Let's see what the cabinets looked like when he was done.
[Janice] This is wrong configuration totally,
three cabinets without shelves.
And that's what upset me.
She was actually screaming in my face and being belligerent.
The notion that somebody can take your money,
do a bad job, and then say,
"You didn't speak to me in a very nice way,
so I'm not gonna finish," I think that's ridiculous.
[announcer] Now on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Pasadena, California.
[Cassandra] Your Honor, this is case number 2042 Pitler versus Regalado.
All parties have been sworn in.
You may be seated.
[Judge DiMango] Thank you, Cassandra.
Ms. Pitler.
- Hi. - [Judge DiMango] Hi.
You were having some renovations done in your home,
you hired general contractor and he subbed out the kitchen to you, sir.
You say he did a shoddy job.
You had to hire somebody else.
So you're here suing him for $10,000.
[Janice] Correct.
[Judge DiMango] Sir, I just wanna make a point of saying,
you submitted no evidence on your own behalf.
- Is that correct? - Yeah, I didn't submit no evidence.
- The evidence is already there, uh... - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
- ... what we already established, so... - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
So when did you decide to get your kitchen done?
March 23rd of '23.
And on the 23rd, it was when you agreed with the contractor to do the work.
- Would that be correct? - Yes.
[Judge DiMango] And after that conversation, what happened?
Um, it was a gentleman that I had known for several years.
Uh, he's not a licensed contractor.
I thought that since I didn't have to have any walls moved or anything like that,
it was purely cosmetic, that it's okay for him to do it.
- Um... - [Judge DiMango] Let me pause you.
How much did you agree with the contractor
that you were going to pay for the entire job?
$44,000, $46,000.
[Judge DiMango] $46,000.
And that $46,000 was going to include any expenses regarding the kitchen?
- That included the 16,500. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
So now it's March 23rd. You speak with him.
He's a friend and he tells you he'll do certain work,
and he's gonna sub out the kitchen?
He told me that it would be Orlando.
I had met Orlando beforehand, um, but yes.
Okay. Sir, are you a licensed contractor?
Uh, no. I'm not a licensed contractor, but we--what we do,
we do kitchen, uh, remodeling.
Which doesn't necessarily require remodeling?
So necessarily--yeah, no license or anything like that.
- It's all cosmetic. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
Now on April 25th, because I'm gonna go through some of your messages,
your demo was done on the kitchen and you wanted him to get started.
- Is that correct? - It was beforehand, but yes.
Okay. So now Orlando, you say you're gonna go by on Thursday,
and she asks you what time and you say you're gonna meet up with her.
- Yeah, I met up with her. - [Judge DiMango] But you don't go.
I didn't go?
[Judge DiMango] You basically want some pictures.
You tell her the next day you're gonna go back.
You see, the problem is they could write a script for contractors
and people that work on your homes.
You never call back.
There's such a lack of respect.
That--that's the thing that escalates.
And that's clear through all
- of these messages. - It was...
[Judge DiMango] Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
- Every one of your messages. - [Orlando] Excuse me, Your Honor.
The first time I ever got contact with it,
it was because of the contractor outside of me.
- [Judge DiMango] Right. Right. - It's not her.
- [Judge DiMango] No. - So therefore, she had to come
and met me at my shop, but it just...
- Well, it doesn't seem... - [Orlando] That's how it...
... to be that way. It seems that these text messages are between the two of you.
She says, "How long will it take with the cabinets?
My floors are in." You say,
"I'm anxious to have my kitchen back."
And you say, "Send me a picture of the blind corner."
And you're gonna take it, you're gonna go back, you're gonna see it.
She has another conversation with you a few days after that,
May 2nd, "There's a problem with the dog bowl."
What was the problem with the dog bowl?
There was a problem with a lot.
He just didn't bring a lot of the stuff.
So there was supposed to be a dog bowl that popped out.
Um, that never happened. A lot of stuff never happened.
[Judge DiMango] And so, then we go from there
and we move along and we're on the 15th
and you say, "Where's the cabinets?"
[Orlando] Ma'am, she had to go through COVID as well
and so it got postponed, all of that.
But the thing is, prior to that, nobody was showing up
to do what they were supposed to do, so...
