
- That's not true, Your Honor. - Just a second.
Um, cash?
Cash.
[Judge Judy] And when you went to play these games,
- there were cards. - [Michael] There were cards.
[Judge Judy] How often were the cards replaced?
They were replaced, I'm gonna say almost--
minimum every two weeks.
- Who paid for that? - [Michael] The club--
the club paid for the cards, the treasurer...
[Judge Judy] Just a second. Just a second.
The club paid for it out of the dues?
Correct, Your Honor.
And there were parties occasionally for people,
for birthdays, celebrations?
- Yes, correct. - [Judge Judy] And who paid for that?
- The club... - [Judge Judy] The dues?
- The dues. - And there were sometimes venues
that were taken for events to play cards.
Who paid for that?
The club paid for that.
- [Judge Judy] Out of dues? - Out of dues.
So that's a pretty cheap club.
- Correct. - [Judge Judy] For $25 or $70.
- Right. And we... - Nobody tapped you for more money?
No. Well, we used to have, like, raffles, 50/50 raffles
or raffle off a basket or something.
- [Judge Judy] Oh. - [Michael] And those were other ways
we generated revenue for the club.
To pay for the expenses?
- Yes. - Now, he was voted out of office
and he left the club, the person who started it?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] And you want the club name,
- you want me to give you the club name? - Yes.
[Judge Judy] Because you're gonna tell me that everybody voted you
to be the spokesperson here.
Correct.
[Judge Judy] What--you didn't invent this name?
- No. - Why should you have the name?
[Michael] Because it was the club's name.
Yeah, but wherever he goes, it's his club.
He should take the club name wherever he goes.
If he wants to get another 25 people, fine.
If he wants to get another 50 people, fine.
He thought of the name, you didn't.
You just joined.
Well, if that's the way it works, Your Honor,
when you start something and leave,
you're automatically entitled to it for life...
Well, why would you be entitled to it?
- [Michael] As a member. - Because you're a member?
- As a member. Like all... - [Judge Judy] What--but you're...
...of the other 80 members.
[Judge Judy] Just--but you're just a member.
Why wouldn't he be entitled to it?
He invented it.
- But he's no longer a member. - [Judge Judy] If I have to...
- I mean... - [Judge Judy] If I--
well, he's no longer a-- but he still plays cards.
And if he gets together with a group of people, do you ever?
Yes, ma'am.
And if he gets together with a group of people
and he says that my club, the 1st Coast Bid Players Club,
is getting together, that's his.
Pick another name for your 80 people.
- Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] Great.
Took care of that. Now, we're gonna take care of this...
- Yes, ma'am. - ...misappropriation of money.
You took the money out for yourself.
When they tried to kick me out, yes, ma'am, I did...
(laughs) Oh, absolutely, right.
[Zeb] Uh, because, because it's my club and I'm still operating under 1st Coast.
[Judge Judy] No, sorry.
It was OPM, other people's money went in here, and you can't take it out.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Michael Mitchell claims card club founder Zeb Lollis
stole funds from their card club.
Zeb is countersuing for defamation of character.
Now, was there a bank account?
- Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] In whose name?
The bank account was in Mr. Lollis' name and the treasury of the club.
I'd like to see a paperwork for that.
Your Honor, may I say something?
In a minute, after I look at the evidence.
Who is James [...]?
That's my treasurer at the time.
[Judge Judy] That was your treasurer at the time?
[Zeb] Yes, ma'am.
And he's also a close friend of mine.
[Judge Judy] Okay.
You withdrew from the club in what month?
When they tried to vote me out of my own club.
[Judge Judy] Just--I said month, that is not when.
- [Zeb] Um... - And when it's not the name of a month.
I'm sorry, July.
July of 2021.
You have a statement here dated--
the last one is August of 2021.
Yes.
[Judge Judy] There's a withdrawal here for $3,982.
[Michael] Yes, Your Honor.
And the account was closed at that time.
Did you make this withdrawal, sir?
Yes, ma'am. I sure did.
[Judge Judy] The answer is yes.
And when did the club start to play cards again?
My club?
[Judge Judy] No, the club that he belonged to, the dues went in.
