Title: I think I'm being emotionally abused and am on the fence about divorcing my husband.

Question:
I don't even know where to start. I think this is going to be all over the place, so TL;DR
Married and might want a divorce? I feel as I am being emotionally abused. Seeing a therapist, concerned about our children if I do divorce, not sure what to do from here.

I have been married to my husband for almost 4 years now. We got married in Nevada, moved to East Idaho and now have 2 children together. I never in my life imagined I would be considering a divorce; we seemed so great together for the first couple of years. Things started going downhill the day after Christmas 2016 (4 months pregnant with daughter) when he threatened to divorce me then after a fight about our 2 year old son and the car seat. I can link that story if necessary.
After a few months things seemed to start getting better until I got diagnosed with stage 2 Ductal Triple Negative Breast Cancer on December 14, 2017. For the first month of treatment husband was supportive, nice, helpful, and then all of a sudden just stopped. He stopped telling me not to worry about dishes, laundry, cleaning etc and started telling me to keep up with all of that. Now fast forward  6 months into this journey I feel alone, scared, worthless, helpless...I just don't know if I am makikng rash decisions because this is what chemo does or if this is really the guy I married? I feel like I don't even know my husband anymore.
So my questions are:
1.) Am I actually being emotionally abused? Therapist says yes.
2.) I am worried about what will happen with our kids. Our son loves his grandma (Husbands mother) so much and they spend nearly every Saturday together and if I divorce I don't want that relationship to end because I don't know how she will take this. I have suspicions but...I don't know.
3.) I also worry about what will happen to me since I am only a homemaker, looking for a job, we share bank accounts. I literally have nothing in my name only. I would be without a car even?
4.) I have a friend in Texas that said she wants me to visit her and file for divorce there. Can I even do that? What will happen?
5.) If I do decide to take the kids and visit and file in TX, can my husband claim that I kidnapped the kids? (This has happened before so that's why I am asking)

Thanks in advance for any advice. I don't know what else to add to this post to help

Answer:
 1- emotional abuse isn't a legal concept for adults.

2- the child can still see Grandma

3- that gets settled in divorce court. If there is only one car, you should probably buy another.

4- sure. But not custody. Custody will be in the state you currently live in. They have jurisdiction until the children have lived in a new state for 6 months. And the father can file to have them immediately returned to his state

5- no. But see above. If you ignore the court order then it would be kidnapping


Title: I'm a salaried video editor at a large company. My employer is asking me to produce anti-union content. Do I have any options?

Question:
I received an email a few days ago setting up a meeting to talk about this project. The project would include basically smearing some workers that tried to unionize years ago. I'm extremely uncomfortable turning my back on our workers, and creating what I consider propaganda.

Are there any laws regarding this? Or am I pretty much stuck with convincing them this is a bad idea?

EDIT: I'm in Michigan

Answer:
 You can quit. You can refuse to do it and take the risk of being fired. There is no law that says that your employer only has to give you work that you agree with.Answer #2: Are you in a union?  If so, ask your union rep to step in, if you're not comfortable.

If you're not in a union, do the work or quit your job.Answer #3: Just do such a terrible job that the message is satirically pro-unionAnswer #4: >smearing some workers

By smearing do you mean they want you to make up bullshit lies to portray these workers badly?

Sounds like potential defamation. Answer #5: Surely you realize that in your line of work from time to time you may be expected to produce content which you don't personally agree with. You just need to separate your feelings from your job on this one. (or quit, or risk getting fired)


Title: Employee taking frequent sick days is causing issues. Is there anything we as the company can do?

Question:
As the title suggests. We're in Ontario, Canada.

We work in an extended health service based industry. I don't want to get into specifics, but the employee in question works for us full time, provides a service, and gets paid per service (as opposed to hourly/salary). I'll call her Sue. Sue is considered a medical professional in our province. We have less than 20 employees and while it's a health related field, it's not one that would cause illness as patients aren't coming in due to being sick. We are similar to a massage clinic.

Sue is sick a lot. Sue has told me that she suffers from anxiety which she takes medication for. This medication causes her nausea which normally is the cause of her calling in sick, although sometimes the nausea causes other issues like lack of sleep, etc. Sue used to call in sick more frequently in the past (~a year ago) but things had been getting better until about September.

Sue is normally working with us 6 hours on the days that she does work and normally her schedule is completely fully booked with patients. When she calls in sick, we try our best to get someone in to cover for Sue, but normally we are unable to get someone on such sort notice (normally under 4hrs). This causes our patients to become upset because we have to cancel on them and sometimes it also costs our business in either complimentary services or loss of future sales.

I'm at my wit's end and don't know what to do. I could ask her for a doctor's note if she's consecutively sick for 3 days in a row, but I don't think that'll help the issue much. I don't want to fire her either, as she is generally a good employee. But am I allowed to talk to her about the frequency of sick days? I wonder if maybe changing her bookings so that she only has same-day bookings would be the best for her.

****

**TL;DR:** employee is frequently sick due to a medication she takes for anxiety. We are a service based business so our customers are getting very upset that we have to cancel their appointments due to this appointment being sick and it reflects poorly on us  as a business and costs us $$. Is there anything we can do?

Answer:
 Sounds like your company doesn’t have an attendance policy or means of discipline for taking too many sick days? Answer #2: It doesn't seem like you have a legal issue, at least not yet. Employers have a responsibility to accommodate disability to the point of undue hardship in Ontario. In order to have a proper accommodation, you need more information than just the employee telling you she has a disability and you accepting that. You need to go through a process where you identify her work limitations and how you can accommodate them. It would probably be best if you hired someone to assess whether the accommodation is appropriate rather than try to determine that on your own since you are not a medical doctor.

If you end up going down the termination route, then I would very, very strongly suggest you speak with an employment lawyer before you do anything that even has the slightest hint of touching on her disability, even remotely.Answer #3: In light of Sue’s frequent need maybe it would be better to use her for walk-in customers instead of customers with scheduled appointments.

She’ll probably take a pay hit since she’s not paid hourly.  But your customers would appreciate the consistency.


Title: Is it legal for a local company to charge sales tax on dollar amounts higher than what the customer actually pays?

Question:
Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. Sales tax here is 5%.

I recently got a membership to one of those wholesale clubs, and I was delighted to see that they had LED light bulbs on sale for a huge discount, something like "regularly $16.99, on sale for $4.99". So I did what seemed like the logical thing, and bought 10 boxes. I went to the checkout, paid for my light bulbs, and went on my way.

A few hours later I was looking at the receipt and noticed something unusual. The total for 10 boxes of LED light bulbs at $4.99 each was $49.90, yet the sales tax was over $7.50. I added up the pre-discounted price of all of the light bulbs and sure enough, my sales tax was equal to 5% of the entire pre-discount price, not 5% of what I actually paid (which would have been roughly $2.50).

Now I'm not about to complain about $5, but I must admit I am curious - what are the laws regarding sales tax, and is it legal for the company to collect more tax than what the consumer should be responsible for?
Topic:
Tax Law

Answer: I'm not sure about WI sales tax laws, but I know in some juridictions, if the rebate is from the manufacturer or a 3rd party, sales tax is calculated on the full price. If the item is discounted by the store directly, it is calculated on the sale price.


Title: Friends Ex-Gf is extorting him for child support and is now essentially holding daughter hostage for Christmas.

Question:
My friend has a daughter (whom he loves) but Ex has custody. If he doesn't pay money she'll raise her to hate him. The only chance he ever has of even seeing her is with huge money payments and even withheld his name of birth certificate. Now in order to get her for Christmas he needs to pay a friend of the mother a thousand dollars in order to prove his worth as a parent and have the friend deliver her. My friend is starting to get fed up with all this overhanded extortion, if he wants to get custody he will have to pay 5k in legal finances he really doesn't have. Any help?

Edit: We're in Utah, the mother is in Arizona.

Answer:
 If your friend is not on the girl's birth certificate as the father and has no other legal document asserting parternity, then he is not the father of this girl in the eyes of the law. He has no obligation to her, but also has no rights to her from a custody standpoint.

His options are:

i.) Pay the Mom what she wants, recognizing that she can endlessly jerk him around for more money until he takes her to court.

ii.) Get a lawyer, get a paternity test, confirm he's the father, and then sue for custody. In this instance, it's not guaranteed that he will get custody (but likely in some form) but it's assured that he will be assessed child support.

I know you said he doesn't have money for this, but he can try and get free legal aid in his area or do things pro se.

iii.) Cut his losses and avoid the situation.Answer #2: $5k is a lot but so is paying $1000 per special occasion. And I'm sure peace of mind that his kid won't be taken away forever would be worth it. He needs a lawyer.

Btw, does your friend have the threats of alienation of affection ("raise her to hate him") in writing? Text or email? Your post leaves it a bit unclear whether it was an explicit threat or just something he's afraid of. If it was explicit and he can prove she threatened it, though, his lawyer will likely be overjoyed.Answer #3: That isn't how child support or custody work. Is there a court order?


Title: Hi. My husband and I are divorced somewhat amicably. We need to see this house before we can divy up the upsets. In ms

Question:
Yesterday we got into and argument and he told me to get the fuck out of our house. I told him I wouldn’t. That I would change the locks on the house. The sad part is that he took our two your kids. My daughter screamed and cried to not leave with him and I have it on tape. She just wanted to sleep in her own bed. He tricked her into getting out of the house and picked her up and then took her and my son to his parents. I haven’t seen them in two days. My lawyer is in a conference no and will be a day until he comes back. He wants to come back tommorow. Besides seeing my kids I do not want to see him but we live in the same house until it sells.

To add insult to injury. We had to pay for our library books for her. I have extra books in my book bag for story time. In line he threw my privately owned books laid them on the counter and told the staff I stole them. Never been so humiliated in my life. Any advice?  Thank you for reading this. My kids 7 d and 3 son.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 No idea what your are asking.

