Title: Call claiming to have information on a civil suit regarding my husband (Western NY)

Question:
This evening my husband got a call from someone  in FL claiming to have information for him regarding a “personal or civil suit” being filed against him. They told us we would need to call a 1-888 number with the case file number they (the first caller) gave us to proceed. We did, which connected us to a group claiming to be Bradford Stevens and Associates. They gave my husband the last four digits of his ssn and said they were calling on behalf of Sprint.

My husband had an account with Sprint in 2007 that he closed in 2009. The guy on the phone said Sprint had sent us a letter of intent in June that we did not receive and that this phone call was to let us know they were going to take us to court if we chose not to settle. They said that we could pay 600 on a payment plan, 400 all at once, or go to court and risk getting sued for the 600 plus 1500 in lawyers fees. We told them to mail us the letter again and that we were going to look into it with Sprint. They said they would text my husband a pdf with information on it and call at four tomorrow.

We had a short intense freak out before calming down and thinking more about it. My husband has never gotten contacted by Sprint in the five years I’ve been with him, nor did anything come up on the credit check that accompanied our house purchase last year. He called Sprint a little while ago and they said that didn’t have any account under his name and had no info for him. I also can’t find any information on the supposed law firm, or the phone numbers they called from.

I’m just looking for a little reassurance to calm down. The guy on the phone sounded exactly like what I’d expect a lawyer trying to get someone to settle would, but I understand that a good scam requires good acting. He kept saying that they were not collections, that they were not there to pressure us into paying, and that they did not expect us to take action without proof. My husband used to work for Staples and said that the guy started sounding like Hubby used to when trying to hook someone on a warranty towards the end of the phone call.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Nope. Actual lawsuit = actual service of process. If they know your phone number, they certainly know your address.

If you DO get an Actual subpoena, summons and civil complaint, contact an attorney immediately. You only have a few days to respond. Answer #2: Ignore, those type of things are sent through the mail


Title: Modeling children as a 3d artist.

Question:
Las Vegas Nevada USA

Seeing how in some places you can get more time in jail for possessing cartoon child abuse than if you actually abused a child. I cant take any chances just going with my gut. I need a clear defined answer before I can feel easy about this so please bare with me.

I am supposed to model CGI children on request of a client for some animation software, the character models will not have any genitalia, but they will be modeled in great detail nearing photo realism. Can I in any way get in trouble for this?

Answer:
 No, you won't get in trouble for a 3D model of a character. Do not render any detail in the genital regions (i.e., no nipples, nothing below the waist) and do not render them in any suggestive poses or with suggestive facial expressions.

If this was illegal, half the animated movies in existence wouldn't exist. Just make sure that as you go from wireframe to final, they are like action figures -- no detail or unnecessary modeling.


Title: Work done by unit owner on condo common property without going through the HOA

Question: I'm the majority owner in a two unit condo, the other unit of which recently sold. The new owner apparently demolished their side of the basement and did 13k of foundation work (repointing and some reconstruction of the stone where it had bowed) without so much as mentioning it to me. There were no permits pulled and the team that did the work broke into my side and punched holes in my walls. Now they are asking us for our percentage of the work because it was on common property. NONE of the HOA procedure was followed--I was never alerted that they wanted to do work (and the owner has several ways to contact me), we never voted on it, I was never shown a scope of work or a bid for the work. While I would like to uphold my responsibility to the house, we just did a much larger, far more critical structural fix on the foundation, a new roof, new driveway, and new furnaces and are maxed out. We would not have voted to do this less critical work at this time. We're in Massachusetts. What is the legal responsibility of the HOA to cover work taken on unilaterally by one unit owner?

Answer:
 If its like any other HOA covenants then you have no liability and can actually fine them for doing work without HOA approval.
I would probably request they get an inspector and permit to validate the work as it could effect everyone's insurance.  If they fail to do it then fine them.
Just follow the HOA rules to the letter here in case it becomes a lawsuit later on. You dont want the HOA to be in a position of breaking the rules.

I find it odd someone was actually willing to spend $13K on repairs and did not feel the need to get the HOA approval first.  Makes no sense.  Normally people are too poor to fix things and then get fined by their HOA.


Title: Can I get in legal trouble for whistleblowing tax fraud on my former employer?

Question:
(Not sure if this is the right sub for this post, if there is a better sub please let me know)

I'm in California.

I worked as the office manager for a small company for about 3 years. There were a lot of illegal things the owner would do to avoid paying income tax and sales tax. I really want to report some of the things he's done to the EDD (state tax), IRS and Board of Equalization (sales tax). I believe he's already on their radar because he hasn't paid any of his state or federal taxes for quite a while.

1) Can he find out it was me who reported him? If so, can he take any legal action against me if I do so?

2) Sometimes he would have me do some of these things myself, like tell me to delete or change a certain invoice. Can I get in trouble for this for just following his orders?

3) I do have proof of some of the things he's done, like pdf copies of the original invoice and changed or deleted invoice, as well as fake expenses he's added to QuickBooks. (He used to have me work from home sometimes so I had access to these files on my personal computer) But since I don't work there anymore I am not supposed to have these files anymore, right? So would I even be able to provide these files when whistleblowing?

Here are some examples of things he's done is:

-Withdraw cash from ATMs from his account, and write them off as expenses under fake company names

-Sales Tax - Any high-priced items he's sold to customers and collected sales tax on, he changed them to "repairs" and added the sales tax amount to the base item amount, so he won't have to pay the sales tax back to the state.

-Delete his highest invoice amounts to reduce his income amount

Topic:
Tax Law

Answer: Any "whistleblower" should retain their own attorney before reporting the impropriety in question, especially if you were involved in it (as you admitted above). In other words, get yourself an attorney first.


Title: (NV) Kids rezoned to new school; can I legally fight this?

Question:
As the school year comes to close, I just received notice that elementary kids in my neighborhood are being re-zoned to a school much further away.  My question pertains to the rezoning process, and whether it's unfair rules cause any sort of legal remedy.

According to the school district, it relies on administrators at the school level to notify parents of proposed rezoning. This gives parents the opportunity to weigh in at public meetings. In our case, the school we are being removed from sent out no notices.  In reviewing public minutes of meetings, there were dozens of parents from each of the other schools and none from our current school.

I believe this to be intentional.  The district (or administrators at the current school) knew the proposals would receive many objections, so they simply didn't notify the parents of kids they wanted to move.  I'm troubled by the fact that my neighborhood was essentially disenfranchised by this process by the school district so that it could achieve its desired headcount at each school.

The district should create exact standards for how/when notices are provided to families so everyone has equal access to provide input. The lack of exact standards creates an unfair environment and leads to corruption on the part of the district and administrators, as is the case here.

Answer:
 You can apply for a zone variance to attend a school you’re not zoned for.Answer #2: I went through this about 3 years ago in NV as well.  However, in my case, I was contacted numerous times by the school district (and the trustee for my area) to attend meetings regarding the possible zone changes. I don't remember getting contacted directly by the school.   Make sure that the district has your correct contact info, cell phones, work phones and email addresses.  Also, it may help to join a FB group for your child's school.

In the end, we were re-zoned to a school about 5 miles away.  However, we requested a "zone variance" from the school that we were originally zoned for; you can request this from the school you wish your child to attend.Answer #3: You need to talk to the people who oversee the district.  Then you need to get your neighborhood and all other rezoned children's parents together and see if it was just you that was missed.

&#x200B;

It honestly seems like you don't have much to go on besides the fact that you feel you weren't correctly informed.

&#x200B;

If this was something crazy involving disenfranchising POC you can always look to the ACLU for help.


Title: Friends window broke on road trip.

Question: Heading home from Vegas, I'm sitting rear passenger side and roll the window down. It then won't roll back up. Driver wants me to pay for the repairs which he claims are $300+. Car is a 07-08 honda pilot. Should I be held responsible for the damages? I'm in California.

Answer:
 Not unless you rolled the window down with a brick. Answer #2: It is incredibly unlikely you damaged the window by rolling it down.

He could take you to small claims court but he would need to prove you knowingly and *willingly* damaged it.


