Judicial Hearing Officer Stanley Gartenstein
A Judicial Hearing Officer (JHO) was designated to conduct the trial of the instant matrimonial action. A significant portion of the trial record consisted of "he said/she said" testimony containing numerous contradictions, thereby raising issues of credibility. The parties own a single family house in Middle Village. Title was in the joint names of the parties. The JHO determined that this marital domicile would be listed for immediate sale, the net proceeds of which would be divided equally between the parties. In calculating each party’s net share, the court gave wife Edyta credit for 50% of all income received by husband Tomasz as rental for any portion at the rate of $1,000 per month for every month Edyta did not have access to the premises since her departure from the home. The court did not believe Tomasz’s claim that this rental was $700 per month in the face of evidence of payments to him by this same tenant of $1,000 per month purportedly to satisfy a loan. The court added that Tomasz was entitled to a credit of 50% of that amount by which he amortized the mortgage during that time he paid it, thereby enriching Edyta. The court noted that this deduction would be from Edyta’s half of the sale proceeds.
