02x13 - Checks and Balances and Roommate Fallout

[bunniefuu]

Now I want you to tell me
why you forged her name to checks.

Because she asked me to do this.

She said to you,
"forge my name to a check"?

Yes.

She was saying she was gonna
put me in jail.

For forgery!

Duh.

[Narrator]
This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[Narrator] Leslie Rapp is suing
her former friend and handyman,

Brandon Hall, for check fraud
and filing a false restraining order.

[Bailiff]
Court, come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, everyone.

- [bailiff] Hello, Judge.
- [Judy] Hi.

Case number 2046, Rapp versus Hall.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

Miss Rapp, not a very difficult case.

The Defendant was a friend of yours,
slash, did some work for you.

It's not really relevant how you met him,
it was sort of through a social situation.

And it is your claim
that over a period of time,

Mr. Rapp forged your signature
to several checks?

Correct.

And then, when confronted by the fact
that you've discovered these forgeries

and asked him for money,
he filed a restraining order against you

to keep you away from him.

And you say that the restraining order
was a false one

and you want to be compensated
for having to deal with that?

I do, I missed work.

Just a second. So, I'm gonna deal with
the restraining order first.

When did you file a restraining order,
Mr. Hall?

I believe it was the 17th of July.

- Of this year.
- [Brandon] Yes, ma'am.

So, not too long ago.

I'd like to see the paperwork
that you filed in support,

- All of it?
- [Judy] just the paperwork

that you gave to the court
in support of your restraining order.

Why you were asking for
a restraining order.

- Okay.
- [Judy] Don't tell me.

Is that what you filed with the court?

- Yes.
- [Judy] I'd like to see.

So, let's just be clear.

You filed all these documents
with the court

when you asked for a restraining order?

- Yes.
- [Judy] Okay.

Yeah, I've read some of the text messages.

And you're aware of
what the text messages say?

Yes.

[Judy]
I assume you're aware of what they say.

- Uncross your hands.
- Oh, yes, ma'am.

And that part of your application
for damages

as a result of filing
a false restraining order, is denied.

You can't even suggest in a text message

that you're going to do something violent

in order to get him to pay money
that you owe. Do you understand that?

- I do.
- [Judy] Okay. So...

Although the restraining order
was dismissed.

It doesn't matter.
I'm telling you I've read it,

and some of your text messages
sound threatening.

- I was angry.
- [Judy] I understand you were angry.

The question is not whether he
should be granted a restraining order,

I don't have to deal with that.
I have to deal with the fact

that in the text messages,
you make certain threats...

"What if..." "I could..."
And all that transpired at a time

when the Defendant
reconciled with his wife and family.

So, as I said,
as a result of reading your text messages,

I believe that Mr. Hall
had the right to feel threatened

and to file for a restraining order.

Whether the court that heard
the application for a restraining order

felt that your behavior warranted
a restraining order is another thing,

but I can understand why
he would file a restraining order

to try to keep you away
from him and his family.

Oh, yes, ma'am. Sorry.

Great! Now, I want you to tell me
why you forged her name to checks.

- Because she...
- [Judy] $8,800 worth of checks.

Now, you had the right
to file a restraining order.

Because she asked me to do this.

Because she asked you
to forge her name to the checks?

- Yes.
- [Judy] Okay.

I want you to tell me when
the first time she asked you

to forge her name to a check.

Um...

And I assume, just like
you've kept all these documents...

Yes, ma'am.

You have a document to show me just one.

Because if you show me one,
I would tend to think that there are more.

So, just show me one where she
said to you, forge my name to a check.

Take the money out and
forge my name to a check.

Don't say anything, just show me.

Don't shake your head, it's annoying.

I believe this is the first one.

Okay, so in that one,
she asks you to sign...

Well, I... Maybe.

- What are you showing me?
- The check.

I don't want to see the check.

You know how you kept these text messages

that you texted back and forth
and back and forth?

I want you to show me
'cause you're methodical,

one time, out of the six, seven times
that you forged her name to checks,

show me one time where she said to you,

in a text message, in an Instagram,
in a pigeon note,

where she said to you,
"Take out a check from my checkbook

and forge my name to it
because I want you to have money."

