The trailer never worked from day one.
Correct.
[announcer] Today on Tribunal Justice...
The wiring was so janky.
It's 46 years old!
Mine was the cheapest on the market.
Yours was the only one that had nothing working, that's why.
You bought a lemon tree, not just a lemon.
-Yeah. -Yeah, you kinda did.
[opening theme music plays]
[announcer] This case was filed in Caldwell, Idaho.
Your Honor, this is case #1149 on the calendar
in the matter of Barnes vs. Lemmon.
Parties have been sworn in. You may be seated.
[Adam] Thank you, Byrd. All right, Mr. Barnes.
You sold the Defendant, Mr. Lemmon, a 44-year-old Terry Trailer...
-Yes. -[Adam] ...for $2,500.
You accepted to take monthly payments from him
since he didn't have all the money up front.
He made the first several payments, and then there were problems.
Yes.
According to your complaint, he paid a total of $1,600,
and you're suing him for the balance of $900.
Yes.
Now, Mr. Lemmon, if I read your answer correctly,
you say that you owe the Plaintiff nothing. In fact, you think
he should give you back all the money that you already gave him
because the trailer never worked from day one.
Correct.
So, right off the bat, we have a discrepancy.
We have you, Mr. Lemmon, saying that you paid $1,800 in total,
and Mr. Barnes, we have you saying that he paid $1,600.
Yes.
So, what proof do you have of payment by Mr. Lemmon?
He done all his payments on Cash App.
-[Adam] Is that correct, Mr. Lemmon? -Yeah.
I think we might have that. Okay, is that it?
Yes.
Okay, so this is a document, Mr. Barnes, that you provided to the court
prior to coming in today. I've reviewed it,
and you will agree, would you not, that there are several payments
that are duplicates, like these right here.
That side; those are all duplicates from the left side, right?
The only one that's not is the top one, which is a payment
-on May 20 for $200. -Yes.
Okay, good. So, Mr. Lemmon, you add up all those numbers and that equals $1,600,
not $1,800. Do you want to amend your answer to indicate and conform it
to the proof that you were only paid $1,600 and not $1,800?
I did the math for you.
Yeah. I agree with you.
Okay. Because you, Mr. Lemmon, you have no other independent evidence
suggesting that you paid more than $1,600, do you?
I didn't bring any with me, no.
And you knew that you were coming today to court?
And you knew that as part of the evidence
that you were gonna be asked to provide evidence of payment?
I wasn't told that I had to provide evidence.
Forgetting about what you were told, you go into a courtroom,
and you're claiming that you paid $1,800, regardless of what someone told you,
you know, right, that you should've brought it, and you didn't. That's okay.
We can go on. All right, do we have a photograph of this trailer?
There we go. Hold on one second.
Okay, Mr. Barnes, is that the trailer, the 44-year-old Terry Trailer?
-Yes. -All right. Who took that photograph?
-[Matthew] I did. -Okay. When was that photograph taken?
[Matthew] Last summer.
And that's the way the trailer looked when you got it from the Plaintiff, Mr. Barnes?
-Yes. -Where was that photograph taken?
It was taken in Baker City at a RV park.
-In an RV park. -Right.
And were you living in the trailer, Mr. Lemmon?
-You were? -[Matthew] Yeah.
-At that RV park? -Yes.
When was it that you purchased the vehicle from Mr. Barnes?
It was the year prior.
So, it would've been around December of 2021,
-correct? -Correct.
So, you lived in the vehicle December, 2021, then January of '22,
February, March, April, May, June, July, August, nine months.
And that's approximately when the summer of 2022 you took the photograph.
Correct.
You were living in it for about nine months?
-Yeah. -[Adam] Okay.
Do you have a copy, Mr. Lemmon, of the agreement that you were provided?
This one that's up on the screen right now...
He never gave me a copy of it.
[Adam] Is that true, Mr. Barnes,
that you never gave the Defendant a copy of that agreement?
I sent him a picture of it, so he had it for his records.
[Adam] Mr. Lemmon, could that be true...
That could be true, he may have.