You follow the court ordered custody agreement. If there isn't one, then he did nothing wrong taking the children. Crying or no.


Title: [Northern Ca] I went and filed for a restraining order for my ex-gf. Denied

Answer: And your question is what, exactly?


Title: Hypothetically speaking, what would happen if a sitting president refused to hand over power?

Question:
After his recent interview that went rival, in which the president stated he would “have to see” whether he would peacefully hand over power after the election if he lost, I started wondering about things. Specifically, what would happen if he refused to?

Let’s say January comes, and he decides the election wasn’t fair. He doesn’t leave the White House and orders the secret service not to allow anyone else on the grounds. What would happen after?

I assume his cabinet would fall in line. Most of the agencies, too, since a lot of the people there were chosen by the president. But what about the military? Would they blindly follow a president in violation of the constitution? Or would they storm the White House with Biden on their shoulders?

I’m joking around a bit, but from a legal standpoint what would happen?

For the record, I’m focusing on short term effects. Legal remedies, precedents, effects on the government and economy etc.

Answer:
 > He doesn’t leave the White House and orders the secret service not to allow anyone else on the grounds. What would happen after?

He's not the President anymore, so the Secret Service ignores him and physically carries him out.


Title: When a song enters the public domain, for example Rhapsody in Blue, does that refer to the sheet music or a specific recording or something else? Would like to use in a game but would prefer not to get sued.

Answer: It's generally the composition that's being referred to.   Each recording has its own copyright term.  Same with recordings of any public domain composition.   Just because Beethoven is PD doesn't mean you can use the London Philharmonic's recordings of Beethoven.


Title: Making a small investment into startup between friends. What's the best type of legal partnership to enter into? WA st.

Question:
A startup is opening its Angel Investment round next week in Washington State. Minimum investment is 30K. I and Friend 1 are each investing 12.5K, friend 2 is investing 5K.  How best should we make this investment under one name, but still protect each person's interest?  As the minimum investment is 30K, the startup will only put the shares under one name or entity.  Due to time constraints, we plan to write a "Gentlemen's agreement" via a partnership form, and place the shares under my name.  If the value increases and we sell part or all of our investment, can I simply distribute the income to me, friend 1, and friend 2, in proportion to each person's contribution?  Is the IRS ok with that?

In time, I would like to set up a limited partnership entity, where I and Friend 1 would have complete control over all investments made, and friend 2 would simply be a limited partner who invests money but has no decision making abilities to sell or buy investments.  However, I've been informed that transferring the investment asset from my name under the partnership agreement to a limited partnership entity could cause us to incur double taxation.  I'm not sure how to proceed, given the time constraint.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

Answer:
 Are you all accredited investors?  This seems like a really bad idea unless you've all got some real cash to throw around.

You **shouldn't** make the investment in one person's name.  That's a terrible idea due to tax, liability, and counter party risk.  You should form a LLC and go from there.

>Due to time constraints, we plan to write a "Gentlemen's agreement" via a partnership form, and place the shares under my name

Good idea.  Also, create a checking account and each of you should deposit $40,000 into the account.  Once everyone's deposited the money, write out a signed blank check and give it to the first person you see.  When they cash it, it will act like an effective simulator to replicate the legal fees this stupid arrangement is going to run you.  Sloppy, dog shit legal work always costs more than it saves and an arrangement like this is begging for a disaster.

>and friend 2 would simply be a limited partner who invests money but has no decision making abilities to sell or buy investments

You've got a Series 7 license, right?


Title: I suffered a work injury about a year ago from a burn and I'm now starting to see damage from sunlight on the burn and I'm thinking about pressing charges.

Question:
Location: Illinois USA
There is quite a lot to this.  I worked at an unnamed establishment that I will call T.  While working at T, a restaurant, I suffered a partial thickness burn on my hand.  The reason why this is an issue is because the unofficial policy for cleaning at this place was using boiling water from a steam kettle to dump on the floor and then squeegee it down into a drain.  Management knew about this and I had suffered a smaller burn from it before but nothing was changed.   I visited a hand surgeon who told me that in the future I will have to be careful with my hand since its susceptible to sun damage and I can already see the damage happening.  I know the limitation on this is two years, and I have roughly 6-8 months left to file this lawsuit and I'm wondering if I should go through with it.

And did they violate OSHA regulations with their policy?

Answer:
 > While working at T, a restaurant, I suffered a partial thickness burn on my hand.

Why aren't you going through workers comp, or did you go through workers comp? Answer #2: There was no criminal wrong doing, you can't press charges anyway, the police won't.

It is a workplace related injury, IL and most other states bar civil suits for work related injuries.

This can be pursued though workmans comp.


Title: Closed on a home while it was flooding (Missouri)

Question: I purchased my first home today, but when I arrived at the home 4 hours after closing, there was water streaming through the ceiling. The floater in the upstairs toilet was disconnected due to poor a connection/pressure build up. A steady stream of water was running down to my basement, through the floor below. Immediately after I called my insurance thinking this would be on me, however, it was clear that water had been running for quite some time. My loan processor reached out and said she forgot a signature on the ALTA, which means financing has not gone through... do I legally own the house? Am I liable even though it may have started prior to me taking ownership... do I even have ownership at this point? Should it go on my insurance? Welcome to homeownership! (Missouri)

Answer:
 You didn’t do the final walk through the day of closing?Answer #2: If you didn't... I'd tell your loan processor to put the brakes on NOW.  You'd hate for them to clear up that one last issue on their own somehow, fund, and for THAT to be the moment you ended up stuck with the house.

Contact a real estate attorney.   Also, shut the water off if you didn't yet.  Answer #3: You can't really answer this on reddit. The answer is it depends: On state laws, what you signed, what was in the documents, inspections that were done, and the actual state of the financing. I have no idea if homes in Missouri are generally sold as is (assume so). However, I do know that generally there is a disclosure form for issues. If they knew about this type of issue and didn't put it on there. Then you definitely have a legal remedy to pursue.


Title: Caught between two roommates, not sure what to do legally? (state: Washington)

Question:
I have two roommates, I will use their initials (K and C) who I lived with for basically a year. K is a huge bitch. She is extremely confrontational and prone to mood swings. C is sweet, but also flaky, lazy, and can be passive-aggressive. K and C have been at each other's throats since pretty much day one. Thing is, to me, it seems K has been the one who starts a lot of these fights. I try to stay out of it but I've awoken to the sounds of K's screaming fits.

Regardless, C got a out-of-state job, and left about two or so months before the lease ended. She paid for both months in order to not break it. Her lease ends on October 1st. She has not been seen since she left. K is getting impatient and wants to get rid of her stuff already. I keep trying to contact C to tell her that K is serious about throwing her things out, and C is begging me to keep it safe, she plans to return soon to get it.

Her room still contains: a bed, a mini fridge, a table, a dresser, a jewelry box with things in it, clothes in her closet, gym equipment, and some other things.

K is threatening to throw it all out this weekend, and she called, in front of me, some friends who will remove it and take it to a garbage dump. I feel bad for C and don't want her valuables taken, though I also don't want to cross K who I will keep living with for another year since I renewed the lease. I honestly feel like if I try to stop her, without some legal back-up, she will make my life hell. I called the landlord last night and explained the situation, she actually said, "Deal with it yourselves" then hung up.

What should I do? Can I have the police come to stop her? Can I force the landlord to step in? Should I try to salvage as much as I can, and it won't be considered theft as it is C's (I fear K calling the cops and saying it is)?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 Landlord is right this isn't their problem.

You should tell K that not only can she be criminally charged with theft if she takes C's stuff to the dump, C can sue her for the value of her property as well.

If K enters C's bedroom you should call the police if she begins to remove her items. There isn't much you can do other than telling her she can be criminally and civilly liable for touching C's stuff.


Title: My company is switching me from salary to an hourly employee in order to skirt the new legislation that is raising the minimum threshold of pay for salaried employees. I will now get paid less anytime I take vacation time!

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >And I guess I'll update my resume and start looking around.

This is going to be the advice you'll receive here.


Title: [KS][Continuation]Extorted for indecent photos, went to the police, sexually harassed and brushed aside

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You should call the police where the alleged blackmailer lives.


Title: Suspicious pay stub itemization; potentially skirting the law. [Utah, USA]

Question:
I just started at a new company, and this is my first real pay check (the last one only included 3 days). I worked 87.92 hours in a pay period of 2 weeks, and my rate of pay is $11.75 per hour. I was surprised to find my check was only $627.49, so I started breaking down the pay stub.

[Snapshot of paystub here](http://i.imgur.com/QqLf0vb.jpg)

To be clear, I receive tips, and tips left on credit cards automatically get reported and taxed on the check, however I receive the tips separately from the paycheck.

The first thing I am suspicious of, is the sunday incentive. We receive an extra dollar an hour for working sundays. So, as I see it, the sunday incentive line item should read as 7.49 hours at $12.75, OR remain as is, but the 7.49 hours of regular pay rate should still be included in the regular hourly lines.

Which brings me to my second question, why, if I worked 87.92 hours, do I have less than an hour (0.85) of overtime pay? As I understand it, federal law says anything over 40 hours per week should be no less than time and a half.

So I see two things going on here. For one, they are paying me only a dollar an hour for my sunday hours because they are not including my sunday hours at my regular rate of pay in addition to the extra dollar. Secondly, it seems they are trying to avoid paying overtime by itemizing my OT hours as an incentive rather than hourly wages.

Does anyone see any way this is actually reasonable, or am I getting screwed? I calculate they are screwing me on around $213.

Answer:
 I just have to ask, are you basing your 87.92 hours on your own record of the hours you worked, or on the total listed at the bottom of the pay stub?

