You have your daughter's boyfriend move in with you.
We talked about sharing the rent.
Every month when he didn't pay, he'd ignore me.
He was taking advantage of your kindness.
But your daughter would be responsible for 50% of what he was paying.
-No. -She paid the phone bill,
groceries, and the weed.
Does anybody find it curious that the weed budget
comes a little higher than the rent budget?
[narrator] Now on Tribunal Justice.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Today's case was filed in La Marque, Texas.
[Byrd] Your Honor, this is case number 3044 on the calendar,
in the matter of Benner versus Thompson.
Parties have been sworn in. You may be seated.
-[Acker] Thank you, Byrd. -You're welcome, Judge.
Ms. Benner, the defendant is your daughter's ex-boyfriend,
although at the time that the events giving rise to this lawsuit took place,
he was not then an ex, you were all living together.
And you're now suing him for $10,000 for unpaid rent.
Mr. Thompson, your defense is that you paid any amounts
you were obligated to pay,
and further, you maintain that you signed the lease
not as a tenant, but as a cosigner.
-That is correct. -You'll have to explain that distinction.
But we'll get there momentarily.
Ms. Benner, as I understand it from your complaint,
there were two homes you shared together,
so right now let's talk about home number one.
In fact, can we put that up, Exhibit one?
So you were going through a divorce, needed some help with the rent.
He moved in.
What was the understanding about how the monies were to be divided?
The understanding was we had a conversation,
and we talked about sharing the rent so I didn't have to cover everything.
I came out of a divorce where I didn't pay the rent normally, so...
-[Acker] Were you working at the time? -No.
Business with my husband and stay-at-home mom.
So, most of the money was, you know--
-[Acker] Tough transition. -Yeah, big transition.
And the rent on that first property was $2,200 a month?
-Correct. -And I note on that first agreement
that you are Sandra. Who's Janelle?
-Janelle's my daughter. -And that was his girlfriend at the time.
But on that first lease, he is in fact named as one of the tenants.
And you actually initialed portions of that lease?
-Yeah. -So, I'm gonna give you an occasion now
to explain to the court what you mean
when you say you signed the lease as a cosigner and not as a tenant.
Because as I read that lease, you are Nathan Thompson, are you not?
-[Nathan] I am. -And you lived there, did you not?
-I did. -So, how on earth are you not a tenant?
[Nathan] Well, she didn't work,
and the youngest daughter didn't work as well.
The only people that worked were myself and my ex, Janelle.
So she's not going to be able to get any sort of agreement on leasing a home
without any source of income.
So I told her I would do my best to helping her out, and her family out,
and where I was living prior to that, I was living fine.
And while it's very noble, all well and good...
-Mm-hmm. -...that you put your credit on the line,
-you also put your name on the line. -Right.
-So that makes you a tenant. -Okay.
And in fact, did you not agree that you were to pay $900 a month?
I agreed I would pay as much as I could month-to-month.
[Acker] Okay, I would like to direct your attention to,
I believe it is plaintiff's Exhibit three.
There's a text message from you, sir,
challenging the plaintiff's position that you're responsible for utilities
because you say the agreement was $900 a month.
So where in that text message do you say, "Or whatever I can pay"?
Well, in that text message,
it was agreed upon that I would try to pay 900.
[Acker] I actually didn't see that you said,
-"I'm going to try to pay $900 a month." -[Nathan] Right.
You said the agreement was $900 a month.
You were paying 900. Janelle, your daughter, your then-girlfriend,
she was supposed to be paying for groceries...
-Yeah. -...and weed.
Then you had to pick up the groceries and weed expenses,
-so you didn't have money for rent. -[Nathan] Correct.
Does anybody find it curious that the weed line item in the budget
comes little higher than the rent line item in the budget?
-[Nathan] I do. -Yeah.
I didn't know about the weed part until that text message,
but the agreement was that she was to pay for their groceries and their phone bills.
That was her contribution.
Were you at home during the day or were you working outside of home?
I was home most of the time. My income at the time
was my husband contributing to the agreed spousal support to help me with rent.
