I started, uh, renting WaveRunners...
You rented these jet skis for a family vacation?
Yes, I did.
According to you, they were returned scratched?
Yes, Your Honor.
[Steven] I've got pictures here to show all the scratches
on the WaveRunners before we even picked 'em up.
After this incident, I just sold the business.
I couldn't handle it.
That is not my problem, sir.
[announcer] This is Judy justice.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] John Robinson is suing his jet ski renter, Steven Rigby
for breach of contracts, property damage, and missing equipment.
[Kevin] Court come to order.
Be seated, please.
- Good morning, Judge. - Good morning, Kevin.
Case number 1152, Robinson versus Rigby.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
[Judge Judy] Mr. Robinson, tell me about this business that you're running.
Yeah. So, I started, uh, renting WaveRunners
because I just really enjoyed WaveRunners.
I opened the business in around April 15th.
[Judge Judy] Of what year?
Of this year, 2021.
[Judge Judy] What did you do before April of 2021?
[John Joseph] I have a normal day job.
I work in the financial industry.
I still do that but this was a side business for me,
where I was gonna make extra income and also enjoy myself on the beach
and take out the WaveRunners myself.
How many did you buy?
[John Joseph] I started off with just two WaveRunners.
[Judge Judy] Did you add to the number of WaveRunners that you had?
As soon as I sold the business--
'cause after this incident, I just sold the business.
I couldn't handle it.
So you no longer have the business?
[John Joseph] No longer have the business, uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] So you had the business from April of 2021.
- [John Joseph] Uh-hmm. - Until...
[John Joseph] July 2021.
[Judge Judy] Until July?
- Yeah. - [Judge Judy] And when you say
you sold the business, what did you sell of the business?
Or did you just sell the jet skis?
- I sold the jet skis and then... - [Judge Judy] Oh, stop there.
And when you bought them in April 2021, how much did you pay for them?
I paid--let me just pull up the receipt.
I want to get this exactly right. Um...
[Judge Judy] Absolutely.
Including taxes and everything, it came out to 26,856.
That's for the WaveRunners.
And then, I bought a trailer with it, that was 2,100.
And then, other costs like life jackets, gas cans, came out to a total of 29,500.
But you paid $26,000 for the jet skis?
- Yeah. - [Judge Judy] Let's go back
to when you sold the business.
You sold the business a few months later.
Yeah.
When you sold the business, you sold the jet skis?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] Who did you sell them to?
[John Joseph] I sold them to my witness, Nathan.
[Judge Judy] Oh, Nathan who missed the appointment?
- Yes. - Yes.
[Judge Judy] That's interesting.
And did you create a bill of sale for Nathan?
[John Joseph] Um, yes. I did seller financing.
He didn't have the money at that time, so I gave him seller financing.
You have a contract of sale with him?
- I do. Yes. - [Judge Judy] I'd like to see it.
Kevin, would you show me the contract of sale?
- [John Joseph] Here it is. - [Kevin] Thank you.
[Judge Judy] Did you have a loan on the jet skis?
I did have a loan on the jet skis.
For how much?
[John Joseph] Eighteen thousand one hundred.
[Judge Judy] Okay. So you were able to pay off the loan?
[John Joseph] Yeah.
And you sold the jet skis and equipment to him for $30,000?
[John Joseph] No, Your Honor.
I--in addition to that contract, I gave him another 17,000.
You gave him a what?
I gave him 17,800 to buy more WaveRunners because...
[Judge Judy] Oh, well, I don't care what you gave him to buy more WaveRunners.
These were the two WaveRunners that we're talking about in this case?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] That you sold to him
for $30,500.
Um so, that was the total loan amount.
But then, if you go further into it, then you'll see I gave him extra money.
No, no, listen to me.
You didn't sell them for a discount.
You sold them for $30,500.
And you agreed to loan him $30,500.
And the loan is secured by collateral.
