It got to be nasty between two sisters.
[Vincent] They just started screaming at each other.
Aunt?
I heard my aunt.
She was gonna send her dogs on her cats so that they could kill them.
I didn't see anything. 'Cause I was in my room trying to avoid it.
Sounds like a holy uncivilized way to live.
[announcer] This is Judy Justice.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Latisha Nichols is suing her sister,
Lilia Rubio, for the destruction of her property
and the return of rent.
[Kevin] All rise.
Be seated, please.
[Kevin] Hello, Judge. We have case number 1004,
- Nichols versus Rubio. - Thank you, Kevin.
Thank you.
Ms. Nichols, I've read your complaint. This is your sister.
- Yes, it is. - [Judge Judy] And there came a time
when you and your family moved in with your sister.
Uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] Can you tell me when that was?
- That was in October. - [Judge Judy] Of what year?
Of 2020.
And how many were there in your family?
There were seven of us.
- You, your husband, and children? - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] Where had you been living prior to moving in with your sister?
Uh we lived in our own home in Barstow.
Is it a home that you rented or owned?
- We rented. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
So tell me what was the reason
that you and your family moved in with your sister?
You're gonna give it to me from your perspective.
I know, but tell me your perspective
on why your sister welcomed you
and five children into her house.
We were asked to move in or she was gonna lose her house.
She could not afford it on her own
since she was about to go through a divorce.
She came to us and she asked us to move in.
She said her income was only $1,400.
Her mortgage was $1,900,
and she wouldn't be able to keep the house.
Okay.
Ms. Rubio, is that your understanding of the reason
that your sister and her family moved in with you in October?
- Yes, it is. - [Judge Judy] How large is your home?
It's a five-bedroom, three bath. It has two masters.
- Who in your family was living there? - Myself and my two children.
And I assume your sister is correct when she said, at the time,
around October, you were going through a divorce.
- Correct. - [Judge Judy] And prior to that,
your husband lived with you? He was employed?
- Correct. - Are you still in that house?
- Yes, ma'am. - And it's a house that you own.
Yes, ma'am.
It is your claim, Ms. Nichols,
that at some point, your sister evicted you from the house.
She harassed us.
You say she harassed you but your claim
is that she really evicted you from the house
and as a result of that eviction, you suffered certain losses.
You had to go to a hotel.
Your children was separated.
Uh, those were all things that flow from that.
She did not bring eviction proceedings against you.
- Correct. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
- You lived there in October. - [Laticia] Uh-hmm.
- Paid rent. - [Laticia] Uh-hmm.
- What was your rent? - It was $1,500.
And are you employed?
I receive disability. I'm about to be cut off.
I had some surgeries and gonna be going back to work.
- [Judge Judy] Okay. - And I also receive--my children
have survivor benefits from their father.
- Who is this? - This is my son.
- Where is your husband? - My husband's at work.
Are any of the five children,
the children of your current husband?
I don't have many children with him but his daughter
was residing in the home.
- Okay. So you have four children? - Me? Oh, I have...
- [Judge Judy] You... - I have four children.
[Judge Judy] You have four children with your now deceased husband.
- [chuckles] Yes. - [Judge Judy] Got that?
- Yup. - Okay. And they receive
survivor benefits. And how much does each child receive
- from survivor benefits? - Eight hundred.
- [Judge Judy] Eight hundred a month? - [Laticia] Uh-hmm.
So there was a period of time you were receiving $3,200 a month from...
- Correct. - [Judge Judy] ...survivor benefits.
- And you were receiving disability. - [Laticia] Uh-hmm.
- How much did you receive? - A thousand thirty-two, currently.
- And your husband was working. - Correct.
[Judge Judy] This is what I gather from your complaint
is the gravamen of your case for eviction.
There came a time, some time in December of 2020,
because you lived there, paid rent in October.
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge Judy] I assume
if I asked you the same question, you live with your sister
- and paid rent in November. - Correct.
[Judge Judy] An incident occurred in December
between your sister and your husband.
First, between me and her.
About what?
I moved in, I wasn't told that her income
was gonna be $1,400 a month.
And then I see that she's breeding dogs on the side as a side hustle,
making thousands of dollars,
so I questioned this,
"Why am I paying $1,500 of your mortgage
and you're only paying $400 when you just made all this money?"
And so it became an attack.
"You're just jealous and insecure, looking to see what I have."
And it just escalated from there. There was tension in the home. Um I
- paid her the money, regardless, but... - [Judge Judy] Well, Ms. Nichols,
my question to you is, you had an arrangement with your sister...
