Title: Talking to FBI in the morning because we were just scammed out of more than $10,000 by our adoption agency. Need advice please.

Question:
I’m desperate for help and if I should delete this please let me know. Ive never been through a nightmare like this before and don’t know how to respond. Just looking for advice.

My wife and I are going through the adoption process and have been trying to have a child for the past 7 years. We found out that we couldn’t have children and so we decided to adopt. Our agency that we hired has high praise and we are still thrilled to be working with them. They handle cases and get referrals from other agencies.

We were handed a referral case from a different agency that was perfect for us. We got to talk to the agent and the “birth mother” on the phone. We were told that $13,000 was due now at match and the rest at placement. We were used to this because many cases that we got from different agencies had to be payed the same way. We payed using our debit cards with our personal money and money that was donated to us. We sent the money and were promised the contract to sign later that day. (never received contract)

We spoke with the agent several times and the “birth mother” once after this, but it was somewhat difficult to get in contact with them. Well fast forward to today and we get an email from our original agency that referred us saying that they were informed that the referral they gave us was under FBI investigation because they have been recently caught scamming some families by matching several people to one case and having a “friend” call acting as a birth mother. So the original couple gets the baby and the others are just scammed out of money. Our agency has given lots of clients to this agency and have only had 1 failed match.

I’m supposed to call an FBI agent in the morning to give him every bit of information I have. We are devastated and emotional and financially drained. Can we get our money back? What else should I do?

I’m desperate for help and if I should delete this please let me know. Ive never been through a nightmare like this before and don’t know how to respond. Just looking for advice.

My wife and I are going through the adoption process and have been trying to have a child for the past 7 years. We found out that we couldn’t have children and so we decided to adopt. Our agency that we hired has high praise and we are still thrilled to be working with them. They handle cases and get referrals from other agencies.

We were handed a referral case from a different agency that was perfect for us. We got to talk to the agent and the “birth mother” on the phone. We were told that $13,000 was due now at match and the rest at placement. We were used to this because many cases that we got from different agencies had to be payed the same way. We payed using our debit cards with our personal money and money that was donated to us. We sent the money and were promised the contract to sign later that day. (never received contract)

We spoke with the agent several times and the “birth mother” once after this, but it was somewhat difficult to get in contact with them. Well fast forward to today and we get an email from our original agency that referred us saying that they were informed that the referral they gave us was under FBI investigation because they have been recently caught scamming some families by matching several people to one case and having a “friend” call acting as a birth mother. So the original couple gets the baby and the others are just scammed out of money. Our agency has given lots of clients to this agency and have only had 1 failed match.

I’m supposed to call an FBI agent in the morning to give him every bit of information I have. We are devastated and emotional and financially drained. Can we get our money back? What else should I do?

Answer: If and when this case is prosecuted, you can speak with the prosecutor about getting restitution. There's a possibility you'll get money back, but it will very much depend on if this company or these people have any assets. I would not get my hopes up, but certainly cooperate with the FBI and the prosecutors and give them any/all information they ask for.Answer #2: I'm not sure why this hasn't been suggested, but dispute the charge with your bank. i'm assuming you did not use your PIN with this transaction so this falls under visa/mastercard/amex... zero liability clauses and it certainly is a valid dispute reason if you did not receive the "product or service"Answer #3: Did your original agency get any referral fees from the 2nd agency? It's possible they could be a party to a lawsuit. I know you like working with them but it may result in them waiving fees on your adoption if you work with an attorney. Answer #4: I’m sure this goes without saying, but I think an adoption attorney would be money well spent to protect yourselves going forward.


Title: Can/should I sue?

Question:
Hi guys, so my mom wanted to give me SAT prep a couple of years ago when I was a junior. The people basically were like, "pay us $500 on the spot and you'll get this deal". My mom and I were like.."we don't have that much cash right now" so we gave them like $170 in cash and $330 in card. The total price for getting SAT prep was about 8k, so being ridiculously expensive, I told my mom that it was not worth it. I could self-study and do fine. So we basically asked for a refund. They refunded $250 like a few months after we asked, but they've refused to refund the rest ($250) for the past 2 and a half years. My mom is really out here right now messaging the lady and asking for a refund. The lady often ignores her messages, and says that she'll get to it, but never does. My mom was sick of it and I'm sick of it, so she messaged her demanding the refund. The lady was like okay, we'll return the money in a couple of days, but as of today, it's been a few weeks. It's literally $250 so I don't know why they can't refund us our money. Is there anything my mom can do? She keeps bothering me and asking me to message the lady to get a refund, but I'm sick of it. I keep freaking messaging this bitch and my mom being the submissive person she is, is always messaging the lady, "sorry I keeping reminding you, but could you please..." like what the fuccccc just give us the refund so we can stop bothering this BIHHH. Please help me if you know what my mom and I can do to end this. Thank you.

TDLR: this Hoe owes me and my mom 250 dollars. It's been two years of constantly messaging her to get the rEfund and nothing has happened.

Answer:
 Did the agreement include the right to back out? Or did they agree to let you and your mother off the hook for the other $7.5k? It's not immediately clear to me that you're owed a refund in the first place, although their repeated promises to give you one may have some weight.

Whoever it is who is out the money could take them to small claims for $250 plus the filing fees, and may get a judgement confirming the debt if they can prove they're owed that refund. Enforcing it will not be any less frustrating - although you can seize assets from bank accounts with a judgement, the creditor can do a lot to slow that process down, and for $250 it may not be worth your time to pursue it. (You're not going to be compensated for your own time spent in court or enforcing the judgement, generally.)

Calling the defendants "bihhhh" and "hoe" will not endear you to a judge. Conduct matters.


Title: My boss threatened to leak my and my husbands social security number online. Is there any way to get ahead of this?

Question:
Through an illegal process called "blue bugging" my boss managed to essentially wire-tap my phone.  As you can imagine... a person willing to do this is very obviously morally bankrupt, in a LOT of key areas, and I did NOT have nice things to say about them when I got home.

I slowly began to realize what was going on as I overheard my boss asking HER boss for permission to fire me, critiquing my prayers, arguing that she should be allowed to report my friends to their work for the LITTLEST of infractions.. etc.

That brings me where I am today.

I have factory reset my phone. I keep it completely shut down at work. I disable Bluetooth any time I'm not actively using it.. even at home (Just in case) and have switched teams so my boss is no longer MY ACTUAL boss.

Unfortunately.. one of the threats my boss made before I switched to another department, was that she would leak my and my husbands SS#'s to a "dark web" website.

Failing that... she would just GIVE that information to whomever she thought MIGHT be criminal.. so that THEY could destroy our credit and she wouldn't "get in trouble."

One of the managers that she spoke with already stipulated that if she came after me like that.. he would not hesitate to come forward and admit that she made this statement, but he didn't say this directly to me.. and I fear .. hoping to put the whole mess behind him... he would ultimately change his mind.

I know.. that if something DOES appear on my credit, I need to immediately alert the authorities and let them know how the leak happened.

My question is this: Is there any way.. WITHOUT getting the authorities involved or filing a report with work, that I can document the threat IN CASE she follows through.

Answer:
 > I know.. that if something DOES appear on my credit, I need to immediately alert the authorities and let them know how the leak happened.

This is not your only option. You should also freeze your credit so that anyone with access your SSN cannot use it to open new cards or take out new loans. Go to the websites for TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax to freeze your credit.Answer #2: > Is there any way.. WITHOUT getting the authorities involved or filing a  report with work, that I can document the threat IN CASE she follows  through.

Sure, you can write down your version of events.

Depending on your location, you may also be able to legally record conversations you're directly participating in without getting the consent of the other participants.  Your job may elect to terminate your employment for doing so.

Your location is not optional.


Title: [WI] Kid keeps using the apartment gym unsupervised when I'm the only adult there. Am I legally culpable if he hurts himself?

Question:
My apartment complex has a small gym (probably 5-6 machines plus a rack of dumbbells). The rules state that anybody under 18 has to be there with a parent or guardian. That doesn't stop a kid who's roughly 12-14 from coming in there when I'm usually the only other person in there.

I keep my headphones in and try to ignore him but he occasionally tries to talk to me. He also mimics what I do (if I use the treadmill he uses the treadmill, if I use the Smith machine he uses the Smith machine, etc).

Not only does he put way too much weight on the machines and slam the weights around, he also tries lifting shit that's way too heavy. The one time I only said anything to him, he tried lifting up a 20 lb dumbbell and dropped it on his foot. He kept holding his foot going "ow". I figured I had to say something so I asked if he was okay and told him to be careful. But I really don't want to interact with him or be responsible for him.

I've repeatedly told the apartment office that a minor is using the gym unobserved. First they put a note on the door saying that minors had to be accompanied by an adult, which this kid promptly ignored. I asked him if he was supposed to be in here alone and he said his dad said it was okay. I relayed this to the apartment office and they said they would check the security tapes to see which apartment he came from but that never amounted to anything. I've tried adjusting the times I go to the gym but I always seem to at least partially run into him a few times a week.

My question, am I legally culpable for this kid in anyway if he hurts himself or breaks a machine or something? Obviously if he hurts himself to the point where he needs 911 I'll call 911 but I really don't want to have any legal responsibility for him or supervise or chaperone what he's doing.

Answer: A good first step might be to send a written letter to the apartment complex (via certified mail return receipt) indicating the problem here, and indicating that if you were to be found liable for damages here, you very well may have to turn around and bring a civil claim against them for failing to properly monitor and enforce their own rules.  This might get their attention.  If it's on letterhead and comes from an actual attorney you've retained for the purposes of writing this letter, they will probably take it *really* seriously.


