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00:00It's dogs, urinated everywhere.
00:09It resulted in a mold problem all over the house.
00:12They never peed inside, ever.
00:14You don't know how horrific that situation is.
00:18You call her some really nasty names.
00:20Freaking imbecile.
00:21Ninkum-poo.
00:22Idiot.
00:23You have this arrogant, pompous, self-righteous attitude.
00:27Outrageous.
00:28Now, on Tribunal Justice.
00:53Today's case was filed in San Jose, California.
00:57Justice case number 2053 on the calendar
01:00in the matter of Shue versus Bueno.
01:03Thank you, Byrd.
01:04Mm-hmm.
01:05You're welcome.
01:06Parties have been sworn in.
01:07You may be seated.
01:08Ms. Shue, you rented your home to the defendant.
01:11Yes.
01:12And you say that his dogs urinated everywhere.
01:15It resulted in a mold problem on your property.
01:18And you also had to replace the flooring.
01:21Yes.
01:22And you are suing him for $9,433.
01:25Yes.
01:26And you tell us that you had the home professionally cleaned.
01:29You owe her nothing.
01:30And, in fact, this is just a big money grab on her part.
01:34Ms. Shue, you rented the house to the defendant
01:38on the same day that you closed the house.
01:40Mm-hmm.
01:41Purchase price was $1.85.
01:43And what was your rent, sir?
01:44$5,200 a month.
01:45Yes?
01:46Uh, yes, Your Honor.
01:47Now, you have two dogs.
01:48Let's see the dogs.
01:50They are very handsome animals.
01:52You knew the dogs were going to be there, right?
01:54Yes.
01:55And you did that well for everybody.
01:57In fact, I noticed from the evidence,
01:59because you did submit quite a lot of it, both of you did,
02:01that there were times when you would email him
02:0310, 15 days before the rent was due
02:06and say, you're going to pay the rent, like on the 19th.
02:08She would demand the money from me all the time early
02:11because, supposedly, her mortgage payment
02:13she wasn't able to make until I made the payment.
02:16And she would consistently, every month, ask me
02:19and say, Kevin, have you sent the money?
02:21Kevin, have you sent the money?
02:22And I'm like, check your account.
02:24I got it.
02:25I got that.
02:26No, no, no.
02:27OK, everybody's going to stop right now
02:29because we have seen all of this evidence.
02:32And you did, in fact, ma'am, often ask him for rent
02:36well before it was due.
02:37I saw it.
02:38I saw the text messages.
02:39So I don't think that he's testifying untruthfully there.
02:42Let's get to what you claim is the basis of the damage.
02:46Let's look at Exhibit 8.
02:48And so these are the images of the dog urine
02:52that remained on the property after the defendant moved out.
02:55Is that right, ma'am?
02:56Yes.
02:57After he moved out.
02:58After he did a professional clean.
02:59I visit the home.
03:00There's a really strong, nauseous dog urine smell
03:03all over the house on the first floor
03:05and also on the second floor.
03:07Tell me, where were these pictures taken?
03:10Where in your home are these rooms?
03:12Yes.
03:13Where's the pee?
03:14The first one is a family room.
03:15So family room, living room, master bedroom.
03:18And now, where was the mold located in your home?
03:21So mold was located, marked in all these red,
03:24outlined in all these rooms.
03:27So the living room, dining room, family room,
03:31and the master bedroom on the second floor.
03:33All the red outlines that the mold was detected
03:37by the mold inspector company.
03:39Got it.
03:40Mr. Bueno, is there any dispute that your dogs
03:42maybe sometimes had a little accident in the house?
03:46My dogs obviously are two big dogs.
03:49They were super well trained.
03:51And they are super obedient.
03:53I walk them without a leash because they're so obedient.
03:56They never peed inside, ever.
03:58And you could see on the second picture,
04:00there's two lines from where my couch was.
04:03So when I moved in, that couch never moved.
04:06And there's no way my dogs would ever pee
04:08on the couch like that.
04:09I am with you on dogs usually not peeing on furniture,
04:14especially if it's furniture that they sit on.
04:16I'm not with you.
04:17And I just got to say, I don't believe you.
04:19I've had well-trained dogs.
