After your nephew moves out, he left a huge mess.
- Yes. - I deny that.
It was already getting crazy.
She did drug my dog.
I would never.
When did the landlord ask you to leave?
I actually voluntarily said I'm gonna move out
'cause I wasn't comfortable with her anymore.
Why weren't you comfortable with her?
[announcer] Now on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in San Mateo, California.
[Byrd] Your Honor, this is case number 2003 on the calendar
in the matter Vella versus Vella.
Parties have been sworn in.
- Thank you, Byrd. - You're welcome, Judge.
- So this case is a family affair. - [Christina] Yes, ma'am.
And Ms. Vella, the defendant is your nephew?
Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] You were going through a divorce.
You were being discharged from the military.
- What branch? - Marine Corps.
[Judge Acker] Thank you for your service.
And you decided that it made sense
for the two of you to move in together to kinda help each other out.
So you move into one place in 2019.
One bedroom, one bath, very crowded.
You have a dog.
You move into another home, a two-bedroom with an in-law suite.
You, sir, are sleeping in the in-law suite.
- So at some point, your unit is flooded. - Uh-hmm.
- Correct. - [Judge Acker] And you move out.
You say things are really tense with your aunt.
- Correct. - [Judge Acker] Ms. Vella, you claimed…
- Yes. - [Judge Acker] … that after your nephew
moves out, he left such a big mess
that the landlord retained all of your security deposit in…
- Yup. - [Judge Acker] … the amount of $6,200.
- Took you to court… - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] … and then won an additional $5,000,
and as a consequence of that lawsuit,
you are now suing your nephew
for our court maximum of $10,000.
Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] Mr. Vella, you maintain that you continued to pay rent
when you moved out.
When she moved out,
you actually paid somebody to help her clean up.
And you maintain her lawsuit is nonsense and that you owe her no money.
- Correct. - First things first,
Ms. Vella, was your landlord aware that your nephew was moving in with you?
The real estate--no, the answer would be no.
It's a straight-up no.
And in fact, I believe your lease prohibits you from subletting, doesn't it?
- Correct. - And there's an addendum in the lease,
that in fact says, that you'll be assessed a $300…
- [Christina] Yes. - … a day fee…
- Yes. Yes. - [Judge Acker] … for a sublet.
[Judge Acker] Now, you met the landlord at some point, didn't you?
Correct.
[Judge Acker] And when she asks you,
"What are you doing here? Do you live here?"
What do you tell her?
I told her, "I did live here, and this was my dog,"
'cause my dog was right there.
And, you know, it was us, the family, you know, living together.
- [Judge Acker] What's the dog's name? - Toof.
[Judge Acker] Do you have a dog too?
I do, and he was on the lease. Yes.
In 2022 or thereabouts,
your aunt says that there was a bad storm,
and as a consequence of that storm, the unit flooded.
Did you remain in the unit after the storm?
I did. I kept paying.
I also bought tools to drill into the wall to build a bigger drain.
When did you ultimately move out?
Um, around, I guess, the beginning of December.
[Judge Acker] Why? Why'd you move out?
Um, it was already getting crazy.
Um, she did drug my dog.
I went to go pick him up,
and he wasn't able to walk straight or anything.
[Judge Acker] How do you know she drugged your dog?
[Richard] Because she said so.
- But I'm not sure what she gave him. - [Judge Acker] Did you do that?
Oh, there were--it was acepromazine.
Um, it was prescribed to my dog
during the fireworks because of the anxiety.
Richard would constantly leave his dog downstairs ever since it was a puppy,
and he would just leave for, like, days and the dog was down there.
- [Judge Acker] Barking? - Barking, crying.
[Judge Acker] What do you do for a living, sir?
I'm a mechanic.
Were you leaving your dog unattended for days on end?
Not days on end, no.
But I would come check on him after work, and then I would go about my business.
[Judge Acker] So you came home, you walked the dog, and then you…
[Richard] I would leave, yeah.
I was interested in that because I think it kind of sets the stage
for why you moved out.
But it's not the most material part of this lawsuit, in my view.
I think the most material part is your aunt's claim
that she's on the hook for over $10,000
because you left the premises such a mess.
Can we please see on the screen all photographs of the defendant's unit?
- Is this the entrance to the in-law unit? - [Richard] Yes.
[Christina] That was where he cut a dog door in.