Title: My passbook was taken away from me and I cannot find my grandfather who took it from me. I need to withdraw all the money I have in different banks which are all legally under my name.

Question:
Hello!

As the title says. What kind of actions can I take to withdraw all deposits I have without the need of my passbooks? I have deposited different parts of my savings in different banks since the banks here in the Philippines only cover php500,000 of your money.

As I have mentioned to my grandfather about me leaving the family business and the country. He took all my passbooks and checkbooks with him. He is now nowhere to be found. We haven't contacted police yet since we want to keep this as a family matter only and not to escalated things further. Thing is, I have received a travel date from the embassy which I applied for visa and I have to transfer my assets before I leave the country.

Is there any way I can get my assets without those legally? What kind of lawyer should I look for so the bank will listen to me even if I can only show them my identification? and what more legal paperwork should I prepare if I plan to do so without hurting my grandfather's records?

Thank you so much for anyone who could help me and my family.

Answer:
 Take multiple proofs of id into the bank, explain that your passbook has been stolen. Ask them to sort a new one out, and block any transactions woth your old book.

Honestly though, speak to the police. Your grandfather stole from you, hopefully just your passbook but potentially your money as well.


Title: (Nevada) My brother (14yrs old ) is being accused of sexual assault by his step cousin. Please help

Question:
My brother is 14 years old and his step cousin is 15 almost 16 , they use to be real close and would always have sleep overs either at my house or her house. Tonight was the first time they've seen each other in over a year at a birthday dinner. The girl I will call her Jessica , was upstairs with her boyfriend locked in the room. Everything was fine until her mom went upstairs to tell her to come down when we hear screaming.

All of a sudden , they come down accusing my brother. I hear Jessica saying she didn't want to come downstairs because she was scared of my brother because he touched her once. Then she changes her story and says that a kid in school spread a rumor about my brother bragging that he's touched his cousin before while she was sleeping . Jessica changed her story about 3 times. We have asked my brother and he denies it with no hesitation.

Jessica's mom immediately filed a report and contacted people for a lie detector test on both of them. I don't know where to start , what's the first thing I should do ? If my brother did touch her of course there will be consequences but she has been caught trying to touch my brother in the past. My parents , older cousins and I have had to almost yell at her multiple times for leaning, hugging, laying on him. I also know she has been boy crazy since we met her.

I don't want to be one sided on this but this could ruin my brothers life . I will be contacting juvenile lawyers first thing Monday morning . I need help guys , TIA

Topic:
Juvenile and Youth Law

Answer: We have zero idea who "people for a lie detector" are, but I'd almost certainly not go anywhere near those people before talking to a real attorney. There are a lot of really troubling hints of insanity in your post (e.g. everything is "fine" when you had a 14/15 year old couple locked in a room probably having sex, essentially refusing to believe a sexual assault allegation because the alleged victim was 'boy crazy', etc.). The answer is that your brother needs an attorney, should go nowhere near this lie detector test until an attorney clears it, and if this goes to trial it should be understood that a bankruptcy is likely to follow.


Title: Minor child had car accident. What do we need to know for our protection?

Question:
Our 16 year-old was hit by another car while turning  into traffic. She was shaken but otherwise okay. The other driver was taken to hospital as a precaution. A third car took a minor hit when my daughter's car was pushed into it.

My daughter's car (owned by me but for her exclusive use) and the car directly involved both appeared to be total losses. The third car has dents and scratches and the driver claimed to be without injury. Generously I would estimate total property damage at $30K. Based on the main driver's conduct and statements at the scene I am also thinking a personal injury case is likely.

Having never navigated any accident beyond a minor fender bender, I would appreciate any advice on how to deal with our insurance company. Are there any red flags we should be looking for that they are going to be adversarial? Any questions we should be careful when answering?

Answer:
 You need to view your insurance company as your advocate here.  Your narrative implies that your daughter was at fault, which raises the possibility that she will be sued, which you noted.  If that happens, your insurance company has a duty to defend you and will supply you with a lawyer to defend you - assuming that this is not settled out of court first.

As for dealing with your insurance company, you need to stress to your daughter the need to tell them the truth.  It is fine if she doesn't recall something or doesn't know the answer - she just needs to tell them that.  The insurance company wants to settle this for the least amount possible, but the circumstances may not lend themselves to a simple physical damage claim.  If you think that the second driver is out for a money grab, you need to make sure that the insurance adjuster knows that, although it may not help - some venues around the country (NYC, South Florida, Cook County, IL, West Virginia) are well known for their bias against defendants in these cases and there's not much you can do to change that.

I'm glad your daughter is OK. She'll get through this too, but now is the time to remind her to act the way you've taught her to.


Title: My ex-wife is trying to move my daughter from Missouri to Kentucky because she's depressed.

Question:
Springfield, Missouri : Star date - Today :

Here is the gist of what is happening. Around six years ago, my ex-wife's sister passed away. A year later, my wife at the time got depressed, said fuck it, and filed for divorce. We'd been trying to buy a house. I cleaned up her credit so we could. She treated this as a fresh start and bolted for greener pastures.

We have a daughter, so naturally this complicated things. My lawyer wasn't charging me anything, so he said just keep sending everything back. I did and wore her down. The lawyers told me that I was entitled to half her 401K. This was good because I like money. However, I like my daughter more. She tried to give me one of those break-it-off-in-the-ex husband's butt custody arrangements where I only get to see my daughter every other weekend. I wasn't having none of that. No sir. So, I began bargaining. I changed it so that I got my daughter every weekend and sent it back. She changed it so that I would have to pay for both cars including the one she gets to keep. Wasn't having that. No sir. So, I sent it back amended where I don't pay for her car and I get my daughter from Monday to Monday every other week plus three three week periods during the summer.

She said no, but then I made a deal. I told her that I would paid her $400 a month in child support and she could keep all of her 401K. We were both self employed. This was a good deal. She agreed. I also got her to agree to the fact that our daughter had to go to school within 20 miles of Springfield till she was 18. That was agreed on too. My ex takes her new credit and her new boyfriend and buys a house. Done and done.

They just called me. They told me that my daughter wasn't doing well in the school where she was going. (Bullshit. She's a straight A student.) They say that what they meant was that she didn't have many friends. (My daughter is somewhat introverted. Her mother is very anti social. I however, take my daughter on me with deliveries so that she gets out and meets new people. My daughter's problem isn't that it is hard for her to make friends. It's that she doesn't try to make friends. That being said, she has a really good friend that she goes and does stuff with. (So, I call bullshit. Social skills are learned, so moving to another state to a strange school isn't going to fix this.) My Ex said that she was depressed and wasn't happy here. (Translation: She can't manage money and bought a house with a variable interest rate that keeps fluctuating higher than she can afford. She wants to say fuck it and walk away from it just like she did with the divorce.)

I love my daughter more than I hate my ex, so I've been trying to be impartial about this. I've been weighing the pros and cons.

The pros are that I don't have to see my ex wife each week. And, that's about it.

The cons are numerous. I won't list them because it is what the cons tell me that is important. There is nothing positive about this move. My ex wife's work will let her work from home anywhere in the US. She's not giving up anything which means that there is no real reason for her to move. She just wants to walk away from things and move closer to her globetrotting parents. Her father works in the automotive industry and uses a headhunter service that is constantly seeking out better paying employment for him. There is no telling where he will be living from one year to the other. In the five years I was married to his daughter. He lived in Missouri, Shenyang China, Kentucky, and Illinois. Has moved four times since the divorce. So, moving to Kentucky to be close to him is a frivolous gesture on her part.

This is turning into a rant. Here's my question.

My present custody arrangement is based on her agreement to my terms in exchange for her keeping her 401K and me paying way too much child support on a 60/40 custody arrangement.

Is this enough to defeat her bid to move my daughter to Kentucky when there is absolutely no justification for uprooting my daughter?

Thanks. I appreciate any advice on this.

Answer: It's already in the divorce decree that she can't move. If she moves, she violating the decree.


Title: (Indiana) Is it legal for a 13 year old to pose on Facebook holding an semi automatic rifle? I googled it, but I didn't see anything that gave me a definite answer

Answer:
 Not by itself. If you're posing next to a "back to school" sign holding a list of bullies in your other hand, someone may decide it's meeting o'clock.Answer #2: Why would that be illegal?Answer #3: Go for it. That doesnt mean that if someone is concerned that you have unrestricted and unsafe access to fire arms, if cannot be reported to the police and/or CPS for them to investigate the safety of the home.

Your best option is to ask you parents if they think this is a good ideaAnswer #4: I highly doubt there's a specific law out there says a 13 year old can't hold a semi automatic rifle. It may be a concern that gets CPS involved but I doubt there's a law specifically on point.


Title: Is there anything I can do about this? (Tampa,FL)

Question:
I don’t know what to do. Here’s some backstory that I think provides some important details.

On February 22nd, I had a flood in my 2200sqft home. I had 3-4 Inches in every single room of my house. I wish I was exaggerating. It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Walking through my garage door and into the wading pool that was once my house. The culprit of the almost 30,000 gallons worth of water in my house was a blown compression seal from a 3/8cm tube connecting my hot water line to the kitchen sink.

That night was completely a blur. I remember calling my parents just yelling, “No! No! No! No!” repeatedly. Sometime soon after I composed myself and we called my insurance agency. They sent out a mitigation company and for the next 4 hours they vacuumed out my house and attempted sorting through the countless belongings damaged in the flood.