Title: (ND) Someone used my name/DOB when they got arrested

Question:
Someone I grew up with got arrested last month (1/26) for criminal trespassing and when asked who they were, she gave my name and DOB. I only found this out on Monday after me and a few co-workers were bored and looked each other up on ND's criminal records site. I was expecting nothing considering I have never even had a speeding ticket but suddenly this charge pops up.

According to the citation I was charged on 1/26 and then the charges were dismissed on 2/03. Now I live in a pretty small town and after remembering that one of my middle school friends got arrested recently I got paranoid and looked her up. Sure as shit she was charged on 1/27 with false reports to law enforcement. I called the county clerk's office and was eventually directed to call the PD and was put through to the investigating officer. He looked into it and it happened just as I thought.

The issue is that now they are telling me I need to go through an attorney to get it off my record but that it won't be "completely removed"... whatever that means. I haven't gotten ahold of anyone yet and just wanted to get a few opinions. I am confused how this even got to the point with the girl obviously not having identification to prove she was me. Am I going to actually have to pay for an attorney for someone else's mistake? To what level will this be on my record? I am also pretty upset that I was never even notified and this charge was just sitting there for anyone to see. I understand it has been dismissed but it still makes it look like I was involved in something sketchy.

Any advice?

Answer: Former "friend" used my name, DOB and a fake SSN when getting arrested for his 8th driving with a suspended license charge (while out on bail for his 7th) nearly 2 decades ago. Even now, I occasionally get a question on employment background checks because of me being a known alias for a convicted felon.


Title: Rental company claiming 60 days notice required to vacate property. Is this enforceable past the end date of my lease?

Question:
Hi all. Thanks for reading and for any advice! This is taking place in Ohio.

Myself and a roommate signed a lease for an apartment in November of 2013 going through February 2015. We do not intend to re-up the lease and assumed it would just terminate at the end of the lease term.

We were contacted today by our rental company for the first time regarding the end of the lease asking if we wanted to re-sign. I replied in the negative, and was then told ok, but you did not provide us with 60-days notice that you would be vacating so you will have to pay past the end of your lease into March in addition to a penalty. This is the first I have been made aware of this.

The executed lease was provided to us electronically on a website but when I immediately went on to find this provision the entire lease was taken down and no longer accessible. I had originally downloaded it at the beginning of the lease term but have had a hard drive crash in the intervening period and never re-downloaded it. Mistake on my part.

I usually read contracts like this quite closely and if such a provision were in there, I must have mistook it for pertaining to early termination of the lease. It does not make sense to me that I can be required to give notice to the rental company that I will be vacating the property when the end of the lease is a definitive, agreed upon date. I am aware however that many times laws do not, in fact, lend themselves to what I would consider common sense. I would not have a problem with this provision in an open ended, month-to-month lease but it seems preposterous that this could be enforceable when a lease is set to a definitive term.

Is my not providing them with 60 days notice that I will vacate at the end of the lease term grounds to essentially extend the period of the lease beyond my will? Do I have any grounds to tell them off or am I screwed here?

Thank you for any advice or comments.

Answer: generally, leases have a clause to auto renew month to month at the end of the term unless one party notifies the other otherwise (which neither did in this case).  depending on the language the notice may be 30 days or 60 days (both are common with 30 days for leases 1 year or less, and 60 days for longer). you need to find the fine print of the lease to verify but with no further info, your lease would auto renew at the end of the term with 60 day notice required.  so the landlord is correct.


Title: [Copyright Infringement] Received a email from ISP, stating that a device on my network has downloaded porn.

Question: Alright, my ISP is Charter Communications. I received a email pretty much stating that someone downloaded porn from my network. I live in a small town, and house hold. It wasn't the neighbors. I've checked my phone, no porn. The name of the porn "Family Secrets" by Digital Sins Inc. Now, in the email, it gave me a date, time, and other information. In the email was also a link, it was copyrightsettlements.com. My mom, she's the account holder for the ISP account. It gave her a Case # for the website and password. She said she'd do it tommorow, as in go trough the process. I'm 15, I watch porn, I stream it, I've never downloaded it before. What should we do? Please help, we're new to this type of problem.

Answer: A guy I know got an identical email, same title and everything. The company is a known copyright troll. Just sit tight, don't communicate with them, and if it's legitimate they'll send you actual legal correspondence rather than vague threats.Answer #2: Positive the email is actually from your ISP? It could be a scam, trolling for "settlement money" for a claim that doesn't actually exist.Answer #3: well kid looks like your step dad is downloading porn.


Title: IN- My University broke FERPA

Question: I attend a University in Indiana. This semester I was put on academic probation for not reaching a minimum grade requirement. Every student on academic probation is required to attend a meeting during the first week of school to learn about tools and resources to help get back on track. The office of retention and graduation sent out an email to all the students on academic probation about this meeting. Inadvertently, they attached a EXCEL sheet with all of the names, university student ID numbers, and GPA and sent it to everyone on the academic probation list. They recalled the message an hour later, but those who had already opened the email permanently have access to that spreadsheet with that information. When calling any office at the university, all that is needed to access student information is the ID number and the name. This includes financial aid information and much more. The only measures they have taken are to call all of the students who the list was sent to, and telling them to delete the email and attachment. When I received the call, it prompted me check the list for my name and it was on there along with my gpa and ID. They are taking no further action to protect student's information which could be used to access personal information such as financial records, SSN, addrssses, phone numbers, emails, and passwords. Is there something I can do about this? Can I sue? They broke the federal education records and privacy act.

Answer:
 [You can file a complaint, but that is it](http://familypolicy.ed.gov/complaint-form)

> a student who is at least 18 years of age or attending a postsecondary institution at any age (“eligible student”) may file a written complaint with the Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO) regarding an alleged violation of a school’s failure to comply with his or her rights under FERPA.


Title: My life was threatened by a client at work, was told I should have threatened a minor, then I was fired

Question:
I worked at a Residential Treatment program(Yes, I should have known better) for teenagers with autism. I noticed a few weeks prior to this incident that one kid had a tendency to try to keep things that could be used as weapons, sticks, rocks etc. I'd take them away and wrote that in the daily notes. One day that kid broke some rules so I told him he was in trouble. He got mad at me, broke a glass bottle and pointed it at me looking staring intently at my stomach. Myself and the other staff in the room with me calmed him down and told him he wouldn't be in trouble till we could talk to his therapist so they could decide what to do. He told me a little later that it was a good thing I backed down or he would have stabbed me. Needless to say I felt extremely threatened in the midst of that situation and did what I thought would result in no one getting hurt, and no one did.

After things had calmed down a bit I got the bottle away from him and called up his therapist. I was pretty shook up and told them I didn't feel safe being the one to get him in trouble for threatening me and didn't trust any of the other staff present with it either. He called my supervisor who came in and told him his consequences etc. In de-briefing with my supervisor I was obviously very shook up emotionally and was expecting some support. He gave some lip service to that but also gave me the impression that I'd done something wrong somehow. I didn't read too much into it at the time but told him I didn't want to work with that kid anymore and would like to move to a sideways/down a bit position at another residence.

I left for a weeks vacation after that and when I returned I talked to the supervisor over the other residence. He told me he had heard from other people(obviously the other supervisor) that I couldn't be trusted and was too soft on the kids. I told him about the situation the week before and asked him what I should have done differently. And this is where things really went off the rails, he told me he would have "sent the other staff out of the room, told the kid that he could attack me if he wanted but I would fight back and I wouldn't use (The program approved method for dealing with physical confrontations)". I was stunned. But he said he wouldn't put me on shift under him full-time but I could still pick up shifts.

Since he had directly told me to disobey my training for how to deal with physical confrontation I thought it was time to involve his boss. I called him and told him the story up to this point. He listened, never acknowledging that anyone had done anything wrong then asked what I wanted. I said I wanted to be reassured that my life was more important to the company than enforcing rules right away. He said he'd have to consult the manual and couldn't tell me that. Again, I was stunned. Literally, all I was asking is if he preferred my not dying to rules not being enforced, if I was justified in acting out of self-preservation. He asked what I would do if I wasn't told that and I said, "well if you can't tell me my life is more important than x I'd probably need to tell my co-workers that the company didn't value their safety".

