- It looks nice. - From a distance.
[announcer] Now on Tribunal Justice.
And you put new wood
- on top of the rotted wood. - Correct.
Sir, you know better than that.
I'm not even a contractor for 20 years and I know that.
Why are you here today?
Yeah, he worked for--he worked on the job.
And what did you think about that work?
I didn't think it was too good.
[laughter]
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Woodstock, Alabama.
[Cassandra] Your Honor, this is case number 2020,
McGuire versus Brantley.
All parties have been sworn in.
You may be seated.
[Judge Levy] Thank you, Cassandra.
Ms. McGuire,
you hired the defendant,
your former friend and a contractor,
to repair an unsafe and rotting deck at your home.
And you claim that the finished product
was anything but finished
- and it was unsafe. - Correct.
[Judge Levy] You had to hire a new contractor to fix the work.
And you're suing the defendant for the reimbursement
of the $2,500 that you originally paid him,
plus $1,500 for the new contractor
that had to fix the work
for a total of $4,000.
- Is that right? - That is correct.
[Judge Levy] All right. Mr. Brantley,
you claim that she specifically
did not want to spend money
- to replace her entire deck. - [Eric] Correct.
She wanted to, I believe you said,
- give it a facelift. - Right.
[Judge Levy] She got exactly what she paid for
and that you don't know why she's unhappy...
- Correct. - [Judge Levy] ... but you don't owe her
- any additional money? - Yes, sir.
How long have you been a contractor?
Uh, about 20 years.
[Judge Levy] Okay. So, Ms. McGuire, tell me,
how long have you known the defendant
and what were the circumstances under which you decided to ask him
to do this deck work for you?
I probably met him through mutual friends
maybe 12 years ago or so.
I think I remember seeing
his construction post on Facebook
and I thought, "Well, he's a friend.
Let's see if I can get him to come do a free estimate
and we'll go from there."
Tell me about the contract.
Was it written or was it oral?
It was oral as well as text message.
What were the terms of that oral contract?
The estimate was $2,500.
That was going to cover all of the materials,
labor for the entire back deck.
And it was also replacing our front steps as well.
- [Judge Levy] Mr. Brantley... - [Eric] Right.
[Judge Levy] ... you heard that. Is that pretty much exactly
what was discussed and agreed to?
[Eric] Yeah. Well, that was what was agreed to.
She didn't have enough money to do the whole deck.
But I did the steps, tore the handrails off,
replaced all the deck boards.
There came a time, however, where, Mr. Brantley,
you realized that this job was bigger than what you thought.
Right. Yes. It's way bigger.
But she's a friend, so I gave her, you know...
[Judge Levy] How much would this job have been just for a regular person
- that you didn't... - About 5,000.
And you cut it in half?
Right. It'd be about 7,500 if you did the roof, front, back.
- Somebody else would have charged... - [Judge Levy] Okay.
- And that's what he told you. - ... somewhere between 5,000 and 7,500.
- [Judge Levy] Is that right? - Correct.
Why is it that you needed this job to be done?
Well, I had several spots on that deck
that were rotting and it was just unsafe.
And we just had a baby,
so we were trying to make sure
that before she started toddling around and walking,
that she would be able to go out on that deck
and not have to worry about her hurting herself
or anybody else's children.
And, Mr. Brantley, she told you about that
- when you started. - [Eric] Correct.
That's the reason why she was doing it.
For her to--so that baby wouldn't get hurt.
That's why I put the handrails high.
[Judge Levy] There are building permits
that are required for back decks.
- Right. - [Judge Levy] Especially back decks
that are being done
in which structural problems are occurring, correct?
Correct. But I didn't pull a permit 'cause, you know,
I didn't--nobody gonna be able to see us in the backyard,
you know, to have to go pay the permit fee and all that.
I was trying to do everything I can...
I know--I know that you were trying to do her a favor, Mr. Brantley.
I get that. But if you don't pull a permit,
what's gonna happen is that they're gonna come
and they're gonna do an inspection.
They're gonna see a back deck. They're gonna say, "Whoop, no permit."
And if it's not to code, they're gonna force you
to tear that whole thing down.
So knowing all that,
why not just pull a permit?
How much was it? Like a hundred bucks?
No. It probably wouldn't even be a hundred.
[Judge Levy] So when you have a building permit pulled,
then a building inspector will actually come out at some point
and make a determination whether or not you followed building code,
give you a stamp of approval.
You have that. Your title is good.
Yes, sir. I went above and beyond.
I'd be careful about that, Mr. Brantley.
You don't have to prove above and beyond.
I would just be very happy with follow.
