The condition of this home is appalling.
[narrator] Today, on Tribunal Justice...
And what is that hole?
That's the hole in the bathroom. And look at the conversations about
when you gonna fix up? When you gonna fix this up?
He'll never come.
I want to know how you rented a death-trap to these people with children.
You just didn't care.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] This case was filed in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Your Honor, this is case #1133 on the calendar
in the matter of Mohn vs. Dotson.
Parties have been sworn in. You may be seated.
[DiMango] Thank you, Byrd. Mr. Mohn,
the Defendant has been living in your premises, now,
it's a three-bedroom rental, since November first, 2020,
paying $1,100 a month rent up until May,
and that was with the help of COVID assistance as well.
From June on, she has not paid any rent and,
according to you, is currently still living there.
You're here suing for the money that you say she owes you
for back rent and for back utilities. That total being $9,594.
Ms. Dotson, what you say is that the place was virtually a death-trap,
and he orally agreed that you could pay your rent late.
There was no toilet or tub on the first floor,
and you and your children had to shower in the basement
and use the basement bathroom. Was there a full bathroom in the basement?
-No. No. -[DiMango] Was there a toilet?
Well, where did you guys go to the bathroom?
Um, it was a bucket.
[Steven] That is absolutely not true and...
[DiMango] Let me stop you a second.
Do you have a photograph of that? There's nothing in the papers that show that.
No.
About a month later, you say that there were holes in the bathroom floor upstairs
and you had to put a carpet over it so the kids wouldn't fall through.
And you spent your own money getting covers for the vents
-that were in the bathroom as well. -Correct.
[DiMango] And he never came back to fix it.
And now that he's evicted you, you have nowhere to go.
-So, you don't owe him anything. -Correct.
Do you have photographs of your apartment when she moved in?
Do we have that, sir?
I did not take photos prior to them moving in. Everything was up to code.
Had the building inspector, in fact, I was supposed to have an inspection
and we were refused entry.
When were you refused entry?
October 20th at 11:30 A.M.
Did the inspectors come to your door on October 20th?
'Cause he has documentation to that effect, he's saying.
Uh, yes, they did.
-And did you let them in? -No.
-Why not? -It wasn't correct.
He didn't... We didn't... It was off guard.
In other words, what you're saying is we didn't have a chance to clean up
-before he came. -[Nicole] No, we didn't know who he was.
He didn't have no card. The clipboard was a piece of paper,
so we didn't know who you are.
A city inspector came by with no identification?
No identification.
-[DiMango] Were you there? -I was there.
He picked him up.
[DiMango] You were there?
I was there. I did not pick him up, I met with him.
I actually stood outside and talked with Kenny Simmons, Nicole's boyfriend.
You knew the Plaintiff, is that correct?
And you would've had to have an inspection at some point, if you had to leave.
So, I'm not sure why you weren't letting him in.
We just didn't know who he was...
-[DiMango] You don't know who he is? -Yes, we know.
He didn't say he wanted to come in.
But he was there with somebody. He wasn't a total stranger.
So, you just didn't let him in. Okay.
She's saying there were holes in the floor. Do you have photographs...
-Yes, I do. -Do we have them?
Because the other thing that troubles me is when you have a tenant,
under any circumstances, you need to have pictures of when they move in.
Because I know it's nice that you say, yes, everything was up to code and great,
but we don't necessarily have pictures of that.
Understood.
So, where are your photographs of the apartment floor with the holes in it?
Before we moved in, we helped him clean the walls,
we helped him pick up mice poop all over the place.
We helped him clean that house up before we even moved in.
-[DiMango] Is that true, sir? -Come on, don't lie.
The clean up was, absolutely, we cleaned it up.
We scrubbed the walls, we painted everything, recarpeted,
and again...
There is evidence of recarpeting in the lease that you signed, ma'am,
that there was carpeting that was done throughout the house. Do you agree?
Yes, the carpet was done, yes.
So, at the time there was carpeting put in,
did you make mention of these holes in the floor or were they not there at the time?
No, they was there. He know it was there.
'Cause your papers say that you didn't notify him about the holes in the wall
until you were living there a month.
He said he was gonna fix it all.
When you moved in, you moved in knowing that there were all of these defects.
No bathroom upstairs. What is it you want to say?
Stand up. What's your name?
Kenneth Simmons. I'm the one... Kenneth Simmons.