04:20They have accidents sometimes inside.
04:22And you know why I know that to be true
04:24is because of some very good evidence
04:26that you yourself presented.
04:28Because Ms. Hsu, your property had suffered
04:31some pretty extensive damage to your fence.
04:33Yes?
04:34Yes.
04:35And I believe you said, sir, that it was harder
04:38for your dogs to do their business outside
04:40because they had to go through like
04:42this apocalyptic nightmare.
04:44Correct?
04:45Correct.
04:46So I'm going to just say, I think that there
04:48was probably a little pee in the house.
04:50But, ma'am, I don't know that I'm convinced
04:54that you have made the case that these remnants
04:58of urine necessarily caused mold.
05:02Where is your mold report?
05:04The inspection company asked me to pay
05:06for the $1,000 for that report,
05:08even though they came and I have a text message.
05:10Well, I'm sorry that it was going to be costly,
05:12which means we don't have anything from you
05:14that would demonstrate the causal connection
05:17between the urine and the mold.
05:19We do ourselves, however, have an expert on hand.
05:24There we go.
05:26Good afternoon, Mr. Andrade.
05:28Could you tell us what you do for a living, please, sir?
05:30I'm a property inspector and also
05:32a mold inspector as well.
05:34And how long have you been a mold inspector?
05:36About almost eight years.
05:38Have you ever encountered a situation
05:40where mold resulted from dog urine or dog waste?
05:44Have you seen anything like that before?
05:46No, I have not.
05:48Have you had a chance to view
05:50the plaintiff's photographs
05:52of the alleged mold that existed on her property?
05:54As looking at the pictures,
05:56I know one of them,
05:58it looks like it was an exterior photo,
06:00maybe like through a patio slider door.
06:02Based on the location of where
06:04the possible mold growth is growing,
06:06it seems like it's some kind of moisture intrusion
06:08from the exterior or a possible roof leak.
06:10I don't think it's pet urine.
06:12Very unlikely.
06:14Very unlikely is your expert opinion.
06:16Based on your review of the photographs,
06:18are you able to offer an opinion
06:20as to how long the mold has existed on the property?
06:22Mold takes a while.
06:24It has to be in the right conditions.
06:26I'm looking at the photos right now
06:28and it seems like there's quite a bit of it
06:30throughout these areas where the photos were taken.
06:32So it didn't happen overnight.
06:34Could it have happened within a year?
06:36Or even longer.
06:38Very good. Thank you very much, sir.
06:40So, Ms. Xu,
06:42you have a problem.
06:44You cannot make the connection
06:46between the dog urine and the mold.
06:48In fact, I want to dig into a little bit
06:50of what the defendant suggests
06:52may be your motives for this lawsuit.
06:54He thinks you just can't afford the house
06:56and you need some money.
06:58No.
07:00And in fact, didn't you say that you thought
07:02that buying this house was a huge mistake?
07:04I didn't do this incident.
07:06I feel like...
07:08No, that's not quite what you said.
07:10Your words were, I regret this purchase.
07:12In fact, ma'am, when he gave you the 30-day notice,
07:14you didn't say,
07:16thank God, I gotta get you and your smelly dogs
07:18out of here.
07:20You said, no, no, no.
07:22I want you to stay till the end of the month
07:24until I can find another tenant.
07:26So the time when I visited his home,
07:28you don't know how horrific the situation is.
07:30I have to tell you, ma'am, I'm gonna stop.
07:33You are so overpoweringly of dog urine.
07:35Why were you asking him to please stay
07:37after he gave you the notice?
07:39In fact, what you said was,
07:41no, no, no, I need you to stay
07:43because I don't have another tenant.
07:45So I don't find that entirely credible.
07:47Judge Domingo.
07:49Okay, let me pause you there.
07:51Was this a brand new house that you bought?
07:53Yes.
07:55It was brand new, newly built?
07:57Oh, not a newly built, no.
07:59The house was built at the 19,
08:011978, I'm not too sure.
08:03So it's not a new house.
08:05Do you know who lived there before you?
08:07A homeowner.
08:09Since it was built?
08:11Did that person have a family, children, dogs?
08:13Do you know who the people were
08:15that lived there before?