- [John Joseph] Yeah. - I assume if you were smart enough
to draw up this loan agreement, you believed that the collateral
was sufficient to ensure that the loan was repaid?
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] Of course.
[John Joseph] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] So, in effect you were whole if he pays off this loan.
Now, it is your claim that you rented these jet skis
to Mr. Rigby for a family vacation.
[John Joseph] Yes.
[Judge Judy] And you were taking grandchildren?
Yes. My son has a houseboat down at Lake Powell
and we've been doing this for years.
We've been--for about five or six years, we've been rentin' houseboats
for our grandkids to go down...
- [Judge Judy] You mean, jet skis? - I mean, jet skis, WaveRunners.
[Judge Judy] Okay.
According to you, he rented them and they were returned scratched?
- Scratched, yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
Do you have photographs of the scratches?
[John Joseph] I do. Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Did you ever arrive at your destination, Mr. Rigby?
- Yes, I did. - [Judge Judy] With the jet skis?
Yes, we did.
And one of them worked?
[Steven] Well, when you load 'em onto the houseboat, you can go weightless.
So, they both worked just idling.
So, we loaded 'em on to the houseboat.
So did you use them? Is my question.
- No. - Neither one?
[Steven] We used the one a little bit.
[Judge Judy] Okay. Do you know how it got scratched?
[Steven] We rented 'em twice from him.
We rented 'em once in May, and then this was the July trip.
He, uh, charged my son for scratches on the WaveRunners.
So, my son told me, "When you go to pick 'em up,
take a video of the WaveRunners."
I've got pictures of me on my phone and I've got pictures here
to show the--all the scratches on the WaveRunners.
Oh, I'd love to see them.
[Steven] Yes.
This is before we even picked 'em up.
[Kevin] Thank you.
[Steven] And I got a video, if you'd like to see that, Your Honor.
I absolutely would.
So, so these were photographs that you took before.
Right in the yard before we even picked 'em up.
Now I'd like to see your video, sir.
Okay. I just wanna know.
Do you park your jet skis someplace, Mr. Robinson?
Where are the jet skis parked?
Your Honor, I was out of town.
That's an either yes or a no.
I don't use them often, but I have used jet skis,
and some are carefully taken care of
and some when they're rented get banged around a little bit.
Yours were banged around.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] John Robinson claims his jet ski renter Steven Rigby
is responsible for missing equipments and damaging his jet skis.
Steven is countersuing for the return of his rental deposit.
Okay. I just want to know.
Do you park your jet skis someplace, Mr. Robinson?
Where are the jet skis parked?
Your Honor, I was out of town.
That's an either yes or a no.
I'm looking here. There are a lot of other jet skis.
In this case, yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] All right. So, in this case, the answer is yes.
You park where there are a lot of other jet skis.
- Yeah. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
Well, this is July 23rd at 8:57 a.m.
[Steven] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] Which is when you picked them up. Okay.
And, you know, they look certainly drivable
but they're-- certainly look used and, uh, scratched up.
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
Now, Kevin, would you return this?
So, they were scratched up before Mr. Rigby took them.
Now, you have a video that Nathan just handed you.
- [John Joseph] Yeah. - [Judge Judy] He wants to show me
a video of what he allegedly took
on the same date.
Is that what you wanna show me, Nathan, or you didn't take
a video of the same day?
It's not the same day...
[Judge Judy] Then, I'm not interested in it.
Then, I couldn't be less interested in it.
So, Mr. Robinson, let me try to explain this to you, sir.
You bought these in April. Did you buy them new or used?
- Brand new, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] And you rented them
between April and the end of July?
- [John Joseph] Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] And you used them?
[John Joseph] Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] How many times did you rent them?
[John Joseph] What do you think? Maybe 25 times?
- [Judge Judy] And maybe... - Twenty.
[Judge Judy] So, let's say 20, 25 times.
And how many times did you personally used them?
I only went out once, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] And what about Nathan, did he ever go out in them?
- Once. - [Judge Judy] Oh, just a second.