- Followed. I followed. - [Judge Levy] Follow.
What's a toenail connection between two boards?
Shot in at an angle.
[Judge Levy] Right. And you know
that the International Building Code prohibits those on decks.
I didn't know that.
Yeah. You see, I'm not even a contractor
for 20 years and I know that.
Because if you have two boards like this
that are connected with nails coming up through it
and you push the top of it, nails pop.
That's why you're not allowed to do that.
- You put a board on the outside of it. - [Judge Levy] Yeah,
- you're not allowed to do that either. - [makes sound]
[Judge Levy] That's the easy way to do it.
We're gonna take a look at those photographs.
- That's what you did, right? - Right.
- [Judge Levy] Uh-hmm.
This is one of the before photos.
This is the way the deck-- the deck looked, Ms. McGuire...
- [Amber] Correct. - [Judge Levy] ... beforehand.
Next one. Before, right?
- [Eric] Right. - [Amber] That's correct.
And the last one.
Before.
Is that right, Mr. Brantley?
- [Eric] Yes, sir. - Okay.
And then we're gonna take a look at exhibit two,
which is a photograph, ma'am, that you provided
after the defendant said he was finished.
Now, after Eric's job-- and, again, Mr. Brantley,
the work, it looks nice.
- From a distance. - [Judge Levy] From a distance.
You know, and all those shows that we see on TV,
they talk about and they show pictures,
really nice pictures of houses
and what it looks like afterwards.
It never shows you though what's really underneath,
what's behind the walls.
The mechanicals downstairs,
whether that's still up and running or whether that's old.
But you get a nice picture.
That's one of them.
Here are the front steps.
Those look nice.
[Amber] I will mention the top step
wasn't even nailed at all.
My husband had to go back
and nail the very top step, so...
- Yeah, I missed a nail. - [Judge Levy] It looked nice.
[Amber] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Levy] Supports down below.
[Eric] I added two. It didn't have none to start with.
I just added two.
And you just put those right in the ground?
- I dug down to hard ground... - [Judge Levy] Yeah.
... and put a cap.
- What are these, four-by-fours? - Four-by-fours. Correct.
[Judge Levy] Right, 'cause any four-by-fours that's on the ground,
you gotta have to have pressure-treated wood, right?
[Eric] That is treated.
- [Judge Levy] That is treated? - Yes, sir.
[Judge Levy] But now, Ms. McGuire,
when were these photographs taken?
[Amber] Those were taken by me,
and I think it was the beginning of May,
because I took most of those
to show the new contractor.
- So this is Eric's job. He's Eric, right? - [Amber] He's Eric, yes.
[Judge Levy] These are those toenail connectors
- that I was talking about, right? - [Amber] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Levy] And we now know, without any question,
that those are in violation of the building code, right? And...
Right. But at the very beginning of the deal,
I wasn't gonna replace the post
'cause I was just recapping and redecking it.
That was mine and her agreement.
You never told the plaintiff, though,
when you did that, that that was in violation of code.
[Eric] Right.
[Judge Levy] Now, in all fairness,
I read your answer carefully
and I read the text messages.
Some of this, in your opinion, would be the plaintiff's fault
because she gave you certain constraints
about how much money she wanted to spend
and she wasn't giving you the money
that you knew was necessary
in order to make those posts safe
and to make them comply with the building code.
Exactly right.
[Judge Levy] And you understand that?
I understand.
What do you have to say about that?
I mean, I expected things to be safe,
but if something came up,
I'd expect to be told about everything.
And in the quote itself,
I never told him this is my limit.
This is all we can do.
Listen, I've been beating up on him for a while,
but in all fairness, what you did tell him in those texts,
- 'cause I read them... - Uh-hmm.
... was that this was all the money that you had
because you were trying to save up money for a down payment
- for a car that you needed. - I did say that.
- [Judge Levy] Right? - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Levy] And so you were looking to do this
- on a shoestring budget, right? - Right. Right.
Okay. And with that, I'm gonna pass it over to Judge Acker.
And I may have additional questions later on.
- Thank you both. - Okay.
[Judge Acker] Thank you, Judge Levy.
Can we please put exhibit 303
back up on the monitor?
Are you proud of that work?
[Eric] Yes. Under-- that's the underside of the deck.
You can't see it from the front.
That's exactly how I said we was gonna do it.
That is supporting the deck.
- Is it not? - [Eric] The handrails.
[Judge Acker] Where people are going to put pressure on that.
They've got a young child.
- How old is your child? - She's 16 months.
[Judge Acker] So a six--walking?
- A toddler? - Everywhere.