And my younger daughter, she had just barely turned 18.
That's really a key part of his position
is that you were actually overcharging him.
Because then in the later communication, he actually says there are four people.
"I was always overpaying. I should have only been paying 550.
There were four of us in the home."
-What's your response to that? -Well, honestly, 900 for two people
isn't even half the rent if you're going to split it up between four people.
-No, the rent was 2,200, right? -[Sandra] Exactly.
It's not even half.
My daughter needed a place to live as well with me having to move out
and get, you know, a place to live.
They had talked about moving out in that area a couple of years before.
So it just kind of worked out that we all went together.
And then in December, you all moved to another home.
Can we put up home number two?
And this home, there was another lease,
-and that was a one-year term. Correct? -[Sandra] Correct.
-And you signed it in December? -Correct.
[Acker] And when did you move out?
-July. -[Acker] July.
So that left five more months on the lease.
Correct.
[Acker] Now, if I'm just looking at the letter of the lease,
why shouldn't I hold you liable for that?
Your name's on the lease.
Well, considering the circumstances of me leaving her daughter,
I'm not going to pay for a home, one I'm not living in,
and I have to go now find my own place to live.
And I'm not going to stay in a home with that kind of uncomfortability
of being in this home and having to pay that amount of money still.
So sounds like you're suggesting that you were constructively evicted
because of the tumultuous nature
of your relationship with the plaintiff's daughter.
-Is that where you're going? -Yes.
So tell me about what happened that resulted in your having to leave.
Um, we weren't getting along. We were starting to resent each other a lot.
There was a lot of tension within the household.
Was there any violence?
-I wouldn't-- There was never any... -Threats of violence?
-...physical violence or anything. -Arguing?
-Yelling? -[Nathan] Arguing, crude verbal words.
It just for me was too toxic to stay.
And then it got to a point to where I just started sleeping on the couch,
while she slept in the room.
I was avoiding the whole concept of just being around her.
So just to be clear, when you say "she,"
you're not talking about the plaintiff, you're talking about
-your then-girlfriend. -No, I'm talking about my ex.
And so, how long did this go on
-before you had to leave? -About a month, month and a half
until I finally called it quits and decided it was time for me to just leave.
Sometimes your sanity is better off when you leave the toxicity.
-Correct. -However, every toxic relationship
does not provide an excuse for breaking a lease.
And you ended up paying the rent, yes?
Yeah, I mean, the problem started in June of 2023
when his car broke down and he had to get a new car,
which I understood, and that's why I was trying to be understanding.
And my daughter helped him pay with the deposit on the car.
And that's when that was the beginning of not getting the agreed amount
-every month. -Yeah, I think, Mr. Thompson,
I mean, you know, if you're going to be fair about this,
because of her, you didn't have to pay full rent every month.
Just like because of you,
they were able to get income-qualified for this home.
But because of her, she was subsidizing you.
So, she carried you. Judge DiMango.
I have to say, I think you got a raw deal here.
First of all, you were one person paying $900 to three family members of hers.
So you were covering 11, $1,200
for three of your family members.
-How old is Janelle? -Twenty-eight?
-Yeah. -[DiMango] She's 28.
-You are how old, sir, 32? -30... just turned 33.
-And you are 62. -Correct.
So you have your daughter's 32-year-old boyfriend at the time
move in with you. You're not working.
If it weren't for him, you and your two daughters would be out on the street.
Because it's his income that helped make you get through
your application process.
Why weren't you working?
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
What was your arrangement with Janelle? Anything?
Just that she paid the phone bill and picked up the groceries and the weed.
Something had to give. I mean, I doubt you want to give up food.
-[Nathan] Right. -Especially not if they're smoking weed.
[dramatic music playing]
[main theme playing]
[narrator] Sandra Benner says her daughter's former live-in boyfriend,
Nathan Thompson, was a deadbeat tenant,
and owes $10,000 in back rent.
But Nathan says after splitting up with her daughter,
he was forced to move on because staying became a nightmare.
It's his income that helped make you get through your application process.
Why weren't you working?