I tried to call the clinical director to tell him about all this but he couldn't be reached. I picked up one more shift after that, was called into a meeting with just my previous supervisor and the sideways supervisor (the two people I'd complained) about and was told I was fired. I asked why and was told that I had mishandled some situations and they didn't trust me. I told him I didn't think he had enough information about what happened that night to make a judgment about it, since he had never asked me or the other staff about it. He said I "must have done something wrong because the kid had never done anything like that before".

This was 9-10 months ago, but I wrote down everything that happened at the time because I was just so shocked by it all. It kicked off a serious depressive episode for me, I've got PTSD symptoms from the life-threatening and haven't worked since.  I don't know what, if any, laws were broken but it sure doesn't seem right to 1.  leave me hanging like that after a traumatic event while at work or 2. To be told in the context of seeking company policy from a supervisor to threaten a minor. or 3. To be told my life was less valuable to the company than their program rules or 4. to be fired without just cause.

I know Utah is an "at will employment state" but don't know exactly what that means for the situation. I'd considered talking to a lawyer at the time but was already pretty depressed so I didn't do it, and thought I'd recover a lot sooner than I have.

Thanks for reading.

Answer:
 >It kicked off a serious depressive episode for me, I've got PTSD symptoms from the life-threatening and haven't worked since.

You need counseling.

>I don't know what, if any, laws were broken

It didn't seem like you were told to actually assault the minor, which would mean you were fired for refusing to commit a crime, which would be one of the public policy exemptions for at-will employment. Instead, they said to threaten and aggressively posture, which is likely a technique that they know would have defused the situation, as counterintuitive as that might seem.

>leave me hanging like that after a traumatic event while at work

Not their responsibility.

>To be told in the context of seeking company policy from a supervisor to threaten a minor

Not a legal issue.

>To be told my life was less valuable to the company than their program rules

Welcome to every other job you'll have in your lifetime, I guess? You live in America. That's normal.

>to be fired without just cause.

"Fired only with just cause" is a thing in places like France. It's not a thing in America, never has been and likely never will be, despite it being a good idea.

>I know Utah is an "at will employment state" but don't know exactly what that means for the situation.

It means you should have applied for unemployment 9 months ago and been looking for a new job.Answer #2: Do you think your termination was unlawful?  At-will employees can be fired for most any reason. File for unemployment if you haven't already.


Title: How much can they see? Custody-CA

Question: My stbx-wife has a warrant to go through all of my records as part of her case for gaining full custody of our daughter. I was wondering exactly how extensive this is? Can she see my incoming mail for example?

Answer: This doesn't really make sense.  Subpoenas are issued in civil cases, not warrants, and you would have been served with a copy.  You also would have been able to bring a motion to quash it if it was overbroad.  So to whom was the subpoena issued, and what does "all of my records" mean?


Title: Hospital billing me excessive amounts, what can I do?

Question:
So I went to the hospital, I received an echocardiogram, an ekg, and a 2 day stay at the hospital (Everything turned out fine with my health)

My hospital Bill's have now hit $25,000 for those tests and that visit, that is way more than it should be, is there anything you can do about hospital literally trying to rob you?
Topic:
Credit Debt Bankruptcy

Answer: Why do you feel it is excessive? Two days in a hospital isn't cheap


Title: [NY] Neighbor went on to my property and cut many branches from my trees (about 5 feet away from my property line)

Question: Noticed some of my branches were cut in the back area of my property. I'm not exactly sure if they branched out over the property line (which would be fine if he cut the portions over his) but these cuts were made a good distance from fence into my property. Nearby branches were cut from the main branches which were cut as if a path was made to reach them. All the branches were also left beneath my trees. I obviously would not have a problem if he had asked first before cutting, but what bothers me is that he did it without asking and going on my property. Was just wondering if there's anything I should do in this situation or any thoughts regarding this.

Answer:
 >I obviously would not have a problem if he had asked first before cutting, but what bothers me is that he did it without asking and going on my property.

I'd start with a conversation and tell him exactly that.
I'd also take some photos and file them away just in case the trees were damaged.


Title: [MA] Are change of tenant/lease amendment fees legal?

Question:
Hello, a friend of mine has this question about lease agreements:

When making changes to leases in Boston/Cambridge outside of the lease cycle (i.e. adding a new tenant before the end of the lease period, etc.), is it legal to charge the tenants a 750$ lease amendment fee? The broker didn't bring the increased fee (formerly 250$) to my attention, but it's now being snuck in with a current amendment agreement for any future amendment.

The exact language is: "Future Assignment and Subletting. Any future assignment or sublet of the ease shall incur a fee of $750.00 each assignment/sublet be made in accordance with the terms of the lease, including to section 8 of the lease addendum, excepting that the fee specified in section 9 shall be deleted and replaced with $750.00"

Essentially, are change of tenant fees legal?

Thank you kindly in advance.

Answer: You're not entitled to renegotiate the lease, and your landlord incurs costs for administration and the evaluation of new tenants. In principle it's perfectly legal to require you to compensate him for that as part of the negotiation.


Title: (TX) My brother received an email from a collections agency stating that I owe my previous apartment complex. They never contacted me about the debt.

Question:
My brother forwarded me the email this morning and I have no idea what to do. I moved out of my apartment over two years ago and haven't had any contact with them at all. Apparently now I owe them around $1100 for "damages" - but they don't have a list of what it is. There's supposedly a $650 fee for not giving 60 days notice before moving out and another $670 for something else - but they won't tell me what. The apartment complex says they've sent all information to the collections agency, and collections says they don't have any information. They have taken my security and pet deposits and put them towards this debt as well.

The apartment itself was a nightmare, half of my rooms were flooded while I lived there because the empty apartment behind us has a toilet leak - they came in and only replaced the padding for the carpet and I heard nothing else. In addition, I lived there for about two years and during that time one of the central walls literally came off the ground and was leaning 10 degrees to the side. There was a massive gap where it should have been connected to the floor. I made several complaints about this while I lived there, but they did nothing to fix it.

Is it legal to have a bill sent to collections without them giving me any prior notice about the bill? And am I required to pay this if they don't give me any proof? And what's the best way to handle this? I'm a bit lost.

Answer:
 > Is it legal to have a bill sent to collections without them giving me any prior notice about the bill?

Are you sure they didn't try to give you prior notice? Did they have your new mailing address after you moved? They would have 4 years to try to collect, perhaps they had no way to contact you and after 2+ years sold the debt to the agency.

You can ask for a [debt validation letter](http://twocents.lifehacker.com/how-to-request-a-debt-validation-when-dealing-with-coll-1623077279) from the collection agency. You can also negotiate a lower rate.


Title: Physically threatened at work today. Not sure what to do. No witnesses. (California)

Question:
I'm posting on behalf of my husband.

Husband works in a high pressure sales job. It's fairly cut throat environment with an alcoholic boss and coworkers who steal sales. His boss gives preferentially treatment to the women in the office (if there is a dispute about a sales lead, it is always in favor of the women).

Today his coworker stole a sale and he called her out on it. It got heated. Names were exchanged (he called her a bitch...I'm not happy about that), but she name called and got crazy. She got up and started trying to get him to go outside to fight. At one point she was standing over him trying to get him to fight. He stayed seated the entire time and kept saying I'm not going to fight you. No. I'm not fighting, rinse and repeat. She walked out the door and came back to try to get him to fight. He kept saying no. Finally he ignored her and she kept yelling for a few more minutes. She threatened to kill him. Finally she walked out.

He ignored her for the rest of the day. He is very concerned about losing his job over this since his boss favors the females in the office. I would like him to report her to the authorities since she threatened to kill him (he rides his bike to/from work and he was worried about her possibly running him over on his ride home). Some context he is 39, she is 23. He is more worried about possible consequences from the coworkers husband as she has stated her husband has pulled a gun on her.

What is the best way to proceed?

Answer: If he feels the threat was serious, he can call the police.


Title: Received random gift card, not sure what to do with it

Question: [Virginia] Don’t know if this is the right subreddit for this but seemed like a logical place to start.  I currently am working part time while on medical leave and am only in my office 2 days a week.  On one of the days I was out earlier this week, I got a message that I received a package from UPS.  I told the office that I wasn’t expecting anything and that I’d grab in next time I was in.  Well this morning I came in and opened said package and it was an AMEX gift card.  It was accompanied by a piece of paper with AMEX’s letterhead and a form letter that said “Enclosed is your order of prepaid American Express card” etc.  I never ordered said card.  I Googled the return address on the UPS envelope and its from a process server in New Jersey.  I have no idea who they are or why I would be receiving something from them.  My question is, is this a scam?  Any ideas of what I should do with the card?  Use it?  Send it back?  Any advice would be helpful.