Okay. What this says, and this contract was signed in or around December of 2021,
and the provisions indicate that it's $400 a month for five months,
starting in December of 2021 until it's all paid off.
The total amount is $2,500 and it's "as is."
$2,500, right here. $2,500 "as is."
-Right? -Right.
Mr. Lemmon, when you accepted the terms and conditions of this contract,
and took possession of the trailer, you knew that you were buying it
-in an "as is" condition, right? -Correct.
You know what that means, is that it's coming just the way it is,
that there are no warranties or representations that are being made
about it other than, you got a trailer, it's 44-years-old, good luck.
-Right. -And you're an electrician, are you not?
I have been.
-[Adam] You're good with your hands. -Yeah.
So, you know that being good with your hands and being able to fix things,
that you could take just about anything that was given to you
and pretty much fix it on your own, just by buying parts.
-Correct. -[Adam] And that's why
you were willing to accept a 44-year-old trailer
that I would never, only because I'm not nearly as good fixing stuff
as I'm sure you are, but that's the reason you felt comfortable doing it.
-Correct. -[Adam] Okay.
The problem that I have is the terms of this contract
-call for five payments... -Yes.
-[Adam] ...of $400 a month. -Yes.
That's $2,000. Where does the $2,500 come from?
[Kenneth] Well, until it was paid off.
He got a hold of me, said he was struggling, he was missing work, so...
But you would agree with me, would you not, Mr. Barnes,
-that four times five equals 20. -Yes.
-And $400 times five is $2,000. -Yes.
And that contract does not say that there are gonna be five payments
of $400 plus a $500 payment. It doesn't say that.
No.
And it's somewhat ambiguous and confusing in that respect.
Yes.
And you prepared that document, right?
Yes, because I... originally he was gonna give me some money down,
but I made that contract before he was able to give me any money down.
But Mr. Lemmon, from your answer, you indicated that when
you took possession of it, that you contacted Mr. Barnes
and you said there wasn't something quite right
and he agreed to modify the price anyway.
It was $2,000, no matter what he put on the contract.
Then, after I contacted him and said nothing's working,
he's like, I'll take another $200 off.
That was verbal between the two of us.
So, you're saying that it was $1,800?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
[Matthew] This is the hot water heater.
You really can't tell, but it doesn't work at all.
Gas, power, nothing. Twelve volt doesn't work, period.
I mean, he really did sell you a pretty janky trailer. I'm sorry.
-I... Yeah, he did. -[laughing] He did.
[announcer] Kenneth Barnes is suing buyer, Matthew Lemmon,
for the balance owed on the trailer Matthew purchased.
Matthew claims certain things were broken
and Kenneth misrepresented the trailer's condition.
I tried to help you out as much as I could there, Mr. Lemmon,
by getting the Plaintiff to acknowledge that the $2,500 figure
didn't equal up to his math, and I got you down to $2,000.
If there's any way to do it any further, I'm sure Judge Acker or Judge DiMango
might be able to do something more. Judge Acker?
I'm not inclined to 'cause I think you just welched on the deal.
I'm not inclined to help you a little bit. Judge Levy:
You knew you were buying it in an "as is" condition.
Mr. Lemmon: Yes. There's your case. Why are you here?
Why didn't you pay him?
Because when I was there, and I have my witness to prove it,
he specifically said, everything in this trailer functions correctly.
Everything works. And I know I signed it "as is"...
[Tanya] Exactly. You signed an "as is" agreement.
It's a 1977 year old trailer! It's 46-years-old
and you're suggesting that somehow, it was supposed to be in perfect working order?
I took his word. Because you're supposed to be honest with people, correct?
Yeah, you're also supposed to live up to your word
and not welch on deals that you make.
He shouldn't have lied to me and told me everything worked.
So, let's talk about that, Mr. Barnes, because what the Defendant
is now suggesting is that you made affirmative misrepresentations
about the nature of the trailer. I'd even go so far as to say
that he's saying you defrauded him. Who is your witness?
This is my son, Cody.
What does he know about this transaction?
He was there with the whole thing...
[Tanya] Was he present when you exchanged the money and exchanged the trailer?