Well, after ten years of marriage, I gave up my career
-to help support my husband. -[DiMango] What was your career?
I was a legal assistant.
I gave up my career to help support my husband with his business.
He's an electrical contractor. And be a stay-home mom.
[DiMango] I mean, I'm still having the problem
with him paying $900 as one person,
and you only paying, what you say in your papers, 1,100,
even though your rent was 21, for three people. So...
The 900 was supposed to be for him and Janelle.
-That was their-- -So it's your daughter
that was responsible for 50% of what he was paying.
-Your daughter was responsible for $450. -She would have been.
-Yeah, she would have been. -You chose not to sue your daughter.
No, they agreed that he would pay the 900
-and she would pay for their groceries... -[DiMango] How much were your groceries
and your phone bills?
Well, the phone bill I know was, my portion of it was $70.
-[DiMango] Seventy. Mm. -And that was between two.
And then grocery bills, I'd probably say less than 200 every two weeks.
How long were you dating the plaintiff's daughter
-before you moved in together? -Just under seven years.
-Under seven years? -Mm-hmm.
Don't pull the trigger too fast on the wedding, all right?
And what was your arrangement with Janelle? Anything?
Just that she paid the phone bill and picked up the groceries and the weed.
[soft chuckling]
Something had to give. I mean, you should have given up something.
I doubt you want to give up food.
-[Nathan] Right. -Especially not if they're smoking weed.
-[Nathan] I was gonna say. -[Sandra] That's a lot of groceries.
[DiMango] I'm always amazed this is even part of a conversation.
You're talking about, I can't afford to live, but I can afford to get high.
Then you want to complain that you can't live.
Well, did you have ups and downs in your relationship with Janelle?
-Oh, plenty. -Were you witness to any of those
-ups and downs? -[Sandra] Absolutely.
So you knew it was a difficult relationship?
-Yeah. -I love the term, "it's complicated."
It was complicated that he now has to stay in this home.
And not only are you asking for, I believe it's five months of back rent,
and you're asking for four months of future rent
because he left the lease prematurely,
and unless we find that it was a toxic, intolerable, untenable relationship.
And what if your daughter got a new boyfriend?
I'm not so sure I would be comfortable imposing on him an obligation
to pay the balance of the lease.
Especially that your husband has been pretty diligent
in pay-- Do you have a court order for maintenance?
Just now, as of December, and he hasn't been that diligent.
I was basically living off of my savings after money I got
when my mom passed away too.
I think this is a very unusual situation for a landlord-tenant breach,
and, um, I'm going to pass it on to Judge Levy.
[Levy] Thank you. So, Ms. Benner,
when was it that he stopped paying rent
on the first place? When his car crapped out and he had to buy another one?
Yeah, June of 2023.
So you know that he's having financial difficulties in June of 2023?
July of '23?
-[Sandra] Mm. Any-- -August, September,
October, November, December.
-He's not paying you rent. Right? -Correct.
And then you thought it was a good idea to move out of that house,
and go from a house you're paying $2,200 to,
to $2,800 to.
And you let him move in with you
despite knowing that he did not pay the last six months
because he didn't have money.
-Do I have that right? -Correct.
In your complaint, you say that you believe
that the defendant took advantage of your kindness.
-Mm-hmm. -So when you had to get out of your house
with your two daughters in December of 2022,
you were in the middle of the divorce. You needed to find a place ASAP, right?
-Yes. -Why not just get one without him?
I tried to. I actually tried to move to Arizona,
but because I couldn't prove that I could make three times the rent.
My daughter had talked about moving in the area--
[Levy] Stop. Hold on one second.
You couldn't rent a place. That's his whole point.
Without him, you couldn't get on a lease.
So you got a $2,200 house that you all agreed to rent together.
How many bedrooms?
Three, uh-- Yeah, three.
[Levy] Right. You had one, your younger daughter had one,
and he shared one with your older daughter, his girlfriend.
Who had the biggest bedroom?
-[Sandra] I did. -You had the master?
Is that why you paid more in rent?
-Generally, yes. -Okay, well, let me ask you this.