After that night, we were out of the house for the next 5 months. We took a few belongings with us; some clothes and kids toys and stuff for our dog. The rest of our stuff sat in the house to be sorted through, documented, and boxed up or thrown away. This took approximately 3 months from the original flood date of 2/22/17, we did a lot of waiting on the insurance company. It was 2.5 months before we could start throwing away clearly soaking wet items which were clearly ruined and still wet in boxes (In Florida, mind you.) We had just moved in 3 months prior.

Here's where my question comes. At some point during us not living in the home a 336-page Case Logic DVD Case went missing with over 350 3DBluRays/BluRays/DVDs in it. We have no clue what happened to it. We don’t know if someone stole it (Probable), we don’t know if it got thrown out because it was water damaged (less probable, but still probable), or if it grew legs itself and just walked away (definitely not likely). All we know is that we had Two DVD Cases in alphabetical order, and now we only have 1 starting at the letter M for DVDs (Assuming 1 page per letter which is high because some letters didn’t even have associated DVDs it was only 10 pages of DVDs out of 36) Insurance will not let me file this under my water loss claim because I cannot prove it was water damaged, it’s not in my possession. Fine, fair enough I guess. (they did other things but this one is too big of value I guess [about $10,000 valuing each item at $30.00]?) However when I attempted to file a new claim I was informed by my agent that my insurance would be dropped and no one would give me insurance again for 5 years having 2 large claims back to back like this, and if I do get it it’s going to be astronomically priced.

What am I supposed to do? Just write off my life’s collection of DVDs? These are more than just movies to me, every movie is a memory, an experience. It is the only thing I have outside of my wife, kids, and dog of true intrinsic value to me. I can’t really accuse either the mitigation company or the construction company of the theft because within those 3 months that my stuff was there, there were countless people in and out of my house every single day along with a lock box on my front door (owned by construction company with code on door given out to many different people contracted by construction company). Do I have any recourse or do I just need to eat this loss? Any Help would be appreciated.

TL;DR – House became wading pool. Insurance covered. Out of house for 5 months, stuff in house for 3 of those 5, Lots of people in and out of house. DVD Case with movies worth $10,000.00 (350x30=10500) lost within those 3 months. Can’t file under same claim, filing new claim will cause me to lose insurance for next 5 years. Help?

Topic:
Insurance

Answer:
 > What am I supposed to do? Just write off my life’s collection of DVDs?

Yes unless you have some evidence of who stole it.

>  These are more than just movies to me, every movie is a memory, an experience.

Please. Not legally relevant. You can buy Gigli again if it means that much to you.

And your movies were not worth 10k by the way. Answer #2: > DVD Case with movies worth $10,000.00 (350x30=10500)

LOL. More like 350 x $1 or $2 = $350-$700.


Title: Incorrect Google Knowledge Graph SERIOUSLY Affecting Traffic

Question:
Hopefully this is the right place to post this, but I have a pretty unique situation I am trying to deal with as soon as humanly possible, and any insight would be greatly appreciated.

A friend of mine, let's call him Jake A., is an American hip-hop artist who was recently (in the past few days) featured on an American prime-time television show, along with his new hit song.  The response to the song has been huge.  Doing some data research on Google Trends, I noticed his song was a breakout search term, and was truly performing better than we realized.

While looking at the information, I also noticed that Jake D. was, naturally, a breakout term as well, in correlation with the spike in search stats for his song.  However, Jake D. was listed as a Canadian entertainer, (NOT the Jake D. who created the song.)

So after Googling his name, I found that Google's Knowledge Graph (the little results that are automatically displayed on the top right of the page after searching a popular term) is attributing his new song, and even some of his old songs, to a Canadian entertainer with the same name.  I submitted multiple claims to Google regarding this error, and have not seen updates to the knowledge graph.  As this issue is extremely time critical, I am wondering if there is anything else I can do to get this resolved ASAP, before the virality of the song fades out.

TLDR:  Friend made a hit song that is going viral, Google thinks someone else with his same name wrote it, that person is now getting all the traffic that should be going to my friend.  Need to fix this ASAP.

Answer: Not a legal issue. Google is wrong sometimes.  Just because you read something on the internet doesn't mean it's true.


Title: Lady tries to park in front of me and bumps my car while I am sleeping in my car. She tries to drive off but realizes I took photos of her trying to drive off. She comes back, argues with me, gives me her name/phone number, refused to show me her license/registration, and drove off.

Question:
This happened in Los Angeles, CA.

I was taking a nap during my lunch break in my car. A lady tried to park in front of me and bumps my car, waking me up (it was so hard that it shook me awake). She tries to drive off but realizes I am already taking photos of her trying to drive off (she didn't see me taking a nap).

She tries to play it off and tells me that she merely bumped my car. She bumped my license plate, which caused the left side of my paint behind my license plate to crack. She starts talking over me and acting hysterical. I told her to calm down and that we need to just exchange information and take photos and that if nothing bad happened it'll be fine. I explained to her that I never had something like this happen and that I want to take the proper steps.

She starts taking photos of my car, touching the scratches, and tells me that "it's not fair" for me to report this. She believes that the damage she made is "old". She gives me her name and her phone number. When I ask for her license and registration, she tells me that she doesn't trust me and drives off.

I am sitting here at work (very busy) but this is annoying me like no other. I'm worried she might spin this around and make me look bad. I have never had anyone bump me or got into an accident before. What do I need to do in this situation?

Answer:
 Did you call the police to report the accident and the fact that she left the scene?
Answer #2: Call the police now, file a report. Let your insurance handle it. Answer #3: You tell us your state to see if this is an issue....do you really care about the paint behind your license plate? Answer #4: That's called hit-and-run if she refused to show you license and registration.


Title: is this legal??

Question:
Iwas hired at a server/bartender position in WEST ALLIS, WISCONSIN in Sept 2016. upon hire I was NEVER told I NEEDED to obtain a bartenders license for my position. a few months ago the owners had said they wanted us all to go and obtain the license. the city denied mine do to traffic violations, the last one 5 years ago, even after appealing. last tueaday I was told upon clocking in that I had 2 weeks left to be allowed to work and then I would no longer be on th2 schedule for not having a license to bartend. all of my shifts are with a licensed bartender .the owner told me "it is not fair to everyone else that they need theirs and you don't have yours" . I have talked with the other employees and they are more upset with me no longer having my job than me not having a license.
my question.... is this even legal??!!can illegally be leg go for this??

Answer:
 Yes, you can be let go for any reason that is not protected by federal or state law.

An employer choosing to require specific training or licensing from their employees is not one of those protected reason, so yes, you can be let go for being unable to obtain that license.

I am sorry that you find yourself in this situation - you need to apply for unemployment and start looking for a job.Answer #2: Location matters. If you are in one of 49 states in the US, you can be let go for any reason that is not prohibited by law, such as for being a member of a protected class. Unless you have some sort of employment contract. Otherwise, file for unemployment and start looking for a new job.


Title: If you create a scam that only someone who was willing to break the law would fall for, is it still illegal?

Question:
I recently learned about "double play" which is a ploy which makes the victim think they're the deceiver (e.g. when someone is "accidentally" sent an internal memo that contains insider information, or any con artist movie ever).

My question is, if the only way a victim could fall for a scheme would be if they had to engage in illegal behavior (e.g. insider trading), would the scheme still be punishable by law since you could argue that no law-abiding person would ever fall for it?

Answer: Yes. If you do something that is illegal, you can still be punished, even though your victim also committed a crime. "I set it up specially to only victimize my fellow criminals" is not a valid legal defense.Answer #2: Doesn’t matter, still illegal unless the fraud is part of a Law Enforcement action.


Title: Can responders legally force me from my home during a fire when I’m trying to save my pet?

Question:
Trying to keep this as brief as possible -

Here’s the question:

In New York, can a police officer and/or firefighter forcefully remove me from my home or physically restrain me from going back in to save my pets in the event of a fire?

What if the fire is next door and hasn’t spread to my home yet?

——-

Here’s the story:

I rent in a townhouse style community.  The row of homes adjacent to us caught fire.  Luckily, it never reached us.

After trying to be proactive and ask responders if we should be evacuating for a good 30 mins before the fire got really bad (and being ignored), we were finally told to get out.

Our 2 cats and a rescue who was being picked up were in the house.  I grabbed one and ran him out to the car while the wife and her brother were supposed to be getting the other two in their carriers.

In the time it took me to run to my car and back upstairs (less than a minute), somewhere between 10-12 responders (cops, firefighters, volunteers) bum rushed my home, flinging all the doors open, and yelled at the top of their lungs at my wife and her brother to get out, ignoring her screams about letting them save the other 2 cats.

They panicked and ran out of the house with her bawling her eyes out, and the responders all followed them out and left the 2 cats behind.  Remember, my house isn’t on fire, it’s just close to the one that is.

I had to run back up, basically through attempted body blocks by a police officer and a firefighter who then followed me into the home yelling and threatening to drag me out.  Still zero assistance in actually trying to rescue any of the animals.  Thanks boys 👍🏻

When I run the day back in my head, none of them ever actually put their hands on me, just lots of yelling  and threats and trying to stand in front of me.

Is that because they didn’t know what they were doing or because they’re not actually allowed to stop me?

At this point I’m just curious of my rights.

Full disclosure, I don’t actually care what the law is.  If any of my family, human or animal, is in danger of our home catching fire, and responders refuse to save them, I’m going through anyone who tries to stop me from saving them regardless of the consequences.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Of course. It's not desirable to allow people to force situations that compel first responders to risk their lives. You can be excluded from an area that's immediately dangerous, particularly when the exclusion is necessary to save your life or to prevent unnecessary risk. Answer #2: A first responders job is to save human life. While they may save animals when safe and time permits. It’s unrealistic to expect them to risk their lives for your animals or to allow you to do so.