- I don't have something like that, no.
- [Judy] Of course not.

Now, the first time you forged her name
to a check was what month and year?

I believe that it was December 9th.

- Of 2021.
- [Brandon] Yes, ma'am.

And what were you and Miss Rapp
engaged in at that time

that she told you
to forge your name to a check?

Okay, so I'm an electrician,
and I've been an electrician for 13 years.

I've been doing side work
all around my county.

And there's a handful of liquor stores
that trust me that I can go

and cash personal checks that
I get paid for doing my side work.

- Miss Rapp knew that and...
- Don't tell me what she knew.

Okay. All right.

So, she would be locked out of
her account for one reason or the other.

And she would ask me,
like, on a Friday,

she wouldn't be able
to get access or money.

And I knew she had money...

[Judy] Well, she couldn't
get access to her money.

These weren't your checks you wrote out?
You wrote out her checks.

It'd be frozen out
whether you went to take out money

or she went to take out money.

Right. Also, on a Friday,

the liquor store would not
deposit these checks until Monday,

so I cash these checks for her
to give her cash.

[Judy]
Did you ever have sex with the plaintiff?

No.

Do you think she wanted
to have a relationship with you?

I think so. I don't know.

[Judy]
Okay. What makes you think so?

[Brandon]
Well, the...

- The text message that she sent to.
- The text message.

- And who is Robert?
- He's her ex boyfriend.

- [Judy] And do you know Robert?
- [Brandon] I do.

How do you know Robert?

I've known Robert for 20 years,
we've been friends.

And when did you start doing work
for the Plaintiff?

Before or after Robert?

- [Brandon] Uh...
- "Uh" is not an answer.

- It was after.
- [Judy] It was after?

- Yes.
- [Judy] Okay.

Give me an idea of when...

You've cashed the first check
in December of 2021.

Give me some idea of when you were
aware of the fact

that the Plaintiff and your dear friend
of 20 years were no longer an item.

- Um...
- [Judy] "Um" is not an answer.

I don't know what...what month
he was arrested.

Uh, so... June?

Arrested for? Arrested for?

I don't know his charges.

- I don't believe that.
- Okay.

I want to see,
only with those forged checks,

you would have put the money
in her Venmo account.

Your Honor, I don't see where I have
the ones that I deposited in her account.

These seem to all be her
depositing into my account.

Duh.

- You were happy she left?
- No, ma'am.

- You wanted her to stay?
-No, ma'am.

- Then you were happy she left.
- No.

Then you're a masochist.

Somehow, you want to live with somebody...

You want to live with somebody
who's messy,

floods your apartment weren't a good fit,
and yet, you were happy with that.

[theme music playing]

[Narrator] Leslie Rapp claims her
former friend and handyman, Brandon Hall,

forged her checks and filed
a false restraining order against her.

Brandon says he had Leslie's permission
to write the checks.

I'm just telling you, I don't believe that
you don't know the charges

of somebody who you were friendly with
for 20 years and who was arrested.

I don't believe that you don't know
because it belies credulity.

- Okay?
- That's fine.

So, before your dear friend of 20 years
was arrested,

did you ever cash any checks for her?

- No.
- After Robert was arrested?

Yes. Did you ever do any work for her
before Robert was arrested?

- No.
- When did you and your wife separate?

Month and year?

Maybe February of '21.

And were you still together with Robert
in February of 2021?

Yes.

And when did you and the lovely Robert
separate?

Robert was removed from my life
August 11th of '21.

The Defendant acknowledges in his answer

that he forged your name,

not only your name, your signature,
but wrote out checks,

actually wrote out in his own handwriting
checks in the amount of $8,800?

Yes.

And he acknowledges that, but he says
they were because you asked him to.

Or was for work he did for you,
those were your answers, right?

No, these checks were not for any jobs
that I did for her,

they were strictly to get access
to some of her money

during the weekends and stuff.

And then when she was out of town,
as well.

Get her access to her money.
And when she was out of town,

When she was out of town...

