Judge Judy's "Section 8" question (10-14)
Ahhhh....this was the case on Oct 14 of Cheryl Logan suing her former landlord Robin 'Robbie' Daniels for moving expenses, false restraining order, etc. The landlord countersued for harassment (of course).
Ms. Logan was renting a California five bedroom / 3 bathroom home from Daniels, for about $670 a month. Yep, you read that right. She moved into a 3900 sf home with "five bedrooms and three bathrooms and a big front yard and a big back yard" in which she pays $385 per month. Yep, you read that right too.
But here's what really bothered me about this case from the beginning:
Now, before Logan was asked by Judge Judy how much she paid in rent (at Daniels' home), Judge Judy asked her "Is this a Section 8 subsidized home?"
Why in the world would Judge Judy ask her that? It's not like she asks every tenant who stands in front of her for the past 20 years: "Is this a Section 8 subsidized home/apartment?"
All the woman said was she rented (for nearly 2 years) a 5 br/3 ba home from Daniels. She never said how much the rent was, nor did she say if she was employed or not, living alone or with others, etc. She did ask Logan if she was all caught up on her rent the day she left, and Logan responded yes - to which she then asked Daniels, and she responded yes (though sometimes she was a few days late).
Then JJ asked her (jumped to the conclusion) if she was a Section 8 tenant. Why?
Now before anyone says "it must have been in her sworn statement, or the landlord said it was in her statement, etc." keep in mind Judge Judy didn't reference it that way, as she has done in the past. She didn't say "According to your sworn statement, you are subsidized through section 8" or "According to Miss Daniels, this was a section 8 property..." nothing like that which would have indicated she knew the background of the property before the case started. That is how she has always done it in the past when it is indeed a Section 8 property. She always references facts in their statement.
Yet she asked Logan point-blank: "Is this a Section 8 subsidized home?" to which Logan responded 'yes'. THEN Judge Judy asked how much was her portion of the rent.
Later on, Daniels volunteered the information that Logan's rent was less in the new home because other people had moved out (that were previously living with her in Daniels' home) so her 'collective income' went down - and the government's portion went up.
"Splodey heads keep splodin' " - Sarah Palin, 7-1-16