The reason I ask is, it appears from the paystub that you worked a total of 80.83 hours. During one week, you went over 40 hours by 0.85 hours, and that day was not Sunday. So let's say that's week one, you worked 40.85, and then the next week you worked 39.98. On one or both of the Sundays, you worked a total of 7.49 hours. Let's just say that's week two, and not at all in week one.

*IF* this is the case, then your paystub is correct. You really need to check your timecard, or your own records, to be sure.


Title: Friend was charged with several crimes while under the influence of LSD, is there anything his family can do to help?

Question:
Hello, first time poster.

My co-worker's brother took LSD (likely for the first time) over the weekend in Florida.  The exact sequence of events is still unclear, but he had a bad trip, left his house, had an altercation with police, and is now facing some pretty serious charges.

His initial appearance was today and a court date was set for March 15 to determine whether any charges will be filed (that is what I was told).  Apparently the court cannot address the question of bail until this hearing so he will be held until then.  The charges are:

-Criminal mischief
-Battery domestic violence
-Resist officer without violence
-False imprisonment domestic violence
-Armed burglary of a dwelling
-Aggravated battery with deadly weapon (stainless steel chair)
-Use or display of weapon (same chair) during felony

These charges are pretty terrible, but I've met the guy, he's a real nice kid, he's a college senior who was getting set to graduate in May.  I don't know that this is in any way helpful, but knowing the guy, these charges are extremely out of character, so presumably he was pretty far gone during these events.  He was well on the way to becoming a productive member of society, I think the family is just looking for a scenario in which this doesn't ruin his life.  Does anyone know of anything the family can do to a) get him out before March 15 and b) help his case?

Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 He needs a great attorney.

Taking illegal drugs does not absolve one of guilt. Answer #2: Voluntary intoxication is not a defense to criminal charges. All he can do is listen to his lawyer and hope that the DA and/or judge is in the best mood of the decade. If the court is unwilling to set bail until March 15, he is sitting in jail until then. I would be very surprised if those charges do not end in prison time.


Title: Theft occured in the apartment a couple months ago, installed webcam and found maintenance guy looking over stuff. Do I have a case?

Question:
As the title suggests, $2000 was stolen from my apartment room about a couple months ago. My roommates also lost some money but in the lower hundreds over a period of time. I had no proof, but I contacted my landlord and I have all proof about the conversation with the landlord. We ended up installing a hidden webcam in the room to find the culprit, and finally caught the maintenance guy coming into the room during off hours when all of us would be at work, and going through our stuff. The video also shows him finding the camera and moving the face aside. It does not catch him stealing in the video, but I would like to pursue this and let the justice system handle this. That being said, I do not want to spend a lot on lawyer fees, etc. What are my options? I didnt think I had a case earlier and never filed any formal complaint other than with the landlord, however now I want to take a legal course of action. Please help!

Location: Jersey City, NJ

Answer:
 You report it to the police and let them handle it. Since the maintenance man didn't take anything it's a leap to say he was responsible the previous time as well. The police will either investigate or not. There are no legal fees for you the da will prosecute if there is sufficient evidence.Answer #2: I would go to the police. Whether there is enough evidence against him to prove he stole the $2,000 is questionable. But if he didn't have permission to be in your apartment at the time he was captured on video it could be a trespass or a burglary.

When you say "landlord" do you mean the owner of a condo who rents it to you or the property manager who runs an apartment building? Whose employee is the maintenance worker? Has he been disciplined? Has his access to your unit and others been revoked? Where are the spare keys?


Title: My mom is making me (17) go to her friend's house. Is this allowed?

Question:
She just kicked me out and then called the cops 2 weeks later to file a runaway report. She picked me up from a UIL math practice and we had an argument about what happened. She then proceeded to tell me that she is making me go to her friend's house to help them move in although I repeatedly told her I want to stay home since she kicked me out and I want to be home. She demanded that I go and threatened to call the cops. It's not that I don't want to help moreso than I don't want her friend's family (who she just met) to see me upset. Can she do this? My mom suffers fr bipolar disorder and I really think she called the cops.

Also, I'm not just a whining teenager. I'm top of my class and am involved in band (Drum Major), UIL science (captain), math (captain), and calulator (captain), president of my church youth orchestra and also taking AP and DC classes. I seriously dont know what to do; otherwise, I wouldn't be asking reddit.

Answer: Listen kiddo. I'm a former high school teacher and principal. I also just shipped a teenager off to college this year. I've had some experience. Can your mom legally force you to go to a house you don't want to? Pretty much yes. Just play out how that would go though if you balk. She says you have to go, you refuse. She either then tries to physically force you and one of you calls the cops. Either you then end up going or your mom goes to jail. There isn't many other options. I know it's hard to think past tomorrow as a teenager. But you sound like you are a great kid on the way to a lot of happiness and success in your life. A life with about 80 years ahead of you. A life where out of those 80 years you will solely be in charge for about 79 of them. I know you aren't a whiney teenager. But my advise is to plead with you to just suck it up for another year. Next year will be incredible. You cannot believe how liberating it is to be free of all of that crap. And the best way to get there is to put up with it now. Trust me, I've had dozens of kids like you in my office. You can do it, just look to the future. Good luck!


Title: Brother was scammed and is also an idiot

Question:
Ill try to keep it short.

My brother moved to San Diego from Illinois. He met some girl on some dating site. She has gotten him to send her money. I think over $1500 over the course of a few months through like, money cards at a bank or something, so we can't track where it went.

He still believes her lies and still communicates with her even though everyone has told him that she is just scamming him.

She says she doesn't have a facebook (what 23year old girl doesn't have an fb)

They have never met.

She has sent one photo to him and it looks like a fake pic.

I went through his phone and got her number and tracked it on some site and says the number is in Nevada. It gave an address but when I tried it on my own number it wasn't totally accurate, about a mile off.

So I guess what I'm asking is, is there anyway to find out this person's real identity?
To get the money back?
To get my brother to have some common sense? He even admitted that she was just taking his money and he didn't want anything to do with her, but he is still talking to her!
Sorry if this isn't really legal advice but just looking for some help
Thanks

Answer: If it is a scam they likely don't even live in the US. He will never get the money back.


Title: Signed a lease, too late to renig?

Question:
Do i have a window of time to back out and get a refund? I paid 1000 to move in, and they didn't even have the place clean. Like missing trim, screens, dirt on the floors, sinks, tub... just gross. Now i found out there are at least three sex offenders living here. I have a little girl, this freaks me out. Am i stuck?

I'm in rock island, Illinois

Answer: I believe you mean "renege", for future reference. Not renig.


Title: Can my boss legally put my cash tips into my credit tips?

Question:
I cant seem to find a direct answer or source, my old manager would just pay me cash for my cash tips. As every employeer before has. But my new manager is now putting them on my check. I have no idea how much cash tips I am making because it goes under regular credit card tips now. The resteraunts tips are all polled so it is near impossible for me to know exactly how much ive made

The idiots on /r/Personalfinance just kept giving stupid and unhelpful comments. So im hoping i could get a professional answer here.

Answer: My employer does the same thing. It's to save their ass. All tips must be recorded and taxed or your employer could get in big trouble. This way, they know all tips are being taxed. Of course this is legal.


Title: Oregon- Holding a non-minor child against their will

Question:
I've searched through Google and r/legaladvice, but have been unable to find anything about laws dealing with biological children aged 18 or older being held inside the home against their will. Any place I can do a bit of research?

Edit: Not me. It's pre-emptive research against the extremely unreasonable father of my girlfriend. Some additional details:

1) She (18, 5'1") has never been hit by him (45, 6' 300 lbs) but has been threatened with violence and has been forcefully grabbed once. Not having seen the bruise, all I have to go on is her word.

2) She suffers from severe depression and anxiety and has a history of self harm. At least one failed suicide attempt.

3) I (boyfriend of one year, 6'3", 190 lbs) met her dad a month ago. He seemed like a really cool guy, and I thought her horror stories about him were exaggerated until he went off (verbally) about something extremely minor. Night goes downhill from there.

4) I've known her for two years and am planning on proposing. Financially stable, and she could move in tomorrow if she wanted.

He's threatened to keep her in the house and not let me see her if something trivial isn't done to his satisfaction. If that happens, I'm confident she'll go back to cutting. Just wanted to know the exact legality of different options in case things go south. Any resources are greatly appreciated; I don't expect anyone to do the work for me.

Answer:
 An eighteen year old has every right to walk out the door provided they aren't under some type of legal guardianship. Answer #2: If you are held prison then call the police. Escape and call the police.

If you are just not allowed to leave, stand up and walk out the door. Answer #3: >I've known her for two years and am planning on proposing.

To an 18 yr old girl who:

>...suffers from severe depression and anxiety and has a history of self harm. At least one failed suicide attempt.

Is she really ready for marriage? If you care about her, maybe you should give her more time.

As for moving out, she can legally do that any time now that she's 18. Answer #4: There is no such thing as a non-minor child. There is such thing as a child and that child could be committed but he/she could release themselves unless court ordered. Held inside a family home against their will would be highly frowned upon by the authorities.


Title: My girlfriends father is threatening to call the police on me if I don't move out of state. What should I do?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 It's not against the law for you to date her, but that doesn't mean it's okay, either.

Her parents can bar her from seeing you, and may be able to obtain a restraining order against you if you don't respect their wishes. _Then_ it would be agains the law for you to date her - or, at least, then dating her could have criminal consequences.

When your girlfriend turns 18, then her father's authority over who she can see ends. However, if she plans on living at home, she should figure out whether continuing to see you will piss off her family and get her kicked out, and, if so, what she wants to do about that.


Title: Is there a term for the opposite of jury nullification?