If you cashed her checks when she
was out of town, how did she get money?

I Venmo-ed the money to her.

Okay, so that you have a record of,
that you Venmo-ed the money to her?

Yes, on some of...

I'd like to see it.

Here you go.

Here's all the Venmo deposits.
Her sending me money...

To her. No, no, just a second.
Try not to confuse me, I'm an old person.

I want to see only the monies,

'cause she's gonna show me
the checks that you forged

and contemporaneously,
which is a close period of time,

with those forged checks, you would've
put the money in her Venmo account.

- On a couple of different occasions, yes.
- [Judy] Okay, just a second.

Just show me those cases.

She's gonna take out the checks
that you forged,

and those checks should coincide,
date-wise with the Venmo transactions.

- Am I doing that right? Venmo.
- Venmo. Yes.

Uh, Your Honor, I don't see where I have
the ones that I deposited in her account.

These seem to all be her depositing
into my account.

- Duh.
- [Brandon] Yeah, so...

Okay. So, let us understand this,
Miss Rapp.

Did you ever give him permission?
The answer is yes or no.

- No.
- [Judy] Did you file a police report?

- Yes, I did.
- [Judy] You did?

I'd like to see a copy
of the police report.

Then, we're in good shape.

Mr. Hall, how many weekly payments
did you make to her on Friday?

I have a list of that from...

From February?

This is from Mrs. Rapp in...

[Judy] No, I'm asking you. I'm asking you.

How many payments did you make

for writing these unauthorized checks
to her?

Seven. Seven.

And what was the total amount
of those checks?

Thirty-seven hundred.

Why in the world would you pay her $3,700?

If you could look in those messages,
I was being...

[chuckles] She was saying
she was gonna put me in jail

- for doing things...
- For forgery!

- Okay. Right.
- [Judy] For forgery.

And you asked her not to and you said,
I'll pay you back.

- [Brandon] Right.
- [Judy] Right.

I'll pay you back.
Just give me some time.

I have two kids to support.
Is that what you said to her?

Yes.

$8,800. Judgment for the Plaintiff.
We're done here.

[Bailiff]
Court is adjourned.

Well, I'm happy about the outcome
because...

I think it's bogus, man.

I really need the money.

Because she started all this craziness
as soon as I went back to my wife.

There was never a relationship
between the two of us.

After that, when she started
doing all this

is when I went and
filed for a restraining order.

He did that as a direct retaliation
for the police report I filed.

She's gonna have to call somebody else.

It's definitely time for a new handyman.

Just a casual note,

I have been with my husband,
your grandfather, for almost 50 years,

and we each have a bank account,
and then we have a joint bank account.

I have never, either asked him
or given him permission

- to sign my signature to a check.
- Yep.

He has never asked, or given me permission

to sign his signature
on one of his checks.

Now, we may ask, listen, it's busy.
I'm going to go through these checks.

We're making all these checks
out to the doorman and to Christmas time,

and whatever, and then I'll sign them.
Just doesn't happen.

- It doesn't make sense.
- [Judy] Right.

And so what it is, is to any job that
you do, whether it's a lawyer or a judge,

you bring with you your own
common sense in your own life's history.

I hope that that works,
'cause I cannot imagine somebody saying,

write out a check for yourself.

I don't know you, we're not involved,
we're not married, whatever,

go help yourself to a check and
write it out. I can't imagine.

Case number 2029, McCray versus Onwuaka.
All parties, please, step forward.

[Narrator] Brittany McCray
is suing her former roommate,

Lulu Onwuaka, for a rental deposit,
moving costs, and lost wages.

Miss McCray,
you were looking for a room,

And you rented a room
in Defendant's apartment.

It didn't work out.

You were unhappy, she was unhappy,
you moved out,

and now you want
the return of rent, deposit,

moving costs, lost wages,
and emotional distress.

She also said, didn't work out.
We didn't like each other.

It just wasn't a good fit.
So, you were happy she left.

That's either a yes or a no.
You were happy she left?

No, ma'am.

You weren't happy, you wanted her to stay?

No, ma'am.