So I want you to stand
in the shoes of a parent
who might be playing around and messing around on that.
You're telling me that that structure is safe?
Yes, ma'am, I...
[Judge Acker] But if you look really closely, it's coming apart.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
He did not agree to rebuild your deck,
and that's what needed to be done here.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Amber McGuire is suing contractor, Eric Brantley, for $4,000.
She claims Eric did a shoddy job building her deck
and now wants her money back.
Eric claims it's Amber's fault for being so cheap.
Can we put up exhibit 304 please?
Rotted wood, sir?
That's the post that I cut off
and set a new post on top of it.
[Judge Acker] And you put new wood
- on top of the rotted wood? - Correct.
Sir, you don't use rotted wood
as a structure. It's not safe.
[Eric] That's just to hold the handrail up.
[Judge Acker] What happens if someone is holding on to a handrail,
as people do, and the handrail collapses?
- What happens in that situation? - I didn't--
well, I didn't have the money to buy the material myself.
I mean, we talked about it,
cutting the post off halfway down the band,
sitting the new ones on it.
That's all I had to do.
You do--I got--
the materials was about $1,400 altogether
and then I had to pay them, my two helpers.
You did give him certain price constraints.
So I wanna ask you
are there situations where you kind of get what you pay for?
Yes, but me nor my husband were made aware that that was rotted
until the new contractor cut off and took his apart.
That's what they found and they showed me that.
You will find the next time you do such a project,
- the price goes up... - [Amber] Right.
... because they find things like this,
- which increase the cost of the job. - [Amber] Uh-hmm.
So now I'm back to you, sir.
You are the professional.
You had an obligation to advise her
of whether or not things are safe or not safe
and to do the work in a professional manner.
If her budget doesn't allow you to do that,
you can't take the job.
You're right. I shouldn't have ever took it.
[Judge Acker] You never should have taken the job.
We looked at the stairs.
They weren't nailed down. You know what?
- You said, "Oh, yeah, I missed a nail." - [Eric] Right.
[Judge Acker] "I missed a nail."
Like that's not a big deal when you're building things.
And accidents happen.
It was one nail. [laughs]
[Judge Acker] Accidents happen when jobs aren't done correctly.
I think you got off pretty easy.
Judge DiMango.
I think you got what you paid for, personally.
I think when people negotiate with contractors
to get a reduced price,
they get reduced labor.
I mean, that's the way it is.
You wanted a new deck.
What'd you tell her for the price?
- About 5,000. - Five thousand dollars.
I'll give you the friends and family discount.
Five thousand. Normally, it would be 7,500.
You say, "I don't have $5,000.
What could you do for me
for less than that?"
So he says to you,
"For 2,500,
I took a look at the bottom. It doesn't look so bad.
If you want the deck on top to be safe for your little girl,
I can do the top of the deck.
I can do the handrail so her head doesn't get stuck in the poles.
I can do all of that for $2,500."
He did not agree to rebuild your deck
and that's what needed to be done here.
So you did what she was paying you for
and you paid him for what he did.
When you brought in that new contractor,
how much did he charge you
to pull out those posts and put in new ones?
- Sixteen hundred. - [Judge DiMango] Sixteen hundred.
On top of the 2,500 that he did,
- 'cause he used his stuff, right? - [Amber] Uh-hmm.
[Judge DiMango] He used all of that.
What'd you end up paying for the job?
Almost $5,000.
Which is what he would have charged you in the first place
to redo the whole thing.
Luckily for both of you,
nobody got hurt on that ramp.
Now, sir, you've been sitting there nice
and peacefully and quietly.
Why are you here today?
- Did you fall on the ramp? - No, ma'am.
[laughter]
[Judge DiMango] Then why are you here?
I'm just...
[Judge DiMango] You're just hanging out?
[laughter]
[Judge Levy] He don't wanna get up-- he don't wanna get up there.
- Can you step up here? - [Steven] Yes, ma'am.
I'm gonna ask you who he is in relation to you.
Yeah, he worked for--he worked on the job.
- [Judge DiMango] You worked on the job? - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] Did you do that, sir?
No, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] You didn't do that? What did you do?
Uh, I picked up and burnt the garbage.
And what did you think about that work?
[Steven] I didn't think it was too good.
You didn't think the deck was good when we got done with it?
Yeah, the deck was good. But that piece there--
- this wasn't. - [laughter]
[Judge DiMango] We appreciate you being honest.
- You can have a seat then. - [Steven] Thanks.
You've been extremely helpful.
So you knew you should have replaced those poles,
but you kept saying,
"That's not what you paid me for.
That's not what I agreed to."