If you have $2,200, and if you divide it by just the number of bedrooms,
that equals $734 per bedroom.
So if you're just charging rent based upon common areas and bedrooms,
it would be 734 each a month.
Your bedroom and your younger daughter's bedroom
was 1,468 a month when you combine it.
And he would have paid that much less.
Why weren't you paying 1,468 a month?
I never thought of doing the math that way, to be honest.
How do you not think about the math? You got three bedrooms.
-We weren't doing it by bedroom. -Whoever gets a bedroom
has to equally split the rent.
Otherwise, he's subsidizing you.
Only reason why I bring it up is because you said that you felt as though
he was taking advantage of your kindness.
How do you figure that?
Well, every month when he didn't pay and he wasn't contributing
and he'd ignore me, and I kept putting up with it.
And while he's going out frisbee golfing and golfing and fishing
-and doing other things-- -[Levy] All this makes sense. Which is why
there's a theory in the law that says, you know, that if you, as the plaintiff,
know there's no reasonable expectation that he's going to be able to pay,
then your decision to allow him into the second house
is a you problem, not a him problem.
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
Your husband wasn't paying 1,950, he was paying over $5,000 a month, right?
That's what you said under oath. Did you lie to the judge or are you lying to us?
[dramatic music playing]
[main theme playing]
[narrator] Sandra Benner is suing her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Nathan Thompson,
for $10,000 in back rent when they all lived together.
Nathan says Sandra used him to get the lease,
and after breaking up with her daughter, he had no choice
but to leave the toxic environment.
So now you move into the second house, $2,800 a month.
And you hear and you see the arguing that's going on
-between your daughter and him, right? -Yeah.
What you're saying is that he still had an obligation to pay his rent.
-Yes. -So why not tell your older daughter
"Move in with me in the master bedroom so he can have the other bedroom by himself"?
Because that's fair. Why didn't you do that?
-I didn't think of it at the time. -Of course not because what you were doing
is you figured-- 'Cause you with your legal background
figured you're just gonna let the rent keep going, and going, and going,
and eventually you were gonna send him that letter like you did,
the 60-day notice.
And when he didn't respond to you, you went to his job, didn't you?
No, I didn't know if he got the email, I didn't know if he would, and I--
So you waltzed yourself down to his job.
[banging]
"I need to speak to Mr. Thompson about the fact that he skipped out on rent."
How do you think that was going to make him look to his bosses?
I didn't approach it that way, first of all.
[Levy] There's a lot of things that you didn't seem to approach
that are logical to everybody else.
How much was your husband paying in expenses, by the way?
'Cause that seemed to be a big part of your income.
How much was he paying in expenses, say, in 2022?
Well, sometimes I'd get 1,950, sometimes I'd get 900.
So he was only paying sometimes not even $2,000 a month in 2022?
-Correct. -[Levy] Okay.
Show this to the plaintiff, please.
I'm showing you what's been identified as an income and expense declaration.
-See your signature on the bottom? -Yes.
-June 28th, 2022. -Yeah.
This is a document that you filled out with respect to the divorce proceeding
-with your husband, correct? -Yes.
Five thousand, four hundred and twenty-nine dollars.
So your husband wasn't paying 1,950,
he was paying over $5,000 a month, right?
That's what you said under oath. Did you lie to the judge
-or are you lying to us? -No, I wasn't lying to the judge,
and this was based on, um, what he told me our income was for that year.
-That's how we calculated it. -That's not income,
income's on page two.
-This was unfortunately-- -I'm asking you about-- Listen.
What are you claiming poverty to him for?
That's exactly what you're doing.
That's what she did. And not for nothing, you're not off the hook either
because you owed that 900 bucks
until that first lease was up, as far as I'm concerned.
And your efforts to try to undermine that to Judge Acker-- Mm-mm. Not good.
I have nothing further.
Just so we're clear, from December 2022,
until February 2024,
-you were getting $900 a month. -[Sandra] Yes.
And then when you had that $500 increase,
-you didn't increase his portion. -No.
[Acker] You were expecting $900 a month.