[Judge Acker] Okay. Let--hold on, hold on, hold on.
Did you cut the dog door?
I did, not only for my dog, but also her dog.
[Judge Acker] Didn't you tell your nephew
that you were gonna be on the hook for $800 for cutting…
850.
- Did you pay her? - I did. $800…
- [Judge Acker] Did he pay you? - No.
… and we discussed it prior, um…
[Judge Acker] Do you have evidence of that?
- I do have evidence of that. - Where is that, sir?
If you look at exhibit three on page 13,
I have $700 that I paid her.
[Judge Acker] On February 28th,
there was a payment made to your aunt
in the amount of $690, which interestingly, is not $800.
[Richard] 690, and then if you look down on to, uh, March 7th.
- The rest… - Another Christina Vella…
- [Richard] The rest is paid. - [Judge Acker] … 110.
690 plus 110 equals $800.
[Christina] I can clarify all of that.
He gave 690, but that's a very odd number,
um, so I can't justify the 690.
- The gentleman that… - Did you receive it?
- Yes, I did. - And did you…
- Via Zelle. - [Judge Acker] … receive $110?
And the 110 was for things that we had to buy--
Bill and I had to buy at Home Depot,
um, to correct some of the issues in the in-law.
Can we go back to the photographs of the interior of the suite?
Now, when were these photographs taken, Ms. Vella?
Um, they were taken on the Saturday that we were supposed to move out.
So I would say around March 13, March 14.
- But I don't see a mess. - Well…
[Judge Acker] Let me ask your nephew.
Did you leave some things behind?
No. Um, so a lot of my stuff, like the flood, destroyed.
I threw that stuff out.
[Judge Acker] Did you move everything out in December?
Not in December.
I was taking stuff by time, because I was still paying rent there.
[Judge Acker] You're still paying rent.
When did you stop paying rent?
Um, all the way till the end of the lease.
When did the landlord ask you to leave?
I actually voluntarily, uh, said I'm gonna give her a 30-day notice
and move out because I wasn't comfortable with her anymore.
Why weren't you comfortable with her?
Well, if I may kind of go back a little and tell you about the flooding,
the reason it flooded is, yes, Richard, uh, bought a drill bit
to put a bigger hole in the cinder blocks in the yard
so when the water would come down,
it would go through the hole and down the canal to the right.
But Richard put a piece of AstroTurf for his dog to potty
and he would go-- and if he denies this, it's a damn shame.
He would go for days or months without cleaning Toof's feces.
And when the landlord came and she was poking that hole,
there were so much dog feces in the hole
that the water couldn't get out, hence flooding his unit.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
See, to me, you're both in cahoots with one another.
You both violated very blatant terms and conditions of a lease agreement
by this landlord.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Christina Vella is suing her nephew, Richard Vella,
for $10,000 in flood damage to their apartment.
But Richard claims he moved out because of her
and owes his aunt nothing.
I have evidence from the landlord
that the reason you were assessed all this money is not so much
because of bags of garbage and the like, it's because the flooding…
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge Acker] … that was caused
by a mat blocking the drain, but we do have a lease.
- [Christina] Uh-hmm. - You were on the hook?
I'm the only person on the lease.
- Correct. - [Judge Acker] I--correct,
and so I'm gonna have to hear a lot more to be able to assess how much,
- if any, liability he should have… - [Christina] Oh, I can…
[Judge Acker] … because a different court's already found you liable.
- Well, I'm not dissecting that. - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] But what we will dissect here is,
- who did what damage and how much. - [Christina] Okay.
- Absolutely. - So, we have a lot more to determine.
- Judge DiMango. - And it's not gonna be easy.
See, to me, you're both in cahoots with one another,
hook, line, and sinker, each of you.
You both violated very blatant terms and conditions of a lease agreement.
The named tenant was held responsible
in another court of law for all the damages
that the landlord of that property said occurred,
and now you're both here.
So let me just ask a few questions.
- [Christina] Sure. - You had more than one dog, correct?
- Yes, I did. - [Judge DiMango] How many dogs
- did you have? - I had two dogs.
[Judge DiMango] And how many dogs did you have?
I only have one, Your Honor.
So three dogs on a lease that charged for one dog.
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge DiMango] So you're both
- responsible, in my mind… - Correct.