No, because all the money was through Cash App.
What did you tell Mr. Lemmon about the condition of the trailer?
I told him it's been sitting since 2017 when my mom passed.
And that there's probably gonna be some stuff wrong with it.
Because, like, the roof had a hole in it. Like, even when I put it on Craigslist,
I don't have the [indistinct] for that anymore.
It said that there was problems with it, that it is an older trailer.
I mean, it strikes me, Mr. Lemmon, that a reasonable person
would not concluded that a 46-year-old vehicle was going to work...
-Don't interrupt me, please. -Sorry.
[Tanya] It strikes me that it's not reasonable to believe that the trailer
would be in perfect working order. And more to the point,
you, with your very skilled hands and all of your knowledge
about how to fix things and make them work,
why not just look it over before you buy it?
It was in a parking lot, we couldn't plug it in.
And he assured me everything worked. I didn't expect everything to work
'cause it's 44-years-old.
Okay, so, let me stop you right there. Because when you say that
he assured you that everything worked, and I'm just taking you at face value...
There is a term in the law when you're thinking about how to consider
whether or not a claim constitutes an affirmative misrepresentation,
or whether or not a claim by a salesperson is just what's described as puffery.
-Right. Like puffery is... -Right.
...it's the most beautiful trailer in the world!
This trailer will make you happy just like it made us happy. That's puffery.
You're shifting all of the responsibility back to him
when you signed the document that says "as is."
Not when he assures me everything works.
But you yourself just said...
I know, but if you look at the inside, it looks nice.
You keep saying he assured you. And you said
right after the first time you mentioned that to me,
or one of the times you mentioned that to me, you said, but you know,
it's not like I really expected everything to work.
So, even if he told you everything worked, you knew that wasn't the case.
That is not a reasonable thing to conclude of a 46-year-old vehicle.
But I expected some things to work.
Okay, I understand you have a video. Let's look at your video.
[laughs]
I mean, he really did sell you a pretty janky trailer. I'm sorry.
-Yeah, he did. -He did,
but you know, maybe I'll end where I started,
you welched on a deal and/or maybe you just made a bad deal.
I don't know. I'm gonna talk about it with my colleagues.
Thank you. Thank you for your candor. You're a good sport. Judge DiMango?
You bought a lemon tree. Not just a lemon, you bought the whole tree.
Yep.
But I did notice you submitted a piece of evidence about a refrigerator for $2,300.
See, I would think any man with any kind of background
and who wants to tinker around with things would not be looking to spend $2,300
on a refrigerator for a trailer that's 44-years-old
for which you paid $2,500. There are many refrigerators
that are just a couple of hundred dollars that, you know, kids take
when they go away to college that you would put in there.
-Would you agree? -I agree.
[Patricia] The other thing is that you're an electrician, and you did go...
I've built trailers...
You've built them! That's what I read in his papers.
You manufacture them, you worked for them. You looked at this and you were like,
I could live to 200, I'm gonna fix this this thing
every day for the rest of my life. I'm never gonna be bored. Right?
Well, yeah.
Yeah, you kinda did. You know, I'm not gonna make the battle of the sons,
but I think your son will defend you and your son will defend you.
And they will do so with all their heart and about this much credibility
from all of us 'cause we know they love you.
So, my question is when you went there, you went twice to check it out.
What'd you do? -The second time was to pick it up.
[Patricia] Okay. But don't they have gadgets now
that you can hook up electricity without actually having electricity?
-A generator. -[Patricia] That's what they are?
Did you have a generator where you would go and plug it in and say, oh,
this doesn't work, oh, this doesn't work. And you know what he would've said to you?
What do you want for $2,000? What do you want?
What do you want, the Taj Mahal? What do you want from me?
Would you agree with that as well? That that's what he was gonna say to you.
I agree that some things should work. I mean, something...
Well, did the water go on?
When I turned it on, it just poured out the bottom of the trailer.
There you go. You didn't say you wanted it to come out of the sink, did you?
You just said, does it work? He goes, yeah, it works.
Turn it on, put a little cup under there, you got yourself a cup of water.