Title: Landlords ex girlfriend stole my microwave

Question:
So my girlfriend and I moved in to a friend of hers place because he was renting out a room and I didn't like living on my college campus or at her mom's so we moved in there. I brought all my dorm furnishings, microwave included, to the house with us. Obviously the house had it's own microwave so ours sat in the office of the house waiting for the day we got our own place. Cut forward a couple years and our landlord/friend as his girlfriend break up, she comes by one day while I'm out to get her things and she tells my landlord the microwave was hers and she leaves with it. It's been over a week now and she won't return it or even respond to messages about returning it. I get it's just a microwave but it cost $50 which is a lot while in school and we won't be in this house much longer and I'd like to avoid dropping even more on another one. What options do I have?

Edit:this is in West Virginia

Answer: Call the police and report the theft.


Title: Coworker is stealing tables at restaurant.

Question: I work part-time at a chili's in California. I'm always in the lounge the 3 days a week I work and I'm always working with the bartender Marianne who is taking lounge tables and bar-tops without taking turns with the other server. The other bartenders are not allowed to do this. At other chili's restaurants it's against the rules also. I'm not the only server she has done this to. It's been going on for the past 2 years I've worked there. I've told all managers repeatedly and they've all said they'll address it, even the area manager and haven't. I lose out on at least $15 a day sometimes more depending on how busy were are. Yesterday the general manager finally told her to stop and she didn't. I don't know what to do and how feels like the first step on the road to disappointment right now. I've been looking for other another serving job because chili's is so depressing and still haven't found one. Is Marianne actually doing something legally wrong?

Answer: This is a workplace policy issue, not a legal one.


Title: [Philadelphia] Friend’s door knob to her apartment is broken and she can’t get into her apartment. Landlord says she will have to pay out of pocket if she needs to get in before he can send a guy to fix it.

Question:
Post title says it all. Friends door knob is broken and she literally can’t get inside of her apartment. The knob will turn but the latch doesn’t move at all. She broke her foot so she has been at her parents over the weekend but is planning on going back to her apartment sometime the next few days. She told her landlord about the knob but he told her she will have to pay out of pocket if she has to get it fixed before his guy can get out to fix it.

This sounds absolutely absurd and I can’t imagine this is legal. I’m not from the area and don’t know the laws but is there something she can send him to get his ass in gear to send a guy out there ASAP? Thank you so much for any help.

Edit: She did offer to pay so she can get someone out there quickly and just asked to be reimbursed. The landlord said in no uncertain terms that she would not be reimbursed and she would be responsible for all associated costs. The landlord and the property manager are both in agreement over this.

The more I think about this the more ridiculous it is. What if she happened to get into her apartment but then she got stuck in there and couldn’t get out in the event of an emergency such as a fire? This is such a massive safety concern.

I plan on calling the city tomorrow morning. I’m not going to give any identifying information but just want to see how serious of an issue the city would consider it.

Edit 2 and Update: just got this text from her:
“Once the rental property group realized it wasn't the lock I think they escalated it to the landlord and told her she was in the wrong. Someone is coming within the hour. “

Answer:
 If the knob broke through normal use then no, it is an emergency repair and the LL is on the hook for it. LL is responsible for making sure doors and windows work as part of health and fire safety.

If it turns out the emergency was caused by your friend's negligence (ex, snapped off the wrong key in the lock) then LL can bill her back.

If she locked herself out, there is likely  a 'lockout' clause in her lease which controls. Failing that, LL is probably within his rights you charge for damages (probably varies based on location and Idk Philadelphia).

Details really matter here. Hope this helps.


Title: Police officers entered my home (located in Minnesota, twin cities area) without permission

Question:
I live in the twin cities area in Minnesota.  I recently left my home and realized I forgot something, so I turned around to go back and get it.  I walked in my front door and left the wood door open, only the screen door was shut, because I was just running in quick.

As I was walking back toward the front door I heard my dogs flying down the stairs barking and got to the foyer just in time toward two people walking through my home office.   Fortunately I realized they were police officers and called the dogs off just in time.

The police officers told me a child had been reported missing two blocks away and they were canvassing the neighborhood, and decided to check my house because the door was open.  By their logic the kid might have walked in the open door so they should check.

They CLAIMED to have rang the doorbell twice and waited several minutes for a response before entering, but our door bell is computerized and did not register any rings during that time period. I have not yet checked my video footage but I am fairly certain they did not ring the bell or knock.

They asked several times to search the house for the child and I repeatedly told them that the doors had been locked until 30 seconds ago, so the child would not be inside.  I agreed to look around the house and yard myself just in case and they left.

As far as I know nothing bad has come of this (and as far as I know I have nothing to "hide") and I have confirmed there WAS a missing child in the area, but I am uncomfortable with the fact that they walked in without permission, and that they claimed to have rung the bell when they did not.

What is the legal stance on this?  Would it be worthwhile to complain about the incident or cause more trouble than it's worth?

Thanks.

Answer:
 there are certain extenuating circumstances that remove officers from the warrant requirements, a missing kid may be one. the fact they left upon request, and they reported nothing they may have found, indicates they were just trying to find the kid.

if anything is used against you an attorney may get it knocked out, but may not, depending. Answer #2: Legal. Exigent circumstances.


Title: Employer is fining its employees $25 every time they are caught on their phone. US/IL

Question:
If the employer catches an employee on their phone when they should actually be working, she will fine that employee $25.

It sounds messed up, but everything I've ever read says this is legal so long as the employee doesn't go below minimum wage for the pay period. Or is this actually illegal?

If you could also show why this is legal or illegal (laws, codes, precedence), it would be helpful. Thank you!

Answer:
 Straight from the state's labor department: [this isn't a lawful deduction](https://www2.illinois.gov/idol/FAQs/Pages/Deductions-From-Pay-FAQ.aspx), unless you agree to the deduction, in writing, at the time the deduction is made.

However, she can fire you on the spot for being on your phone, so tread carefully.


Title: Mentally ill father, how to protect myself

Question:
Posted this to relationship advice but was told this sub would be better.

I lost my mother three months ago. I’m in my 20’s and have been taking care of my younger sister since. My dad wasn’t exactly the best father when my mother was here. During these last few years he was on heavy drugs, cheating, would physically hurt my mother, ect. After she passed he vowed to clean himself up and be a real father and get custody of my sister. Fast forward to this month. Things went rapidly downhill and I don’t even know what to do anymore. He had a complete mental breakdown ( or so I thought ) this week.

It started on Sunday. Something happened and it set him off. He started hyperventilating, rocking back and forth, and laughing maniacally and making no sense with what he was saying. During this time my sister had to sit there and watch him act like this because he wouldn’t leave my house while I was at work. She’s just turned 16. She shouldn’t have to be dealing with this. I called 911 but he cussed them out and sped off.

Tonight was the breaking point. I told him how I really felt about him calling me names while I’m taking care of his child and ask for no help, and all I want is a little respect. I told him he needs psychological help. He shows up at my house banging on my door at midnight, comes in my house screaming, scared my sister and me. He’s rambling, crying, hyperventilating and manically laughing saying he’s going to drive his car off a bridge, but first he was going to go kill people with an axe and chop their bodies into small pieces. He’s been saying he is going to kill himself for a week now. My sister heard it all. I told him he needed to leave immediately. As soon as he left I called the police and told them everything. About how crazy he was acting, the wanting to die for the past week, how he was manically laughing and wanting to chop people up.
They found him at his moms house. Apparently he was fine. Not acting crazy. Breathing normal. They told me he was acting completely fine. They wouldn’t take him to the hospital. Was it all a fucking act for the past week? A charade he put on? He texts me right after they leave and calls me a cop calling bitch, how he is never going to see me or my sister again. I can’t believe the cops didn’t do anything. I’m truly scared for myself at this point. I don’t know if he’s going to come kick in my front door and harm us or what. He’s broken down doors before, my mom tried barricading a door and he kicked through it with ease.

I’m truly scared and I don’t know what to do. I have security cameras pointing outside in case he shows up. Do I need a  restraining order? What are the steps I need to protect myself. I feel the cops didn’t help at all in this situation. Wether or not he was putting on an act there should be some consequence to say your going to chop up people and drive off a bridge.

Answer: Yes.  Yes you need a restraining order.  Go to the courthouse this morning and get one.


Title: Busted with LSD a while ago, cops are just now coming after me

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer: Yeah you need a criminal defense attorney ASAP. They will help you surrender and tell you what's likely to happen in your other case. Obviously, you violated the terms of that probation and will face consequences, probably severe ones. You should also ask the attorney what arrangements you should start making. LSD production, distribution, sale, its all going to get you the possibility of a lot of time.


Title: [Serious] [California] Women in Men's Bathroom in Dorm

Question:
Somewhat funny, but a serious question. I'll try to keep it simple.

I'm a freshman living on campus in a dorm with single gender rooms but mixed gender floors. The women's bathroom and the men's bathroom are on opposite sides of the hallway. Because of this, women who live on the men's bathroom side of the hall, frequently use the men's bathroom as it is closer. I frequently see females in there, and aside from being a bit awkward, I don't have a huge problem with it.

My questions is, am I taking on any risk by not trying to stop this behavior? Am I putting myself at risk for a sexual harassment claim if (as a male) I shower in a men's room where women are present? If it's an issue, who would I even contact about it?