Once. So, you rented them 25 times, you went out once, he went out once.
Well, somebody scratched them.
Because what I'm telling you is his photographs...
- [John Joseph] Yeah. - [Judge Judy] ...that I've just looked at
and his video of July 23rd,
do not show me brand new three months old
subject to normal wear and tear
by one person using them.
There are scratches on them. They're scuffed, you know.
I don't use them often and haven't been
on one in a couple of years,
but I have used jet skis,
and some are carefully taken care of
and some, when they're rented get banged around a little bit.
Yours were banged around, and you sold them
for what you paid for them.
So, I don't know what you're complaining about.
So, so here's some more pictures
that was right when we picked them up.
And you can see more scratches than I [indistinct]
[Judge Judy] I can't differentiate, sir, between what scratches
were there and what scratches were not.
Nor do I intend to use this device to figure that out.
[John Joseph] Yes.
Because you have a bill for me, I assume from a mechanic.
Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Who fixed up all the scratches.
And I assume, without looking at it,
that the mechanic doesn't list
where each scratch is located.
I assume.
I assume that there's a general bill
for cleaning up the jet skis.
I may be wrong.
If I'm wrong, tell me I'm wrong.
Yeah, it's a general bill, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Okay. Then, there's no way for me
to differentiate between what the scratches,
and nicks, and dents that were in the jet skis
in the video that I just saw from July 23rd
and your mechanic's bill.
So, what I'm telling you is you had no damage.
You sold the equipment to Nathan
for what you paid for it.
You rented them, according to you,
25 times between April,
May, June, and July 23rd.
So, you don't have any damages 'cause I assume you made money.
I assume you rented them for money?
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
So you have no damages.
And there's no way for me to tell where the scratches are.
With the sale to Nathan, I gave him an additional 17,000
to get to that 30,000 that I sold it to him for.
So, that's where--we would actually sold it to him for much less than 30,000.
[Judge Judy] Well, that's not-- I may have missed it.
So, you gave him $17,500.
Instead of making the note, half, you gave him $17,000.
- [John Joseph] Yes, You Honor. - I don't understand that.
So, in order to run the business for Nathan,
he needed more than just one set
and so he had to go out and buy new sets.
And so, I gave him an additional 17,000 when I sold it.
[Judge Judy] That--yeah. Well, that is not my problem, sir.
That is your convoluted business arrangement with him.
But your loan agreement,
the collateral for the $30,000 of the two jet skis.
[John Joseph] Yes, Your Honor.
Any, uh, WaveRunners he bought after that
would also be under collateral.
If you look at the collateral, it will...
[Judge Judy] Oh, that's okay. But at this time, he hadn't bought any?
At this time, at the time of this loan agreement, (chuckles)
- which was for $30,000... - [John Joseph] Yeah.
...you had the collateral for this
loan agreement was the two-- are they Kawasaki,
- is that what they are? - Yes, sir--ma'am.
[Judge Judy] Jet Skis, absolutely no way for me to determine
what was damaged and what was not I saw.
It was clear that these were scratched up when he picked them up.
Now, according to you, missing--damaged jet skis.
Forget that, loss of revenue, forget that.
They were scratched already.
Missing equipment. Okay.
What equipment was missing?
Life jackets, and a gas can,
and then there's a rod that carries the gas can.
They took that rod as well.
Well, I don't know who took it.
- [John Joseph] Yeah. - They, they would have no use for that.
Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Uh, do you know what I mean, Mr. Robinson?
- Yeah. - [Judge Judy] They would have
no use of it. So, life jackets.
And how many life jackets did you provide?
Six.
[Judge Judy] Mr. Rigby, were there life jackets?
[Steven] No. No life jackets, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] You had your own life jackets?
We had our own life jackets.
[Judge Judy] Was your wife with you?
Not when I picked 'em up, no.
- [Judge Judy] Okay. But... - She's my fiancee, Your Honor.