But that was because of the contractor that she had in line with him.
- But she had conversation... - [Orlando] And so therefore,
- my communication was with him. - Orlando...
- [Orlando] Not with her. - ... are you telling me
that she never had any conversations with you on text messages?
- Yes, ma'am, but that was... - [Judge DiMango] Of course, she did.
- But that was after. - [Judge DiMango] I have them--
I'm looking at them.
Those are the ones I'm having--you think I'm making this up out of the sky?
"Hi, Rolando. I'm confirming that you're gonna come to my house."
You're gonna be there. You're getting everything ready.
You're behind. Your father is ill.
She's sorry to hear about your father.
- This keeps going on and on. - [Orlando] Yeah, because...
Now, who are you paying the money to for his work?
Because part of this is really about you weren't getting any money.
The general contractor, she believed was supposed to be paying you.
And you said that she was going to pay you.
[Orlando] Yeah, because they had the fall out.
The contract--the pre--the first contract that I had was with a contractor.
But then, that's what happened, that she had a fall out with him,
so therefore, who's gonna pay me
for the work that I'm gonna be doing at the house?
And so you stopped working based on that?
- [Orlando] I did not stop working. - You said, "I'm not gonna work
until you make an agreement with me."
- Yeah. - [Judge DiMango] So you renegotiate
or you had another contract with him
where you agreed that you were gonna pay him
- directly $10,000... - Correct.
[Judge DiMango] ... so that he would finish up your work--the work?
- Correct. - And he did.
After you signed that, finally,
he did decide he was gonna come to your home, is that correct?
Correct, until he stopped.
[Judge DiMango] And so he comes to your home at that point, and that is?
I believe it was June 16th,
- something like that. - [Judge DiMango] June--maybe June 22nd?
- Something like that. - [Judge DiMango] June 15th, June 22nd?
Because again it kept on going on and on.
[Judge DiMango] But meanwhile, initially, when the general contractor
met with you in March, he said he was gonna come in April
- and the cabinets would be in by... - [Janice] Correct.
... the beginning of May.
Obviously, that didn't happen.
Well, he was supposed to build them.
And he did do half of the cabinets,
but the first time he did come to install initially,
he was supposed to come at 10:00. They didn't show up till 4:00.
- You remember that? - [Orlando] I remember that.
- And we were there at 11:00. - And what time did you get there?
- 11:00. - No, no, you got there at 4:00.
[Orlando] Because we have to be able-- to be able to work.
How are we gonna be able to work from 4:00 and then...
[Judge DiMango] That's what she's thinking.
How are you gonna work
- from four o'clock? - [Janice] Exactly.
- [Orlando] Between 4:00 to 6:00... - Thank you for making a point.
[Orlando] ... it doesn't make no sense.
- But I got there at 11:00. - I have the text messages.
"What time do you think you're gonna get to the house?"
And this message comes in at about 2:34 p.m.
And then at that time you text back,
"40 minutes. I'm in traffic."
So that's four o'clock.
It doesn't make no sense because we weren't able to work that day.
Should I show you this?
I don't know where that text message is coming from.
I don't know.
All right. We're up to June. You're fixing cabinets.
Let's see what the cabinets looked like when he was done.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
I don't believe you because the people who come in here
and testify are people who come in here and provide us with evidence.
You provided us with absolutely zero.
I got nothing to say to you.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Janice Pitler is suing handyman Orlando Regalado for $10,000,
claiming cabinets he built never fit in her kitchen.
But Orlando says her beef is with the general contractor,
not with him.
Let's see what the cabinets looked like when he was done.
That cabinet door doesn't open all the way because you have a stove there.
[Janice] Correct.
Oh, because that's where the limitation of the stove,
like I was not gonna touch anything that--
from the construction of the building or anything like that.
So everything is, uh, limited to where the hood vent is
and where the stove is gonna be located.
So the stove was previously installed?
I gave him the dimensions of all of my appliances.
And he had to build the cabinets around the dimensions that you gave?
Correct.
[Judge DiMango] So now, let's also look at plaintiff's photograph, page 17.
Those are some holes, am I correct?
[Janice] Correct.