Answer:
 Put the number in [here](https://www279.americanexpress.com/GPTHBIWeb/?clientkey=HAN%20TEMP%20CARD) to see if there is any money on it.

If there is money on it I would call american express and ask them about it.  They might have sent it to you by mistake.  If there is no money on it just cut it up and throw it out.  I would hesitate to spend it until you know exactly why you got it.  Its not a scam I have ever heard of.


Title: (Texas/Military) I won my appeal, now what?

Question:
Hi everyone! I was convicted in a military court which involved prison time in a military brig, and registering as a sex offender in Texas upon release(incident was not in Texas, that's just where I moved afterwords).
Fast forward  two years and I just won my appeal. My lawyers (one military appointed and one civilian I hired) aren't from Texas and are not familiar with the Sex Offender registration laws here. My questions are do I have to tell people I was ever convicted now that I won my appeal? Once I get myself off the Sex Offender list do I have to tell employers/landlords I was ever on it? Are there any steps I can or should take to further erase any traces of a criminal past? Thanks for reading!

Answer: Presumably the appeal set aside the conviction for some reason such as lack of evidence or an improper legal interpretation of the law by the trial court.  As such you have not been convicted of a crime.


Title: Looking for legal advice regarding paid online services that are third party programs and what legal actions can be taken against said services.

Question:
Basically I am talking about paid hacking communities. I want to know more about what legal actions companies such as Valve, Riot, Microsoft, etc. can take against people who create businesses based on creating hacks for their programs. Not stealing or doing anything illegal but it does violate the terms of service of the first party company. As far as I know their terms are not laws nor are they legally binding contracts so unless it involves plagiarism of code or causes theft of digital property then they should have no action to take against a third party program paid community. If any one can give me any advice or point me in the right direction to find information on this I would appreciate it.

edit: If anyone could link me to information on any cases or laws based on digital property specifically video games and coding within those games that does not include any plagiarism or theft I would appreciate it immensely.
edit: apparently a bot wants me to tell you where i I am, I am in America, however the service is not based in the U.S.

Answer:
 A tech company could seek criminal charges(through a prosecutor) or sue civilly anyone who damages or assists someone in damaging the tech company's property.

The success of such a prosecution, or suit, is dependent completely on the facts of the situation.


Title: I was statutorily raped. The man took pictures and posted them on a domain with my name in it. He's now threatening me with a lawsuit for extortion. Am I at risk?

Question: At 16 I dated a 26 year old in CA. He took pictures of us having sex and then, when we broke up, bought my firstlastname.com and posted a naked picture of me. He has since taken it down. I am demanding that he give me the URL so that he cannot post similar pictures in the future, or otherwise defame me (I am a semipublic person). I have reminded him that he is a statutory rapist and could be guilty of distribution of child pornography and told him if he didn't give or sell me the domain I would call the DA. He is threatening me with a lawsuit for extortion. Am I in danger of this?

Answer:
 Either report him or do not.

Threatening to do so unless he provides something of value could very well be illegal.


Title: [MA] Giant tree branch on sidewalk/driveway, who's responsible to have it removed?

Question:
Hello all,

We had a lot of rain and wind this weekend, causing a gigantic tree branch to fall and now it is blocking the sidewalk, and part of my driveway to my apartment complex. Thinking I was being helpful I called the police non-emergency line to ask who I should alert, thinking there was a town public services that takes care of these things. They told me that since the tree is on another house's property, it's their responsibility and they have to pay someone to remove it. Well, I know the people who live in the house with the tree and I HIGHLY doubt they're willing to pay to have it removed (they leave garbage outside their house all over the place). So am I just going to be stuck having to drive around this massive tree branch til it rots away?

TL:DR Tree branch from a tree on private property fell onto my driveway/sidewalk. Who removes it?

Answer: contact you apartment manatee, they'll handle it. Answer #2: Your apartment complex (or their insurance) can pay to have it removed, and then sue whoever's actually liable for the damages.Answer #3: Every time you walk by, tare off 1 limb off the branch. Eventually, the problem will go away.


Title: Problems with My Leasing Office - Apartment Doesn’t Like My Dog [GA]

Question:
I have been having problems with my leasing office issuing violations for my and my roommate’s lease. I will preface this by saying that I did break some rules to get these violations, but I would like some info on what they are legally allowed to do.
I also for some reason can’t pull up my lease on their website right now, it’s broken.

So a month ago I made a mistake. Long story short, it was late at night, I took my dog for a car ride and when we got out I didn’t put her on her leash and she attacked another dog. I broke the rules by not having her on a leash.
I went to the office when it opened the next day, told them what happened and how I was at fault, and how I didn’t know who the man was who owned the other dog. They said something along the lines of “In the end, dogs are animals and things happen. You know that you should have had your dog on a leash right?” I answered yes, and that was it.
They then realized that they didn’t have a dog on file for my apartment.

So I took over the lease for someone else so it wasn’t as formal as it usually is where you go to the office and sign in front of them. I just faxed it to them, and I put that I had one dog. I signed the lease. They signed the lease and never mentioned the dog. I just thought they would have noted it and didn’t need anything else. (My other apartment was pretty lax and you just paid some money up front.)

So they must have missed that part of the application and just signed the lease.

After the incident they asked that I send in my vet records because they wanted to make sure she had her vaccines.
Again this is my bad but I sent in the file a few weeks later not thinking it was a big deal. I sent it a couple of days ago.

Today I got another violation because i had the dog by our pool and also glass (I had brought a beer). The leasing lady was closing up and saw us, and didn’t say anything. Anyway, they also said that I needed to bring some documentation about my dogs breed. The vet had omitted it because she’s a mutt. Atlanta is big on not renting to pit bull owners. I could say that my dog is partly pit bull but that’s not all she is, again she’s a mutt. I got the vet to write something that said she’s mixed breed.

Can they kick me out for violating the lease with these three violations (dog off leash, dog by pool, glass by pool)? Can they make me get rid of the dog for being mixed breed? Can they go back and charge me for having a dog when I stated that I did on the lease?

Answer: Yes to all 3 questions. Follow your lease.


Title: Sex Offender around my step kids - NC

Question:
NC USA here.

My boyfriend of 4 years has 2 kids whom we have full custody. We were awarded custody because her then boyfriend, now husband is a sex offender and she concealed that from us while the kids lived with them. We found out once we investigated the name we were given and his birth date. We then petitioned the court for emergency custody, temporary custody, and then full legal custody.

The court striped her of her rights due to her poor decision making ability but she has a right to visitation every other weekend, school holidays are split, and 2 weeks in the summer months. Her visitation is to be suspended if the kids have any contact with her husband in 'any way, shape, or form' as stated in the order.

The kids are 7 (boy) and 9 (girl). They just got back from their 2nd week of the summer with her and they went camping. The offender went camping as well. He didn't speak directly to the kids but they were within feet of each other multiple times.

Tomorrow we are going to speak to our lawyer about filing a contempt of court charge and suspending visitation but anything else we should take into consideration in this case? Any advice at all?

Answer: This sounds like an instance where supervised visitation at an access centre would be appropriate.


Title: Can you be arrested for blowing a large chunk of the moon up?

Question: I have no idea why I'm thinking of this, probably because I'm sleep deprived at work.

Answer:
 Delivering your ordinance would likely break a healthy number of federal laws and international treaties.

You'd probably never have to worry about the legality of the actual detonation.Answer #2: Effectively no, because if you have the capability to blow up the moon you can blow up any country that infringes on your sovereignty. Answer #3: You'd be violating basically every FAA regulation in existence just to get something into the atmosphere, for starters.  It would violate the Outer Space Treaty to put a WMD on the moon.  Getting something large enough to blow up the moon would require nuclear weaponry on a massive scale, which means you're violating every rule governing atomic energy and nuclear weapons to develop, build, and deploy them, including restrictions on importing and handling radioactive materials.  If the earth wound up bombarded by debris as a result of the explosion (it would), then you'd be on the hook for all of the property damage, injury, and death you caused.