Nice. Good for you.
Um, Mr. Robinson
[John Joseph] Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] You told me earlier, I believe--Whitney,
I believe Mr. Robinson said earlier that he closed down his business
right after this incident, is that correct?
On April sold it in July.
[Whitney] He said, "After I bought them, I sold the business.
I couldn't handle it in, uh, April of 2021."
- That's when he bought it? - Yeah, until July of 2021.
[Judge Judy] And his rental was the end of July
because it was the 23rd and you had two jet skis at that time?
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] And then,
you entered into this agreement on the 27th of July with Nathan,
in which you secured as collateral the life jackets.
[John Joseph] I bought--I bought him more life jackets...
[Judge Judy] So, what you just-- so what--just a second.
...Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] So, what you want me to believe and--
well, I'll believe if you show me a bill,
that between the 24th and the 27th,
you bought new life jackets?
- Yes, Your Honor. I, I did. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
You wanna see your signature?
- You gotta get your story straight. - Yes.
[Judge Judy] Do you understand? You gotta get your story straight.
The first thing that you have to do when you come with a witness
is get your story straight.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] John Robinson is accusing defendant Steven Rigby
of renting two of his jet skis and damaging them.
Steven claims they were already damaged
and one jet ski didn't even work.
So, what you want me to believe and--
well, I'll believe if you show me a bill
that between the 24th and the 27th,
you bought new life jackets?
[John Joseph] Yes, Your Honor. In addition, I did want to say.
He actually ended up taking the WaveRunners
without anyone being there.
Like you said, he, he missed the appointment.
He wasn't--he told him he's gonna be there at 10:00 o'clock.
But he showed up really early and took the WaveRunners
without signing agreement, without calling me.
And then, at that point, that's why we had to report it
to the police because he took the WaveRunners
without signing the rental agreement or paying full for them.
So, in this text here...
[Judge Judy] No text.
I wanna see a bill from a sporting goods store
for life jackets between the 23rd
or the 24th of July and the 27th of July.
[John Joseph] So, Nathan bought 'em, and then I've Venmoed him.
Do you want-- do you have that on your phone?
So, I've--so I can show that I Venmoed you.
It was an eBay purchase.
[Judge Judy] I don't care about eBay.
I wanna see a receipt for life jackets
between those two dates
prior to July 27th and after July 24th.
[John Joseph] So, here's a Venmo of me
Venmoing him for those life jackets.
Nathan's gonna have to get me where he bought them.
Right here. Let's see.
[Judge Judy] And the date he bought them.
You bought one Exxel blue universal adult-sized life jackets,
is that right?
Yes. It was-- it was a pack of four or five.
- For $59. - [Nathan] I don't remember, yeah.
[Judge Judy] I don't remember. Okay.
You didn't take any life jackets?
No life jackets, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Okey-dokey. You have a counterclaim.
How much of a deposit did you give to the plaintiff?
Nine hundred dollars.
On what date did you take the WaveRunners?
On the 23rd.
[Judge Judy] I see that you dropped them off someplace.
[Steven] We dropped 'em off back at the Marina at Antelope.
He told us, we could no longer use the WaveRunners.
So, we had to haul 'em all the way back
to the Marina and that was on the 25th.
And tell me what happened with the pickup, the exchange?
Nathan over here, who I'm not interested
in their business arrangements.
It's all sounds a little sketchy to me.
He was out of town, Nathan was supposed to make
the exchange with you, give you the paperwork.
You were supposed to pay the balance on the 23rd, correct?
- Correct. - [Judge Judy] And what time
were you supposed to meet him?
[Steven] I got a text message from John Joseph about a week before.
I've been up to his house. I went up and inspected the WaveRunners.
I had seen what they looked like and they looked--they were brand new.
I was really impressed.
A week before we were to pick 'em up, before July 4th,
it was on July 17th,
he sends me a text sayin', "I'm outta town.
You're gonna have to pick 'em up in Murray."