The bathroom had no tile, no carpet, no nothing,
that's what the difference was.
[DiMango] What was the bathroom floor made of?
-Wood. -Is this the bathroom floor?
-[Nicole] Yes, that's the bathroom. -That looks like tile.
That's the subfloor prior to floor being put in.
So, if that's wood and that's the subfloor,
when did you actually put the floor on top of that?
-Never. -[Steven] There are rugs on top of it.
-We were going to put... -That we put.
She put the rugs on top. That's what she said in the papers.
There are rugs on top, but there are no holes in that floor.
I mean, you're renting property
-[Steven] Understood. -that is below par.
Is your rent being subsidized in any way?
No, it's not.
[DiMango] So, you're paying full rent up until the end of May.
You get COVID assistance for a few months before you stop paying rent.
-Yes. -[DiMango] Do you have any text messages
where you're telling him, come in and fix this, come in and do this?
'Cause I didn't see any correspondence between the two of you
And I do see that you were paying your rent.
So, that kind of refutes the whole notion that the place was untenable.
-Mm-hmm, okay. -[DiMango] So, if all these problems
pre-existed June, why in June did you stop paying rent?
I was just really fed up with it. It was a lot of verbal back and forth
when he'll come over, but...
[DiMango] So, why aren't you leaving? He's not gonna fix it,
'cause why would he fix it at this point if you're just staying in there
and you're not paying any rent. It's like a stalemate here.
What other photographs do you have
to demonstrate the apartment was unlivable?
[Nicole] No cabinet doors...
Oh, I saw that. No cabinet doors in the photographs.
Do we have that up on the screen?
First of all, that's the kitchen with no cabinet doors.
Now, you can't tell me that they took those doors off.
No, those were not done. We're in the...
We're in the process for two years.
I don't know who you hired to do the work, but I wouldn't go with him anymore
if it's taken him two years to put a door on.
-And what is that hole? -That's the hole in the bathroom.
[Steven] The vent was taken off the wall because there is a vent for that.
-[DiMango] There's a hole. -My two and three year old would...
Would fall right through that.
There's a vent that was screwed on there, so that was pulled off.
If you don't have photographs of what it looked like before,
you can't stand up there and say they did that.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
I mean, are you kidding me?! That's the way you left the bathroom?!
You know what would happen if her kids fell through that hole?
-down to the, where, basement? -Mm-hmm.
She'd own your home. And I'd gladly give it to her.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Steven Mohn is suing his tenant, Nicole Dotson
for unpaid rent and utility bills. Nicole says the home is unsafe
and Steven refuses to fix dangerous problems in the home.
Now, you've gotta be out January 31st.
Right. Find housing.
[DiMango] You haven't looked?
Yeah, I have looked. Yes.
I would expect that... you have three kids.
We're in the process of having another place.
[DiMango] What does that mean, "in the process"?
You know, you've gotta take action for your own life.
-You have to do that. -Correct. Yes.
You've gotta be on it, you've gotta be looking.
-You don't have much time. Judge Levy? -Right.
[Levy] Thank you. Could we put up photograph number one?
So, I'm going to ask you, Mr. Mohn, when you rented them,
in 2020, this home, was that the way the bathroom looked, just with a subfloor?
[Steven] Yes.
[Levy] That can't possibly be a bathtub right next to it, could it?
It is. It was a brand new installed tub. And I had to put the wall kit in
and cut that in for the window.
Wow. Describe for me the house you live in.
In a home. It is finished.
[Levy] Finished? How many square feet is that home?
About 3,400 square feet.
How many bedrooms does that 3,400 square foot home...
-It's four bedrooms. -How many bathrooms?
There's be two and a half.
Are any of your bathrooms' floor bare down to the subfloor?
-No, they're not. -Why not?
We're not in the process of prepping them. I do have some tiles that...
First, I want you to stop saying that we're not in the process of prepping it
because that was over two years ago. All right, so, just stop it.
The reason that you don't have a subfloor in your bathroom
when you get in and out of the shower is because... Why, Ms. Dotson?
What happens when you walk out of the shower and you walk onto a subfloor?
-Splinters. Uh-huh. -[Levy] Splinters!
Splinters. You just didn't care. You saw a mother with three children
who you knew was somewhat desperate and would rent your place
despite it looking like that. Right?
I did not look at any desperation in the situation, no.