Mr. Thompson, let's just say I'm with you about the time that you moved out.
You're still living there in March 2024, correct?
-Yes, Your Honor. -You pay $20.
Do you think that's fair?
In April, you paid nothing.
In May, while you're still there, you paid nothing.
In June, still there, nothing.
July, you moved out.
Yes, Your Honor, what had happened was I had lost my job at Coca-Cola.
And I told her I was going to be getting a severance pay,
and I was going to be getting some other pay
and I'd give her as much money from that that I could,
and I gave her that in cash.
I think it was like $1,000 or something.
Did he give you $1,000 cash after he got his severance?
I don't recall getting $1,000, unless it's on that ledger.
[Acker] "I don't recall" doesn't mean no.
-No, I... -[Acker] It's not on the ledger.
I don't have anything further, thank you.
Where is your daughter? Your ex-girlfriend? Where is she now?
Why isn't she here on behalf of one of you?
-She's at work. -[DiMango] She could have taken the day.
How come she's not here? How come she's not here for you?
I understand. She didn't want to see him.
I mean, I'm not sure how the equities look like they're falling evenly here.
I don't have any other questions.
Would it be fair to say that as a paralegal,
you know that you have an obligation to mitigate your damages, right?
So if a tenant leaves, like the defendant did,
you have an obligation to go out and try to find another tenant
to make up his shortfall, right?
-Right. -So, you would agree
that you had absolutely no interest in mitigating your damages
because that would require a complete stranger to come in
and live in a room with your older daughter.
-Did you do that? -No.
Right. I have nothing further.
We're going to retire to deliberate at this time. Thank you both.
Court now stands in recess. This case will be recalled.
Parties are excused.
[dramatic music playing]
[main theme playing]
On the one hand, I kind of agree with you, Patricia.
You know, it wasn't the best deal for him,
but I'm not going to revisit the deal they made.
He said $900 a month, fair or unfair. That's the deal.
I credit him with giving her that $1,000 that he said at the end
because when someone says, "I don't recall if I received it."
-They got it. -Right. Exactly.
I credit him with that $1,000.
Where I think her case really falls flat
is, as you pointed out, Adam, she made no effort to mitigate.
So, for me, the issue is, does that duty arise the month after he left?
Because I'd actually keep him on the hook for one month.
But 30 days would have been enough time for her to try to find another roommate.
Or is it a month and a half before, when the relationship became so toxic...
[DiMango] That's what I would do because that would be constructive eviction.
That's where I would go with it because I really feel it was ridiculous for her
to think that she's got a young daughter and a boyfriend
that's been in a relationship seven years, had been up and down and toxic.
He should be let out from the point that the relationship was bad
because really, they would have been on the street were it not for him.
So I wouldn't give her any future money.
I would go about a month and a half or whatever before the trouble started.
My only thing is, does he owe the back rent?
Because if you think about it, the new place,
he was in arrears from the last place, 2,980, almost $3,000.
Which would be for the time he lived there. She kept taking money out,
which would be about 500 a month,
which really is what he should have been paying in the first place.
I would like to personally give her nothing.
Um, the first house where they were paying $2,200 a month,
the relationship with his girlfriend was okay at that point.
Yes, he might have been getting the short end of the stick,
but that was his agreement.
He has to pay the $900 a month for that entire period.
So what we need to do then is to look and see
when he moved into the second home with them.
He was paying rent in the second home,
and she was applying it, rightfully so, to the--
They were even on that last, uh, the year--
-Is that what I know you-- -So, so,
-first home, they were square.
-[DiMango] Yeah. -[Acker] Second home, he paid everything,
and he stopped paying until March.
So December, January, February, he paid $900.
March, her ledger shows $20.
But, you know, if we credit him for that $1,000.
-Right. -That's a credit towards April.
-Yeah. -Right, then you're talking May and June,
and that's the time when the relationship started to sour.
I would not be interested in giving her anything above and beyond.
But let me ask you both this. What evidence of toxicity did we get?
Because I took pains.
-I know you did. -I said give me your best shot.