08:17Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
08:19I'm gonna tell you what annoyed me.
08:21I went through your papers.
08:23I marked off five different times
08:25that your description
08:27of either her or yourself
08:29was outrageous.
08:36Landlord Wendy Shue is suing
08:38former tenant Kevin Bueno
08:40for over $9,000
08:42in extensive mold damage
08:44she claims was caused by his dog's urine.
08:46Kevin says Wendy is trying
08:48to squeeze every penny out of him
08:50because she can't afford the rental property.
08:52It's not a new house.
08:54Do you know who lived there before you?
08:56A homeowner.
08:58Since it was built?
09:00Did that person have a family, children, dogs?
09:02Do you know who the people were
09:04that lived there before?
09:06I'm not entirely sure.
09:08What part are you sure of?
09:10Only thing I'm very sure is
09:12four weeks before the seller
09:14put the house on the market
09:16she did a complete
09:18renovation for the house
09:20that she installed a complete new flooring
09:22new carpet
09:24and she paid us through the escrow
09:26I will take a copy
09:28of that
09:30This doesn't necessarily support your position
09:32because she might have changed the floors
09:34because there was urine
09:36and things from her pets
09:38We don't know that for sure
09:40but go on, I'm going to let you go
09:42The mold was exposed when we took out the baseboards
09:44so the baseboards and the flooring
09:46are all newly installed
09:48so let's talk about the area
09:50which is far away from the sliding door
09:52in the family room, for example, here
09:54This is where this vent is at
09:56This vent
09:58is right at here
10:00so there's no way the swimming pool
10:02or anything can go to that corner
10:04That's a return duct, so it sucks in
10:06air into the HVAC system
10:08and right behind that wall is the furnace
10:10and the water heater
10:12and the washing machine room
10:14I'm going to want to speak to you, Mr. Andrade
10:16Anything that she said here
10:18change your opinion
10:20as to whether or not the dog urine
10:22which is nowhere near outdoor area
10:24and moisture
10:26would have caused that mold to be caused by anything
10:28but something like dog urine
10:30I'm still sticking to my original story
10:32I don't think it's pet, I think it's moisture intrusion
10:34and based on what the other gentleman said
10:36about where the water is coming in
10:38I'm looking at that exact picture right now
10:40where the return for the AC is at
10:42I know he mentioned that the water heater is on the other side of that wall
10:44There could be some kind of leak
10:46So you're telling me that if a dog urinated
10:48in that area for a period of three months
10:50that that would not cause mold
10:52Two dogs, for instance
10:54One's a male, one's a female
10:56What does a male do when they pee?
10:58They pick up their leg
11:00You would see a remnant of urine
11:02through the wall coming down
11:04You would have that mold or mildew growth
11:06everywhere, not just exactly at the baseboards
11:08Okay, thank you, sir
11:10Now, Ms. Hsu
11:12Have you ever had any confrontations
11:14with the defendant in any way?
11:16So, there are times I wanted to visit a home
11:19Like, I have males
11:21although since he would not let me
11:23basically visit a home
11:25Okay, because I'm going to tell you what annoyed me
11:27very much
11:29I went through your papers, I marked off five different times
11:31that your description
11:33of either her or yourself
11:35was outrageous
11:37First one, Wendy is a freaking imbecile
11:39Your words
11:41She's a nincompoop
11:43She's not the sharpest tool
11:45in the shed
11:47Idiot
11:49Fifth time, and this might be your biggest mistake
11:51You say, I'm not a dick
11:53Who do you think you are
11:55referring to another individual
11:57in a lawsuit like that?
11:59Now, you lied, where did you lie?
12:01When Judge Acker said to you
12:03Did your dog ever pee in the house?
12:05You know what you said?