[Judy]
Then you were happy she left.

No, ma'am, I wasn't happy she left.

[quietly] Oh, let me see. Let's see.

Okay. This is what you say.
Brittany, that would be you?

Yes.

This is your answer: "Was messy,
played loud music,

brought friends in unannounced,
damaged the washing machine

which flooded our apartment,

and without consent,
offered to adopt someone's dog.

After that, I let her know
we weren't a good fit

and would not be renewing her lease."

- No.
- [Judy] That's what you said.

We'll not be renewing the lease
for the apartment.

No, it doesn't matter.
I just read you something.

I read you your answer now,
does that sound somebody

that was happy with their roommate?
I define happiness for myself.

I've lived in co-living where I've
had to live with people I do not like.

[Judy] What?

And make it work,
is what I'm trying to say.

- So, that wasn't the issue.
- No. No.

The damage she's referring
to was actually

me attempting to change the locks
on the door.

Lock on the door?

I was trying to change the lock
because during my time away,

all of my belongings
were still in the property.

Did you damage the door?

[theme music playing]

[Narrator] Brittany McCray claims
her former roommate, Lulu Onwuaka,

owes for a rental deposit,
moving costs, and lost wages.

Lulu is countersuing for
property damage and storage fees.

Brittany was messy, played loud music,
brought friends in unannounced,

she damaged the washing machine,
flooded the apartment

and without my consent,
offered to adopt someone's dog.

After that,
I let her know we weren't a good fit

and wouldn't be renewing the lease.

That's what you wrote.
Do you want me to show that to you?

No, you are right.
And that is what I wrote.

Absolutely. Well, then, I don't know why
you have a passive aggressive attitude

'cause I'm the only one
who's passive aggressive.

Then, you were happy she left?

- No.
- [Judy] Okay, well, you're ridiculous.

Then, then, you're a masochist.

Somehow you want to live with somebody...
You want to live with somebody

who's messy, loud,
floods your apartment,

weren't a good fit,
and yet, you were happy with that.

- And I don't have to define happiness.
- Yes.

I know that if I lived with somebody
who was messy, sometimes loud.

Okay. To each his own.

He broke the dishwasher
and flooded the apartment

because they put regular soap instead
of dishwashing soap

into the apartment,
then it sort of bubbles all over.

[all laugh]

Now, unless I was either
married to that person

or they were one of my family,
I wouldn't be happy with them.

If I had a tenant like that, I would say,
"Oh, my God, what did I get myself into?

I want out of this."
But you were happy.

- No, I wasn't.
- [Judy] Then you weren't happy.

- Yeah.
- [Judy] Perfect.

That's what I asked you.
You coulda saved me all this dramatics.

All right, so there we go.
You were living in a room.

- [Brittany] Yes.
- You paid a month's rent.

- I did.
- Okay. How much rent did you pay?

I paid $1,300 and a $300 deposit.

And you lived there for about a month?

I lived there for 26 days.

And things didn't work out. You had
a big argument with her, back and forth.

As a matter of fact, according
to you, you left for a couple of days.

I did.

Yes, because you were unhappy there
and felt threatened,

felt uncomfortable, whatever it was.

So, you left for a couple of days.
And when you came back,

what was your intention
when you came back?

- So...
- No, look... Not so. Look at me.

You left because you were unhappy.
You came back.

What was your intention
when you came back?

I never left because I was unhappy.

I left because I was evicted
from the property by the Defendant.

Just a second. So you didn't leave
the apartment after this disagreement?

- Yes.
- [Judy] You did?

- I did.
- [Judy] Okay. Where did you go?

I actually stayed with my friend.

- So you left?
- Yes.

[Judy]
On what date?

I left on June 1st.

You left the residence
and stayed with your friend?

Yes.

And you stayed with your friend
after the argument?

- Yes.
- Why?

[Brittany]
I'm able to provide some backstory on...

I don't need any backstory,
I'm just trying to get to a mindset

of why the two of you think that
you have a lawsuit against each other.

Why do you bother wasting your own time,
wasting precious court time,

Mm-hmm.

when you weren't happy in the apartment,
you paid for a month's rent.