But most certainly, you didn't say to yourself,
no one should have to walk out of a tub and onto a wooden...
I'm not even talking plywood. Plywood would've been better.
-Right? -Yes.
-[Levy] Why? -So I wouldn't have splinters.
'Cause you wouldn't have splinters! I mean, are you kidding me?!
That's the way you left the bathroom.
'Cause he knew you were desperate.
-I... -[Levy] He knew.
Can we go to picture five, please? Ms. Dotson, where is that?
[Nicole] That's in the bathroom.
[Levy] I see carpeting in there.
Yeah, we put that down 'cause my kids kept getting splinters. I kept...
[Levy] I get that. How large is that hole? I can't really tell from here.
Is it bigger or smaller than this piece of paper?
Bigger, yes.
Is it big enough that your children could fall down it?
Yes. We watch them.
-You like your 3,400 square foot home? -Yes.
You know what would happen if her kids fell through that hole
-down to the, where, basement? -Mm-hmm, yep.
She'd own your home. And I'd gladly give it to her.
There was a vent there, they've taken it off.
All right, Mr. Mohn, why don't you tell me why a mother of three,
who's life is focused on keeping her kids safe and secure,
would take off a grill and create a dangerous condition?
For the sake of a show, possibly?
Really? Do we have a photograph of holes in the floor of the bathroom?
No. No, we don't. No, we don't. So, if what she wanted to do
was to make herself look good, then she could have, very easily...
Ms. Dotson, you could've punched holes in that subfloor.
-Yeah. No, mm-mm. -But you didn't.
There goes that argument.
Now, you have subfloors, dangerous condition.
You got holes where the kids could fall down to the basement;
dangerous condition. And that's the way it was when you moved in?
'Cause he knew you were desperate, and you had nowhere else to go.
I really didn't.
[Levy] Picture six, please.
What is that and where is that?
-[Nicole] In the basement. -[Levy] Basement.
[Nicole] Yes. When you're going down the stairs.
-[Levy] Okay. And those exposed wires? -Yeah.
Do you know whether that's a hot outlet or not?
I don't know what... no.
You don't know if electricity is going through that?
-No. -What about you, Mr. Mohn?
You said something before about an inspector coming to the house.
So, the inspector would've seen the subfloor.
The inspector would've seen that hole in the bathroom.
The inspector would've seen this code violation of exposed wires.
Correct.
And did you have to get a form filled out from him in order to rent it to someone?
Yes, I did.
Was it a formal document that you got from them?
Yes. They were in there prior to their arrival,
but not as of that month when they got...
-[Levy] I get it. -And that scheduled inspection
was to take place in October.
Listen, I don't give a darn about a missed inspection
in October of '22. I want to know how you rented a death-trap
to these people with children.
Ha! You're on notice. So, in other words, let me put it a way you might understand.
This was your place. You clearly knew what it looked like
before you rented to your tenant and you knew that they had children.
And you knew that the conditions existed the way they did
that could create harm to her children. So, you knew that there was a condition,
you disregarded that condition by not fixing it before they moved in,
so you knowingly created a dangerous condition,
that should something have happened, that's negligent.
Not just civil, criminal liability. Reckless assault, absolutely.
Like someone who builds a wall, a high wall, without putting in rebar,
and the wall falls down on someone. You hear about those cases?
Right. They get prosecuted for doing that. No different than what you did here.
Just by doing nothing. Let's take a look,
I think we also have a video of the basement, don't we?
[Nicole] Yes.
Let's take a look at that, please, then I'll pass it over to Judge Acker.
This is the dirt under the living room floor that's in the basement.
[Levy] So, there's a portion of the basement that's dug out
and there's a portion that's finished. Somewhat finished.
And what were you trying to show us with that video?
Just the dirt in the unfinished in...
A lot of places have dirt. That's not unusual.
Yeah, but you see the street, like... That light back there, that's the street.
So, are you saying that this area back here...
[Kenneth] Yeah, that's the street.
So you can see right through it.
[Kenneth] Yeah, that's how mice and centipedes...
-[Levy] How old's the house? -Oh, it's late 1800s.
That right there, I've lived in houses like that.
-[Kenneth] Yeah. -Not unusual. That's okay though.
What else is the reason you're showing us that video, sir?
Just the breathing quality. That's why we think my daughter coughs and...
just has a breathing problem. Just 'cause the air that's coming through.