And we don't let people out of leases
just because they have arguments with their girlfriends
-and sleep on the couch. -He didn't want to say...
the heavy feeling you get walking in that house.
-[DiMango] It's almost cruel. -It's a-- The stress
that you feel walking in that house.
It's not just that he felt, but sleeping on the couch.
She didn't dispute that.
Can I just say one thing about that?
She said her daughter didn't even want to come to court to see him.
-That's-- -So, if the daughter--
-She doesn't want to see her ex. -The point is we were gonna force them
to all stay in the same house?
I mean, think about what we're suggesting if we say,
you're in an up-and-down relationship, you move out,
and so we're just going to leave the person who you left on the hook.
I don't think that's what we're saying. We're saying under these circumstances,
we have a mother who brings in a boyfriend to help get a rental,
charges him over and above what he should be paying,
-has a daughter-- -Well-- I mean, I--
I'm sorry to interrupt.
You can say what he should be paying, but he's a grown man.
-He's 32, he's not 12. -But you're asking--
-Fair enough, fair enough. -This is my reasons
why I am not comfortable giving her anything,
and accepting the fact that he should be not responsible
for anything at this point with regard to rent.
Where are you, Adam?
'Cause we don't have a verdict.
If he moved out July 3rd, I'm going to credit his testimony
with the relationship got sour the month before that, that would be June.
So I would say that he would not be responsible for June, July, August,
September, October, November, December.
So you're taking basically the same position I'm taking.
It's untenable to live in a home where it's just too uncomfortable.
It's too uncomfortable for her to even show up and see him.
So I say June 1st.
-That's-- -And I say August 1st.
-I say nothing. -And you say nothing
because of the untenable position that was in.
-Yeah, because-- -The untenable position--
-You think starts in June. -June 1st.
And I'm crediting his testimony with that.
And the mother's testimony.
June, July, August, September, October, November, December.
So, five months is what we're saying in the courtroom
is what he would owe in back rent.
But not future rent?
Five months minus the $1,000 that he gave.
-Basically four months' rent. -So he would owe four months' rent?
He would owe four months, which would be
-three thousand. -[Acker] Three thousand, six hundred.
-Right. -I don't think she's entitled to anything.
I'll compromise to give for the 3,600.
-So you two now are on the same page. -[Acker] Now we have a verdict
and a dissent, $3,600.
-$3,600. -Very good.
[dramatic music playing]
Court is back in session. I remind both parties, you're still under oath.
-[Acker] Thank you, Byrd. -Mm-hmm.
Uh, we've deliberated. We've reached a verdict.
Our verdict is not unanimous.
Judge DiMango is dissenting from this verdict
because she thinks that when things became so toxic
between the defendant and your daughter
that it's just unfair, unequitable.
And that he essentially was constructively evicted long before he moved out.
So she does not join in this verdict.
Judge Levy and I do believe that you have some legal obligation to the plaintiff.
And I will say that my colleagues actually made some very good points for you
because they reminded me that you were sleeping on a couch for 30 days,
during which time I became convinced that it's not fair
to hold somebody to the full amount of rent
when they can't even use the bedroom that they're paying for.
But we've looked at the lease and we conclude
that we are only going to hold you liable for the rent through June
because it was after that period that you can't even sleep in your bedroom,
and that you ultimately moved out.
We also credit your testimony that you gave the plaintiff $1,000.
I note, ma'am, you didn't dispute it. You just said, "I don't recall."
So we're crediting you with that $1,000
and it is therefore the judgment of this court
that you pay the plaintiff $3,600.
That's our verdict. Everybody be well.
-[gavel bangs] -[Byrd] This case is now concluded.
Parties are excused. You may step out.
I figured if I can help them, help them.
I paid the Wi-Fi, the water, the trash, the renters insurance,
the move-in costs.
Just the whole "whose is what" and "what is where"
and "how much is this" and "how much is that,"
it just became way too financially difficult.
No more roommates. No.
It just got really bad.
[narrator] Got family drama?
Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
Find us on social media at TribunalJustice.
[theme music playing]