When was the last time you did anything with that trailer?
-It was around 2017. -[Patricia] Did you tell him that?
-Yes. -[Patricia] I think you told him.
I want this out of the driveway, it's taking up space.
Where were you living before you moved into the trailer?
I was staying in a motor home.
So, you were in another motor home.
So, you do live in it, right? You live in it now.
No, I'm living in an apartment now.
Are you gonna live there at any point in time?
-If I can get things fixed, yeah. -[Patricia] What do you need fixed?
-I need a new refrigerator. -Okay, that we figured already.
Everything, he needs everything.
I've rewired everything because the wiring was so janky, it was ridiculous...
But you had to see this when you went to look at it.
You can't see the wiring until you pull it out and plug it in.
Then you see the outlets and the light switches are wired cockeyed.
You know, if you're a dentist, the first thing you look at is somebody's teeth.
If you're an electrician, the first thing you look at is the wiring.
I should've pulled the light switches off and...
You don't go in and say, 44-years-old, I betcha this baby's really intact.
-You just don't say it. -[laughs]
Yeah, I should've pulled the light switches off...
You should've done something.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
What'd you really sell it for?
-Twenty-five hundred. -It wasn't twenty-five.
You wanted to get rid of it. You were happy with $2,000.
-Come on! -I could do $2,000.
You could do $2,000. I like to negotiate. I'm a good negotiator.
So, I'm not so sure that "as is," under these circumstances
means as you want it to be. You know, that's a hope and a prayer here.
I was just hoping something would work.
I do want to get to another point. How much was this trailer really worth?
'Cause I don't care about you. I do the multiplication in my head at home,
then when I think I'm way off, I get my little phone and I go to calculator.
-Five times $400 is $2,000. -[Kenneth] Okay.
-You wrote out a document for $2,500. -Yes.
What was the price you agreed on?
It was $2,500. He said he was gonna be able to give me $500 that day.
And then, when he didn't give it to you that day,
you just said $2,000.
I just was worried about getting it out of there.
You wanted to get rid of it. You were happy with $2,000.
Come on, you were happy with $2,000. You knew he was buying it for $2,000.
That's why you weren't so crazed over the $1,600.
So then, you bring it down $200 more, from let's just say,
wherever you were at, wherever the number was initially.
So, that brought it down to $2,300. What'd you really sell it for?
No, it was $2,500, but...
It wasn't $2,500. It was either $2,300 or something else.
But we know right now it wasn't $2,500. Are we good with $2,000 here?
-I could do $2,000. Yeah. -You could do $2,000, yeah.
I like to negotiate. I'm a good negotiator.
With the price of the housing and stuff, like, mine was the cheapest on the market.
'Cause everyone was selling theirs...
Yours was the only one that had nothing working, that's why.
I don't know what you're expecting here. Mine was cheap, didn't have an inside.
No wheels, no inside. Mine was cheap. Yes, of course.
It's like, I was selling ice in the winter and it was a good price,
it was only five cents a block. Everybody's got ice in the winter.
I don't think you were offering too much up there.
So, if you paid that, you're still short. You can't decide, at this point,
that it's only $1,600 now. And that was all you paid, $1,600.
You guys never did any math, right, in your jobs and your careers,
'cause the both of you are like all over the place.
I don't think I have any other questions.
I feel satisfied with your renegotiated price.
I just have one. So, the vehicle is in your possession, Mr. Lemmon?
-[Matthew] Correct. -Do you have the title?
-No. -Whatever decision we make today,
-Mr. Barnes, you have the title. -[Kenneth] Yes.
And to the extent that we issue a decision in your favor
and direct the Defendant to pay you the remaining amount,
you have the title today that you can sign over to him?
-[Kenneth] Yes. -I wanted to confirm that.
We're gonna retire to deliberate. Thank you.
-Thank you. -Court now stands in recess.
Parties are excused.
All right, so, uh, 44-year-old trailer, just think about that.
That trailer was built when Jimmy Carter was in the White House.
Jimmy Carter! I mean...
And you wonder that there was things that. The fridge had never been changed
in 44 years, I don't know why it wasn't working.