Realistically, you'd get caught the first time you either tried to get your hands on nuclear material, or the first time you tried to test launch something without a flight plan


Title: Someone burglarized my next-door neighbors and left evidence in MY yard.

Question:
I was out with friends the other night, and while I was gone, my next-door neighbors had their car broken into, as well as their garage. This morning I found a garage door opener that I assume belongs to my next door neighbor in my yard.

Details:

A week before this happened, I noticed a vehicle that turned down my street and then parked across from my house. They were parked between houses, almost as if they didn't want to be as visible. There was a guy and a girl, and they both had hoodies pulled up over their heads. I immediately found them suspicious because my neighborhood is a small suburb, and we all have a good idea of who's who, and I hadn't seen these people before. The girl noticed that I was watching them through the window and alerted the driver, who drove away.

About 10 minutes later, the car re-appeared and parked in the same area, but this time, a bit further down. I assume they thought I couldn't see them from that angle. At this point I was *very* suspicious of them.

I walked outside to the end of my driveway and checked the mail. I was looking at them the entire time. What was strange is that they both had their heads down looking at their phones, hood up, pretending not to see me. Why would they drive off the first time upon noticing me watching them (the female passenger pointed at me) only to pretend not to see me the second time when I'm deliberately staring at them? Something was off...                                                                 So I turned toward the car and started to stare them down, arms crossed. I stared at them for almost 3 minutes, and the entire time they seemed to become increasingly agitated, at which point the driver started the car and drove off a second time; neither of them made eye contact with me as they drove past me. I also failed to memorize their license plate or get pictures, and my security cameras weren't able to see them either.
So today, I saw one of my neighbors across the street who was out and about, and I went over to ask if my next-door neighbors (the ones that got burglarized) were home, as I wanted to let them know about what I saw. They weren't home, so I made my way back to my house. This is when I saw that someone's garage door opener had been placed in my yard in a pretty visible spot. I didn't want to touch it, and I'm not sure if it's actually my neighbors, but given everything that has happened, I would assume it belongs to them.

I believe the thieves were angry at me for confronting them when they were casing houses, and deliberately placed the garage door opener in my yard in hopes that the police would find it. Keep in mind my neighborhood is a small, all-white Indiana suburb, and I am the only black guy in the neighborhood. In the event that I am ruled a suspect, I would already be seen as guilty until proven innocent by the small-town police. Obviously I would be cleared pretty quick since I didn't do it, but there's always a chance that something like this could turn against me in some sort of freak scenario.

*Tl;dr A car parked in my neighborhood was casing houses; I stared them down which made them drive off. A week or so later, my next-door neighbors had their car and garage broken into and burglarized, and I found a garage door opener that doesn't belong to me in my yard. Question: What do I do with the garage door opener? How do I address this with my neighbors? Should I notify the police?*

Answer:
 Return the opener to your neighbors. Maybe ask them first if they think the police would want it. Answer #2: >Obviously I would be cleared pretty quick since I didn't do it...

ಠ_ಠ

>...but there's always a chance that something like this could turn against me in some sort of freak scenario.

>...small, all-white Indiana suburb... I am the only black guy in the neighborhood... small-town police...

¯\\( ͡° ͜_ʖ ಠ)/¯

I mean, did you touch the thing? Was it somewhere only you could get to? I'd go get my neighbor and show him, and let him identify it / decide whether or not to call the cops.


Title: [michigan, USA] Landlord moved in downstairs. Could this violate the lease?

Question:
Several months ago, my girlfriend and I moved in to the top floor of an apartment above a business. The business was supposed to be open 9 to 5, which is perfect, as this is when my girlfriend and I both work. This would allow us privacy and a place of our own.  Our landlord is the owner of the business downstairs and they were living in the place that is currently our home. Soon after we moved in to the apartment. The landlord closed the business downstairs and decided to live in their camper. A month ago, they decided to park the camper in the driveway and move all of their belongings into the business downstairs. Now my landlord, his wife, and his brother are all living below us with several animals. Upon moving in we were told the business would be there, but this gives us no privacy. We are now afraid of making too much noise, playing our music, or having sex too loud at night.

The lease upon moving in was very generic and only a few pages, mostly mentioning bills, smoking, pets, and guest.

As we both feel uncomfortable now, is there any action we could take to move, or even decrease rent. We feel that this was the plan all along and we were purposefully left in the dark about it.

Answer: Your lease pertains to your unit. You have no say in how the landlord utilizes the property below you, which, of course, is the nature of renting property.


Title: [US, FL] My sister's weed got found, will she go to juvy?

Question:
Throwaway, first time posting here. I'm really paranoid right now because my sister (13) first of all, got caught shoplifting a couple months ago along with my other sibling. They have to do community service and stuff, and go to these appointments with their case worker. At their last appointment my sis made a suicidal joke and admitted to self harming. She was admitted to the hospital, the psychiatric ward I think, again. She had already been to a psychiatric ward about a year ago after she admitted to having suicidal thoughts at a doctor's check up. My mom grabbed some clothes from home to bring her, and in the pocket of one of my sister's jackets there was weed. She hasn't smoked for a couple months now as far as I know, but I guess she still had it laying around. The staff said they will ask my sister about it tomorrow.

I'm just really worried that since this will be her second offence, and idk how much weed there was, she might go to juvy or something. I have no idea what usually happens in this case, is there a possibility she (my mom I guess) will just be fined and my sis gets slapped with more community service? We really can't afford a fine anyway but it'd be better than juvy. I hope just having at least an idea of what might happen will ease my mind. Thanks in advance.
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer:
 friends coat, friends weed, not hers, never say it was hers, never claim possession.

call a lawyer.


Title: update and more advice needed (I have been a stay at home mom for the past ~12 years and my husband wants to kick me out)

Question:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/c8h4hn/i\_have\_been\_a\_stay\_at\_home\_mom\_for\_the\_past\_12/](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/c8h4hn/i_have_been_a_stay_at_home_mom_for_the_past_12/)

&#x200B;

So some lawyers got back to me and they have said that there should be some things I can do to be able to keep the house. I have an appointment for a consult on August 9th.

&#x200B;

I also managed to get a job; it's delivering newspapers so I do still need the car, and gas money. I will get paid for the first time on July 26th. It is usually done before my husband needs to leave for work but 1 day the truck was late with the papers so I ended up being late delivering them, and then he was 2 hours late for work because he refuses to take an uber.

&#x200B;

So he keeps threatening to not let me use the car since there is the potential to make him late which he says will make him lose his job (which is ridiculous because if it's that serious then why doesn't he just take an uber) and he "needs his job" and he refuses to listen to the fact that I need mine too. And because of the contract, if I leave this job within a year I will owe *them* money.

&#x200B;

Then last night he decided the credit card bill is too high - it is in his name but he allowed me to use it and I used it as a last resort for food and gas. He said that he saw that I only used it once in the last 6 months at the grocery store but that he didn't like that the bill was so high so he was taking it.

&#x200B;

With me needing gas until the 26th this leaves me pretty screwed. We won't have enough in the bank to buy food and gas. I know legally he is not supposed to remove my access to funds but he is doing it and I worry that he will remove my access to more. I'm also worried he will carry through on his threat to not let me use the car. I know that legally he is not supposed to do these things but what can I do when he's doing them illegally? What can I do until my consultation? Should I email the lawyer's secretary all this (I have been communication with them via email so the kids/husband can't overhear)?

Answer: At this stage a consult on Aug 9 is way too late. Contact the lawyer(s) again, let them know he is trying to deny you access to communal funds, and that you need to meet within the next few days .Answer #2: Talk more about this contract. I think someone is scamming you with the job. You would never owe money for leaving a job.Answer #3: How much is your husband's annual income.  That alone will dictate most everything in this case.  With 2 kids involved plus you being a stay at home mom you will have the ball in your favor during the divorce.  I am recently divorced had no kids together I owned the home before marriage but had no equity in the home at time of divorce.  Any pensions that are vested any 401k that has been started during the marriage you will be entitled to half.  Anything that is in the home will be seen as a martial asset.   Plus while the divorce is going thru you'll be eligible for spousal maintenance not alimony Indiana doesn't have alimony.