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge Judy] ...that you were going
to pay $1,500 a month...
[Laticia] Based on the 1,400 that I knew was her income.
I don't care what you knew. You had an agreement with her
to pay $1,500 a month.
And if she hit the lottery and got a million dollars,
(chuckles) you're still obligated to pay $1,500 a month for yourself...
- [Laticia] Yes. - ...your husband,
and five children, four of your own and one of his.
- That's your obligation. - And I did.
[Judge Judy] So if she's making money
because she's breeding puppies and selling them,
that has nothing to do with you.
I mean, you said that it began with the two of you over money,
but I'm just letting you know that that's not a sympathetic argument,
because it wouldn't be a sympathetic argument
if you were getting a thousand forty-five dollars
in disability and then you went back to work
and you were earning $3,000 a month.
And she said, "Well, now that you're earning $3,000 a month,
you have to pay me $2,000 a month for rent."
You had an agreement, and the agreement was $1,500.
[Laticia] Yes. And I understand that. It was just supposed--
- meant to be a conversation. - I mean, it was my understanding
that the difficulty arose with your husband and the defendant,
and you who indicated,
"You know, between the two of us, we had a problem first."
Yeah. I think we're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves,
because there was some incidents that happened that same day,
- earlier that day... - [Judge Judy] What day?
- ...that led up--December 8th. - Were you at home?
Me and my children were home and they witnessed it.
I was out that morning to go get everybody in the home breakfast.
So you didn't witness any incident on December 8th?
With my belongings? With my things?
- Well, is that what started this... - [Laticia] Yes.
Okay. Did you witness it?
I have text messages of her.
I don't--I didn't witness with my eyes but I have the threats
- and the follow--through pictures. - Did you--do you have a witness?
- Yes. - Is that your son?
- [Laticia] Yes. - Okay. Tell me his first name.
Vincent.
[Judge Judy] Vincent, could you step up, please?
Vincent, you were home on December 8th?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] About what time
did you witness an incident that you felt was disturbing?
I don't remember what exact time but it was early in the morning.
Okay. Where was your mother?
She was out getting food for everyone.
Okay. And tell me what you witnessed.
I was gonna go to my mom's room, but then I saw all of--
like our Christmas stuff were just shoved in front of her door.
- And that was on December 8th? - Yes.
[Judge Judy] So when you say Christmas stuff,
tell me what you're talking about.
Like decorations to put outside or like around the house.
Okay. And it was put in front of your mom's door.
- Yeah. - [Judge Judy] And?
Well, I mean, I kind of-- that was it until um she came home.
[Judge Judy] Okay. So what you saw were Christmas decorations
that were supposed to be--
that you thought was supposed to be put around the house
- and they were... - They were thrown.
- They weren't like neatly put down. - Yeah.
[Judge Judy] Just a--just a second. They were in front of your mother's door.
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
Now, you can sit down, Vincent.
Okay. So the Christmas decorations are in front of your door.
Now, let's move on with this,
'cause this really doesn't have much to do
with why you're not in your sister's house anymore.
Well, after that, she comes out of her room--
and they witnessed this.
- All my children witnessed it. - [Judge Judy] No. No. Don't.
You can't tell me what all your children witnessed.
- Am I not finished with Vincent yet? - Okay.
[Judge Judy] Vincent, after you went to your mother's room,
and I forgotten why you went to your mother's room.
Well, I was just wondering where she was.
You said, "She was out getting us food." That's what you--
Well I didn't know that at the time until she came back with food.
[Judge Judy] Okay. You went to look for your mother.
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] And when you went
to look for your mother,
you saw the Christmas decorations in front of the door.
What did you do next?
I think I just went back to my room and then told my brother about it.
Okay. And what happened next?
- We kind of just wait until she-- - [Judge Judy] No. What did you do?
You just waited until your mother got home?
- Yeah. - Okay.
So you didn't witness anything else.
You waited with your brother until your mother got home.
- Yeah. - Okay. See anything else that day?
I mean, a lot of stuff happened whenever she did get home.
I grabbed my phone to call the police.
He took it out of my hand, threw it, breaking the pantry door.
- Did you finally get to the police? - I did call the police.
As a result of that incident, were you granted an order of protection?
Yes, ma'am.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Laticia Nichols claims her sister, Lilia Rubio,
wrongfully evicted her and destroyed her property.
Lilia is countersuing for utility bills and property damage.
Well, what happened when she got home?
Well, when she came home, me and my brother,
we were trying to point out to her that her Christmas decorations
had been thrown in front of her door.
And then Lilly came out, she just started arguing.