Question: I couldn't find any information on this.  Usually it would just be wrongly convicted but what if someone committed a crime and it's obvious to the jury but theres some legal loophole like qualified immunity or something that protects the defendant and then the jury says he's guilty anyways.. is there a term for that?

Answer: Yes it's called "a jury verdict that would be successfully appealed".


Title: Seller took truck from my home after they signed title and bill of sale to me. HELP!

Question: Hi, I live in the state of Alabama and need some advice on a situation that's unfolding. So, I bought a truck for $500 from a guy I work for. Payments were made and title was signed over to me as well as the bill of sale. I decided to quit working for this specific person after I bought the truck so I could get a better job. Last night, the seller, my old boss came in the night and picked up the truck and drove it somewhere and hid it. (He had the spare key.) I received a text this morning stating that I could get my truck back if I came back to work for him?? I'm so confused. I have the title! Signed by him! As well as the bill of sale. I have NOT registered the vehicle yet as I still have time to do it. What do I need to do in this situation? Could I go get the truck if I see it or do I need to call the police and explain the situation? Advice needed pretty badly.

Answer:
 Call the police and report your titled and paid for truck stolen and tell them where to find it.Answer #2: You call the police and report that the truck was stolen. You have a signed title and a text from him telling you he stole it. That should be the end of the story. The bill of sale only digs his hole deeper. Answer #3: He texted you a confession of grand theft auto. Take it to the police along with the bill of sale and title. Answer #4: There's a word for this: theft. Call the police. Oh, and take screenshots of the texts so he can't delete them.Answer #5: Yup, super easy. Report the vehicle stolen, and tell the police where they can find it.Answer #6: So what you're saying is:

* he stole your truck
* he admitted to stealing your truck in a text message and is trying to use your truck for extortion

Call the police.

When you get your truck back make sure he gives you the spare key too.Answer #7: it's baffling that something like this could make its way to the internet... like nobody thinks to call 911 or the local police when your car was stolen?Answer #8: The truck was stolen.  Call the police.  Show them the title and bill of sale, and the TXT.

Thats all you need to do.


Title: Someone at my job got me fired based on lies that I was harassing them (Claims that were never investigated by my employer as they should have been) Now they are claiming that I am coming back to the job and vandalizing their car in the parking lot. [PA]

Question:
I am currently going through my union to get my job back. What should I do about this person? She has been telling lies that cost me my job, by claiming that I was harassing her (How I supposedly did this I was never told) and now magically she has claimed that her tires have been slashed twice and someone broke her  car window. One of the photos of the first time this supposedly happened she posted it on social media, but a reverse image search showed that she downloaded the photo of someone else's car. I am obviously concerned because this woman is a known pathological liar, and  I am afraid that she is going to escalate to the point where she will cause people to try to come after me for doing things that I have never done.

I was made aware that she was telling other people where I live, and that she knows the plate numbers to my car. I was told that my best recourse right now is to file a defamation suit, but I have no paper proof of what she said and what she has been saying except what was told to me by others. I am frustrated enough that my employer fired me without any investigation and I was not even asked any questions about whatever harassment she was claiming. I guess the only thing that works in my favor is that the parking lot has security cameras which would never show my face doing anything to her car.

Answer: If she continues to harass you call the police. If you have evidence that she's using google image search to smear your name,might as well send it to her work.Answer #2: You need to show your union rep the photo of the broken window and the reverse image search. And make the union aware of the security cameras in the parking lot. This will give them a lot more to work with on your behalf. Answer #3: Contact the PA Labor Relations Board about your unwarranted firing and the surrounding circumstances. See what they say.


Title: Now the pot is legal in California, what are the consequences?

Question:
Sorry if this question has been asked and answered. I know pot still needs to get regulated and I heard people won't be able to purchase it recreationally until 2018. But I'm curious as where pot stands now legally. If i have some in my car can I get in trouble? Or if I'm smoking in t apartment??i heard you can carry it and stuff and if you're caught smoking in public the worst that could happen is a smack on the hand
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer:
 > the worst that could happen is a smack on the hand

$100-$250 fine, not corporal punishment.


Title: How can I force future-me to sign a prenup?

Question:
Throwaway, because I'd hate for my someday future wife to find out I asked this.

I am not married, nor do I have plans to get married in the foreseeable future.

I think a prenuptial agreement is a good idea--I feel that it offers a level of protection to both parties, and, quite frankly, I've seen friends' marriages collapse into bitter divorce. However, I'd imagine it's an indelicate conversation to have with one's fiancee in between picking wedding centerpieces and booking a band, as nobody wants to think of their future marriage ending.

I'd like rational, present-day Me to force future, madly-in-love Me to get a prenup. Could I have my parents put something in their will saying that I wouldn't inherit anything if I am in a marriage without a prenup? Could I open an escrow account that would only allow me access to my funds if I show up with a signed prenup? How could I do it?

In case it matters, I am in Illinois.

Answer:
 Jesus. You're *marrying* the woman. Just have an adult conversation, same as you talk about kids, future plans, and finances. If you can't have an adult conversation about your wishes without lying to her or subterfuge, you aren't ready to marry her.Answer #2: I think that the easiest answer is simply to man up. If you want a prenup, be adult enough to insist on one and adult enough to calmly and lovingly explain that to your future fiancee.

I suppose you could go through some sort of complicated legal shenanigans to impose a greater cost on not getting a prenup, but that is a ton of effort to go to when you could simply act like an adult and insist on it if it is important to you.


Title: Guy came to one of our friend's bachelor party, tried to fight everyone, now suing for medical damages?

Question:
So last year we had a small bachelor party for one of our friends. Nothing too crazy, just maybe 10-15 guys at cottage, BBQing and drinking beer.

Anyways, later on in the night one guy is getting pretty drunk. Let's call him Simon. Simon is starting to play wrestle with people, all in good fun we thought, but then it gets serious. This is a guy who doesn't get out much if at all, and has had mental issues in the past.

Anyways, after a couple guys calm him down, he punches one guy, who is much bigger than him. The guy simply punches him back, and tells him he needs to stop before he actually gets hurt. We end up calling Simons dad, who picks him up at 4:00am (he's about 30).

Anyways, our 88 year old grandmother  who owns the cottage we stayed at,  just got a letter stating she was being sued for negligence as he'd had to go through "medical treatment", over the past year. She's distraught and we have no idea how or why this is coming up.

Any ideas? Location is in Nova Scotia, Canada

Answer:
 He can't sue for medical treatments, since those are covered by the province.

He punched a guy, then gets punched in return.  In no way could that be construed as negligence on your grandmother's behalf.

There is something called duty of care that applies to a host of a party (not the land owner) when allowing alcohol to be consumed.  But the duty of care is more for things like letting a drunk drive home, or walk home in a blizzard.  It's for things that predictably can go wrong, not for idiots that try and punch way outside their class.

You need to find out if the lawsuit is legitimate.  If it is, you need to track down some witnesses and your grandma should contact her home owner's insurance.Answer #2: Who sent this letter? Is it an official summons/service? Have you verified that this is an actual suit and not the drunken shitbag being a drunken shitbag impersonating a lawyer?


Title: [Chicago] Took off a good chunk of my finger in a deli slicer. Could my questionable treatment be malpractice?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Medicine and Malpractice

Answer:
 Medical malpractice is very fact specific and it is unfortunately beyond the scope of this subreddit. It is highly recommended to speak with a medical malpractice attorney; your state's bar may be able to refer you to one. They typically work on contingency, meaning there is little up front cost to you. Similarly, consultations are typically free. It wouldn't hurt to meet with one, have them look over your info, and go from there.

*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/legaladvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Title: Wife's medical debt from pre-marriage suddenly surfaced

Question:
I'm in Indiana.

I married my wife (in South Carolina, if that matters) in 2014. Today, I received a phone call from a debt collector stating she was hospitalized in 2009, paid $40 on a ~$600 bill, and they'd like very much for the remaining $500ish to be settled up. I said I'd have to talk to her about it, and disconnected.

She said that this had happened before, and the previous collector was unable to give her any details on the hospitalization. She doesn't remember being hospitalized in 2009, told the collector that, and thought that was the end of it. This was several years ago, and it's apparently started again.

Is a debt collector required/able to give you information about a debt in order to collect? I really don't want to pay someone simply because they bought debt from someone else without proof of what is owed; I also don't want collections harassing me, since they now apparently have my cell phone number.

Answer: When debt gets this far along, you are likely dealing with the bottom feeders. The SoL has been exceeded on this debt. The people calling you know that it's a dead debt, they likely paid pennies on the dollar for it and they are trying to collect anyways. Expect a new call every few years. When they call, ask for debt verification and to contact you by mail only, after you have the verification. TBH, I might ask to settle for a couple hundred to be done with it.


Title: [US][MN] Found a counterfeit $20 bill.

Question:
I was at a fast food restaurant the other day and noticed a twenty dollar bill sitting on the ledge on the drive through window. After paying I grabbed the bill and put it in my pocket. When I got home I noticed that it looked off so I compared it to a twenty that I had in my pocket and sure enough, no watermark and it was printed on a different style of paper.

I have no intention of spending it but I want to keep it just because it's kinda cool. It has been marked with a counterfeit pen and I wrote "fake" on it so I don't spend it on accident. What kind of repercussions would I face if I got caught with it? Could I just say I found it? Should I report it to the police?

Edit: it was not inside on the counter, it was outside on the windowsill, it was clearly abandoned so I didn't think it was stealing, just more of a finders keepers type thing. Perhaps I was wrong to take it but it wasn't like someone set it down as their payment and I snatched it while no one was looking.

Answer: Why did you steal it in the first place?