Title: 17 yr old male drug possession help

Question:
I live in Texas, and was caught under the influence of xanax, crashed into a light post, and was caught with a vape and 24 g(or 96 pills) of xanax.

What do my outcomes look like? Jail? More lenient time? Do I need a good lawyer?

Thanks.

Answer:
 Is this your first offense?

Up to $4,000 and up to one year in jail just for possessing the xanax.

You need to hire a lawyer. The fact that you crashed a car while high, and the fact that you were in possession of 100 xanax pills means you're facing serious penalties.


Title: Already an update! [MI] Seems like an illegal tow, need second opinions concerning a small claims filing.

Question:
The friend I posted for works in a law firm but didn't want to bring this to any of the attorneys because she thought it was pretty petty. Turns out one of them asked her what she was researching, she told him and showed him everything she had (pictures of the lot, the Michigan Vehicle Code prepared, the names of other people who were towed and had the same experience she did) and the attorney from her firm volunteered to file a petition for her to get her money back for the illegal tow.

They're also contacting the organization that held the marathon to ask if they'll send an email to everyone at the event in search of the others who had their cars towed from the same lot, so that they can file petitions for them, too.

Good day for all! Thanks for the advice.

Original post here

http://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3bj5bb/mi_seems_like_an_illegal_tow_need_second_opinions/

Answer: Thanks for the update. Glad it worked out for her!


Title: [FL] Uncle won over $85K on a TV game show but the network is refusing to pay him out.

Question:
Six months ago my uncle was a contestant on a reasonably well know TV game show. I don't want to say which one exactly in case it causes legal issues but this particular show was most a luck based game with past contestants taking away between $1K - $10K in total cash and prizes. So it was against the odds when my uncle managed to beat the odds to win over $85K in cash and (overvalued!) prizes. I should point out at this time that there were no rules broken or mistakes, and that the game was played exactly as it was designed. Luck was simply on my uncle's side and when the game was over he was congratulated by the host with much fanfare followed by a meeting with the network representative to sign off on the paperwork with an understanding that the winnings would not be disbursed until after the show had been broadcast in 6 weeks.

Time goes by and the expected broadcast date comes around. My uncle recognizes contestants from the previous episodes as they are broadcast (they were all together as several episodes are shot on the same day) but when the day of his expected broadcast was to happen… nothing. Just the next episode after his, as if his competing and winning had never happened. He phoned the network the following day and was told not to worry it was because he was such a big winner that they wanted some time to promote it as an "event" episode. Disappointing but fair enough.

Fast forward another two months and the episode *still* hadn't been promoted let alone broadcast. My uncle made several calls to the network which remained unreturned until several days ago when he finally received a response from the network legal representative. She apologized for the delay in getting back to him but that unfortunately the network had exercised their option not to broadcast the particular episode that he had won the $85K in. Consequently there would be no payout due to my uncle according to the conditions of his participation. Needless to say he was not impressed and tried to press the representative for an exact reason as to why. She responded to say just to be clear that this was simply due to a scheduling decision and was not due to any reluctance on the part of the network in paying such a large amount nor was it to imply there has been any sort of error or fraud by either party. They were simply acting fairly according to the rules but as a goodwill gesture they were prepared to send my uncle a $2500 ex-gratia payment in recognition of his time and efforts. He said he wanted time to think and would contact them later.

So right now he has no idea if he has a case or how to pursue it. He **strongly** feels that they have avoided broadcasting his episode **specifically** to prevent him from receiving a prize value they didn't expect someone to win on their own. Their offer of a token "courtesy" payment (ie: take this and shut up) only helps to convince him of this further.

Is there any precedent or laws that cover a situation like this? Does anything look to be in my uncle's favor here?

Answer: Did your uncle read all the paperwork he signed? Does he have a copy of it?


Title: My mom divorced my dad 20 years ago, he died 16 years ago, she is now drawing Social Security on him. Doesn't seem right.

Question:
My mom divorced my dad 20 years ago. 4 years later, he passed away. I know it broke his heart and messed him up mentally. I'd go so far as to blame her for his death. Now, she tells me and my 3 sisters that she will be collecting social security off of him. 16 years after his passing. She has since been married and divorced again. My older sister holds power of attorney, and we aren't sure what we could do, if anything. She will be collecting about $1200/month and possibly $230k in back pay. Thanks in advance! In Missouri.

Edit: Location

Answer:
 Mom would qualify if they were married for 10 or more years.  I know it was odd when my mother called asking for a copy of his death certificate so she could claim his higher amount, but thems are the [rules](https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/divspouse.html).Answer #2: If they were married for more than 10 years and she didn't remarry before age 50, she is entitled to it. It doesn't matter that your dad didn't want it. It's governed by federal law. The public policy is that the money was deducted from your dad's pay while married to your mom and therefore, it was money taken out of the marriage. So, in essence, you rmom earned that right to receive it along with your dad.

Also, not part of your question but part of your narrative: mom is entitled to seek child support from the non-custodial parent to help pay for the children's necessary expenses when the non-custodial parent earns/receives income. Obviously, I don't personally know your mother. However, there is nothing inherently nefarious by wanting the bio father to actually help with expenses for his own children.


Title: My company’s HR decided to change their rules regarding PTO and barely notified anyone

Question:
Hello

I first got hired at my job exactly 2 years ago. When I first joined, all employees were allowed to go negative in PTO. Essentially if you had no PTO, you were allowed to go -40 hours past 0.

Almost exactly one year later on Dec. 1, HR decided to change policies in the HR handbook. They notified that “changes had been made” via a short email with an attachment of the pdf file of the new handbook. One of my supervisors had immediately asked for them to clarify exactly which changes had been made. The HR employee responded by saying “it is not our responsibility to tell you the exact changes. You must read the handbook and figure out the changes for yourselves”.

Simply put: none of the employees read the handbook and the entire company allows, approves and in some cases encourages employees to still go negative with their PTO for almost a full year. HR says nothing.

Fast forward to this month, an employee puts in his 2 week notice to which HR responds by saying “you just took a day off last week but had negative PTO. We are now disapproving it”. It got ugly because the employee did not approve of this and it resulted in him getting walked out by security after a heated argument.

This sparked HR to begin telling people of the rule change that the created in December of the previous year that going negative with your PTO was no longer allowed. They claim they cannot legally charge employees who quit or are fired for negative PTO. They also stated the computer program we apply for PTO through should not allow us to do that since they changed it last year. The computer program still totally allows it.

Here’s the thing: about 25% of the company currently has negative PTO. The CEO even admitted to not knowing HR changed this negative PTO rule for the entire year. My supervisor just took a vacation that put her very negative in PTO also

I also applied for PTO that would put me pretty deeply in the negative and it is in a few weeks. It would make me almost 20 hours negative in PTO. It is an expensive trip that I probably can’t cancel but it was approved by management months ago when every manager said I could still go negative. Now they are saying I will have to take 20 hours of unpaid PTO.

The basic question is: Can HR just change these rules like how they did? Can they decide to all of the sudden start to enforce the rule after almost a year of not doing it? Is what they did illegal or shady in any way?

Thanks

Answer:
 >none of the employees read the handbook

The policy was communicated and continued to be abused. You can't say they didn't tell you, and the only reason you didn't know is because you failed to read the updated document as instructed by HR.

I don't see anything illegal or even remotely shady about it. The PTO system had a glitch that allowed something against policy, but there's no issue there since it's up to the employees to be aware of what policies are in place and to follow them.


Title: I think my employer is stealing from me. What do i do?

Question:
I recently started paying close attention to my finances because ive had a feeling im always running out of money too soon. Turns out, I am, to the tune of 300usd in two weeks. Im a minimum wage slave, that about a third to half of my pay.

What should I do? Do i confront my employer? Do i lawyer up and start slinging lawsuits? Do i just burn it all down and find a check for millions?

Id rather keep my job, but im more than willing to take it to court if im likely to win.

EDIT; SORRY. Im located in new york, USA.

Answer:
 > Turns out, I am, to the tune of 300usd in two weeks.

How do you arrive at this conclusion?