Thanks!
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 If you are actually worried about this, you should talk to your RA or the Dorm supervisor (whatever you call that person).  But just so you know, it's pretty common to do this in co-ed dorms, particularly at night, for convenience sake.  This isn't a legal issue so long as you don't do anything stupid or harassing.  You can't accidentally harass someone.  Answer #2: No, you're not putting yourself at risk. Showering in a shower room is not harassment, regardless of whether it is male, female, or gender-neutral. A man can make up false accusations just as well as a woman, and certainly I would be skeptical if a woman walked into a men's shower room and then complained about it. So, if you don't behave in a harassing manner, you'll be just fine.

If it does make you uncomfortable, the best person to talk to would probably be the person that manages the building. But this isn't *really* a legal question.


Title: SoCal – Update – My son told a group of kids that Santa did not exist and I was threatened by a bunch of PTA moms

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 Did you get to have sex with George Clooney after that? He's pretty hunky.Answer #2: > The only thing that they asked of me was to not go to the media about this “juicy story.”

....why are you posting!??!?


Title: Employment Opportunity/Predicament. Please advise.

Question:
Location: Texas, USA

Two weeks ago my employer, without warning, sent my entire company an email stating that they were ending operations within our market and that they must terminate employer/employee relationships with everyone receiving the email immediately in order to make the last week of payroll. This caught me completely off guard and has left my family without health insurance or a viable source of income to sustain a living.

I submitted an employment application to our only known competitor and they are very interested; however, they said that they must have enough business in my area to warrant hiring another full-time employee with the salary and benefits my family is in need of. I told them I could assist them in this endeavor as I have a working knowledge of the clients who were left in need after my previous employers pull-out of the market.

They said that they would hire me as a contract marketer (1099) until there was enough business to necessitate hiring me as a full-time employee (W2). As I read over the contract there was a clause stating, in essence, that if I was under any sort of confidentiality agreement with my previous employer that the information I provided them violated, they were in no way responsible. They then asked for a list of potential clients I might go after and a list that their marketing team could tackle.

This made me suspicious of the whole way in which my company worded its demise. How without warning they said they were "discontinuing operations" in the field I was working and that all employer/employee relationships were terminated immediately.

My question is, could the confidentiality agreement I signed with my previous employer still be valid even though they've abandoned all the accounts with which I was working with and supposedly abandoned the market, and am I still bound by the agreement that said I couldn't disseminate the list of clients that we were servicing?

This clause from my prospective employers contract (in their words this was a "different" contract than any other they've done before) has me a bit bugged out that they are concerned that my previous employer will sue if they sweep up their business based off the info I give them, and they want no liability from it.

My end goal is that I re-establish employment for my family's sake in the field with which I was working, and this seems like a great opportunity; however, I don't want to get sued and caught in the middle of a corporate tug-of-war for giving the names of clients who my previous company abandoned.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. If any clarification is needed please ask. I will be following post intently as I have a meeting with the entire marketing division and CEO of my prospective employer tomorrow at 3:30.

Thank you.

Answer:
 The second company sounds shady as hell.

Your principal value to them is the list of clients you served.

They are offering to make you a 1099 contractor...not an employee... but first you have to give them your only business asset.

To top it off, they want to not defend you from any lawsuit resulting from the asset they are asking for !


Title: Homeless dad wants to evict my family and I

Question: When my parents were married in the 90s and had children, our apartment was under his name, during this time he also got the rent stabilized. They got divorced in 2004, my dad moved out and my mother stayed and raised us. Then in 2015 my dad got evicted from his apartment (he hasn't had a job in 20 years, he's on social security,   disability,  and unemployment) and begged my brother to live with us or he'd kill himself. He's very abusive towards my mother and my siblings,  and now he wants the apartment back, my mom never got her name on the lease. My mother  has managed to pay the rent on time for over 20 years, and I feel that we shouldn't be punished for his money situation and have to mover out. I've been to landlord/tenant housing court and they said that there was nothing they could do, and that if we pay the rent here, we can move and pay the rent somewhere else but that's earlier said than done. Is there anything I can do? is it even possible to remove my dad?

Answer:
 >is it even possible to remove my dad?

Only with his permission, but I am going to go ahead and assume the reason your mother never removed him or added herself was because if she did she would lose the rent stabalization and get hit with a big increase.

If he is the only person on the lease then yes, he can evict your mother unless their divorce decree says otherwise.


Title: [IL] New employer told me she will pay in cash and withhold for taxes.

Question: Im not sure if I should be asking here, but I want to be legal and no be paid "under the table". Is this legal? How do I know if she is actually withholding my taxes? What should I do?

Answer: Ask for paystubs showing the breakdown?


Title: [TN] Husband's ex-wife repeatedly informs us she is moving and taking the kids but then never follows through. Do we have rights?

Question:
We have partial custody of my husband's children. We would LOVE more time with them but my husband didn't want to fight his ex during the divorce in order to keep things amicable.

The divorce decree states that if she intends to move, we must be informed by certified letter 60 days prior to the relocation. During the last year, she has told us she is moving three different times. On each occasion we have made plans to find new jobs and living arrangements in the new city so we do not lose any visitation time.

On all three occasions, at or near the end of the sixty days, she informs us that she has changed her mind.

This is starting to be very taxing on our lives. We've lost money on rental deposits and we've wasted hours upon hours job hunting and interviewing for nothing. We can't purchase a home or make any long-term career or personal decisions because we are afraid we will just receive another letter.

Is there anything at all we can do? I know the obvious answer is to contact a lawyer, but I was hoping to get some advice before we take that step.

This is my first post on Reddit...please be gentle.

Answer:
 She's following the custody order so you have to go to court and get it amended so she can't move a certain distance or if she does she has to surrender custody.

That or do as others have suggested and wait until she actually moves.


Title: My wife assaulted me infront of my children for the third time. She has also been healed involuntarily at the behavioral health clinic. I felt as if it was now time for us to get a divorce so I told her she needed to leave and that she should leave the children with me. She took them.

Question: What are my options? In Texas.

Answer: Hire a divorce attorney.


Title: I have no tasks at work, and sit on Reddit (or play video games) all day. Can I quit and claim unemployment while I look for jobs?

Question:
I live in RI and travel to MA every day for work (1-2 hour drive each way, traffic depending). I was hired to start and complete a project at my new job, and work on other projects as we come up with them. I am very project driven, and they liked the successes I've shown in previous jobs.

Well, the project I was hired for is almost done (next week). Since I am now in Maintenance Mode and not Project Development Mode, I literally have nothing to do at work. I sit at my computer all day and watch Youtube or play Starcraft. My boss sees me doing this, and does not care. I've asked for work, he's said he will get back to me, and never does. Yet they keep paying me and want me to come in...? Any project that I try to bring up is shot down because of money. They don't want to pay to improve anything. Even the project... they went with the bare minimums.

Here's the kicker. I knew I had to document something, so I sent a long email to my boss before leaving on vacation for a week. It discussed the following issues:

* Not having any work
* Discussing with him previously that I have no work to do
* Rude comments and some harrassment from fellow employees (my project brought infrastructure change, and people dont like this, so they lash out)
* Official complaints about these issues with no response from management
* Needing to sit down this week to find a solution to the problems

I sent that email, and went on my vacation. I didn't get a response that week, or after I returned. I've been at work for 3 days now and he has not said a word to me about this.

I drive an hour to do nothing all day. Some people would love this and not care, but I do. I want to quit and stop wasting miles on my car. I want to search for a job that challenges me, not degrade at this one. Is this a case for unemployment?

Let me know how I can, if it is. Thanks!

Answer:
 Could you possibly spend the time looking and applying for a new job while there? That way you don’t have to sacrifice the paycheck.Answer #2: You can't get unemployment if you quit.  Not giving you meaningful work is not constructive dismissal.

The more interesting question, I think, is something like: "I'm not explicitly prohibited for job-hunting at work during downtime. In Massachusetts, if I'm fired for looking for another job while at work, will I prevail if my employer contests my unemployment claim?"


Title: If I draw a tattoo design for someone as a gift do I still own the rights to that artwork?

Question:
Also how does it change if it's a commission?
Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer:
 It's copyrighted by you immediately, yes.  It's an illustration.  Doesn't matter that it's been inked on somebody's skin.

If by "rights" you mean to ask whether you have the right to have it ripped from their skin later, the answer to that is no.  By gifting them the tattoo illustration you've implicitly licensed to them the right to keep it there on their skin.

If you feel strongly about it, you can register the copyright at copyright.gov for either $35 or $55, which would give you a few more rights, but still not the right to have it ripped from their skin.


Title: My roomate recorded me in the bathroom and I caught him

Question:
I rent from my roommate's family and last night he stuck his phone under the door and I caught him. I'm completely distraught about this and don't know how long it's going on. Our other roommate heard me screaming and crying and came out to witness the whole thing. The guy confessed and said he was sorry he was just "curious" and he got on his knees and begged my forgiveness. I also have him admitting to it on Facebook and text.I feel so insecure right now, I feel like somewhere I might be plastered all over the internet nude... I don't know if I should go to the police, and one of my other friends mentioned handling it out of court with a NDA.

For reference to laws, I live in Arkansas. Please help.

Answer: If it were me I'd call the police ASAP and worry about any possible civil suits later. You are the victim of a crime, crime is what police are for. Answer #2: What if this isn't the first time he's done this? What if you aren't the only one?  Chances are, this guy is just a voyeur but what if this is just the starting point of being a predator?  You don't want to get him in trouble but he might need help.


Title: A Sheriff sprained a wrist, and broke my thumb, CA

Question:
K, a little back story: I'm not 100% at the moment. I've had a rough couple months (fiance of three years left out of no where, company I worked for went backrupt, and I moved back in with my parents where I don't know anyone).