Title: (Ma) Keep getting mail from original owners

Question: I bought a house around 4 years ago and I've been getting mail from the original owners because they don't change their address to where they currently live. At this point it's getting annoying and I was wondering what I can do

Answer: Just write no longer at this address and ship it back to the post office.


Title: [Hou,TX] My aunt is being charged with her 3rd DWI, what can we, as her family, expect?

Question:
Ok so back in Feb in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, my very alcoholic aunt was involved in a hit and run accident. We don't know specific details other than she hit the person on the highway and fled. The person she hit was thankfully ok and was even able to call the police and peruse my aunt to a nearby gas station where my aunt was attempting to try to call someone to pick her up. We believe she was so inebriated that she thought she could call my mother to come and pick her up as she had in the past because most cops let her go. This was not one of those times. She didn't even realize she'd hit a car.

We didn't find out she'd been taken to jail for a DWI and a hit and run until 3 days later as it's unfortunately not uncommon to not hear from her for several days.

She has no support system any more. My grandmother (her mother) has bailed her out time after time and my aunt has bled her dry. For god sake the damn bail bonds place gave my grandmother a discount on the service charge because my aunt is such a frequent flyer with them! I personally do not like the woman for what she has put my grandmother through and do my best to have minimal but civil contact with her. I have always felt that everyone else has enabled her.

The exact details are this: Tomorrow is her court date; my family doesn't know many details as most have pretty much cut her off due to her bad and toxic behavior. This is my aunts 3rd DWI and she was on probation at the time of this 3rd DWI/Hit and Run. The probation was due to her LAST DWI which caused her to serve 72 days in jail have and have an ignition interlock device in her car. This isn't her first rodeo by a long shot. I couldn't tell you what her punishment was for her first offense because it happened when I was a young teen. I'll tell you this though. In the last 10 years between her first offense and her 3rd offense she's been pulled over for drunk driving but LET GO over 50+ times into the custody of a family member so long as she "promises not to do it again". She's also been charged for public intoxication multiple times. She's got quite a record. (NOTE* Her BAC was like 2 times the limit when she was taken in so yeah....).

I curious to know what exactly are we looking at tomorrow for this. No one is going with her, and as far as I know she doesn't even have a lawyer. Are we to expect a long drawn out trial if she pleads not guilty? Does she even have a potential winning case if she pleads not guilty? (I certainly hope not, I don’t think prison is a wonderful magical place but I also think she could get sober there which is what she needs.)

What if she pleads guilty, what are we looking at then? I've told my family to expect the worst, which I know is prison time but how much time is she looking at here??

TL;DR
My aunt just got her 3rd DWI and was charged with a hit an run too. She was on probation for a previous DWI at the time of the incident. What possible punishment is she facing if she pleads guilty? What happens if she pleads not guilty?

Answer:
 You can expect her to not be at Thanksgiving dinnerAnswer #2: > What possible punishment is she facing if she pleads guilty?

It is hard to answer this specifically.  [Here are the potential penalties](http://dui.drivinglaws.org/wisconsin.php), but what exactly she will be sentenced to is difficult to guess.

> What happens if she pleads not guilty?

I'm guessing this is her preliminary hearing.  I'm not sure from your post.  If it is, she should plea not guilty, and get an attorney.  It is likely she will be getting a lengthy vacation curtsey of Wisconsin BOP.  Plenty of fines, and a several year license suspension.


Title: How to buy rights to play movies at film fest?

Question:
A friend and I are planning on setting up a black and white film fest. Luckily some of the films are in the public domain, but a good amount of them aren’t. It’s a charity event and we’re making it an open invitation, which i’m guessing cancels it out as fair unpaid use. How do I go about paying for the rights to play the film once for a film fest, and about how much would it cost?
Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer:
 [https://www.mplc.org/](https://www.mplc.org/)

www.movlic.com

They can give you a quote based on the movie. You have to see who holds the rights to the movie you are thinking of showing


Title: Court ordered paternity test. My son offered the person at the testing clinic a bribe to switch his sample (Florida)

Question: She told her boss who reported it to the court. I am certain he will get in trouble with the judge in family court but could he be charged criminally for this? For the record I don't condone his action and even though he is my son I'm not proud that he did this.

Answer:
 There are probably a plethora of things he could be charged with criminally.

The first one that springs to my mind is FL's version of contempt for violating a court order, if the paternity test was court ordered.Answer #2: Yes he can be charged criminally.Answer #3: Sorry to sidetrack but what incentive does your son have to falsify the paternity test? Answer #4: Woahboy he made a mistake.


Title: Im [26] ready to leave my husband [27]. We’ve been together for 9 years but married six months. I just can’t handle his anger and lies anymore. We live in a city where we don’t have any friends and family. In the past when I tried to leave him, things got nasty and I ended up staying.

Question: He is very aggressive, abusive and manipulative. Im trying to find the best way to leave without all the drama. I want to finish things once and for all. Will it be easy to get the divorce if I just leave the house without telling him ahead. We don’t have any common  property or children. We signed up a prenup that states that all the property owned before marriage will stay that way. I just want to know if it is easy to get the divorce when I’m the one who abandons the marriage?...

Answer: Contact a local women's shelter. They will have experience with people leaving bad situations. They often have access to low cost legal help for divorces.


Title: Ex-girlfriend is keeping the dog from me indefinitely.

Question:
My ex has the dog that we got together over two years ago. I'm almost positive we both signed our names on the adoption papers, but she is refusing to let me see the dog or the papers. Up until recently she was using him as a reason to keep me coming around. now that she has a new boyfriend she is suddenly forbidding me from having anything to do with the him. I want to know if I have any legal footing to see the papers, and if both of our names are on the paperwork whether I'll be able to see my dog. We are both from Indiana USA.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 Dogs are property. In a break up you split property.

You could sue her for half of the value of the dog.


Title: Can I listen to a voicemail sent to my phone that was not intended for me?

Question:
I've been constantly getting calls with a machine saying they have a call for someone who is not me and to not listen to the rest of the message if I'm not the person they intend to call.

I'd really like to know what's being said but is there anything wrong with me listening to the message that's been delivered to my phone?

Also is there any way they could tell if I listen to it?

Answer: You can listen to any message that is left on your voicemail. It is likely a debt collector.


Title: I live in Tennessee and will be closing on the sale of my house tomorrow. My real estate agent, who's been a terrible liar throughout most of this process, forged mine and my wife's signatures on the Repair/Replacement Amendment following the home inspection. What legal precedent do we have here?

Answer:
 It's almost certainly grounds to, at the very least, back up the process to before the amendment. The Tennessee Real Estate Commission would be very interested in hearing about this behavior and forgery is a felony crime.

I'm not a real estate expert so I guess wait for further opinions on this but personally, I'd skip the closing and work out the consequences later. If you've been lied to this whole time then you aren't buying what you thought you were buying. Better to ask forgiveness than permission and a house is a lot of money.


Title: Having multiple marriages at the same time. Is it legally possible?

Question:
Hey, I know I might get too much heat for this but I'm just curious.
Is it legally possible to have multiple marriages at the same time in US for a man? What would be the legal implications when it comes to fatherhood, property, taxes, inheritance etc?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 No. If you get married while you're still married to someone else, the marriage is void. Bigamy is also a crime in every state, so you'd risk going to jail as well.

Answer #2: Bigamy is illegal. I live in Utah, where this question isn't really a hypothetical.

However, *Lawrence vs. Texas* has basically decriminalized sexual behavior among consenting adults, including stuff with the appearance of polygyny (or polyamory, or throuples, or whatever term you want to use). Where people get prosecuted is exactly around the legalistic matters you describe, like taxes. For some beginning reading, look up [Tom Green](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Green_(polygamist)) (no, not that Tom Green). He was convicted of bigamy 15 years ago - not for having multiple wives (which, plenty of men out there with secret families or mistresses or in throuples and they're not getting prosecuted), but for fraudulently misrepresenting his relationship with them as having been terminated in order to gain access to government benefits.

Beyond all that, polygamy is also federally illegal, under the [Edmunds Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmunds_Act).

So, to answer your questions:

> legally possible to have multiple marriages

Well, yes and no. "Yes" in the sense that there's no nationwide clearinghouse of marriage records that get checked when you apply for a new marriage license, so you *can* pull multiple valid marriage licenses. "No" in the sense that you would be breaking the law in order to do so. So it is possible, but also illegal.

> What would be the legal implications when it comes to fatherhood, property, taxes, inheritance etc?

Worst-case is prison time. Nobody can really discuss how an estate would be divided, as there's almost no applicable post-Edmunds laws I can reference on the topic.


Title: I rear ended someone this morning

Question:
So this morning I rear ended a guy at a stoplight while I was going maybe 15mph. I was going east so the sun was in my eyes and I slammed on my brakes when I realized his car was right there and my wheels actually locked up so I'm not sure how fast I was actually travelling when the impact occurred. His rear bumper looked mostly scuffed and maybe a small dent.

Unfortunately, the impact caused his car to hit the car in front of him. I saw zero damage to her car, but exchanged info with both drivers.

No one was hurt. The guy I hit was super nice and seemed to just be super surprised. The lady was less than kind, though. I'm not worried about the car damages as my insurance should cover it no problem.

I am however worried that they may claim injuries. The lady especially, she just seemed like the kind of person that would claim she suffered extremely painful whiplash or something even though she was barely tapped. My BIL is only 30/60... I mean, everyone was 100% fine when we exchanged info, but I know that a lot of the pain wouldn't show up until tomorrow.

I already called my insurance and gave them my statement. Unfortunately due to my nerves/adrenaline I totally spaced on getting a police report. Basically, is it likely that my insurance would cover any medical costs they might try to come up with or will it end up being above my limit? I'm just looking to get a little peace of mind. I know the insurance is taking care of it from here and I probably don't have anything to worry about, but I can't help it.