Title: Would someone get away with selling knockoff eclipse glasses that damaged people's eyes?

Question:
Suppose that, in anticipation of the eclipse, some asshole orders a few hundred pairs of cheap knockoff eclipse glasses from China. He waits until a few days before the eclipse, when all the stores go out of stock, then lists them on Craigslist for vastly inflated prices ($20 per pair, let's say-- still gouged, but less so than most other scalpers). Tons of people take him up on this, but after using the glasses to watch the eclipse, many of his buyers suffer permanent eye damage.

**What legal problems does the seller risk as a result of his activities? If legal action was taken against him, what precisely would he be charged with / sued for? How would you expect this scenario to play out?**

Clarifications:

- By "cheap knockoff eclipse glasses," I mean the glasses are not compliant with the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard. They do not have any of the [certification markings](https://cnet1.cbsistatic.com/img/DIjL23nFDsrYpO8_EaHPDr_EYS8=/fit-in/x/2017/08/16/55a7a3b1-1081-43f4-97bd-1baff444a2fb/eclipse-glasses.jpg) printed on the glasses, but they are otherwise printed in a visual style that [closely resembles](http://static.lakana.com/media.fox13news.com/photo/2017/08/02/Still0802_00046_1501717705878_3872529_ver1.0_640_360.jpg) the NASA endorsed glasses. Their design clearly implies they are for viewing the eclipse, such as the date of the eclipse, and/or a picture of an eclipse.

- The seller's ad does not mention their lack of compliance, but does assert that they are to be used for watching eclipses. The photo shows only the front of the glasses, not the back, where the certification markings would be. They are listed as "eclipse glasses."

- If a buyer doesn't ask about the certification, the seller doesn't bring it up.

- If a buyer does ask about the certification, he pulls out a legitimate pair of certified eclipse glasses from a NASA approved retailer, then invites the buyer to compare by briefly looking through them at the sun. The sun looks the same through both glasses, so buyers tend to be convinced by this. (NOTE: even if the glasses do block most visible light, damage could still be caused by UV light, which the buyer would not be able to see since it is outside the human visual spectrum. The ISO rating is mostly based off of blocking UV light, so it makes sense that this could happen.)

- It is unclear whether the seller knew that his knockoff glasses were dangerous and would cause damage, or if he truly believed his own argument from the previous paragraph. It is clear, however, that he knew the ISO standards existed, and that his glasses were not certified.

Answer:
 This is a perfect example of products liability. It was a defective product that, when used as intended, caused injury. The seller is liable for damages regardless of whether he knew that the product was faulty. This is the civil side.

On the criminal side, it's possible that he committed criminal negligence or the like.


Title: Being Photographed during MRI?

Question:
Hi everyone, today I had a strange experience.  I was going in for a scheduled MRI of my lower back, in NY State, and after the procedure was completed, before the tech pulled me out of the tube, I noticed out of the corner of my eye he had his personal cell phone out.  He also had the camera on and operating, because I could see the screen facing me as it moved around pointed at me.  In my opinion, it looked like he was taking photos of me before I exited the machine.  He paused there for a moment and then pulled me out and when I came out of the machine the phone was gone.  I felt really weird about this, so I went and talked to one of the head nurses and they agreed this was weird and they decided to file a complaint.  The head nurse called me back later to tell me they had confronted him and the head nurse said he said the reason his phone was out was he was "face-timing his 4 yr old" during my procedure.  I asked if they had looked through his phone, had video surveillance in the room or could confirm either his or my claims.  They said they didn't know about surveillance and that they didn't look through his phone because it was his personal property and he didn't consent.  I've also asked the hospital to send me a copy of the complaint they filed on my behalf about the incident, but they are checking with supervisors if they can even send me that and I currently don't have it.  I feel a little lost as to where to go from here.  I certainly feel really icky about being photographed without consent, if that is what happened and even if it wasn't I feel weird knowing that he wasn't really paying attention to me during the whole procedure.  I guess I am a little jaded in the fact that I feel like I can't trust the hospital to take care of this.  I tried going to the police, who brushed me off, said they could only do something if the guy decided to send the photos to other people.  A few friends suggested to go to lawyer as well, but I guess I don't know if this is even something a lawyer would be able to help with if it is just my word, the hospital hasn't given me anything except a few phone calls with the information above and I don't have any physical evidence, since I was in a tube during the whole incident.  Anyway, any advice or information regarding cell phone use and privacy during this type of procedure would be appreciated.

TLDR:  Had MRI, at end of procedure tech had phone out and either was showing me to his 4yr on Facetime or photographing me.

Answer: If you know the name of the person, you could try going to the state licensing agency


Title: Papa John's didn't take federal taxes out of my Dad's paycheck

Question:
My Dad is a delivery driver for The Papa.  This past year his location was bought out by a franchisee.  Previously, it had been a corporate location and all taxes had been deducted accordingly from his pay stubs.  His W-2 reflects that since being bought out by the franchisee, they have NOT been deducting taxes.  Pay stubs are not issued but are made available online.  At best, that's kind of a dick move to change up a worker's pay plan without warning, especially when delivery drivers typically rely on tips and would not be inclined to diligently track the online pay stubs.  My question is if this is legal and if not, what would the proper first steps.  Any advice is appreciated and we are in MD.  First post, thanks /r/legaladvice
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer: He can report the employer to the IRS. It's illegal not to withhold tax. However he owes the entire amount to the IRS.  Was social security and medicare deducted properly? As a test, box 6 should be exactly 1.45% of box 5.


Title: Sent a nude to a girl who turned out to be under 18

Question: (CA) I have an OKCupid account... well I did. I started messaging this girl whose profile said was 18, and after a while she started helping the sexual tension ramp up and asked me to text her. I used a burner app and texted her, and after a few texts she asked me to show her a picture of what I'm working with after berating me for teasing her. I sent her a picture, and then I get a call from a man who claims to be her father, and he said that the girl was 16, and he'd be contacting law enforcement and working with his lawyer to get me in trouble. I deleted the OKCupid account and made a new one without a picture and viewed the girls profile again and the location had changed to thousands of miles away. I'm thinking it might be a scam. What do you think I should do?

Answer:
 >What do you think I should do?

Ignore it because this is a well known scam.Answer #2: Scam.

There is no girl.  Hell, "She" is likely not even in the US!

Nothing will come of this.  Ignore.  Answer #3: I almost feel like this story needs to be a sticky.

Just ignore it, unless you literally get a legal document, which is so unlikely.Answer #4: I wonder if this should be added to the side bar, this gets posted almost once a day.


Title: I got into a car accident last year and the other person's insurance is coming after me for reimbursement, even though I don't think I was at fault. What do I do? Can I contest it, at would it even be worth it?

Question:
Some facts about the incident:

1)I'm from California, so is the other driver.

2)At the time I wasn't insured, but the other person was.

3)Both of us were over 18.

4)No one was injured.

5)Law enforcement wasn't contacted when it happened.

So the incident happened last May. What had happened was that I was backing out of a storefront, began turning so as to drive onto the main road, when I felt and heard scraping against the driver's side passenger door. My first thought was I must've hit a tree or hydrant or something, but after looking back I realized what was scraping my car was the rear bumper corner of another car that hadn't pulled out of its space completely (I feel like this fact is very important). After going back into our spaces, me and the other driver got out, traded info, I took pictures, and from what I remember he admitted fault, but I could be remembering wrong.

Afterwards we left, I went home and told my dad about the incident and we called his insurance. Here's where my first blunder was. Since I had never experienced anything like this before, I was extremely nervous. This lead to me telling the insurance guy that we both backed out at the same time, even though I'm positive I backed out first, followed by the other driver. After my dad realized what I said, he told me to correct the guy over the phone and I did, but I don't think it mattered at that point. Later on my parent's insurance called me, even though I wasn't insured with them, and I told them the same thing, apart from the "we backed out at the same time" part. He mentioned to me that he would try his best to have the fault be split 50-50 as a best case scenario. At this point I had basically just stopped caring about the whole thing and ignored it, hoping it would go away. That was my 2nd blunder.