Those are upper cabinet
that was supposed to be a corner cabinet
and it was on the left side,
and I guess they decided to put the door on the right side.
Okay. So now, you have a video.
Let's see the video.
[Janice] With the shelving in,
you can see that it's the wrong size
and that they slip.
So that means one cabinet without shelves,
two cabinets without shelves.
This is wrong configuration totally.
Three cabinets without shelves.
[Judge DiMango] Orlando, got an answer for that?
[Orlando] Yes, because, uh, she has a soffit in her--in her home
so it's like a duplex or a condominium,
and you can't really tear the walls up,
so what she wanted was like a corner cabinet
but you cannot establish a corner cabinet...
- [Judge DiMango] But you... - [Orlando] ... to make a blind corner.
But listen to me, you are the man in the know here.
You are the contractor.
- You're doing the work. - [Orlando] Yes, ma'am.
- She doesn't know. - Yeah.
[Judge DiMango] That's why people hire you
- or else they would have their... - And that's what I had with the...
- [Judge DiMango] ... teenage sons... - ... previous contractor.
- ... building their cabinets. - [Orlando] No, but that's why
I had with my previous contractor, that I was gonna--
not gonna be able to put a corner cabinet that way.
She was actually screaming in my face and being belligerent
because of the way the blind corner was moving actually in the bottom.
- I actually... - We have something
- showing the blind corner? I think we do. - Yes, we do.
I mean, that is a difficult thing to deal with.
But nevertheless, you really have to be able to do your job properly.
[Orlando] But I did...
[Judge DiMango] Let's see the blind corner video.
[Janice] This is supposed to be a pull-out wine corner bar.
[Judge DiMango] That doesn't pull out?
[Janice] It is stuck.
Furthermore, if I pull it out, it gets stuck.
[Orlando] The thing is that-- what she's not mentioning that
she did not move her stove back because she had the gas line still there,
and she had to move the stove back.
And then, therefore--then, the pullout would've been able to open the door.
You'd be able to pull it out.
[Judge DiMango] So, why did you not go there
while the measurements were being done?
That's the problem with all of this work.
Now, I don't know whether or not
you didn't get $10,000 worth of work from him.
I mean, he did do a lot of work to put in.
How much did you actually pay him?
- Was he paid? - So far, I've paid him 13,500.
- [Judge DiMango] Correct? - No, it's only 10,000,
and there was a balance of 3,000.
That's the new contract that we established.
- The new one that you did sign... - [Orlando] Yes.
... for 10,000.
And his position is he did the full $10,000 worth of work.
Your position is, "Take a look at these videos, judges."
- And I'm gonna pass this to Judge Levy. - I--okay.
Ms. Pitler, would you please take a look at exhibit five,
email correspondence with the defendant, third paragraph.
"It is up to the general contractor to pay his subs
and not the responsibility of the client.
I cannot help it if he does not pay his subcontractors.
And as you said on the phone,
your contract is with the general contractor
- and not with me." - Correct.
[Judge Levy] So the contract was between you and the general contractor?
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] And you came in today
without any paperwork, including the contract, nothing.
- You just decided to come in... - No.
... and throw caution into the wind?
- Great. Continue. - Yeah.
Okay. So the total was 16,500.
The other contractor gave him 6,500.
That's why when I entered into a new contract...
- They only gave me 3,000. - ... and it was only...
- They only gave me... - It was only...
Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I don't believe you.
- [Orlando] No. They only gave me 3,000. - I don't believe you.
And I don't wanna hear your talk anymore
because the people who come in here and testify
are people who come in here and provide us with evidence.
You provided us with absolutely zero.
So as far as I'm concerned, I got nothing to say to you.
Go on.
So finally, I wasn't getting a kitchen done.
I was out of my place for five and a half months.
[Judge Levy] I read that.
So I said to him, listen-- and I called and texted
maybe five or six times before I can finally get in touch with him.
And I said, "I'll pay you out-of-pocket
and deal with the other contractor on my own."
- The reason I know... - [Judge Levy] So paying twice?
[Janice] Exactly. The reason why I know he got the 6,500
is that instead of $10,000 when we entered into the contract,
it would have been $13,000.