[Judge DiMango] … for everything that occurred as a result of dog poop,
doggy dog holes.
You say that he didn't pay you for the doggy door.
I don't know if he did or not, but I can't say it's a little coincidental
that the two payments he made, 690 and 110 happened to add up to $800.
And it's true, you shouldn't have been there at all,
but you know, you're paying her $1,800 a month.
You're happy about the $1,800 a month.
You think that the landlord's never gonna catch you.
I mean, right, you didn't think you were gonna get caught?
- [Christina] May I, um, may I speak? - [Judge DiMango] Yeah.
So we went through a real estate company,
and the woman who owned the property
acknowledged that Richard lives there.
She acknowledged all the dogs.
And I'm like, "The landlord is cool with all this?"
And she's like, "Oh, yeah, absolutely."
- [Judge DiMango] Ah, you see. - So I was under the idea
- that it was okay. I… - Nah. Come on.
You knew you were breaching the lease.
- You signed it. You initialed everything. - Yeah.
And you probably signed the provision in the lease
that said that everything in here
reflects the agreement between all the parties.
And I think you realize that the two of you were in on this.
And so with that, I'm gonna pass it to Judge Levy.
Thank you. Uh, sir, you're Mr. Brosius?
- [Bill] Yes. - Uh, step up, please.
And, uh, how are you related, if at all, to either the, uh, plaintiff or defendant?
I'm her niece's husband.
- [Judge Levy] Her niece's husband. - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Levy] Got it. Okay.
So what can you tell us about what you, uh, know about this lawsuit?
So, um, I just spent a solid week in there,
um, cleaning up the-- cleaning up the house.
A couple dump loads,
the garage was just left to a complete mess.
There was a bunch of, uh, drywall that needed to be patched,
blinds, the ceiling,
one of the door handles was completely, um, needed to be replaced.
[Judge Levy] So let's go through it now.
These are from your evidence packet.
Exhibit one, photos of the home when the plaintiff moved out.
Defendant's living quarters downstairs.
- It's a doggy door. - [Christina] Richard's.
- [Judge Levy] Right. - [Christina] Correct.
- [Judge Levy] We paid that, right? - Yes.
Good. That's gone. Front of home.
[Christina] Oh, the reason I put that is, I paid $3,000
to have grass laid down to make it look pretty.
Great. That was nothing to do with him, right?
- Nothing to do with him. - Good. That's gone.
- We have outdoor areas. - Oh, yeah.
That was--that was both of ours.
Richard did nothing to help clean it up.
[Judge Levy] But there was nothing that he did
that's the defendant did right there--no.
No, I'm just showing that I had to clean up everything that…
- Good. Defendant's backyard area. - [Christina] … we did together.
Let's go through that.
[Christina] Well, that's nice and clean now.
You should've seen it before I cleaned it.
[Judge Levy] I would like to have seen it before.
- [Christina] If--yeah, I know, and… - [Richard] Yes.
[Christina] … you're absolutely correct.
- That's gone. - Bill was jumping on me about it.
- Stove in the kitchen. - [Christina] Yeah.
- Not him, right? - No, that was upstairs.
Good. Stairway down to the living room.
[Christina] We just want to show it was clean.
The reason we took a lot of those pictures is to show it to the landlord.
Where is the damage he caused?
I didn't do it. I never thought I'd come to court.
[Judge Levy] But you understand that you're suing your nephew,
who by the way, you say that you tried to treat like a parent
because of a situation that you were…
Well, 'cause his father was my older brother that passed away.
- [Judge Levy] Right. You loved him. - Yeah.
- [Judge Levy] You protected him. - Still love him.
- [Judge Levy] Right. - [Christina] 'Cause we don't have
a lot of Vellas left in our family.
[Judge Levy] Exactly. So now you're suing him for $10,000.
I have no evidence, no proof whatsoever
that anything that you got sued for by the landlord was his fault.
That's the problem.
[Christina] Her main thing was the flood,
the flood put her over the top.
No, it wasn't. It wasn't the flood.
- Let me tell you what it was. - Yeah.
[Judge Levy] The lease made it very clear.
- No sublets, right? - [Christina] Yes.
You could have let him live there.
- [Christina] Uh-hmm. - Just not charge him rent.
What about your partner?
- You charged her rent. - [Christina] Yes.
[Judge Levy] You took money from her.
That's two people who you're subletting to.