[Judge Judy] And?
They just started screaming at each other.
Vincent, was your mother's husband home?
- Not at the time. - When did he come home?
Sometime around 5:00.
Were you at home when he came home?
- Yeah. - [Judge Judy] Did an incident happen
between your aunt and your stepfather?
- Well, I believe there was at one point. - Don't tell me what you believe.
- I only wanna know what you saw. - I didn't see anything.
I heard it, 'cause I was in my room trying to avoid it.
[Judge Judy] Okay. Tell me what you heard.
[Vincent] I heard Lilly say that she was...
- [Judge Judy] That's your aunt. - Yeah. My aunt.
I heard her say she was gonna send her dogs on our cats
so that they could kill them.
That doesn't sound like a good situation.
Does not.
[Judge Judy] Prior to moving in with your aunt,
were your mother and stepfather getting along?
[Vincent] Yeah. There wasn't any problems I was aware of.
Ms. Nichols, prior to you moving in with your sister,
were you and your husband in any sort of counseling?
- We were in marital counseling, yes. - Okay.
And that martial counseling
was because of a couple of incidents that occurred.
It was due to communication.
Helping us communicate better with each other.
How long had you been in counseling?
I would say probably three, four months at the time.
What incident precipitated you and your husband going to counseling?
I want you to think carefully.
What incident precipitated you and your husband going to counseling?
I don't think there was a specific incident.
I think it was just the way that we talk to each other,
learning how to use the tone, how to say things.
And we were both communicating, getting frustration.
And so we both decided to do something to better that.
Was there ever a time that the police were called to your house?
- No. - [Judge Judy] Did you and your sister
have a discussion about she had dogs, you had cats?
How many cats did you have?
We had two. We did have a discussion about that.
- [Judge Judy] When? - Before we moved in.
How many dogs does your sister have?
Uh well, different ones at different times, depending on what...
[Judge Judy] In December of 2020.
[Laticia] Um, I think she had two or three.
Okay. So now let's get back to December the 8th.
You could sit down now.
Was that the date that you moved out of the house?
No.
[Judge Judy] On what date did you move out of the house?
I was back and forth in the home.
As long as you had clothes there, you were there?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] On what date
did you move your property out?
We came for the first--the U-Haul load was December 21st.
And then the last of it was the last day of the month.
- And was your rent paid for that time? - It was.
[Judge Judy] So there was an argument between your sister and your husband.
And that argument escalated, and the police were called.
- Were you at home? - I was in the laundry room
- so I didn't witness anything. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
You wanna tell me what happened with your brother-in-law?
Do you want me to tell you from the beginning on that day?
- Yes. - [Lilia] Okay.
So all this time, my sister, she would complain constantly by texts,
"Do this, do that."
And I'm going through depression, going through divorce.
I'm grieving. I'm angry.
I'm just going through a lot of emotions.
And I lay in bed a lot.
I'm not doing well, mentally.
So I wake up to the messages,
"Turn off the heater. I'm not going to pay for a high bill."
And previously to that, on December 2nd,
she had decided to take the Christmas decorations off of the tree
which was petty, and I didn't--I just laughed it off,
but then by that day, I was fed up.
She had put them on the tree?
[Lilia] She put--she decorated before Thanksgiving.
And then on December 2nd,
she decided to take the decorations off of the Christmas tree.
- Just the tree. - Was the tree inside or outside?
[Lilia] Inside. In the living room.
[Judge Judy] So you had a tree set up in the house.
She, she and her husband had set it up.
They decorated the whole house inside out.
And she took down the decorations?
- Correct. - Where did she put them?
In her room, on her own Christmas tree?
Was there ever a time that you took decorations
and put them in front of her door?
- Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] Tell me.
Where did you get those decorations?
So I got up. It was about 11:00 AM.
And I wanted to go talk to her,
because she always decided she wanted a text,
never actually talked to me.
So she wasn't there.
I'd had enough, and I got the rest of her Christmas decorations
from--in the living room and I put them in front of her door.
I went outside and got her Christmas decorations
that were hers in the front
and I put them next to her boat on the side of the house.
You did have a Christmas tree in your room?
- I did. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
Did there come a time on the 8th of December
or before the 8th of December that you decided
to take some of those decorations off the family Christmas tree
which was in the living room,
put them on your Christmas tree in your room?
- That's either a yes or no? - Okay. Yeah.
I took them off and put them in my room.
Okay. That's all. Okay.
So on the 8th, you took the rest of the decorations that she had put on.
It sounds like a holy uncivilized way to live.