12:07No
12:09Never, ever
12:11And so, I'm going to read to you
12:13what you wrote in your answer
12:15Wendy wants me to pay for upgrades to her home
12:17Yes, my dogs
12:19may have peed and pooped in the house
12:21but that's because
12:23Wendy's fence came down due to high winds
12:25My dogs
12:27weren't able to use their doggy door
12:29at night
12:31We took them out in the daytime
12:33but they were used to being able to go
12:35when they needed to
12:37at night
12:39So your position is, your dogs were used to going at night
12:41but since they couldn't go through the doggy door
12:43they decided to utilize the home
12:45as their new indoor toilet
12:47and you have this arrogant, pompous
12:49self-righteous attitude
12:51and demean her and put her down
12:53when meanwhile, the person in here
12:55who's blatantly lying
12:57is you
12:59Judge Levy
13:01Ma'am, prior to closing on the house
13:03in September of 2022
13:05you had a home inspection done, correct?
13:07The home inspection report
13:09was done through the escrow
13:11Did you do a walkthrough of the home before you bought it?
13:13Yes, I walked through the home
13:15Home is definitely a gorgeous home
13:17Okay, we're not going to talk about pictures
13:19we're not going to talk about gorgeous home
13:21We're talking about the inspection report
13:23What do you claim that the home inspection report said about the home?
13:25It was pristine, it was in great condition
13:27Yes
13:29You're suing him for $10,000
13:31You know that you want to prove that the house was in pristine condition
13:33when you bought it
13:35and you know the best evidence of that
13:37would be the home inspection report
13:39Right? So where is it?
13:41Why didn't you bring it?
13:45You sure you want to give it to me?
13:47Yes
13:49When was the last time you looked at it?
13:51I looked at it several times before I came to the court
13:53Most people who do this don't end up well
13:55Hold on
13:57Whoa!
13:59The wood members under the crawl space
14:01show evidence of water damage
14:03Hold on, we're not done
14:05I'm going to have fun now because it's late in the day
14:07Keep in mind, we're not
14:09Yeah
14:11And now we know one of the reasons why
14:13you didn't give it to us
14:15is because the home inspection report
14:17indicated that there was already water infiltration
14:19Is that what you thought, Mr. Expert?
14:21Water intrusion
14:23Water damage, wood members under crawl space
14:29Roofing, leaks were noted in the downspouts
14:31or gutters on the front
14:33There we go, and are noted from the stains
14:35Areas where the leaks have occurred
14:37That's what you said, Mr. Expert, right?
14:39Yes, sir
14:41Roofing, leaks
14:43I have a roof report here, there's no leak
14:45Stop! This is what you didn't want me to see
14:47That's why I want to see it
14:49That's where the good stuff is
14:51Missing downspouts
14:53at the front gutters
14:55You know what happens when you don't have downspouts?
14:57Mr. Expert, where does the water go?
14:59Everywhere
15:01There we go
15:04Coming up
15:06on Tribunal Justice
15:08She lied in order to get some extra money
15:10from the IRS
15:12stating that this is not a rental
15:14that this is her primary residence
15:16Right, and you deny that?
15:22Landlord Wendy Shue
15:24is suing former tenant Kevin Bueno
15:26for over $9,000
15:28in extensive mold damage
15:30she claims was caused by his dog's urine
15:33Kevin says Wendy is trying to squeeze
15:35every penny out of him
15:37because she can't afford the rental property
15:39Okay
15:41Family room is right there, right?
15:43All this area here is what you said
15:45was the mold, right?
15:47And that according to you, the only explanation
15:49from your mold people
15:51was that that mold was caused by his animals, right?
15:53Yes
15:55Why don't you tell us, sir, what is directly
15:57above that room? Hall bath?
15:59Uh, yes
16:01They're right above that room
16:03Oh, hold on, a hall bath
16:05What? There is no bathroom
16:07Hold on
16:09So, this is the second floor, right?
16:11So if we take the second floor
16:13and put it over the first floor
16:15What is above the family room?
16:17Bathroom
16:19Thank you. Now, do you remember
16:21the defendant sending you a text?
16:23You say to him
16:25I have a house inspection report
16:27Everything was working when you took over
16:30He responds, luckily you have a home warranty
16:32but yeah, oven is broken
16:34and the toilet and hall bathroom
16:36upstairs
16:38won't stop running
16:40It never happened
16:42There's only a water tank
16:44due to the lever
16:46That's what he said
16:48Here's the last thing that I'm going to ask you
16:50You got insurance for the house? You got homeowner's insurance?