And there could be no doubt in your mind
how serious the landlord was about the subletting
because in the addendum that you provided us with…
- [Christina] Yes. - … for some strange reason.
Well, it's the truth.
[Judge Levy] "Any person residing in the unit without landlord's approval
will be asked to vacate an assessment of $300 per day."
[Christina] Uh-hmm.
"Will be charged in addition to the current rent that is that
- you're taking from the illegal tenants." - [Christina] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Levy] "Until that person vacates."
It's called disgorgement. You can't benefit.
Any money that you got from him or quite frankly your partner,
your landlord is entitled to as a matter of law
based upon what you signed.
How long were you living there?
About a year.
Woo!
That equaled $191,000.
- [man] Woo. - I'm…
[Judge Levy] This wasn't about a flood.
She could not have been more clear, your landlord,
that you could only have one dog.
She did not want multiple dogs there
because those dogs went to the bathroom on a mat
that was over a drain,
that in her opinion, according to the documents you provided,
she's blaming that as the cause of the flooding.
Did you put the mat over that drain?
- I put the mat near the drain, yes, sir. - [Judge Levy] Why?
Well, I didn't believe that, uh, that would fill up the way it did.
Yeah, well, you learned better, didn't you?
- [Richard] I did, sir. - [Judge Levy] Yeah.
So that is the reason why your landlady was so angry…
- [Christina] Uh-hmm. - … 'cause you're making money
off of her house,
and the damages that she was able to identify
and memorialize in this civil lawsuit against you,
had nothing to do with him
because he didn't sign the lease or the addendum, right?
- Correct. - You did. Thank you very much.
- I have no further questions. - [Christina] Thank you.
Then we are going to retire to deliberate.
Sir, you may take a seat. We will be back.
[Byrd] Court now stands in recess.
Parties are excused.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
They both used that doggy mat.
I would have award her based on that $5,000.
No, I don't think that she's met her burden at all.
- He… - Well, I could go with you or maybe
even on a different level, which is…
Before you go that way, let me just give it one more shot.
[dramatic musical sting]
I think there are some big problems with the plaintiff's case,
primarily the difficulty in assessing the damage that each caused.
However, there's a shortcut.
She did provide a lot of evidence, some of which is not helpful to her.
Some of which is,
and in the March demand letter from the landlord,
she assesses a little over $10,000
in damage solely related to that blockage of the drain.
I would split that in half.
They both used that doggy mat.
He admits he put it down there.
I think that it was also for her benefit.
I would award her, based on that, $5,000.
I'm kind of in a place similar to that.
I looked at it as though she owed out $11,200,
something to that effect,
6,200 of which was her security deposit,
which there's no evidence that they didn't split.
So if I take that 6,200 off,
then all we're left with is the $5,000 court award.
I would split that in half and give her 2,500.
- Hmm. - Because that to me is fair.
They split the security deposit.
They have the $5,000 in damages,
I think they both contributed to a lot of the damages.
So basically, over and above that, I would give her $2,500.
[Judge Levy] I see it a little differently.
What we do know for sure
is that there's nothing that the plaintiff provided us--
that was the ripping of the pages--
nothing that the plaintiff provided us proved
that the defendant was involved in any of the damage.
What we know is that the court awarded the $5,000 beyond the security.
Yeah, I have that here with the-- whatever it was that they brought.
Correct. What we don't have are findings of fact and conclusions of law.
So we don't know exactly what the court based its decision on.
Was it on damages or was it on the $192,000
that the landlord was entitled to,
based upon the plaintiff's breach of the addendum?
And because we don't know, I don't believe that she's met her burden,
the plaintiff, to get any of that money back from the defendant.
- He… - Well, I could go with you or maybe
even on a different level, which is, she just lied about everything.
She was the one that signed the lease.
She was the one that said that there was nobody living there.
She was the one that had multiple dogs
when she swore on the document that she only had one.
I mean, I was thinking of not going that way, and then I…
- Before you go that way, let me just… - I haven't got there.
- [laughter] - [Judge DiMango] Go, go, go. Go.
Let me--let me-- let me just give it one more shot.
Agreed. Judge Levy's absolutely right.
No conclusions of law, no findings of fact.
But we do know what the landlord complained about.
We know the basis of her complaint
were these damages from that first page.
Now to your point, Adam, I get it.