He didn't give me a name.
He gave me an address.
I've got the text that he sent me.
- I'm gonna look at it. - [Steven] I--you wanna look at it?
[Judge Judy] Yeah.
Thank you.
So, you had been to see them and they were brand new when you saw them?
When I went--that was back in April, they were brand new. Yes.
And then we move forward to the end of July?
[Steven] Right. So, that's the text he sent me to pick 'em up.
- [Judge Judy] Okay. - [Steven] No--you can see no name.
No, nothin'. I tried callin' him--
well, at first, I said, "Thanks."
The next day I called him 'cause I wanted to talk to him
of what am I supposed to do?
Who am I supposed to talk to?
Well, what he does on his phone, it goes to voicemail
and then it says my voicemail is full.
You can't leave any messages on his phone.
So, what I did is I called rental.
I don't remember who I talked to.
I says, "Hey, I'm pickin' up..."
[Judge Judy] You can't--you can't tell me what they said to you.
[Steven] Oh.
No, I mean, I told them, "I was picking up some WaveRunners
that was John Joseph Robinson's.
Are you gonna have 'em there?"
- And he said... - [Judge Judy] But here,
- you can't tell me what he said. - [Steven] Oh, okay.
- You went there? - I went.
[Judge Judy] Did you ever make an appointment with Nathan over here?
[Steven] Never. Never.
I didn't know who to talk to.
Uh, when I talked to him down there...
Stand up, Nathan.
Tell me when you had, Nathan, a conversation with the defendant.
Listen to me, then you're gonna show me on your phone,
the day that you had the conversation with him, okay?
On what date--take out your phone.
- Your Honor... - [Judge Judy] Just a second.
Take out your phone.
Now, tell me, on what date
you had a conversation with Mr. Rigby?
[Nathan] Your Honor, it wasn't on my phone that the conversation happened.
It was on whose phone?
[Nathan] When he called rental the day
before to ask how to pick them up,
I happened to be there at that time.
And the guy there...
[Judge Judy] You can't tell me what he said.
- As you're saying... - [Nathan] Gave me the phone.
He gave me the phone and I personally talked to him,
and I told him, "Meet me at 11:00."
[Judge Judy] Just a second. So, you told him to meet you at 11:00?
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] Is that right?
Okay.
Let me tell you what your partner over here swore to in his complaint.
Let me tell you what he swore to.
"Since I was out of town, I left the jet skis, gear, and trailer
at a third party's house,"
which was not-- so, you left it at a launching yard.
"Nathan, my witness was to meet Steven,"
that would be you, "at 10:00 a.m."
You wanna see your signature?
- You gotta get your story straight. - [John Joseph] Yeah. Yeah.
Do you understand? You gotta get your story straight.
The first thing that you have to do when you come with a witness
is get your story straight!
You owe him his $900 back.
Is that what you paid him?
That's what I paid him.
[Judge Judy] That's what you're getting back.
Your case is dismissed.
Judgment on the counterclaim for $900.
- Thank you very much. - Thank you, Judge.
- [Judge Judy] We're done. - [Kevin] Court is adjourned.
I thought he, he was a good guy but, but obviously not.
I think Judge Judy is spot on.
I called the police because he never signed
- the rental agreement. - Am I supposed to sign somethin'?
Am I supposed to-- am I supposed to pay you guys?
They says, "No."
They abandoned 'em in a parking lot.
I love Judge Judy.
[Sarah] I learned a good lesson from that case.
The defendant did a great job taking a video with a timestamp
before he even took the jet skis off of the plaintiff's property
or wherever he had left them.
And I think that's a good lesson for everybody before
you lend someone, even a friend anything of yours,
you know, take a photo or two, just so you have a time stamped, verified,
uh, document that you could show in court
just like the defendant did here.
So we did our job today. You learned something.
- We did. - [Judge Judy] Perfect.
[announcer] Want justice?
Go to JudyJustice.tv.
[theme music playing]