Also I am in Maryland

Answer:
 >I mean, everyone was 100% fine when we exchanged info, but I know that a lot of the pain wouldn't show up until tomorrow.

Soft-tissue damage can take days, even weeks to manifest itself, so unfortunately just looking okay at the scene isn't always conclusive

>Unfortunately due to my nerves/adrenaline I totally spaced on getting a police report

Did a police officer show up and take an assessment of the scene, or did you all leave before-hand?

> is it likely that my insurance would cover any medical costs they might try to come up with or will it end up being above my limit?

30/60 means that your insurance will pay up to $30,000 for each person you injure, up to a grand total of $60,000 for the entire accident.  $30,000 is definitely lower than most insurance experts would suggest you carry, but in this case I would guess you are probably okay with that, since there werent any catastrophic injuries as far as you know.  My professional advice is that you should definitely call your insurance company and up your liability coverage, but thats a different discussion.

>I know the insurance is taking care of it from here and I probably don't have anything to worry about, but I can't help it.

You are correct, your insurance company will take care of everything, including legal representation, if it comes to that.  Just respond to your claims adjuster as promptly as possible and be cooperative and everything should be fine :)


Title: Is it legal for military recruiters to solicit civilians through Facebook messages?

Question:
Just happened to me. I've never been solicited for products, goods, religion or sales pitches in this way; just spam phishing attempts & now a local recruiter (central Illinois) representing the US Navy. If this were a sales pitch from a company I wouldn't care so much. It's still just a slight annoyance, but what really bothers me is that the actions of one service member reflects on the entire military, and this method of recruitment seems petty & immoral.

By the way, I am a naval veteran & do not have a negative outlook on any branch of the military.

Answer:
 When I was in high school, they used to call me once a week on the phone.

I don't know how messaging through Facebook would be considered any more illegal or immoral than that.Answer #2: Why is a Facebook message petty and immoral? Why does it reflect badly on the entire military?Answer #3: >immoral

No idea why you would feel that way but ok.

No, it is not illegal. It may be against TOS of facebook but I have no idea.

You can contact the Navy and let them know you do not like it.


Title: Burning a gay pride flag

Question:
Hey reddit, so I live in Ontario.  Someone I know just posted a Snapchat video burning a gay pride flag.

Is this a hate crime? Is there anything I can do to put these assholes to shame?

Answer: Doing anything to them would be giving them exactly what they want...attention.


Title: Constant telemarketer harassment- apologies if this is silly

Question:
Hi all,

As the title says, I apologize if this is silly.

I am being absolutely HARASSED by a telemarketer. I have logged 16 calls in the last week. They call 2 to 3 times a day. I have asked multiple times to be taken off their list but they just hang up on me and call back a few hours later.

I've been in the NDNC registry for 11 years- for what that's worth. I am Connecticut based.

I've done some research that this is illegal and you can sue for a fair bit of money. 16 calls in a week. Every day, multiple times a day, refusal to stop calling me even after asking them to stop. When I block the number, they just call me back from a different number.

Any options?

Answer:
 Get a new number.

A lot of these people are not in the US and there is little to nothing that can be done about it.

Also, many things that people sign up for actually remove them from the DNC list or allow advertisers to contact you regardless of being on there.


Title: [Dallas, TX] I found out that I [36M] am not the father of my daughter [11F] but my father [60s/M] is the father; my wife [34F] told me last night. Struggling to cope. What are my legal options?

Question:
Throwaway since co-workers know my real account.
I have an 11-year-old daughter, Lily, and me and my wife have been together since highschool.

Last night my wife Allison asked me to pick her up from work, then to drive her to a car park by a gas station. She said she had some important news. I was expecting news about promotion, or change in job hours but it wasn't what I expected.
She said "John, I've got some news about Lily.". I was expecting it to be medical or something bad but what Allison said next was completely unexpected.

Allison said "You are not Lily's father. Your dad is her actual biological father. I slept with him whilst sleeping at the same time with you, and I can prove he's the biological father, I'm going to get DNA tests done, to show you this."

I yelled at Allison, asked her if this was some sick joke, but she was sullen, and said "It's true. Ask Don if you don't believe me."
Don is my dad, btw.

Allison has always been very plainspoken, and outspoken, forthright, etc. so maybe I shouldn't have yelled at her but it was in the heat of the moment.

I felt crushed. All this time I'd been a loving dad, thinking about my daughter growing up, walking her down the aisle at her wedding etc., grandkids, and my wife tells me that she's actually my half-sister.

If, and just if, the DNA tests do prove my dad is the father, how is this gonna affect my life? It's one big wrecking ball but it's probably gonna change family dynamics for the worse.

My mom and dad are together, and my mom is often praised as a good example of a couple being together through good times and bad (she's in some local book group, and ironically, When Calls the Heart, is their choice of book, about relationships).

I feel depressed, angry and bitter. I feel like I've wasted my life being with Allison knowing she slept with my Dad, and feel like I've lost respect for my Dad.

I don't know how to cope. I'm probably gonna have to go to a counselor although finding one in my podunk Idaho town won't be easy.

I feel like my whole world was a fake and I was lied to. I'm going to have to divorce my wife, but starting from scratch again is scary, and I don't have many friends here (I moved from Parkersburg to Idaho as a kid due to my dad's job) and was always seen as the ugly fat kid in school (I am fat, but that's due to medical reasons, not inactivity; doctors say I won't be able to lose weight much, even with healthy eating).

I feel so depressed I need to get help so I've come here for some advice, and don't really know what to do for the best.

TBH, I'm still in shock. Need help here. Not sure what my legal options are.

  ---
  **tl;dr**: My wife told me that my dad is the father of our 11-year-old daughter, not me, and I cannot cope.

Answer:
 Counseling. Now. As soon as possible. Right now your mental health is most important.

Although you possibly didn't father Lilly, it sounds like you are still her dad, for all intents and purposes. Answer #2: > if the DNA tests do prove my dad is the father

This won't be resolvable with an ordinary paternity test since you and your father share many DNA markers.   There will also have to be an exclusion test to find out if Lily shares any DNA markers with her grandmother.

This is do-able, but it requires more than the usual paternity test order that comes with an action in family court.

Over-the-counter DNA tests *cannot* be used in court;  don't even participate in that.   If your wife has used such a test to support her assertion that Don is Lily's biological father, then that test *may be wrong*.

Non-legal advice:  You have a daughter and a family and a job and a home.   You're in the unenviable position of having to evaluate what this news about your father and your wife means to you and your family, but in my opinion this news does not, and should not, change your relationship with your daughter.Answer #3: You'll need a therapist and an attorney.Answer #4: > I am fat, but that's due to medical reasons, not inactivity; doctors say I won't be able to lose weight much, even with healthy eating).

I assume this entire post is a troll.


Title: A university social prank left me with a broken phone that I just bought 3 days ago.

Question:
I'm in CA, a group of people were interviewing random students on campus by showing them a short horror film.

Anyways, I was with my friend walking along campus and they asked me if I wanted to do an interview/rate certain short horror films, mind you this interview was taken at night which might be important for the next part.

So i ended up watching the short horror film on their iPad and it was quite a creepy film not going to lie. As i was walking back to my dorm (20 seconds later) someone jumped out of the bushes and yelled at us in an attempt to scare the shit out of us. I flung my iPhone 7+ out of my hands, into the air and it landed smack on the concrete, the screen actually completely stopped working since the phone landed on its corner, most possibly damaging the insides as well as the completely cracking the screen.

I was pretty angry at this point since it was a literal brand new iPhone 7+ (128gb Red edition) and I was just staring at the unresponsive phone for a good few seconds or so before demanding that the students reimburse me for their damages. The phone itself costed $900usd so obviously I was very livid, about to cry since I couldn't really hit them or do anything (I'm quite a small girl). The guy just said sorry and that they couldn't do anything about the phone and the best they could do was not to put scaring me shitless into their prank video.

Is there anything I can do? I know their names since it wasn't hard figuring out which club they were from.

------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT: So I talked to the the head office of the Clubs and Societies faculty and they've pretty much told me that the Films and Drama Club will be suspended until they pay for the phone, the lady advised me not to escalate it.

There won't be a further update, the Films and Drama Club is quite a big club in my university (a pretty well known university too) so they won't hesitate to pay back.

Thanks everyone!

Answer:
 Did you buy this with your credit card? Most gold/platinum/AmEx cards include 90 days of damage protection.

If not:
Go to the Apple store and ask nicely. They may take pity on you.


Title: [SC] Can being mentally ill have any sort of effect on receiving property left to you in a will.

Question:
My father passed away just yesterday and right now we're trying to deal with all the legal stuff that arises from this kind of situation. We're going to see a lawyer soon, but the person in question will be present and I'd rather not ask about this in front of him.

My father left a will that said his estate should be split evenly between his five children. The problem is that one of the children is very likely mentally ill in and has been addicted to drugs for a very long time. He also stole from our father on multiple occasions, like stealing his debit card information and making purchases over a several month period, and stealing his checkbook and forging checks.

Anyways, only a day after my father passed, he started asking for a key to the house since he "owned 1/5 of it". We've tried to explain to him that no-one owns anything yet and that we'll have to see the attorney listed on the will to figure it all out, but he doesn't listen. He says that he knows more than the attorney does and that he'll be telling the attorney what's going to happen.  He also got into a pretty intense confrontation with my other brother tonight which was all recorded, but I'm not sure if this can be used at all.

I hope this isn't interpreted as me or anyone else trying to take his share of the money for ourselves. I'd just rather see it burn in a fire than being in his hands knowing he's going to spend his share on drugs and alcohol. Any sort of input would be appreciated, and feel free to ask any question in the comments and I'll try to get back soon.

Answer:
 It has no impact on what he's entitled to. He gets his share.