I told my mom I was feeling depressed 2 weeks ago, and together we've been trying to work towards a recovery plan. But two nights ago, I scared her when she walked in on me napping with my pillow over my head. She panicked, shook me awake, wouldn't believe that I was sleeping like that to cut out noise, and called the Sheriffs saying I was suicidal. Was not, and am not suicidal.

Three Sheriffs show up within five minutes.. It's a good cop, good cop, bad cop situation. The officer who received the call said I didn't look like a risk, but the bad cop immediately after that told me to turn around; he cuffed me tightly, and away I went to the ER.

I was a little irate, trying to plead my case that I'm not at risk of endangering myself or anyone. He had none of it and kept quiet. We get to the ER, and he yanks me out aggressively. Then he he yanks down at the center of the handcuffs to pull me to a wall where I'm told to face the fall, all the while he's keeping pressure on the handcuffs. This goes on from 9:10pm - 9:30pm.

I was on so much adrenaline that I was only slightly aware of the pain. Cut to: me talking to the ER physician, and I tell her I don't have full range of motion of my wrist, and my other thumb is in serious pain from being bent in an awkward position.

They take x-rays, and I sorta panic, and say I don't know what happened. I thought the cliche of "THESE CUFFS ARE TOO TIGHT, COPPER," wouldn't go over. I felt like no one would trust a word I said because I was there for a mental health issue.

I have a copy of the X-rays, as well as the officers involved. I'm 25, sorta broke (as well as my parents), and don't know how to pursue this.

Any advice would be really helpful.

Answer:
 OK I'm a cop in California, and this sentence

>he cuffed me tightly, and away I went to the ER

Just seems like it's glossing over some things. When we bring people to the psych ER in handcuffs, it's because we believe that they are a danger to themselves or others, or so gravely disabled by a mental illness that he/she can not care for themselves.

We don't, and legally can't just yank someone out of their house and force them to see a doctor on a whim. We use this standard form http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/formsandpubs/forms/Forms/Mental_Health/DHCS1801_04012014.pdf and on it we are *legally required* to state specific and articulable facts as to why the person we've brought to the hospital is a danger or gravely disabled due to mental illness.

It's not something we can just make up, and it's not something we do lightly. I'm guessing that there is quite a bit more to this story than "My mom couldn't wake me up."


Title: Email got hacked, i know ip but can i ddos?

Question:
Apologies for formatting, mobile lurker/poster

Checking the log of emails, this started around 4 hours ago. 5 different purchases ranging from $5 to $35 came through totalling to $80. This was addressed to an epic games account made under my email. He changed the name of the account and attempted to reset the password. (I have an epic games account for unreal engine)

Around the point where he started changing the passwords, I woke up and checked my email. He had just attempted to sign in to his account under my name. The email linked his IP as an unauthorized user and I copied it before he could delete the email. He apparently lives in Albania (or his VPN) and I don't know whether ddos or spamming epic games is the right plan of action.

Answer: DDOS and spamming are both the wrong choice. The right choice is to change your passwords and dispute any charges with your bank/card issuer.


Title: (Virginia) Court the court make me do this?

Question: Several months ago I got a failure to yield driving ticket. At the time I was under 18 and went to court when I was 18. The judge told me to pay a fee in addition to the court fee and that was that. Today in the mail I received mail from the DMV stating that I need to take an 8 hr driving improvement course and another fee of almost $200...this caught me by surprise as the judge never mentioned anything about it..what do

Answer:
 The court is not the DMV.  The DMV is an administrative branch of your state.  They may very well have their own set of requirements for your failure to yield.

I am not familiar with Virginia law or administrative rules, but this doesn't surprise me or sound outlandish.


Title: CA Is it still blackmail/illegal if there is no intent to accept the money or remain silent?

Question:
Morality aside and understand responses don't count as legal advice.

I suspect that the guy my wife liked to bone a year ago isn't actually in an open relationship. I also suspect that his wife doesn't know about him and my wife.  I figure I've let things die down for a year so the panic of discovery had lessened.

If I threaten to reveal the affair to his wife unless he pays up, and disclose the information regardless is it still an illegal act?

I don't actually want the money as it would be equal to taking it from the possibly innocent spouse.
More looking to add uncertainty and doubt to the person for a week or two before saying their offer to shush me isn't enough, then adding another week or two worth of uncertainty and doubt.

Is it really a public disclosure of private facts as the fact is relevant to all parties?
Is this blackmail, extortion, if I have no intention of accepting the funds?
If there is no crime would in still fall under wire or mail fraud?

Answer:
 > If I threaten to reveal the affair to his wife unless he pays up, and disclose the information regardless is it still an illegal act?

Yes.  The act of extortion, regardless of follow-through, is illegal.  Answer #2: "If I threaten to tell his wife unless he pays up..." is a full stop.  You have already crossed the line to extortion.

Your intent will be a little hard to defend when a simple "If you don't tell your wife, I will" would work just as well.


Title: Wrote a bad check and deposited into an ATM

Question:
I'm a very low income 18 year old kid who wrote myself a bad check into my bank ATM. The money was never made available and my two bank accounts were closed because of it. I'm not proud of what I did, but it was a desperation move. Obviously it was a very stupid decision and I'm paying the consequences.

I'm not able to open a bank account anywhere for 5 years. I'm currently in a much more stable place, and I want to make the situation right, of course without incriminating myself. How would I go about doing this?

Who should I contact first?

Answer:
 Sounds like you're blacklisted on ChexSystems.  You'll want to look for a bank with "second chance"checking: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/banking/second-chance-checking/Answer #2: Were you charged? Convicted?

What do you mean by "make the situation right"?

Also [this](http://twocents.lifehacker.com/how-can-i-open-a-bank-account-when-my-credit-sucks-1585417920) might be of help.Answer #3: You might not be able to get a bank account but you might be able to get a prepaid debit card that is free with direct deposit or has a minimal monthly fee. Do your research and read the fine print carefully, make sure they don't charge you if you don't maintain a minimum balance/charge you for every transaction/have a daily limit/etc. I've got a Bluebird card because of Walmart savings catcher, and it doesn't cost me anything, no minimum, has free direct deposit, etc, so that might work for you.


Title: I'm a victim of re shipping fraud

Question: ccepted a job as a "package manager" for a fake company called porter transportation. They would send me packages and I'd take pictures of the packages, upload them, and send them other places via fedex. I knew the job was fishy when I started receiving letters saying paypal credit accounts were opened under other peoples names and sent to my address. Me, being stupid, believed they were a legit business because of there website and them saying they were under the Better Business Bureau. I want to file a police report and come clean with what I did (because honestly I had no idea about these types of reshipping scams) but at the same time I dont want to get screwed over and face charges for   shipping stolen items. Anyways any type of legal advice would be appreciated, and I'm well aware that accepting the job in the first place was really stupid.

Answer:
 Don't answer a single question from anybody until you have consulted with a lawyer.Answer #2: As a side note, the Better Business Bureau is a pay to play organization. For the low price of a few hundred dollars, you can purchase an A rating.

In the future, check places like r/scams or scam websites.

As other posters said,  do not speak to the police unless/ until you have spoken with a lawyer.


Title: [St. Paul, MN] Neighbor claims my son [16M] raped his daughter [15F] on a certain date but we have evidence we were on vacation when it happened; what next?

Question:
On Friday ngiht, we had our next door neighbor coming round screaming his head off at us, he yelled at me, called my son a rapist, claimed our son raped his daughter on the 16th of August and that he wanted to sue us. Our neighbor then began threatenign to set fire to our so n and called him "fucking little bastard rapist dude".
I know my son could not have done it as me, my wife and my 18-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son were on vacation that week (we were outside the US on 16th August) and we were in London for two weeks visiting relatives in London (expats who work for some big megacompany that's based in Europe, US, Canada, Mexico, Ireland), how could my son have done it if we were on vacation?

My neighbor kept insisting it was the 16th August 2016 that my son raped his daughter and ahowed me a text message which was sent to hsi daughter that read:

> HAH FUKKKK UU SLUTTTTYYYGALLLL. UOUUUU SUUUKKK.

That didn't look anything like the sort of language my son writes; he can barely write in textspeak and is a "grammar nazi" tbh.

My neighbor said I had two weeks to get him $80k in compensation or he'd tell everyone how my son was a rapist.

The thing is, my son could not have done it, as the places and times my neighbor claimed, don't match up, and we were on vacation that same day (how would my son have got there; impossible?). Also, my son is gay and I highly doubt a gay man would be a rapist, my son is NOT attracted to women, he's a very effeminate camp sort of guy, but that's who he is, no issues with that, he's my son and I love him. My son came out to me aged only 13.

I had a voicemail from the neighbor yesterday asking for the $80k, it sounded angry.

Would showing the neighbor proof of my vacation like photos, emails, bookings etc. for our vacation be enough to convince him to stop this campaign?

Could this be a sort of scam or something, and what should I do next?

Answer: Everyone in this thread is carrying on about blackmail, but your neighbor threaten to kill your son.  That would be the bigger issue for me.  Call the police and start taking steps to ensure your family's safety.  Restraining order, alarm system, maybe consider a firearm and training...Answer #2: You're being blackmailed. This is serious stuff. Call the cops


Title: (Virginia) Craigslist buy repeatedly threatening to call police for fraud

Question:
The other day I sold a ticket I won at a trivia contest to a person on Craigslist. Because it was a prize the ticket had to redeemed at a certain booth to enter the concert. I didn't know this when I sold them the ticket and the buyer has repeatedly threatened me with "prosecution" for fraud even after I explained how to redeem the ticket. Other people I told about how to redeem the ticket seem to have had no problem. I have stated I will return the money but she is still threatening to call the police.

I have considered calling the police because I feel threatened and certainly don't feel safe returning the money personally.