16:52Yes
16:54Right. The homeowner's insurance wants to know
16:56whether it's your primary residence
16:58or whether or not it's a rental or a second home
17:00because it's more money
17:02for homeowner's insurance on a rental
17:04and it's more money on a homeowner's insurance
17:06on a second home
17:08Where am I going with this, sir? Why don't you tell us?
17:10Upon me signing our lease agreement
17:12she made it very clear to me
17:14that I would not be moving into the property
17:16unless I lied and said
17:18I was part of her family
17:20and it was a primary residence
17:22and she lied in order to get
17:24some extra money from the IRS
17:27stating that this is not a rental
17:29that this is her primary residence
17:31Right. And you deny that?
17:33Great. Page 10 of your text
17:35Kevin, you screwed me
17:37I have told you not to mention you are tenants or renters
17:39Stop!
17:41But tell people you are part of the extended family
17:43my brother-in-law
17:45I got nothing further
17:47We are going to retire to deliberate at this time
17:49Court now stands in recess
17:51Parties are excused
17:57What's interesting about this case
17:59is that initially
18:01it just seems like she's missing critical evidence
18:03like a mold report
18:05If you want to prove mold
18:07you have to come to court with a mold report
18:09but it's even a little more insidious
18:11because she wasn't just missing evidence
18:13she actually tried to conceal evidence
18:15that would point to other bases
18:17for her damage
18:19This is such an easy dismissal
18:21I don't have anything else to say
18:23No, I mean pretty clear
18:26He is really a very patient tenant
18:28with regard to all of the damages
18:30She knew nothing about this place
18:32She got it, rented it
18:34had no idea
18:36So the bottom line here is
18:38she's not entitled to any money
18:40for the carpet or the mold
18:42I don't want people to think
18:44that I was just too nasty with her
18:46No, who would think that?
18:48I don't want people to think that
18:50and to encourage them not to think that way
18:52I just want to bring up one fact between us
18:54but she made it very clear
18:56that the roof did not have a leak in it
18:58the roof was not leaking
19:00despite the fact that the home inspection report
19:02that I read did in fact say leaking roof
19:04On page 27 and 29
19:06of the text messages
19:08the defendant sends her
19:10photographs of the broken backyard fence
19:12where the tree limb fell down
19:14and he told the plaintiff
19:16that the neighbor wants that fence fixed
19:18and she responds
19:20quote, no money, I have to repair my roof
19:24She knew!
19:26I have to defend your vigor
19:28because I don't think that you were unnecessarily
19:30rude to her at all
19:32Look, she's bringing a lawsuit
19:34as you pointed out, trying to get $10,000
19:36that she knows she wasn't entitled to
19:38so if a tongue lashing is what is needed
19:40to drive the point home, lash away
19:42No, I'm good, I'm good
19:44Are we ready?
19:46We're unanimous
19:50Court is back in session
19:53Please be reminded, you're still under oath
19:55Thank you Bert
19:57We have deliberated and we've reached a unanimous verdict
19:59Mr. Bueno, you said some unkind things
20:01in your answer
20:03but in the main, you were a very good tenant
20:05you paid your rent on time
20:07when your landlord, the plaintiff
20:09didn't have money or funds to complete certain
20:11repairs or do necessary maintenance
20:13you paid for them
20:15and you were lucky, ma'am
20:17to find a tenant like this
20:19You know, it was not hard
20:22It became clear that not only
20:24did you not have certain evidence
20:26you were in fact trying to
20:28conceal material facts
20:30that would be detrimental to your case
20:32and this was really unfair
20:34It's not a good use of court time
20:36and it's not a good use of his time
20:38Your case is dismissed
20:40That's the unanimous verdict of the court
20:42This case is now concluded
20:44Parties are excused, you may step out
20:48The home inspection only mentioned
20:50the one thing, that's why I didn't get
20:52a chance to respond to that
20:54I think she got what she had going for her
20:56There's never a bathroom leak
20:58or a toilet leak
21:00I shouldn't fix other people's problems
21:02He damaged my carpet
21:04I ended up finding another property and I moved
21:06and yeah, I bought a property
21:08I don't have anything else, anything to say
21:10I'm just very disappointed
21:12Did someone destroy your property?
21:14Let Tribunal Justice
21:16decide your case
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