But you should absolutely take care to ensure that he doesn't get _more_ than his share.


Title: [MI] Medical Bill Problem

Question:
My mom is on my dad's health insurance plan. The plan should cover a yearly physical for both my dad and mom. However, The last two years, they have been charging my mom the full amount. It's been an endless cycle of "Talk to your insurance" "Talk to the clinic" "Talk to the hospital".

They even sent it to a collection agency last time, even though they are in the wrong and it's happening again this year.

Is there anywhere to complain to the state about this? Is this a state matter? Would we have to get an attorney to sue?

Answer: If it's a covered wellness physical then the insurance should cover it.  However, the clinic must bill for the annual wellness physical and my guess is that they're not.  Talk to the insurance again and ask why it's not being covered at 100%.  I bet it's due to the clinic.  If that's the case talk to a supervisor in billing and find out the specifics of ebt they're not coding the claim as a wellness exam.


Title: Can you rent out a vehicle for people to live as tenants in? (Anywhere)

Question:
I was looking at a blog with crappy rental listings and saw an rv on there advertised as a rental unit.  So I'm curious, if I took a van or something and put it in my yard and rented it to tenants to live in it, would I be a landlord or just someone leasing a vehicle?

Would they have tenants rights?  Would it depend on if the van ran and they were allowed to drive it but also allowed to park in that spot and live there?

Jurisdiction is in USA, not anywhere particular unless law varies

Answer: In Berzerkistan, where I assume you're located, it's generally seen as a felony to live in a van, unless it is located down by the river. I should note that Bmzklfrpz City does have a very affordable permit that can get you around this. While it's still illegal federally, it's seldom enforced so long as you have proper licensing.Answer #2: Location: Down by the river.


Title: JUDICIAL BYPASS

Question: I live in Florida and I plan on getting an abortion. I come from an unsympathetic family that just would not understand what I am going through. They will most likely shun me. I'm 16 and I've done my research and I know what the consequences of getting an abortion will be and I am prepared to live with this decision. I'd like to know more about the process of getting a judicial bypass and tips and advice that would increase my chances of being granted one.

Answer:
 So, in Florida, for a Judicial Bypass, you file a waiver at your county courthouse, and you should show understanding the consequences of your actions, and more than just generalized fear about notification. As a note, in Florida, you only must notify one parent, so you need to make it clear that both parents would punish you severely.

While it is up to a judge, these waivers are occasionally denied - for example, in 2016, one was denied and that denial was upheld because:

"Among many evidentiary deficiencies, the minor did not know what the medical procedure involved (and had no plan if post-surgical complications arose), had accepted little or no responsibility for 'anything at all' in her life, and planned on her parents paying for the procedure," Makar wrote. "The limited evidentiary record paints a portrait of an emotionally overwhelmed young woman lacking sufficient maturity to make this critical decision independent of her parents for whom she expressed only a generalized fear about their possible reaction."

[The footnote said 89.5 percent of petitions were granted in 2013, 90.5 percent in 2014 and 94.7 percent in 2015.](https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2016/11/29/florida-court-backs-notifying-minors-parents-before-abortion)


Title: Grandparents rights when spouse is deceased?

Question:
My husband and I were married in 2012, and he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in 2017. We had just found out that I was pregnant, and I was about 8 weeks along when he passed. We had not told his family at that point - there was a big family dinner coming up two weeks after, and we intended on announcing then, but due to his death, we didn’t get a chance to do that. We had been living near Boston together since 2008, but after his death, I moved away to my hometown (Edmonton, AB). My baby was born 2 months prematurely, and spent close to 3 months in the NICU. When my baby was 7 months old, I took her to NY to see her paternal grandparents. They were quite shocked to hear that we had a baby, but were really happy to see that a part of their son had lived on. The resemblance between my husband and daughter is actually quite striking.

The issues started when my MIL started insisting that we (me and my daughter) move back to MA, or move to NY. I cannot imagine moving back to MA without my husband - we had built a life together, and the memories are just too painful. I know I have to make one trip back eventually to sell the house, and pack up our things, but I have been avoiding doing that. I also do not want to move to NY - I lived there for 2 years in my twenties, and it just wasn’t for me (sorry new yorkers). Moreover, I am finally starting to rebuild my life, and settle back into some semblance of a routine in Edmonton. I don’t want to uproot myself once again.

My MIL has threatened to sue for full custody over my daughter if we don’t move back. I understand that in all three locations, grandparents are given visitation rights if one of the parents have passed away, which is already quite concerning because I don’t want to be flying back and forth every other week, or whatever the courts decide. How do I settle this dispute peacefully? She hasn’t done anything yet, but for me that signals that she’s just getting her ducks in a row. She’s had a really difficult life, and losing her son was devastating for her. I know she’s just grieving, but I can’t let her take my baby. She’s about 10 months right now, and the absolute light of my life.

In addition, my husband had quite a large trust fund (8 figures). I am NOT after his money - I have a theoretically well-paying job in the medical profession, and as soon as my baby is a little older (1.5-2 years), I plan on putting her in daycare and going back to work. This time off will also give me a chance to have my credentials transferred over from US to Canada, as currently I am not licensed to practice in Canada. We are living off savings right now - it’s quite tight but I am making it work. I do however, want this trust fund set aside for my child. Again, I’m happy to never have access to it, and not have anything to do with it, but I think it should be kept aside for her, when she turns 18 or 21 or 35 or whatever. I don’t know how to go about making sure this happens. I had some brief meeting with his mother, sisters, and their attorneys right after he passed, but I was way too out of it to understand what they were saying to me.

I debated posting this to reddit for quite some time, because I am afraid that someone who knows us will find this, but finances are so tight that I can’t afford a lawyer at the moment, and certainly not the calibre of lawyers that my in-laws have on retainer. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 Hey OP, sorry for your loss. IANAL, but I live in Boston & have a little girl about your daughter's age, if you move back & need help or a playdate I'd be happy to assist!Answer #2: I am in Edmonton and have looked into grandparents rights here as I have a batshit nuts MIL and the burden of proof is solely on the grandparents to prove that your child’s life/well being is being hindered by the fact that they aren’t involved. It’s highly unlikely it would go anywhere especially as you mentioned they are fairly elderly and they would have to file in Canada.
You should as others have suggested, get your ducks in a row in regards to your husbands estate and get that sorted and then set very firm and clear boundaries with your IL’s. Answer #3: Unless the grandparents had parental roles in the child’s life (where the child lived with the GPs) then it is very, very unlikely that the grandparents will be granted visitation. There was even a Supreme Court ruling on this. Most states will immediately dismiss a grandparent visitation claim, especially if you have a lawyer that cites the long list of rulings to this end. One state you do not want to establish residency in is NY. They have particularly aggressive laws favoring the GPs. Most states do not though. I’m not sure about MA. I would let the GPs know about Troxel vs Granville (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troxel_v%2E_Granville) and suggest they get therapy so that they learn how to build a respectful relationship with you.


Title: How do I interpret the "RENT CREDIT" part of my lease?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: No, it is for each month, you can either pay $50 less by paying by the 20th or pay the full amount by the due date. Pretty sweet incentive honestly.


Title: [NC] Boss is requiring employees to donate to his political charity under threat of being fired. Is this legal?

Question:
I work for a small business (about 40 employees including the owner) and he decided about a month ago to start his own political charity that he could use to donate to political candidates and causes of his choice. He is requiring every employee to donate 5% of their after-tax paycheck from now on to his charity. He is also requiring that every employee sign a form that agrees to this "voluntary" donation to his charity. He announced it in a company-wide meeting last month to fire anyone who refused and gave everyone a month to sign it and return it to him. 2 people refused to sign it and were fired yesterday on the last day to return the form. 1 of them has been there over 10 years and was probably the best employee the owner has.

I'm on vacation this week, so I have to return the form on Monday. I don't subscribe to his political beliefs, nor do I support his preferred presidential candidate. Plus, I do not want to give up 5% of my take-home pay. Do I have any recourse? I don't want to be fired. This can't be legal, can it?

Answer:
 Keep us updated, OP. This is gonna be good.

I'd be interested in seeing the language in this 'voluntary' form. (minus any personal details of course.) There's no way his lawyer said 'yea, this is a good idea, go ahead', which makes me super curious as to the language he just made up on the spot.

If there's any information on the form that suggests a lawyer drafted it, make sure you make copies and consider sending it to your local bar association. I highly doubt it, but maybe there's more than one person at fault here, and that would be just icing on this delicious justice cake to be.


Title: Company Jipped My Girlfriend On Pay, Now Won't Return Phone Calls.

Question:
My girlfriend and her mother were brought in by a cleaning company to clean the UCF dorms in Florida just before the school year. They held a big orientation seminar to train everyone that would be working. I went to that but ended up not working for them. They told everyone more than once that the pay was $60 per unit.

 They were working with hazardous chemicals and even suffered chemical burns because the company supplied them with their own "magic spray", their combo of paint thinner, bleach, and some kind of acid, but would not allow them to bring safety equipment on the job.

Fast forward - my girlfriend and her mom ended up cleaning 7 units, for which they should have been paid $420 between the two of them. Instead, the company wouldn't answer or return calls for a week. After I called from a number they didn't recognize, they answered and I asked what was going on for the pay and they told me they didn't have a check for my gf or her mom.

They called back the next day and said that they would be cutting a check and for us to go pick it up. It ended up being half the amount owed to both of them. When that was brought up, they apologized and said that they'll get back with us.

Today is now a week after that. After I called them a dozen times today they called my gf and said they'll have a check for her tonight. Then they called back and said they weren't going to because they changed the pay structure today, THREE WEEKS AFTER THE WORK WAS FINISHED. When I tried to call, they told me to stop calling and promptly hung up.

Also, all of these people were paid under the table.