[Levy] For you to make that argument, we gotta go back to photo six, please.
All right, Mr. Mohn, you see what I just circled?
[Steven] That is a fresh air return.
[Levy] That's a fresh air return?
I believe it is.
So, whatever's in the basement is going up through that tube into the house.
[theme music playing]
[narrator] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
Why is it that you think that it would be appropriate
for two human beings to live in a place where they've got a bare floor.
You're collecting $1,100 a month.
Did you think that this was just good enough for them? I mean, seriously.
[theme music playing]
According to you, sir, when I'm reading your complaint, you say that
the basement was cluttered with baby items, swings, cribs, clothes,
and you considered it a fire hazard.
That's not in the dirt...
[Levy] I know, but that's what you said about the other part of the basement.
-Correct. -What about that debris?
What about that wood? Or what about the cardboard,
the more flammable cardboard? You don't consider that a fire hazard, sir?
I got nothing further. Judge Acker?
[Acker] Thank you, Judge. I just want to be clear about the timeline.
You originally moved in in November of 2020.
-Correct. Yes. -[Acker] You paid rent for a year.
After that, you got some COVID assistance.
[Nicole] Yes.
Why is there not more evidence of your reaching out to him during that year
and saying there are holes in the wall, there's a hole on the floor.
Why is there not more evidence of that?
I just didn't present it.
I think that these are horrible conditions,
-but I didn't see the whole house. -Right.
I think you paid rent there for a year and you fell on hard times.
I don't think that you stopped paying rent because you all of a sudden noticed
these conditions. I'm just at a loss to understand
why it is there's not more of a record
of your bringing these conditions to his attention.
Sometimes people stay in places that have a whole lot of things wrong with them,
but if they stay, then they're getting some value.
Right. It was a lot of verbal, verbal talking. Like times where he'll come over
and, you know, just like talking about the lawn and stuff.
And then we'll get the conversations about, when you gonna fix this up
And it would be, oh, I'm gonna do it, I'll come next week then he'll never come.
Then, you know, we made it liveable.
What sort of work did you do on the house, sir? You said you had to fix some things.
I put the covers on the sockets. I've fixed light fixtures. I've fixed...
Did you ever give the Plaintiff any receipts for money that you spent,
or your labor?
I never really, didn't really... Yeah...
I was doing it for her, I wasn't doing it for him.
[Acker] You just did it on your own. Mr. Mohn,
when did you first become aware of that hole in the wall?
It has been there since I've owned the property.
It was a vent for the gravity furnace.
So, it's your representation to the court that when they moved in you put...
-That vent was on there, yes. -[Acker] Was covered.
I mean, the condition of this home is appalling.
Why is it that you think that it would be appropriate for two human beings
to live in a place where they've got a bare floor?
You're collecting $1,100 a month.
Did you think that this was just good enough for them?
No.
I do believe that when you have a roof over your head,
you don't get it for free. You're only leaving now
'cause he went to court to get you out. Why not more of an effort
to either leave or rectify the situation before he had to do that?
Just hoping that he'll come and fix everything that he said
he was gonna do, that needs to be done.
But at some point, you know he's not gonna do that.
And at some point, you also realize that you can't just stay there for free.
So, Mr. Mohn, why should I rule in your favor at all,
given what I just saw?
Starting back when they first moved in, COVID was not existent.
COVID came into existence, I had it myself.
Neither of us wanted to be in contact with each other with the COVID issue.
And I understand this timeline is extremely long,
but I did not think that OSB with the rugs on top
was going to create issues or hazards for anybody feet.
But they put the rugs up.
We had those put in there. I had rugs in there.
-[Acker] Do you have evidence or receipts? -I don't have...
-No, I don't have... -[Acker] Do you have evidence or receipts?
There were rugs that we had in there, and if they've changed 'em...
Okay, I'm good. Thank you.
Judge, may I? Just real quick? I'm sorry, Mr. Mohn,
did you also do some contracting work from time to time?
As far as maintenance, yes.
Yeah. So, for you to have put down
a simple engineered, hardwood cheap floor at a buck forty-nine from Home Depot,
instead, at best, which I don't believe quite frankly, you put a rug down.
And what I believe happened, more likely, is you left the subfloor the way it was
despite the fact that you had the skill and the ability to do something,
not glamorous. We're not talking Brazilian hardwood floor,
we're talking a cheap floor that wouldn't give this family splinters.