Ma'am, the last time they paid dues is 2019,
and we had a huge Christmas party at the end of 2019.
[Judge Judy] Okay. In December of 2019.
[Zeb] December 2019, we had a huge Christmas party.
- Oh, just... - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Judy] Just one second. Let me find that.
Well, I have January of 2020
and there's a balance of $2,000
on January 24th 2020.
And when did you stop playing cards?
We stopped playing cards in March of, uh, 2020.
[Judge Judy] 2020?
March of 2020 due to COVID.
- Right. - And everything shut down, so...
Okay. So, in November of 2020,
there was still money in the club,
there's $2,000 balance.
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge Judy] And then January, February.
Where's March?
Those statements wasn't submitted as evidence on it,
Your Honor, because the balance stayed the same
when--all of that time,
so I just brought all the statements that was relevant to, um...
[Judge Judy] Well, the club stopped functioning in March of 2020.
- Right. - [Judge Judy] And in 2021,
there was only a balance of $2,200,
all of a sudden, more money filtered, and there was $4,500.
That's correct.
Who put in that money?
I did, Your Honor.
Um, at the very beginning of 2021-- 'cause we were supposed
to have a tournament 2020, but that got pushed back a year later.
Beginning of 2021, I reached out to the members,
I said, "We're still hosting a tournament, I need your support."
'Cause we'd normally feed them and pay for venues and everything.
"If you could just please just donate $10
to help me feed everyone that's coming in town."
From 80 members, I got $70.
So, I felt--it was like a slap in the face.
So people still called and said,
"Hey, you're--are you gonna have the tournament?"
"Yes, we're gonna have the tournament.
You know, we're 1st Coast." Blah, blah, blah.
And the tournament went off without a hitch.
And no one from 1st Coast showed.
I had to run the whole tournament completely by myself.
And Mike, he loves tournaments. I was really surprised...
[Judge Judy] I--just a second.
I wanna know who put the money in this account.
[Zeb] Oh, I did. I'm sorry.
[Judge Judy] Show me where you made the deposit.
[Zeb] I didn't bring the bank statements or whatever,
because I'm the only one-- me and James are the only ones
who are--who are--access to the account.
- Yup. - [Judge Judy] But you say that
in order to hold this tournament, based upon what you are suggesting to me,
you only got $70 from the membership
and you covered the costs of the tournament...
- Um... - [Judge Judy] ...is that what you're--
just a second. Don't look over there.
- [Zeb] No, no. - Look over here.
Yes. I will say that, yes.
[Judge Judy] And you-- yes, you would say that,
then you have proof that you put in the deposit,
you get a deposit slip.
I didn't bring a deposit slip.
[Judge Judy] Well, then, sir, you can't close out this account
and you can't take the-- whatever is left in the account yourself.
Because it's my own personal account.
[Judge Judy] Just a-- it's not your own personal account.
If what you're saying is this money was used for the club,
and the dues that were paid went into this account,
you and the treasurer.
If the dues that were paid went into this account,
it's not your personal account, it was for the club.
That was the purpose of it.
It was for the club.
It was OPM, other people's money went in here,
and you can't take it out!
- I can't take it out? - [Judge Judy] No, you can't take it out.
It wasn't your money.
And if it was your money that was in here,
you would have proof for me by way of a deposit slip
that you put in money from Chase Bank into VyStar Bank
personally to cover a tournament.
But you can't take this money out.
[Zeb] But how would I suppose to pay for the tournament
if I can't take the money out?
[Judge Judy] What I'm telling you is you didn't take the money out
to pay for the tournament, you took the money out for yourself.
When they tried to kick me out, yes, ma'am, I--I did...
[Judge Judy] (laughs) Oh, absolutely right.
[Zeb] I took it, 'cause it's my club and I'm still operating under 1st Coast.
[Judge Judy] No, sorry. Sorry, sir.
Other people, people who are not in your club,
you have the name, you will have new members,
he'll give his club a different name,
the club that has elected him to come here and sue on their behalf.
But they're the ones that paid the dues into this!
[Zeb] Their, their dues, they don't have any proof of dues.