Additionally, I am ignorant if it was a fake ticket but have witnesses to where the ticket came from. Also, in calling the police I'm worried I will be admitting to a misdemeanor for scalping.

Answer:
 Ignore her.

The police aren't going to care. If she has anything at all it's a small claims suit for the value of the ticket.


Title: Trying to prevent a feud with my neighbour, what should I do?

Question:
This is happening in NSW, Australia.
Basically I moved states a few months ago and live in a very packed street, there is often no spots to park and so on occasion I park in front of my neighbours house who lives two doors down. I try not to if I can avoid it, but if its the only spot near my house I take it. About a month after I moved he saw me come out to my car and told me he wanted me to stop parking there, I told him I'd try not to, which I did. If there are other spots I take them but there is room enough between his drive way and the next neighbour for two cars anyway, and if I come home from work late at night and the spots open you can be sure I'll take it.

About a month later I came out to a note on the front of my car basically saying not to park there, that I dont move my car for days at a time (I was working 9-6 5 days a week at the time of that and I drive to work..) and that it is HIS house i'm parking in front of (public road). Since then I havent seen him but every time I park there he comes out, throws one of my provisional plates on my windscreen and pulls up my window washers so they face outward. What are my options realistically? he comes across as a rough guy and I worry that he is going to escalate it and eventually damage my car.

It's also worth noting that if I park in front of his house I always pull up close enough to fit a car behind me, however he always parks smack bang in the middle to stop anyone else parking there as well. I'm also not in front of his driveway or anything.

Answer:
 Give law access a call. They offer great legal advice on neighbour disputes.  Your other option is to contact your local community justice Centre. One of their functions is to mediate between neighbours in dispute.

Finally the other cheap legal option is to chat to your local community legal Centre but most don't do neighbour disputes and will refer you to law access and a community justice Centre.

How to avoid escalating it I don't know. Other than going around with a six pack and offering to chat but it could be too late for that.

From Sydney by the way.


Title: How do I convince my fiancé that lawyers are not all scumbags?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: If you don't know how to communicate with your intended I doubt that we do.  If you have friends who work in law then you can introduce them to your fiancé so they can get to know each other, otherwise your guess is better than ours.


Title: AZ confused about a judges ruling regarding child support

Question:
My son’s father recently requested 50/50 custody. As expected the judge ordered we will start a 50/50 custody arrangement given my son’s father pays off his his $6,500 in arrearages by our next court date on December 10th.

I am on SSI, the judge did not know that this impacted child support and had to look up the statute after I informed him.

I just received a letter from the clerk of the superior court that went over what the judges ruling will be and it says that all preschool costs for my son will come out of child support. The judge never asked what preschool costs are and therefore never calculated in even half of what preschool costs would be into child support.

How the letter reads to me is that I will be paying the entirety of my son’s preschool out of child support which basically means I do not get child support.

I am fairly certain that is not how it is supposed to be, especially considering I am on SSI. The judge did not even have the current AZ child support calculator readily available and seemed to get very frustrated at even putting in the figures.

What steps can I take now? Do I request a change of judge? I am very unsure of how to fix this.

Arizona

Answer:
 You're getting child support. You're spending it on preschool. That's your prerogative. Child support is to be spent on supporting the child. It can be sued for rent, utilities, food, gas - anything that directly or indirectly supports the child.

You can probably [start here](https://des.az.gov/services/child-and-family/child-support/arizona-child-support-services-modify-and-calculate-child) to see how to file for a modification of your support order.


Title: Nurse could’ve possibly caused permanent nerve damage in my arm during blood draw.

Question:
Hey so I’ve never had this happen before and I’ve never felt a pain like this before. I’m terrified but it can be tended to. So here’s what happened.

Last Wednesday I went in for a routine blood draw to check levels and such including medication levels in my bloodstream. I’ve had occasional problems purely due to my thick skin and small veins and that problem would be a few pokes instead of one. That’s fine, if it happens the nurses are always so apologetic despite me assuring them it’s fine. I know they don’t mean harm.

Well, the standard is a nurse tried twice and if they fail another nurse comes in to do it. This very agitated nurse came in and ignored the previous nurse’s notes then proceeded to jab the needle -straight in not at an angle which I had pointed out isn’t correct- then INSTANTLY felt like hot fire burned in a line up from my elbow to my wrist and the heel of my left hand. I told her “Eh probably just knicked the nerve. It’s fine it happens.”

That vein didn’t work (I wonder why) so she did what the other nurse suggested and that finally worked. (The jab happened when nobody else was there to see it.)

It’ll be a week soon and while it’s not constant it’s debilitating. It leads me to yelping in pain and feels like either my skin got tugged too hard or there’s fire right beneath. It’s slowly gotten more frequent.

What can I do? Is there anything I can do? I don’t want this to be forever but if it is then...
Topic:
Medicine and Malpractice

Answer: See a doctor first. If there are damages, then you might have a case. However, the judge won't reward anything on "could've possibly" caused nerve damage.


Title: Required blood tests coming back false positive.

Question:
So someone in my family is a doctor who had to go to rehab for alcohol. This someone completed rehab and has been doing just great, spotless since then. This someone has been doing blood tests every 21 days and two tests have come back false positive in the past 2 years, requiring this someone to travel and PAY a good sum of money to request a retake and prove this someone hasn't been drinking. There is also a suspension from work which is our primary income in our family. I am wondering if there is any legal recourse we could take against the testing lab as every time this occurs it is a highly disturbing time where we are afraid this someone will have to go to rehab even though we KNOW they haven't been drinking for a fact. It also puts a huge dent into our finances.

FYI we are located in Hawaii

Answer: It might be worth it to get tested for diabetes, as this can cause false positives in ETG urinalysis tests.


Title: Car parked at my apartment complex towed while literally in another country

Question:
Hi r/legaladvice,

&#x200B;

I'll make this short and simple:

* My apartment is located in Tempe, Arizona (Maricopa County), USA
* I've been in Germany for business since Oct 15th.
* New management took over my apartment complex on Oct 30th. This was not announced that it would be occurring beforehand. I received a text message via some kind of group text system letting me know that this happened.
* I live with 2 roommates, we don't have assigned parking spots.
* My vehicle was parked in an unassigned (covered) parking spot while I was gone. Mass majority of cars are parked like this in this complex. We have never been assigned parking or told we needed parking to be assigned or anything.
* My roommates were watching my vehicle, BUT, they traveled to Blizzcon in Anaheim, CA on Thursday, Nov 1st (RIP blizzcon 2018)
* I suspect my car had a slow leak on right rear tire but I wasn't 100% sure as the tire was brand new (purchased this year).  I had just added a little air prior to leaving.  It was visibly low before I added air, something like 18 PSI measured, I added air and brought it up to 28-30.
* Sometime between Nov 1st and Nov 4th when my roommates were gone, a notice was placed on my vehicle that it was going to be towed, possibly due to the slow leak turning into a flat.
* My roommates got back, noticed my car was missing, went into office, they said there's nothing they can do and that the car was towed for having a flat tire (inoperable).
* Impound lot wants $160 for the tow.

**Is there any way I can fight this impound charge?**

&#x200B;

I literally was not contacted, the company did not text me to let me know my vehicle needed repair or anything, or that they were going to tow it. I'm literally in another country and had zero way to prevent this from occurring.

The leasing company was supposed to have my vehicle on file, but according to what my roommate said from his conversation with them, they lost that information when the company changed hands, management wise.

&#x200B;

Here's what our lease states regarding vehicles:

"20. PARKING. We may regulate the time, manner, and place of parking cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, boats, trailers, and recreational vehicles by anyone. We may have unauthorized or illegally parked vehicles towed under an appropriate statute. A vehicle is unauthorized or illegally parked in the apartment community if it: (1) has a flat tire or other condition rendering it inoperable; or (2) is on jacks, blocks or has wheel(s) missing; or (3) has no current license or no current inspection sticker; or (4) takes up more than one parking space; or (5) belongs  to  a  resident   or  occupant  who  has  surrendered or abandoned the apartment; or (6) is parked in a marked handicap space without the legally required handicap insignia; or (7) is parked in space marked for manager, staff, or guest at the office; or (8) blocks another vehicle from exiting; or (9) is parked in a fire lane or designated "no parking" area; or (10) is parked in a space marked for other resident(s) or unit(s); or (11) is parked on the grass, sidewalk, or patio; or (12) blocks garbage trucks from access to a dumpster; or  (13) belongs to a resident and is parked in a visitor or retail parking space. "

&#x200B;

&#x200B;

Answer: According to the rules they had a right to have it towed, and they left notice on the vehicle. They followed the proper procedures, you are going to have to pay the fees and get your car back.


Title: My partner and I would like to get married, but he receives SSI for congenital disability. Will marriage render him ineligible? Is there any other option?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 I can't comment on the nuances of social security benefits for disabled individuals, but I would like to point something out to you:

There are good and valid reasons why two people should not get married.  The list is small but financial concerns are at the top of it.  If it turns out that he will loose his disability benefits because of your income, maybe you should give serious consideration to NOT doing this.

Ask yourself if you really need a piece of paper to live a happy life with this man.


Title: [OREGON] Working a 35 hour shift, but only getting paid for 23

Question:
I am a caregiver who works for a private in-home care company. Every 3rd weekend, I'm supposed to take a specific client to their beach house. Typically, I would work the day shift (Saturday and Sunday 09:00- 20:00), and a separate caregiver coming with us would work the 13 hours between my shifts. The night caregiver is unavailable this weekend, so the daughter of the client (main advocate) asked if I would be comfortable taking the client by myself, so long as she was willing to pay the company for the overtime. This would make my shift Saturday 09:00 to Sunday 20:00. 35 hours (overtime later in the week). I agreed, she and the company communicated, and I contacted them today. They are now saying that I will be on shift Sat 09:00-21:00, and Sun 09:00-20:00, and any time I have to get up in the night to help her to the bathroom, etc. I can add that to my pay. So I would technically be "off duty" for those 12 hours in between.