Can I also just add to that,
that if he or any of the workers
would have made me or my husband aware of that problem,
we could have figured out how to make that safe.
I saw tons of text messages.
You weren't even gonna give him 200 more
for wood--for something else. Am I right?
- Yes, but... - [Judge DiMango] Right,
because that's not what he agreed to do for you.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
For me, there's a balance here
between what you paid, what you expected.
In the end, you ended up paying the same thing anyway.
So I think you got what you paid for.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Amber McGuire is suing contractor, Eric Brantley, for $4,000
over what she says was a lousy renovation job.
Eric says she got what she paid for.
I think, for me, there's a balance here
between what you paid,
what you expected, what you did,
what you should have done,
and what would probably be more proper in the industry.
You know, in the end,
you ended up paying the same thing anyway.
So I think you got what you paid for.
[Judge Acker] Based on that, I don't know if anybody has anything else to ask.
I just think you need to hire Judge Levy to work with you next time.
[laughter]
[Judge DiMango] We're gonna retire to deliberate.
Thank you both.
Court is now in recess.
Parties are excused.
[dramatic musical sting]
You know, it clearly caused me some concern
when I saw the finished product
that the defendant said was to code,
only to find out that it was anything but that.
But as what was clearly testified to by the plaintiff
and corroborated by the defendant
was that he was given guardrails,
limitations as to how much he was allowed to spend.
And your question, Pat, to the plaintiff,
that you even complained about
- like $200 extra. - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Levy] 'Cause she was saving up money for another car
- and she was financially strapped. - [Judge DiMango] Uh-hmm.
So she really did not give the defendant what he needed
in order to give her the deck
that he knew complied with code,
forcing her then to, unfortunately, seek out
an additional contractor who used all the wood.
- Everything. - Right?
So having said all of that,
she spent, in total, $4,000.
She got a new facelift on the deck,
new supports, to code.
I would recommend that we dismiss her suit.
I was really on the fence
because I do think that he had an obligation to advise her
of the substandard condition of the wood, for instance.
But where I come out
is I'm just not sure she's been damaged.
- She paid him $2,500. - Correct.
She paid the new guy...
- Fifteen hundred. - ... $1,500.
- I think he originally quoted her $5,000. - He did.
But what really takes me over the edge is the fact
- that the new guy used his work. - Uh-hmm.
- So she got value from his work. - [Judge DiMango] Right.
Now, if she had to take down everything
and start from scratch, different story,
- but that's not what happened. - [Judge Levy] Correct.
There's no way that new guy would have come in and said,
"I'll do your front steps, I'll rebuild everything,
and I'm gonna give it to you for $1,500,"
because there's no way that would have happened.
So, basically, what she did was she negotiated from a friend
to a price that she wanted to pay,
got what she paid for, basically,
and then had to lay out the additional money
that he would have charged her in the first place to do it right.
So I don't think she gets a penny.
Will you come do some work at my house please?
I'll let her know.
[laughter]
[dramatic musical sting]
[Cassandra] Court is now in session.
All parties are reminded that you're still under oath.
[Judge Levy] Thank you, Cassandra.
Ms. McGuire,
you wanted to make your deck safe for your family and your child.
You spoke to the defendant.
The defendant told you that he could do the job,
but to do it right would cost about $5,000.
And money was tight.
We completely understand that.
He agreed to do it for half that.
And you knew that when he agreed to do it for half that
that there were gonna be some corners that were gonna be cut,
reusing certain lumber,
getting some salvaged material.
Having said that,
the $5,000 figure turned out to be just about right,
because the work was done
but it wasn't done to where we knew it needed to be.
And then you got another contractor to come in,
spent another $1,500, bringing it to $4,000
to get yourself a new deck that was safe.
So I hope that you can see that
you're really not out anything.
You got yourself a safe deck
and you got it for less than the $5,000
that what the defendant offered you originally.
And as you indicated, lesson learned.
And when a contractor, especially a friend
and one that you know and that you trust,
tells you that, listen, you gotta spend
this much money to get it done right,
spend that extra money.
It'll be well worth it.
So having said all of that,
your case here, ma'am,
is dismissed. Thank you.
- Thank you. - [gavel bangs]
This case has concluded.
All parties are excused.
[theme music plays]
It was just a mess.
I stand by the work I did.
Cracked wood where the nails went in and split everything.
I did a good job on it.
When you get up close, you could see all the blemishes,
the nails, everything that was just not together.
She took a camera and got down, just nitpicking.
She didn't back up and get the oversized view of it.
And I have told many people don't hire him.
She's probably upset now. [chuckles]
[announcer] Did someone break an agreement?
Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
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["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]