All right. Get to what happened with your brother-in-law.
So she came home, saw that I had moved her decorations.
When she had her children or anyone else around,
- then she wants to... - [Judge Judy] No, no, no.
- ...argue. Okay. - I recognize
from listening to the two of you, that this was not a good situation.
I could have told you that that it's hard to live with anybody else.
How long had it been since you lived with your sister?
- Years. - [Judge Judy] Years.
And it was a stressful situation for you
without five other children and your sister
who is not happy that you're selling puppies, whatever.
But I want you to tell me, what happened with your brother-in-law?
Okay. I decided that instead of always locking in myself in my room
to distance myself, I was gonna enjoy my house, my home.
So I sat in the living room watching TV with my dog.
He has a collar on. He's sitting next to me on the couch.
And she's walking back and forth. It's about 7:00 PM.
She's walking back and forth, telling the kids
how I need to get on my feet, how I need to be taught a lesson.
And then someone opened the front door and one of the cats came in,
and I grabbed my dog by his collar and I said,
"Come and get your cat before my dog gets it."
So she's walking in and out still.
She goes, comes out of her bedroom,
and she comes behind me on the couch.
It's an open kitchen. She's in the kitchen area.
And her husband's like walking five steps behind her.
and he walks very closely to me.
And I just freeze.
I grabbed my phone to call the police.
He took it out of my hand, threw it, breaking the pantry door.
Did you finally get to the police?
I did call the police.
[Judge Judy] As a result of that incident, were you granted an order of protection?
- Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] Was there a trial
or did the plaintiff's husband consent to the order of protection?
He showed up and requested a continuance
which was granted and then he did not show up.
So the order of protection is, according to you for two years,
and it was granted on default?
It is for until 2024.
[Judge Judy] Okay. May I see that please?
You didn't want your kids to be involved in the nastiness
that was going on in that house
and she didn't want her kids to be involved in the nastiness
that was going on between the two of you
for whatever reason.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Leticia Nichols accuses her sister, Lilia Rubio,
of wrongfully evicting her and destroying her property.
So I am correct that the only person
who was the subject of that protective order
is your husband, is that right?
I guess so. He never received anything but...
I don't know whether he received anything or not.
He absolutely received something because he showed up in court.
Was he removed from the house on that date?
He was served at his job.
No. Was he removed from the house when the police came?
- Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
No. The day the police came, he was not removed from the house.
On what date was he removed from the house?
[Laticia] Two days later, after she filed a restraining order.
- I had shown the police... - Just--don't. Just a second.
- He was removed two days later. - [Laticia] Uh-hmm.
- [Judge Judy] Where did he go? - To a motel.
You were not served with a protective order?
- No, I was not. - He's the...
Her children are on the protective order as well.
[Judge Judy] Are they? Can I see it?
[Sarah] Yeah. Subsection three.
Thank you.
You have a 13 and 14... your children?
- [Lilia] Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] Thirteen, fourteen?
Thank you.
After your husband was removed from the home two days later,
so that would be December 10th
you and the five children, including your four
and your husband's one was still in the house?
Yes. We were still in the house.
I was going back and forth, you know, between the house
and where he was at the hotel-- or the motel.
When you say you were going back and forth,
what does that mean?
Between the house that we lived in that we paid for and at the room.
- [Judge Judy] Okay. - And then she moved six people in
on top of our kids and they were on their stuff,
sleep in the beds that she said that they could sleep on.
It was my parental duty to remove them from a traumatic--
just everything that was going on.
Let me understand this, Ms. Nichols.
You felt because it was a tumultuous relationship
- that you had with your sister... - Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] ...and you didn't feel as if your children
should be involved in that tumultuous relationship
and in that atmosphere,
you removed yourself and the children from the house?
After a few days of going back and forth
and still having to hear her say something to me,
"You need to move this. You need to do this.
You need to do that," it-it was just getting to be too much.
So they went to a friend's house for a few days.
And they couldn't stay there forever
so we ended up having to rent two motel rooms.
I had two adult children who were still in the home
dealing with all this mess
and all the people in the house that she moved in,
and it just wasn't getting any better.
And they, they didn't wanna be there either.
- And they're 22 and 21. - [Judge Judy] Yeah.
I don't--you can't tell me-- you can't tell me what they wanted.
They were, in fact, there.
The last of your stuff was out on December 31st.
You did in fact live, you and your children,
lived in the house until December 31st.
You weren't removed from the house.
Your husband was removed from the house
because the court found that the defendant
was entitled to an order of protection against him to vacate the house.
So a court granted that order of protection.