That was your choice. With your knowledge of how to actually do it.
It would've taken you, what, small bathroom,
would take you like three hours, four hours? Yeah, exactly.
All right, that's it.
Thank you, we're gonna retire to deliberate.
Court now stands in recess. Parties are excused.
[theme music playing]
Everybody was benefitting in some way from this tenancy.
The Plaintiff was certainly benefitting in that he was getting,
at least most of the time, some income from the property
that he was not doing anything to.
And of course, the Defendants were keeping a home over their heads
when they had no credit and probably couldn't go anywhere else.
So, it was a give and take. The problem I have also
is that there were no messages between the Defendants and the Plaintiff
to do repairs, and no effort by the Plaintiff to do the repairs.
So, in my view, I would give him the utility money.
And my question is with regard to the rent.
Is it worth splitting the rent, or is what he did so egregious
that he shouldn't get anything for it? And that's where I'm on the fence.
As the Plaintiff, he's the one coming to us asking for relief.
And Plaintiffs who come to us with unclean hands,
they have a real steep mountain to climb.
I'm not saying that the Defendants did not benefit, they clearly did.
I don't see, myself, awarding him a nickel for back rent.
I agree with that.
If it's a matter of paying the utility bills, I'll go along with that.
I struggle with that. I struggle with denying him any rent relief
because I'm not prepared to draw such strong conclusions about him
in the absence of any evidence that she said come fix this.
'Cause there are other text messages from her.
The other thing that persuades me slightly is, I think he does have a good point
about not coming in during the moment of COVID,
then like, trying to stay distanced. I think that we're talking about
a good amount of time where people were keeping their distance from one another.
Not as long as he suggests.
I'm having a hard time denying his rent claim in the entirety.
I do want to give him something as well. I understand the position you're in.
That's why I think they should pay the utility bills.
But also, had they put their money appropriately,
they wouldn't have the late fees. So, I would tack the $350 onto this
and he would actually be entitled to about, I don't know,
it comes out to almost $1,900. So, I kinda feel like that gives him
a little bit of something and kind of says to them,
listen, we understand that you stayed in a situation that wasn't quite safe.
I'm with you. You got me, I'm with you.
I would give him the $350 and the $1,544.
-Unanimous. -Fair enough.
-Okay? -Very good.
Court is back in session, parties are remind you're still under oath.
Thank you, Byrd. This is a difficult case because
each of you, in some way, benefitted from the situation that you were in.
And each of you could've done something about your situation
but kind of let it be the way it was.
We all felt that, based on the evidence here, sir,
that you were the one that had the primary obligation to go in
and take care of the things that needed to be taken care of.
But you on the other hand, this is for a future lesson, ma'am,
you have to communicate. There was no communication here.
The lease was clear. If you had issues, you had to do it in writing.
And there were no communications by you to the Defendant.
So, what we did is we looked at this as follows:
You were in the premises.
You had back bills of $1,544, I believe,
for the unpaid utility bills.
And you also had all of these accrued late fees of $350.
So, between the two, that comes out to $1,900, which we've agreed, sir,
that you would be entitled to. We're not gonna give you any of the rent,
and believe me, we debated whether or not there should be a proportionment
of how much rent was due and owing you. But in part,
we want to send a message as well.
You can't jeopardize the safety and the health of people living in your home.
You just can't do that. It's not right, it's not proper, it's just wrong.
And you know, for the lack of calling you a slum lord, we could do that,
but we're not going to because we feel as though there were things
that you both were deficient in in this particular case.
And so, you're awarded $1,900. And with that,
we hope you fix the subflooring, cover up the hole, put cabinet doors on,
and make the property really rentable for someone else.
And as for you, ma'am, with your three children, you're working hard.
You have the help of a boyfriend who seems to care about you and your family.
I think you really better get on this. You've gotta get out,
you have a court order to get out. You walked away from this at this point,
without incurring any additional penalties.
Do yourself a favor and find a home that's workable
for you and your family and safe.
And that is the unanimous verdict of the court. Thank you all.
[Byrd] This case is concluded. Parties are excused, you may step out.
[theme music playing]
He is a slum lord.
There were issues. The bathroom was the key focal point of this one.
Fix the stuff in the house.
I'll work on this place to be a better place for somebody else.
[narrator] Are you a victim of an assault? Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
Find us on social media at Tribunal Justice.
[theme music playing]