I'm horrible at math, but I know that much.
And how do you come up with this clown?
The other contractor came up with this clown.
[Judge Levy] There you go.
'Cause he and this clown are in cahoots.
It's not the first time that they've done this.
- Uh--no. That was the first time... - [Judge Levy] Yeah. I got nothing--
- I got--I got nothing to say to you. - ... I've ever met.
So the contractor, he extracted as much as he knew he could outta you.
And then when he knew he couldn't squeeze another nickel outta you,
he contacts his buddy over here,
who, by the way, is committing a crime
by doing home improvements without a license.
You need a home improvement license to do any work over $500
except if it's just refacing cabinets.
But what he did, when I was DA,
I prosecuted people like him all the time.
The DA in this county lets people like this run amok.
No one goes to jail. No one.
And as a result, you get people like this clown going around
ripping people like you offer your money.
It's sickening.
You know what? I got enough.
- Judge Acker. - [Janice] Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Regalado, help me understand why there were unfilled holes.
Can we go back to plaintiff's exhibit four?
Why did you leave those like that?
[Orlando] Oh, 'cause you could just turn the doors
and be able to just fill 'em in and patch them up
and everything like it just the doors depending on how--
what side they're gonna open up,
we can switch 'em up 'cause they're all squared doors.
But why didn't you do it?
It's 'cause the thing is, when I was installing the blind corner basket,
that day, she was screaming in my face,
telling me everything, blaming me.
- [Judge Acker] Uh... - [Orlando] It's just the way
that she was just behaving like nobody wants...
It's just the way that she was behaving?
[Orlando] Yeah. Like she was screaming...
So talk to me about her behavior
because I need to understand from you what this woman did.
The woman who paid you thousands of dollars
that justified your saying, "I'm gonna leave your kitchen a hot mess."
What did she do? Did she threaten you with violence?
Well, I don't know. She was just screaming in my face.
Like, she was just saying that this is not what I agree with.
[Judge Acker] Was she animated when she said that?
- [Orlando] Yeah. She was really... - You ever been animated
when you spend thousands of dollars and somebody doesn't do
- what they wanna do? - I would've been frustrated, yes. But...
[Judge Acker] And you keep getting jerked around
and someone says they're gonna be there at 10:00 but they show up at 4:00?
No. Of course not. Nobody's gonna work at four o'clock
- in the afternoon. - [Judge Acker] Right.
I feel like I'm getting a little animated 'cause you keep suggesting
that we just concocted evidence out of nowhere.
You know, when you know that's not true. It is frustrating.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
This is the layout I signed off on.
These aren't the cabinets I ordered and that's what upset me.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Janice Pitler said her dream kitchen was a nightmare
after Orlando Regalado's shoddy cabinetry work.
Orlando claims he had to flee the jobsite
when Janice became belligerent.
[Judge Acker] Let me ask you, Ms. Pitler.
- Judge DiMango touched on this. - [Janice] Uh-hmm.
And for me, it's really the heart of your case.
I know that you had to spend money
to get some of these botched items fixed.
Explain to me why that new contractor
didn't get some value from his work.
I mean, it's not as if he had to start from scratch.
And what I'm really asking you is why should you get everything back?
You paid him $10,000.
You know, maybe he did $5,000 worth of work.
- I'll explain. Um... - [Judge Acker] Please.
... to finish it was approximately 8,000,
if you go to--um, and the reason why I'm suing for the whole thing
is if you go to exhibit eight, it's the kitchen design and layout.
This is the layout I signed off on.
So I was even saying to Orlando,
"These aren't the cabinets I ordered. I was supposed to get a corner cabinet."
- I mean, right now... - [Judge Acker] And these were cabinets
that were going to be custom-made, correct?
[Janice] That he was custom-making.
And that's what upset me is that
if he's changing the cabinets on me,
I should have a change order to sign off on so I said, "Where's my change order?
These are not my cabinets."
And he says, "Well, the cabinets were already built."
And I said, "Well, that's even worse
that you already built the cabinets without the change order."
So, you know, it was just a bunch of word salad from him.
And I was accommodating in the sense where,
- "Okay, I'm stuck with these cabinets"... - Ma'am, I read the text messages.