First of all, dues were paid in 2019...
[Judge Judy] No, you have to--you have to show me that you put in your money.
You have to show me.
I'm a common sense person.
- Okay. - [Judge Judy] You have to show me,
"This, this was my account."
Even though I put this-- as you call them your treasurer,
- "He was the treasurer and my friend." - Okay.
[Judge Judy] You used the term treasurer, do you remember?
- [Zeb] Yes. - Okay.
That was the treasurer of the club.
Let me put it to you this way, sir.
- Do you have a house? - I do.
Do you own the house, or rent it?
- [Zeb] I do. I-- - You own it?
- Do you pay a mortgage? - I do.
[Judge Judy] Do you have a bank account to pay the mortgage?
- I do. - And in whose name is the bank account?
- It's my name. - [Judge Judy] You pay your utilities,
taxes, car payment, insurance out of that bank account,
because it's your money in that bank account.
This bank account was set up for the club.
This is not your bank account.
Just as I said to the plaintiff,
this is his name.
He started it.
He chose to leave it,
because for whatever reason.
He chose to leave it, he wasn't the head of the club anymore.
He gets to keep the name even though he didn't trademark it,
which you could have.
- But you never did, because that's... - It was a social club.
- Because that's fair. - [Zeb] It was a social club.
Don't--this doesn't require an answer from you.
"Telling people that I stole club funds."
Yes, that is correct.
[Judge Judy] Well, that's what I just said.
[Zeb] But I didn't steal club's funds because I felt it was my club
- and I ran under the--you know, it was... - Yeah. Okay.
- 'Cause this is bogus. - Just a second.
This is bogus.
No, I don't think it's bogus at all.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Michael Mitchell has accused card club founder Zeb Lollis
of stealing funds from their card club.
Zeb claims the money was his
and he had the right to take it.
[Judge Judy] Now, because it was fair,
you thought of the name, you started the club.
They want to continue to play cards.
You want to continue to play cards.
You're taking the name with you.
- Come up with a different name. - Yes, ma'am.
He understands that. And he said, "Okay."
But you can't take the money out of the club
where other people have put dues.
And the final amount that was in the club,
that was taken out, close out July 23rd was 3,982.
And you said that you took it out, 'cause it was your money.
- Yes. And I'm still operating under... - [Judge Judy] And I said to you,
"Prove it--prove it to me."
And you say, "I have no proof that I deposited that money."
And if what you're saying is, "I'm still operating the club
with the same people that were in the club from before,"
you're not suggesting that to me, sir, 'cause I'll make...
[Zeb] May I--may I say something?
No, no, no. You may answer my question.
You're not suggesting to me that you're maintaining the club
with the same people that were in the club before?
[Zeb] Some, yes.
[Judge Judy] Name them.
Tres [...].
[Judge Judy] Name them all.
I have--that's one name. Name them...
[Zeb] Tres [...], Jimmy [...],
Ronda [...], who else do I play with?
Uh, Sonny, Sonny is there.
- It's only about... - [Judge Judy] Sonny, Sonny who?
[Zeb] We call him Sonny. I don't know his last name.
[Judge Judy] You can't take the money out,
$3,900.
You keep the name.
[Zeb] What about my countersuit, Your Honor?
- 'Cause this is bogus. - [Judge Judy] Just a second.
This is bogus.
[Judge Judy] No, I don't think it's bogus at all.
I think that you can't close out a bank account that was...
But they didn't put any money in that account?
[Judge Judy] I don't know that, sir.
- I don't know that. - [Zeb] He told you...
All I know is-- all I know is you concede--
you concede that dues were charged
and raised to $70.
- And that's not true. - [Judge Judy] You had--uh, just a second.
Is what you're telling me that they weren't raised to $70?
[Zeb] That's exactly--I'm-- what, I'm telling you,
they were not raised to $70.
How much were the dues?
[Zeb] The dues are $25.
There was a discussion of raising of dues
biannually to 35 per every six months.
There was a discussion, and they were not raised to 70.
- We never went there. - [Judge Judy] Fine.
How many members of the club are there?
They were probably right. We have about 80 members.