This client has Alzheimer's disease and is to have 24/7 care as decided by the family. In the "time off" I would have, I am still legally responsible for her. I can't leave and I have to be alert enough to hear her bed alarm if she gets up. So basically, the way I'm seeing it, even though I will be sleeping for a portion of those 12 hours, they are expecting me to be working with no pay.

Unfortunately this is a very specific case, so I couldn't find anything online about it. I tried to call my local DOL, but it's such short notice it could be days before they get back to me. Is this illegal or am I just being dramatic?

Any advice or insight is very much appreciated!

Edit: I was able to compromise with the company I work for and will be getting paid for all hours aside from the 8 that I sleep (interruptions paid). Thanks to /u/bunnyhat for giving me some substance to work with!

Answer:
 So Overnight caregiver is a bit different. What I found is.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/homecare/faq.htm#sleep

> Under the FLSA, an employee who is required to be at work for less than 24 hours must be paid even though he or she is permitted to sleep or engage in other personal activities when not busy. All the time is counted as work time that must be paid.

>    If an employee is required to be on duty for 24 hours or more, the employer and employee may agree to not count as hours worked a bona fide regularly scheduled sleeping period of not more than eight hours, provided that (1) adequate sleeping facilities are furnished by the employer, and (2) the employee's time spent sleeping is usually uninterrupted.

However, you can apparently come to an agreement with a thirdparty (the family) to do it differently. Otherwise the company most pay you for all the time you spend at the job. Honestly, this is a bit more complicated than I feel comfortable giving advice on because I'm not overly familiar with all the different laws.


Title: I believe my tenant is trying to extort money from me...

Question:
During these times (Covid-19 of course) I imagine there are a lot of landlords that are dealing with difficult situations with their tenants, I am of course no different.

A bit of background.... I have been renting my house to a couple for 2 years and everything has been relatively smooth up until last month when he told me he is only going to pay half a month's rent (1650 is a full month's rent) and we agreed that I would take half of his security deposit to cover the rest (he pays rent from the 15 to the 15 as per a contract that is now month to month.

2 days ago he told me that he is moving out and I said that I will of course return his remaining money once he was moved out and this would be his 30 days notice to me (IE he is moving out the 25th) and I informed him ultimately he would be receiving a few hundred dollars if there are no damages etc and that I can work with him as I know times are tough and if he wants to move out ASAP I can try to find another renter and pay him back if someone moves in before then (pro rated per day of course).

He responded via text that he is moving out on May 2nd and he wants all money back that he is not paying to live beyond the 2nd. **I am living in Poland working abroad for a year and my home is in San Diego** and I of course am not in a position to negotiate too much from a far and after this threat I told him the best I can do is give him half back now and the other half after he moves. He responded saying that I need to give him 100% of that amount back and I quote (in text), "otherwise you can keep the money, I will stay here and not pay s\*%t until the end of the year".

I am curious what my options are without dragging this out... I am considering (per his suggestion) that we sign a contract that states he will move out on the 2nd once I pay him his money) as I am told by a friend that a 2nd breach of contract would be much more favorable in court.

I am unsure what to do if anyone has any suggestions and I also wonder if him demanding his money back otherwise he will live rent free is extortion and if I can pursue that when I return to the U.S. in a few months. Ultimately I want him out of the house ASAP, but I am of course concerned I will give him the money he's demanding and won't move.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions as I am a bit stressed about the situation as I have been nothing but nice to the guy and I feel he is being ridiculously unreasonable.

Answer:
You want a cash for keys agreement.  Don't pay upfront.  Pay (or have a trusted friend or property management company pay) when he vacates.  Never before.  He hands you the keys; you or your agent hand him the cash (probably not a bad idea to have him sign a physical copy of the agreement at the same time).  Immediately get a change of all the locks.

He's already been shown to ignore his obligations.  There's no reason to believe that he's dealing honestly now.  If you follow through with the current plan, you'll likely be out the money and still going through the eviction process (whenever that reopens).

You'll be giving up any claim to his breaches of the original contract, but with the uncertainty in how long it'll take to resolve the eviction, cash for keys is probably the way to go.

Cash for a promise of keys is not a viable option.


Title: Seems like public defender is not taking my case seriously. Should I ask to be reassigned?

Question:
My public defender doesn't seem to be taking my case seriously at all. She told me she would be happy to take my case if it goes to hearing and I said I would appreciate that. She never checked the docket or anything (she technically wasn't my attorney, I was pro se - so she wouldn't have been automatically notified of any motions, decisions etc.) I had to email her and tell her when I checked the docket and saw that the judge had set a hearing date and i would appreciate if she could represent me.

Then she called me and told me that she'd be happy to take my case but she'll be out of the country on the day the judge assigned the hearing so if i want her to represent me she can tell the judge to reschedule and that it would have to be after thanksgiving. I asked her a few legal questions I had pertaining to my case and she seemed angered or pissed that I knew more about this section of the law than her (i think?) or that I was even trying to understand it (she has never taken this type of case to hearing before - I on the other hand researched the shit out of this type of case). So we ended the convo with her telling me my choices are I can choose to have her represent me, I can hire an attorney, or I can represent myself (this part I found odd, like she was telling me if I think I'm so smart I should represent myself? but that just seems like a very poor decision for anyone whos not an attorney in that specific field of law to make). I told her I would love if she could represent me and thanked her profusely. She said okay, and nothing else. That was the end of it.

She didn't ask what dates would work for me. She didnt tell me what the hearing would entail. She didnt say when she will ask the court to change the hearing date or that she would even get back to me when she does, she just left me completely in the dark.

Is she trying to give me the cold shoulder to push me away so I chose not to have her to represent me?

Also - how long does one have to ask a judge to reschedule a hearing after the judge puts it in the docket. The judge set the hearing on oct. 20 and I spoke with her on oct. 23 and she hasn't done anything yet. I would imagine you dont have much time to ask for a different date?

EDIT: 1 Note to add for clarification:

The public defender in question is not court appointed. I sought help independently at the Public Defenders office and she was the person I talked to. She had me sign a brief retainer just to help me draft my pro se motion. Then she said that if it goes to hearing she can represent me and she would have to have me sign another(different) retainer for that.
That's another concern, she still hasn't sent me that new retainer.

Also - this is in Washington D.C.

Answer:
 Public defenders generally handle a large caseload. 90% of their work is arranging pleas for clients who are guilty, have little defense to their behavior, and still require representation to ensure that there no violation of due process or disservice to the interest of justice. Most of a PD's caseload is frequent fliers that understand the process and don't require much explanation.

She delineated your three options - you hire your own attorney, you keep the public defender, or you represent yourself *pro se.* Without knowing where you're at or what you've been charged with, nobody can really elaborate on your options for requesting different counsel. Due to non-solicitation clauses, it would have been unethical for any attorney to offer unsolicited advice to you while you were representing yourself *pro se* - so it's not really her fault she didn't stay abreast of your case while you were representing yourself.

I get that criminal proceedings can be deeply frightening and you want as much info as you can, but your traumatic life-changing experience isn't like that for her - to her, it's just Wednesday, and she's got a lengthy list of clients to go through.

Rescheduling hearings again depends largely on the judge, the court, and the state. Nobody here can really proffer any advice on that.

Most lawyers are not exactly thin-skinned, so you're likely not going to offend her if you pick up the phone and set an appointment, then inquire as to competency and intent during said phone call. Answer #2: You can't be reassigned when she isn't even on your case yet.


Title: Long story short, mother in law has my son, help.

Question: Ok, here's the long story. My husband and I had our first child and then all went to shit. We were homeless and my uncle was trying to take my son. He's a junkie so I didn't exactly want that but I was homeless and my son deserves better so we talked to my husbands mother and signed over a temporary custody agreement. We have been trying for 3 years to get him back every time he came to visit and always there's some reason why he can't stay. My husband and I found out that the agreement was never taken to a courthouse and since had been worrying over what we could and should do. My husband passed away  October 5th of 2014 and now his mother is DEFINITELY not letting my son stay. I need to know what I can legally do to get my son back. I live in Georgia and my mother in law lives just across the state line in Alabama.

Answer:
 Get a lawyer ASAP, child custody battles are not something you can do without one.

Also get document everything.

IANAL.Answer #2: Are you in a position to provide a healthy and stable home for your son? If you bring this to court, as you should, the court is going to look at if it is the child's best interest to live with you. Some significant facts going against you:

1) You voluntarily gave your son to the mother in law because you were homeless and he has lived with her for 3 years. You did indicate that you have been seeing him so a court hopefully will not find that amounted to abandonment, which could lead to the termination of your parental right;
2) The child has lived with the mother in law for 3 years. Courts want to keep the child in a stable environment that he is used to, and right now that is with your mother in law; and
3) Your past homelessness. Additionally, if this was due, or is alleged to be due, to drug or substance abuse the court is going to consider that when deciding if it really is in your son's best interest to go back to you.

Get a lawyer, make sure you being compiling evidence of your past relationship with the son the last three years to refute any claim that you abandoned your child, and start gathering evidence that you can provide a stable and safe environment for your son now. Also, if there are reason you know that your mother in law is unfit to raise your son, make sure to document that as well.
Answer #3: Wait, so she has your son without any sort of documentation?