We don't know exactly what the court found.
But we know what the plaintiff, landlord was claiming.
The landlord was upset about the blockage of the drain.
The plaintiff comes to court and says,
"I want some money from him because he helped me block the drain."
- I… - I'm going this way again.
[Judge Acker] I--yeah.
I'll join you in 2,500 to keep you away from Adam.
[laughter]
- I got one more. - All right.
I got one more. I'mma take one more swing at this.
All right.
Both the plaintiff and the defendant acknowledged
that the flooding downstairs
was caused by a storm, not by a drain.
So let's accept that is true.
There was a storm and after the storm, there was damage.
On the addendum to the lease, the landlord acknowledged
that the property was in a flood plain.
So we know that after a storm, the property flooded.
- We have no expert testimony… - But we know specifically that here,
it was caused by the-- 'cause even they're not disputing it.
Yeah, it was flooded and there was a drain.
- No. No. No, no. - Right. Right.
It flooded and the water couldn't drain.
[Judge Levy] Hold on. That's their opinion.
We're accepting the opinion of the landlord
that that's how it happened.
Why? We've gotten no testimony from any expert that
that is in fact how the damage occurred.
But neither one of them is saying it didn't happen
by the overflow of poop in the cover.
And they're just going like this saying, "It was hers, it was his."
No. Again, we're just assuming because the plaintiff failed to present us
with any expert testimony
that the flooding was in fact caused by that drain.
[Judge DiMango] Just stepping back from this.
Do you think that he's not responsible for any of the damage that was done there?
No, I don't think that she's met her burden at all.
- See… - I think that she's asking us
to do these gymnastics and to say,
"Yeah, flooding was caused by the covered drain."
- I just don't see it. - I think I have to respectfully disagree.
For me, I'm having a hard time separating all the damages
because I think that the two of them went into this lease,
they both were violating it,
they both had the same intent, the same mens rea.
And the 6,200, nobody is saying,
"Well, I paid for this, I paid for that."
'Cause I think they split that.
And so it's only the 5,000 over and above it,
and I wanna split that as well because I think they're both in it jointly.
- You've lost, Adam. - Oh, yeah. I…
- [laughs] - I don't mind…
Adam is not a part of this verdict.
It's not--it's not the first time I dissented today,
- and it won't be the last. - [Judge Acker laughs]
Yeah, I'll dissent.
- We're ready. - Yup.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Byrd] Court is back in session.
Parties are reminded you're still under oath.
- Thank you, Byrd. - You're welcome.
- Vella family. - Yes, ma'am.
The verdict of our Tribunal family is not at all unanimous.
We had a spirited debate,
and Judge Levy is dissenting.
Judge Levy, Ms. Vella, believes that you've not met your burden
of convincing the court by a preponderance of the evidence of your claims.
Judge DiMango and I, we do not believe you're entitled to $10,000.
- Uh-hmm. - There's plenty of evidence
that there is a lot of things that you did,
you did, that the landlord had problems with.
So we don't think it's fair to assess
- all of that to your nephew. - Okay.
We do though believe that you, sir,
bear some responsibility for this drainage problem.
So it is the verdict of Judge DiMango and I
that you will pay your aunt $2,500 toward that damage.
Now, I can't order you to do this,
but I'm just gonna throw this out there.
At one point, when you were going through a hard time
and you were recalibrating to civilian life, you said,
"Let's work together and try to be a family."
This lawsuit is now behind you.
Family is way more important than a silly fight over some money.
That's all I've got on that.
The verdict of the court is in your favor, ma'am, for $2,500.
Good luck to you both.
- Thank you. - [gavel bangs]
[Byrd] This case has now concluded.
Parties are excused. You may step out.
[theme music plays]
My heart was kinda--I'm crying because I miss my nephew,
but at the same time, my nephew was standing there lying.
She can do her thing, but I'm no longer gonna be talking with her.
He blocked me from phone.
I don't think the family can go back together.
- From Instagram. - Definitely separated us.
From Facebook. I couldn't get a hold of Richard anywhere.
I mean, it's family, I didn't wanna fight my family.
If he can man up and say, "What's done is done, Auntie,
and yeah, I did that and let's," you know, I might consider it.
- Okay. - All right.
- Shake my hand. - Just shake on it.
- Yeah. - All right.
[announcer] Are you being sued?
Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
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["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]