Your case is what you describe as constructive eviction.
She never forced you out of the house or locked you out of the house.
I have text messages and I was--I contacted a lawyer.
[Judge Judy] No. No. You contacted a lawyer.
- You're here. - [Laticia] To get advice.
To get--to get legal advice, because she--you--
I'm entitled to have a quiet-- um I was her tenant.
- I should have peace... - No. You're--no.
You are her sister.
And it got to be nasty between two sisters.
And it got to be nasty between your husband and your sister.
And you had kids. And she had kids.
And you didn't want your kids to be involved in the nastiness
that was going on in that house.
And she didn't want her kids to be involved in the nastiness
that was going on between the two of you
for whatever reason.
Why do you think courts have to be involved in this?
You moved with five children and you moved with your husband.
I assume the two of you are still together.
- Uh-hmm. - Is that an uh-huh?
- Yes or no? - Yes. Yes.
[Judge Judy] Okay. And I assume that you're happier
than you were living in your sister's house?
Were we happier living with her?
I said are you happier now living-- that you're all living--
[Laticia] Oh, we're happier now, yes. Absolutely.
[Judge Judy] Great. So why are you annoying all of us?
Why did you contact a lawyer?
I mean, I do--I'm not following why you think everything--
why some people think that everything involves a legal case?
You didn't get along with your sister.
Happens to be that you had five kids, she had two.
You have cats. She has dogs.
It was a disaster looking to happen.
And it was a mistake. It lasted October, November, December.
You were gone. Over.
Tell me what brings you to court.
What brings me to court is the fact that she was told--
I have police reports of them telling her not to touch my things
and she did so anyways.
We sold our furniture because she's like,
"Oh, I have these extra beds that were her husband's kid's beds."
And just sell your washer and do--and your couches, and we...
[Judge Judy] Well, you're a grown-up lady.
You had four children.
She doesn't tell you what to do.
You're a grown-up lady.
You wanna move in with her and you see her how it works out.
You haven't lived together in years.
Put your stuff in storage for a month or so and see how it's working out.
Had I known she was gonna make all this money on the side,
I would never agree to move in with her.
Yeah. You know, but that comes
under the category of shoulda, woulda, coulda.
You moved in. You knew she had dogs.
You moved in. She knew you had cats or vice versa.
I still don't understand why you think everything involves a court case.
Look up the term constructive eviction would you please for me, Sarah?
I know that that's what it says here that she constructively evicted you
which is a term that-- did the lawyer say constructive eviction?
- Is that... - No.
They told me that the landlord could not harass you.
They're not allowed to touch your property,
to make it an unenjoyable-- you should be quiet...
[Judge Judy] Yeah. Yeah. Quiet enjoyment.
[Sarah] So a situation where a landlord does not do something
that they must do by law,
causing the property to be labeled uninhabitable.
For example, shutting off the heat or water,
then a tenant has a claim against their landlord.
Okay.
She changed the password to the Wi-Fi and she--she didn't shut off the water,
but um we paid half the--of all the bills, including, including the Wi-Fi.
Are you happy your sister is gone?
Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Are you happy that you're gone?
Yeah? Are you in a house now?
- Of course. - [Judge Judy] Okay.
Your case is dismissed, Ms. Nichols. We have no case.
Listen, you, you have a counterclaim. That's nonsense.
For half the utilities for the two months
which she didn't pay you, a couple of hundred dollars.
Are you happy she's gone?
- Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] We're done here.
Thank you.
[Kevin] Court is adjourned.
When I was growing up and I went into the system,
she was the only one that was there for me.
She's money-hungry. She's looking for a way to get money.
It takes two people and it takes admitting.
She's really jealous about whatever I had that she didn't.
And I have apologized for the things that I've done.
There's no future for us.
[Judge Judy] Sarah, you have a sister who's younger than you are.
- I do. - She is cute as a bug's ear.
Could you imagine living with her on a full-time basis?
It'd be tough. It'd be tough.
It's hard to live with somebody that you love.
With anybody. Let alone someone you love.
And these are two sisters, certainly the defendant
didn't love her sister's husband. (chuckles)
The fact that they were living together for economics
made it even more difficult for somebody who's already under stress.
The only lesson to take away from that is
before you put kids in a situation
where they are gonna be involved in domestic disputes,
- you really have to think twice. - [Sarah] Uh-hmm.
You have to say, "I'd rather live in a-- in a studio apartment alone
than with ten people in a four-bedroom."
Anyway, sad. I hope they get back together again.
[announcer] Are you having a family dispute?
Go to JudyJustice.tv.
[theme music playing]