- At $25 a person? - [Zeb] That's correct.
[Judge Judy] Okay. 80 and $25 a person, and you last did...
I purchased cards and everything.
They didn't even play cards before I even got to Jacksonville.
[Judge Judy] Yeah, it doesn't matter.
It's not your bank account.
You treated it as your bank account, but it's not your bank account,
and you can't take all the money out.
Unless you can show me that you personally put the money in there.
You have your own personal bank account,
pays your mortgage, pays your taxes,
pays your car payment, pays your insurance...
I can show you--I can show you on his bank statement--
on my bank statement that when the money was deposited, it was me.
They don't even have an account where I bank.
[Judge Judy] Just show me that you took money out of your account
by check and put it into this account of $3,900, and then I'll say fine.
Can I see their bank statements?
This is the last bank statement, it was $3,900...
- [Zeb] May I see it? May I see it? - Absolutely.
That's when you said you took out the payment on the 23rd of July.
- That is correct. That's... - [Judge Judy] Right.
Okay. Now, the other-- you don't have any other bank statements
where deposits were made?
Listen to me, sir.
- I see deposits made... - And that was me.
- Show me! - [Zeb] Can I see the bank statements?
No! It's--show me where you took money.
I see that there were deposits,
but I don't know that that was deposits from you, or from dues,
or from raffles, or from anything else.
I know that this was a separate bank account for the club.
You have your own personal bank account.
This was a separate bank account for the club and you cannot take it out.
Do you understand?
Judgment for the plaintiff $3,900 to the extent...
- And my countersuit? - ...that he retains the name of the club.
Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Judy] That's his--that's his club.
The attorney's fees for defamation,
well he says that you took money out of the bank account and you shouldn't have,
that's the basis of your defamation suit.
- No, ma'am. Uh... - [Judge Judy] Oh, okay.
Let's see what the basis of your defamation suit is,
"Telling people that I stole club funds."
Yes, that is correct.
[Judge Judy] Well, that's what I just said.
[Zeb] But I didn't steal club funds because I felt that was my club
and I ran it under the-- you know, it was...
[Judge Judy] Yeah. Thank you. Your counterclaim is dismissed.
Judgment for the plaintiff, 3,982.
We're done here. Thank you very much.
[Kevin] Court is adjourned.
I don't think it was fair. It's my club.
I started it with my own personal account.
Well, I think the Judge decision was fair.
And just because I'm not playing with those individuals anymore,
I'm still playing under First Coast.
Since she said he started it, he, he got the name for life,
so uh we have to accept that.
It was never personal.
It was my, my--the club,
it was a club account but I started it.
It's my club.
It's not that I feel that he was using the club funds as his personal funds.
I am First Coast. I'm still the club.
He was using the club funds as his personal funds.
He was using the club funds according to the evidence.
I'm still running under First Coast Bid Players.
Well, we've already started a new club.
I'm still playing.
We play twice a week.
We've started retaking dues and we--right now, we--even with COVID,
we have 35 members that have paid their dues.
And hey, it is what it is.
We're just gonna do the First Coast Bid Association.
[Sarah] So, I think the great lesson from that case
for anyone that's starting any sort of social club,
is you never wanna co-mingle the funds
because then you end up in a situation like the defendant here,
who had what he believed to be his own money,
his own club, the bank account was in his name.
But like you said, when you take funds from people
who think they're paying dues to a club,
and not to a individual,
you can't just go and take that money out for yourself.
So, I think, the commingling of funds
is a great lesson that people could take away.
Yeah, I think that that's true.
It made it easier that there was another name on that bank account.
And made it doubly easy for me because
the defendant had no proof that he actually deposited money
into the account-- nor, do I think that he did deposit
his own money into the account?
It was a dues account and from other things.
That's what happens when people have too much time on their hands. (laughs)
[Sarah] Yeah.
[Judge Judy] But if you're gonna have any kind of a venture with other people,
- it has to have parameters. - [Sarah] Uh-hmm.
And you're right, you co-mingle f-funds, you end up in this...
- [Sarah] Sticky situation. - Right.
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[theme music playing]