How can my gf and her mom get these people to pay up? Can they press charges for the chemical burns and safety hazards?

TL;DR- A company owes my girlfriend money for work done and refuses to pay up.

Answer: "Jipped" is generally viewed as an unacceptable offensive word.


Title: Can the jury ask questions?

Question: If a member of a jury has a question regarding a statement or want clarification, are they allowed to present those questions to either the defendants or prosecution?

Answer: Sometimes. It's up to the discretion of the judge, in places that allow it. Procedurally, the jury foreman (or other representative) submits the questions to the judge, in writing, who gives the parties a copy, and then if there is no sustained objection to a given question, the judge poses it to the witness.


Title: Lawn company accidently mowed my lawn (the wrong lawn) without permission. Destroyed my garden. Don't want to reimburse me. What are my options? (Missouri)

Question:
I have filed a police report because I had no idea who entered my property and damaged a lot of hard work. They entered illegally: the property was fenced and locked. They did about $100 of damage, I asked for $50. They were like, too bad, so sad kid. What are my options?

I should have been more specific in that it was a VEGETABLE garden. I lost  20-25 potato plants, 3 squash and 2 cucumbers, 3 strawberries as well as 25-30 leeks. It's way too late in the season to replant and they would have died come September anyway, so I'm not sure I can rightly claim "labor" or "replacement" costs.

Answer:
 You should be asking for enough to pay professional landscapers to return your garden to its previous conditions while you sit on your porch sipping a mint julep,  not enough to go buy new plants at the nursery.

Get a couple estimates, and sue for that.

You don't have to hire pros to ultimately do it. But you should be compensated as if you will.

Edit... Turns out it's a vegetable garden. I'd go for what you will now have to spend on produce to replace what they slaughtered. And use Whole Foods, not Walmart or Aldi prices.Answer #2: Sue them in small claims for the full value of the damaged property.


Title: Job fired me because of "lack of hours". Yesterday they had a now hiring sign and did interviews. (Canada)

Question:
Last week I brought up with my boss that I hasn't received my pay stub. His reply to me was "no one gets their pay stub". I told him that was illegal and I had received them all up until then. I asked for the number to HR and he flat out refused. An hour and a half later the owners comes in, I ask him for the number, he gives me a whole long story as to why he won't give it to me, and at one point tries to pretend he is HR. I told him he shouldn't bar me from contacting HR and this behavior makes me concerned. He tells me " I am concerned too TAjunkjob, this is my company. If you don't like it get out." I work my shift cause I don't know if that would have counted as termination or me quitting if I left then. Worked all my shifts that weekend. Tuesday I get an email from the store (not my managers email. The store's which is accessible by all working employees) that I have been terminated due to lack of traffic and the reduction of hours in the store. Yesterday I went in, there is a now hiring sign and my manager did two interviews that day. As well a guy called in saying he wouldn't be able to make it to his interview.

If I choose to take legal action against them do I have a strong case? I have photos of the now hiring sign. And emails between me and HR regarding my paycheck. As well as an emailed copied of my termination letter (still yet to receive my own). My other question is, how long would a case like this last? I have school in September and I wouldn't want to miss too much of it just to deal with these people.

Edit: Ontario, Canada.

Answer:
 You've appeased the bot with "Canada", but you'll need to list a Province to get some help.Answer #2: Ahrotahntee covered the reprisal aspect.  There is also the fact that in Ontario, if you are fired without good cause, you are entitled to reasonable notice, or payment in lieu of reasonable notice.  So say if the reasonable notice period was 3 months, then they would owe you three months of pay if they fire you on the spot for no good reason.

The length of the period of reasonable notice is a very fact-specific analysis, but the biggest factors are how long you've been working there and how hard it would be to get a similar job.  Also, you have a duty to mitigate your damages -- meaning, to look for another job.Answer #3: Seems like you are on the path to reporting them and hope they get theirs. Good luck finding a new job.Answer #4: Make sure you share an update if you are able to!Answer #5: How long have you been employed with this company?  A decent lawyer may be able to get you severance.  Firing/laying off an employee due to a lack of work and immediately trying to hire is a definite nono.

Ianal, but have a former coworker who went thru this exact situation and wound up with enough for a nice downpayment on a house out of it.


Title: In Virginia being forced to switch departments at my job and wondering if they can force me to a department that pays less

Question: So Im a seasonal worker who was forced to switch from lifeguarding to another department. Since lifeguards are paid the most (I would of made 9 an hour) and I switch to something else like theatre can they pay me less? I did not get moved for bad reasons either, Im a great worker who never called in late/out once and am willing and able to be a lifeguard, my brother got promoted and he cant be my boss. thanks for all help in advance!

Answer: Yes they can make you take a pay cut. You can also make them not employ you any more. You can negotiate your wage if they want to transfer you, and quit if they make you take a lower rate.


Title: [Florida] I'm a Permanent Resident Alien who wants to become a citizen but has been arrested twice for pot

Question:
So, I've consulted with about 5 immigration attorneys about my situation and have received 5 different answers. I have not retained the services of any lawyer regarding this matter and I understand that any discussion of it here is not to be taken as advice or counsel.

I have a green card and have been eligible to apply for citizenship since 2013. My green card will need to be renewed early 2017.

I was arrested in Dooly County georgia in 2011 for "possession of marijuana" (no statute listed on my paperwork) which was resolved by means of an Order of Conditional Discharge (OCGA 16-13-2, et.seq) after 12 months probation. The final disposition states there is no court adjudication of guilt and it completely exonerates me of any criminal purpose.

I was arrested again for "possession of cannabis <20 grams" 893.13(6)(b) in 2013 in Orlando, Florida. This was resolved by a plea of Nolo Contendere and a ruling of Withhold of Adjudication.

There was also a "possession of drug paraphernalia" 893.147(1) charge with a ruling of Nolle Prosequi.

I've heard that I should apply no problem, I'll be fine. I've heard I'll receive a deportation order as soon as I make a peep and will have to apply for a waiver in court. I've heard I need to wait 5 years to show good conduct, and I've heard that that's nonsense. I've heard the withhold is a conviction federally (which I believe is true) and I've heard that it's a complete non-issue but that 12 months probation is a huge red flag.

So, here are my questions:

* Does the 5 years of good conduct claim hold any weight?

* If so, does that begin from the final disposition of my first or second case? (I've heard it both ways)

* Would I have issues renewing my green card? (For example, receiving an order of deportation)

* Could the first case in Georgia, by any stretch of the Department of Homeland Security's imagination, stack with my withhold to amount to the 2 convictions they'd need to deport me?

* How costly can I expect this to be? (Most subjective question ever, and I recognize there's no clear answer)

Ideally, I'd like to be prepared to face a deportation case before I go and apply for an extension of my permanent resident alien status, in case it does go that way. Anecdotally, a friend of the family was in a similar situation criminally and was denied re-entry to the United States by way of an order of deportation, until he applied for a waiver and was granted immediate citizenship.

I'm at a loss. I'll be consulting with more lawyers but it is very disheartening to hear so many different answers to the same question.

I don't even know if there are immigration lawyers that browse this sub.

Answer:
 It can definitely be denied if you have been found guilty of a crime of moral turpitude. This includes things like assault, theft, and drug possession and trafficking.

As for deportation, you can face deportation for being convicted of any crime.

The five year rule you listed is slightly off. It isn't “don't commit any crimes in five years and you're fine”. The rule is that in your first five years in the country you should not commit any crimes or you fave deportation

Furthermore, since you have committed two or more crimes of moral turpitude the chances are quite high that you could be deported.

Talk to an immigration lawyer immediately.


Title: Someone defrauded us - sold us car that wasn't his to sell, what can I do? [CA]

Question:
Okay, so before I start, I just want to say that yes, I know I shouldn't have bought the car, but that's over with, and I have dealt with enough people telling me that that it's tiring now. I just want some advice on how I can get my money back. Now, onwards with my situation.

So on the 14th, I bought a car from someone a few towns over, the guy gave me a story that sounded realistic about why he didn't have a pink slip for the car, (said it was in transit, he bought car from an auction), and so I paid him $7200 for the car. Come Monday when I go to register w/ the DMV, I'm told the car isn't transferring because some faulty paperwork, and I need to contact the dealer that guy bought car from. I contact the dealer, they say they sold the car to a woman on the 12th, and that she bought it from them with 0 down and a lien. So now, I tell them that a guy sold me the car, dealer runs a background check on person who bought car from them and tells me that we were both defrauded and I need to return car to them. I'm suspicious so I don't yet (it's the Monday after the sale), and on Tuesday, dealer calls me to tell me that they reported the car as stolen, and if I don't hand it over to the authorities, I will be arrested for driving a stolen vehicle. I try calling guy who sold me the car, and it's going straight to voicemail. He's gone with the money, but I did take a picture of his ID, so I have that. The police comes, takes the car from me, but the police officer that came told me that I could try suing the dealership for bad business practices (they didn't do a thorough enough job checking out the person that bought the car from them, and now I'm out the money). Now, my question is, that I paid the guy cash for the car, he's probably blown it and moved on, but is there any legal way that I could get my money back? It's 7200, and I'm about to go off to college, that money's pretty important. Could I potentially sue the dealership? Would that work? Is there anything I could do? Please, any help would be greatly appreciated, this is the first time I've ever had trouble like this, and I honestly haven't been able to eat or sleep since, I'm constantly stressed out, and I just want this to be over.

Answer: The dealership has no liability here that I can see. They sold the car to someone, who then reported it stolen. Why would they owe you anything? If the woman who reported it stolen was working with the guy that sold you the car, you could sue her, and obviously you can sue the guy that sold you the car if you can find him, but the dealership did nothing wrong (and I'm not sure why the cop would say otherwise).