The hot water heater was 44... Why is it not working?
There was water, it came out through the floor.
But he assured him!
It's all good. These aren't bad guys at all.
So, in essence, we have a written contract.
It was confusing, it was not well written. The Plaintiff concedes that.
Not mathematically sound.
And the math, boy, that sent me for a loop.
So, yeah, $2,000 or $2,500. And then, you have the Plaintiff
acknowledging that he agreed to take some of the money off,
at least $200 off. I think at the end of the day,
if there's an ambiguity in the contract that goes against the drafter,
I think that, Pat, you were right on the money as far as negotiating with him.
He would take $2,000, the Plaintiff, and that's true.
He would take $2,000 and he's paid $1,600, so he's owed $400
by the Defendant. And I believe that the order should be
that the Defendant is directed to pay $400,
and then, the Plaintiff is directed to sign the title over to the Defendant.
All of that, I'm on board.
I'm on board too. And you are sure that's what you were gonna say to me.
-I think so. -Okay, done.
Court is back in session. Parties are reminded you're still under oath.
Thank you, Byrd. Mr. Barnes, Mr. Lemmon, first of all,
thank you for coming in today, being respectful,
and allowing Tribunal here to listen to the evidence and to rule on your case.
And thank you to both you boys for coming in and being prepared to testify
on behalf of the both of you. Just so you two know,
the reason why we didn't ask either of you to come up
is we had seen a copy of your statements, and there was no doubt
that you would've testified consistently with those statements.
But at the end of the day and based upon the way the law reads
when it comes to used vehicles and those specifically sold as is,
representations made by a seller to a buyer,
really don't amount to a hill of beans,
and that should act as a lesson to the both of you.
So, when you buy vehicles, and you will buy lots of them in your time,
and if it's a used one, and when it comes as is,
just remember this little episode here, do your homework,
and make sure that you're getting exactly what it is that you know you're getting.
Because if you take it, you buy it, you drive it away,
it's as is. You won't have an opportunity to argue later on.
I just wanted to make that clear.
All right. And Mr. Barnes, what do you learn from this?
Well, he who drafts a contract that is ambiguous,
-does so at his own risk. -Yeah.
[Adam] And so, in essence, you drafted a contract
that had some inconsistent math in it. I understand what you said.
It was $400 a month for five months, which is $2,000.
But the sale price is $2,500 and the Defendant was to continue paying
after the $2,000 was paid, that's confusing.
As a result, the law allows us to then look at the contract and to say,
well, what is the amount that no one can dispute?
And what no one can dispute is $2,000. And that is what we all
unanimously decided in back. And it's what you quite frankly agreed to
with respect to Judge DiMango, and it was smart.
So, the contract price was $2,000. And Mr. Lemmon, you would agree
that you paid $1,600, and that leaves $400 left on the contract.
And the unanimous verdict of the court is that you, Mr. Lemmon,
pay $400 to the Plaintiff and that takes care of the trailer and the contract.
You, however, Mr. Barnes, are required to sign over the title to Mr. Lemmon
so that you can do with it as you see fit. Fix it, live, sell...
Who knows, one day you might be in it. That is the verdict of the court.
-And thank you all for coming. -[Kenneth] Thank you.
This case is now concluded. Parties are excused, you may step out.
It was fair. I admit I owe the money, but I mean...
I think it was a good call. You know, it was like, it was an older trailer.
I think $2,000 is a good deal for it.
When I got it home, plugged in, I was very upset.
Uh, we gave him an opportunity to plug it in at my place.
No, 'cause it was in a parking lot where there was no electricity
or water accessible.
It was in a storage unit, or storage facility, so it was taken care of.
The refrigerator worked, the lights would all work... plumbing would work...
You go out of your way and try to be kind, you know, 'cause it was hard times.
So, like, let somebody do payments... Then, here we are.
Got home, nothing worked.
It was working.
I'll fix it back up. Yeah. I've already done a lot of work to it, so...
It was 2017 when I had it last, so...
Keep moving forward, yep.
Buyer beware.
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[end theme music plays]