I think that you were plenty accommodating.
And I think that the notion that somebody can take your money, do a bad job,
and then say, "You didn't speak to me in a very nice way after I took $10,000,
so I'm not going to finish"-- I think that's ridiculous.
- Judge DiMango. - [Judge DiMango] I just have a follow up.
At what point did you realize
that the cabinets were not those that you wanted?
And why didn't you say something before they were installed?
Well, I didn't know until they were installed
that they weren't the right cabinets.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. I've heard enough from you.
Thank you very much. We're gonna retire to deliberate.
[Cassandra] Court is now in recess. Parties may exit.
[dramatic musical sting]
Well, he did do a lot of work. I mean, he did make the cabinets.
They don't open or close. They have no shelves.
- They're not the ones that she wanted. - They--
They're not the ones that she was looking for.
And he was paid. I'm sure that there's something.
I mean, there's no way he just met this general contractor
for the first time like he said.
I think that she demonstrated that the work was shoddy,
was incomplete, and she did lay out additional money
for exactly the things that he didn't do properly.
So I feel that she should be given something.
I'm not sure whether or not we want to reduce her amount
by anything that he's done.
But I'm willing to hear you both.
[Judge Levy] I most certainly don't wanna give him any credit
for any work that he did.
It was substandard. It wasn't what she asked for.
And he was unlicensed. He lied to us.
As so many others come in here and do, say, "You don't need a license for it."
You absolutely need a license if you are charging more than $500
and you're doing anything more in a kitchen besides refacing a cabinet.
So I would be willing to give her every nickel that she's asked for.
I think she presented a near perfect case,
especially in a situation like this
where we sometimes have a hard time figuring out
what the old guy did, what the new person did.
She really laid all that out very beautifully.
And frankly, I think it was her precision that bothered him.
You know, he kept trying to say, "She wasn't nice. She wasn't this."
- I mean... - I think she just wanted
- what she paid for. - [Judge DiMango] I mean the whole thing
about these contractors is the--just the disregard for people, their time.
I mean, this is replete with her, "Please call me. Please call me.
I'm out of my home." And I think just on that alone...
[Judge Acker] She was very accommodating and patient.
... I think that people should get the $10,000.
I just want to know where did you get that text message,
'cause the defendant had no idea...
- Oh, I have... - ... where it came from.
- I have something very... - Magical powers.
... tricky to put text messages on.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Cassandra] Court is back in session.
All parties are reminded that you're still under oath.
- Thank you, Cassandra. - You're welcome.
This has to ring a bell to you.
"Hi, Orlando. I never heard back from you." July 27th.
The 28th, "Hi, Orlando. Please have the decency to call me back."
July 29th, "Hi, Orlando. Please call or text me when you can."
The 30th, "Hi, Orlando. This is the fifth day in a row.
I have tried to contact you."
Ma'am, I never received those text messages.
- I never received those text... - [Judge DiMango] I know.
That's the problem with your particular phone.
It doesn't give you the messages from your client.
- [Orlando] Well... - The bottom line is you got these.
There's no doubt about it.
The aggravation alone is worth $10,000.
She's not living in her home for five and a half months.
She has drawers that don't open, things that swing the wrong way.
No shelves in the cabinets.
She had to pay somebody else to finish the job.
Nobody's saying you didn't do work you did.
But what you didn't do was give her a working, usable kitchen.
And for that she is entitled to the return of $10,000,
which is what she needed to get it fixed.
And that is the unanimous verdict of the court.
Don't call us. We'll call you tomorrow.
[gavel bangs]
- Thank you. - [Cassandra] This case has concluded.
All parties are excused.
[theme music plays]
Previous conversations, she's always been like very nice and all that,
but that day, it was just like over the top.
I was trying to encourage him to let's have a dialogue
and let's try to fix this.
Uh, she's just being belligerent in my face.
That's the only thing I can describe it as.
I was clearly upset. Um, but I was not being belligerent.
Sometimes like you can't please everybody.
I survived a renovation nightmare, and never again.
[announcer] Have you been scammed?
Let the majority rule in your favor on Tribunal Justice.
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["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]