Lake cabin suit settled by Judge Judy

A uniquely Northwest dispute was decided Wednesday afternoon on national TV when Judge Judith Scheindlin called a dispute over a lake cabin “ridiculous” and asked, “What’s it going to take for you to get out of this stupid contract?”

Sheindlin, the judge on the 10-year-old television series “Judge Judy,” heard arguments about a case in which Laurie Schmitz of Lake Oswego, Ore., sold a lake cabin to John Kodi and Brandi Mather of Spangle with a stipulation that Schmitz be allowed to use it twice a year – once on Memorial Day weekend and again sometime in the summer.

The Mathers contended that Schmitz hosted a large party on her first Memorial Day weekend using the cabin. They said 40 to 60 people showed up at the cabin and made a mess and that police were called.

As a result, the Mathers said, they tried to get out of their contract obligation to let her use the cabin.

Schmitz sued the Mathers for $4,000 in attorney’s fees she spent trying to resolve the matter, and the Mathers countersued.

Sheindlin was critical of both parties, telling Schmitz, “You need to find something to do other than sue these people for the next five years.”

She did not have kind words for the Mathers, either, telling them the contract stipulation was “dumb” and asked, “Whose idea was this, this selling with tentacles?”

Before the commercial break, Sheindlin warned Schmitz, “I don’t think you’re going to like the judgment today,” then returned from the break ordering the woman to accept a buyout on the contract. Sheindlin worked out an agreement in which the Mathers would pay $5,000 to get out of the contract, and Schmitz would no longer use the cabin.

Judgments issued by Judge Sheindlin are paid by the television show’s production company, a spokesman for the show said Tuesday.

Before the two parties left the courtroom, Sheindlin offered a curt farewell.

“Go,” she said. “Goodbye, have a happy life, good luck.”