Certainly you're entitled
to your security back

if you caused no damage to the apartment.

You lived there practically a month and
you're not entitled to any more money

'cause she didn't give you 30 days notice,
because you were just as happy

- that she left.
- She abandoned properties.

- [Judy] What?
- She had abandoned properties.

- Okay.
- [Brittany laughs]

She damaged the door and I
lost my deposit, as well, because of that.

- I was...
- Just a second. Damaged what door?

- [Lulu] So, um...
- No, not "so." Damaged what door?

That's a door. An outer door?

- Door to her room?
- Yes.

- The door to her room?
- Yes, she did that.

[Judy]
Do you have a photograph of the damage?

- Yes, I do.
- [Judy] I'd like to see it.

Please bear with me.
I'm gonna find it quickly.

The damage she's referring to
was actually me

attempting to change the locks
on the door.

I left after I had been informed
by the Defendant...

So you acknowledge the door
was damaged

while you were trying to
change the lock on the door?

I was trying to change the lock
because during my time away,

all of my belongings
were still in the property, correct.

Listen to me. Did you damage the door?

No, the door knob was removed,
but the door is not damaged.

- The lock was removed.
- The lock was removed.

[Judy]
All right, I'd like to see.

So the Defendant would
no longer have access to my room.

So which she actually did
enter my room while I was away.

I left because the Defendant actually
informed me that I would need to get out

by that date. After requesting
a full month of rent,

despite me not having
even lived in the property

for the original month of rent
that I had paid for.

I don't care. If she can show me
the damaged door

and how much it was to repair it,

and I want to see how much it was
to repair it.

I don't have how much it was,
but here is the lease agreement,

and we paid $2,900 to be here
for security deposit.

Oh, she just took this out?
That's nonsense, that's nothing.

Ma'am, I wasn't able to
get my deposit back.

[Brittany]
The agreement that I have is $700 back.

- [Judy] Understand this.
- Okay.

This is not damage to the door.
She took out a cylinder.

All you have to do is put it back.
Unless you have a receipt

for somebody putting it back,
you get nothing. You get nothing.

It's a maintenance request
at the property.

I didn't ask you a question. You're
entitled to your $300 security back.

That wasn't the security. That was for key
and cleaning, and she was aware of it.

$300 security deposit.

By the way, are you allowed
to sublet rooms in your apartment?

- Hey! That's a yes or no.
- No. No.

- Just a... Hey!
- [pounds on desk]

- Don't look down.
- [Lulu muttering] No.

So the answer is, you are not allowed
to sublet rooms in your apartment.

- Yes.
- [Judy] Okay.

Yes, you are not allowed to sublet rooms
in your apartment.

She gets her deposit back, we're done.
Thank you very much.

[Bailiff]
This court is adjourned

I didn't concede to her requesting me

to clean out a garbage
at the apartment.

And at that point,
she lost her entire senses

and asked me to move out
of the apartment.

Always pick your roommates more carefully.

Okay, so, I don't have anywhere to go,
really, on this case

except to suggest that people
who feel good,

look like they have a job, look as if
life is otherwise okay for them,

and they move into this rental situation,
which is very difficult.

I never could understand it.
To move in with a stranger

in an apartment and just rent a room

when you don't even know
whether you're compatible,

whether you have similar interests,
similar time schedules.

I always thought that was fraught with
danger, and it keeps me in business here.

But here you have two women
that were both unhappy.

You had an unhappy tenant
and unhappy landlord.

You had a lease,
but both of them were unhappy.

It really didn't cost
either of them anything.

Plaintiff says she
didn't get 30 days notice,

so she should be compensated for $5,000,

- and her moving costs and storage.
- Storage fees, some other things.

It seemed like a wash to me,
when I read the papers.

And to have your happiness
after the end of constant struggle

or battle with each other
seemed like a win to me.

But apparently, it wasn't enough for them.

Apparently not. Well, unfortunate, but she
was entitled to her security deposit back.

She lived there for almost a month.
She paid a month's rent.

[Narrator]
Want justice?