Fast forward some month, and due to factors such as my extreme laziness and procrastination, and the car I drove that was involved in the accident being totaled in a later accident (not by me), I never bothered to go forward with the investigation. The furthest I got was being told to take my vehicle to a collision center to be inspected. Had I done this, the whole ordeal most likely would've been over by now, but that's either here nor there. His insurance sent me two letters so far, both of them basically saying I was at fault and they are seeking reimbursement from me.

Now here's where my main problem is. They are saying that I had backed into his stopped vehicle, which to me makes no sense because he was between two other cars, which means I would've ended up hitting another car PLUS his. I don't remember him taking pictures of the damage, so I'm not sure if he gave them any visual evidence other than the damage to his car. I have pictures of both our cars and the damage. [Here's a sketch I made showing the moment of impact, my car being dark grey and his being light grey](https://i.imgur.com/z2ONHPT.png) Can I contest their decision in some way and avoid paying what amounts to over $400? Is this even possible? Who should I call if i can? I'm extremely lost and just need some answers.

Topic:
Insurance

Answer: You're likely 50% at fault here. I don't know if they are putting 50% on you or 100%. Since you chose to break the law and drive with no insurance, you have no one to fight this for you. If they take you to court you'll have to prove your side of the story and since they already have a statement from you,  most certainly recorded,  accepting blame,  you'll likely lose


Title: Fired for trying to join a union - OH

Question:
Hey guys. I (along with 5 of my coworkers) were recently fired from our jobs for trying to join a union. A few months ago, one of my buddies told me about how much better his job had gotten after a union came in and helped them out. I reached out to a local union that does stuff for our job (plumbing) and asked them if we could join. They said yes and told me to talk about it with my coworkers and they'd protect me.

Well I talked about it with a bunch of my friends at lunch and got them to agree to pursue this union thing. After one of them talked to our manager we were all fired. I reached out to the local union guy I was talking to and he said he didn't even remember talking to me so it was out of his hands.

I guess my questions are if the union should be helping us because I talked to them? Also if the firing was actually not okay? I filed for unemployment but the loss of income really hurts. I could tell the union but I think that's against the sub rules. Thanks in advance guys.

Answer:
 The Union has no negotiated agreement with your employer. They let you "join" i.e. pay dues to them, but are not part of a recognized bargaining unit where you work. Their only option to help you would be to hire an attorney for you, to try to get your job back....but *that* would cost the union actual cash money.

Having said all this, you and your co-workers - probably - have a good case for getting your jobs back if you were fired for union organizing activity. As stated by others, the NLRB will probably  eventually get you reinstated. Don't expect hugs and kisses and a jolly welcome-home from your old employer after they're forced to reinstate you though.

https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/employee-rights


Title: Possible fake check scam

Question:
(Scranton, PA)I received an email in my university email account about a job offer. This job included getting this man clothes, his mail, sending payments on his behalf, and shopping. In turn he said he would pay me $400 a week, and be sending me checks to do this, as well as send money for me to pay his bills.

I just received a check yesterday, enough to pay me and pay for his other needs. however, the check isn't from the name he told me and the address and name on the label on the envelope has a different name and address then from what I was told it was. The name and address were matched with someone from PR but I was told my employer lived in Boston. Is this fake? Would I get in any legal trouble if I attempted to cash it?

Answer:
 > (Scranton, PA)

Michael, we've been over this.

Yes, it's a scam.Answer #2: Yes the check is a fake one. If you cashed it you would be on the hook to pay the bank back every penny.Answer #3: This is a scam. This type of scammer will send you checks which you cash into your account and then spend money on their bills, etc. Several days later, your bank will discover the check was bad, withdraw the 'deposited' money from your account, and you will be out for what you spent to cover your 'employer'.


Title: Laws regarding legal tender (California)

Question: Maybe people can answer this question regarding laws in different states as well, but specifically in California, are pennies considered legal tender? What I mean by that is which places can refuse to accept pennies as payment and which places have to accept it? I haven't tried to pay with only pennies before, I'm just curious.

Answer: A private business does not have to accept pennies (or any denomination). See here [ http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx]( http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx)


Title: [AR] Getting sued for breaking contract on car lease. Do I have a chance?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Unless you get a car with a warranty, repairs and problems are on you. You need to pay the lender and learn how to be a more responsible car buyer.Answer #2: It's your responsibility to check out the vehicle. With your dad being certified master mechanic, this is baffling that you spent $13,000 and didn't do that. Without a warranty you're pretty much SOL


Title: Brought car into body shop at 48k miles. Left body shop with 60k miles.

Question:
Car was in shop for over a month. I didn't notice the odomotor until 30 mins after I left the body shop and by then the shop was closed. The documentation that I received from the shop says mileage in/out was at 48k. I have already sent an email with a picture. This was a repair through insurance and the insurance documentation also shows 48k. What can I do about this situation?

For the record, I don't think the car was driven, though I don't know how to prove it.

Answer:
 > For the record, I don't think the car was driven

What do you mean?  Do you think they tampered with the odometer to artifically drive it up?  Why would they do that?

If you believe the odometer is now **broken**, that's almost assuredly not going to be their fault.


Title: Can a medical marijuana card mess up the citizenship process?

Question:
I live in Nevada and am a permanent resident, I would like to get a medical card but am wondering if this will screw up the citizenship process?

I have been reading about people not being let back into the country at borders because they have a card.

So two questions, if i get the card:

I cannot leave the country until I have my citizenship?

Will the citizenship process be halted/impeded/affected in any way by my having the card?

Thank you

Answer: When you are attempting to complete a federal process, like immigration, doing anything that is illegal under federal law is not a good idea.


Title: Being charged with assault

Question:
Okay here's the situation:

My girlfriend(J)(19)and I(21)have had a rough 4 years together. I've had to call the police on her 2 times for assault but continue to live with her. She has had charged dropped in the past and we have been living together quite peacefully. (Living in BC Canada)

2 days ago at 5 am she decides she doesn't want to go to work. Now she has a habit of pushing my limits with the way she talks. She likes to bring up random things to start a fight. We start to have an argument and I just don't want any of it. I explain that she can call in to work and it won't be a problem. (And this is all while we are in the process of moving into a new home). The argument escalates and I just want to leave. I get blocked into the bedroom and don't know what to do. She keeps testing me mentally and I start to break. I finally push her away and she starts to freak out more. She calls her dad, who I really hate because he has abused her in the past. I start to yell some stuff at him well she is on the phone and he isn't having it. J starts getting really upset and scared with the yelling. J's dad takes this as an opportunity to get J's brother to call the police. J tells her dad to stop and not be so crazy. I decide it's best for me to get out of there ASAP and I drive pretty far, out of cell service. Once I come back the police contacted me and requested I come to the station. I was placed under arrest for assault and was released on conditions of not seeing J and appearing in court in February. J will have the no contact order dropped but isn't in control of the assault charges.

I'm scared and don't know what to do. I don't want to go to jail, and I'm worried her dad stretched the truth.

tl:dr Charged with assault by common law GF's dad. Scared to go to jail and don't know what to do.

Answer: You need a criminal defense lawyer immediately. Don't violate the no contact order at all.


Title: Roommate put her room on craigslist without notice.

Question:
[Michigan]

I am not sure if I have any ground to stand on here. My roommate of 2.5 years has recently begun spending most of her time at her boyfriend's house. When she was in our apartment recently with a man I'd never met, I overheard some strange conversation.

I looked on craigslist, and there was our house-- offering her room available tomorrow. Posted 11 days ago. She has seen me and talked to me throughout those 11 days without any mention of leaving. It is almost as if she expected to have someone move in without me being aware.

I haven't seen her since she showed the possible subleaser the house last night (she left immediately after) and she is not returning messages, so I do not know if she had contacted the landlord for an official sublease or not. I am waiting to hear back from her before contacting him.

I was not offered any say in who my new possible roommate might be (for example her ad explicitly says "420-friendly" and I do not smoke-- and it would jeopardize my job).

Do I have any rights in this case? I am not trying to prevent her from leaving, but I would like to have a voice in the matter since I will be the one living with the new tenant.

I am not sure I have any legal grounds to opposing this. Any advice (legal or otherwise) would be greatly appreciated.

Edited to include the terms from our lease: "Subleasing: Tenant(s) shall not assign this lease or sublet the dwelling without the written consent of the landlord. Such consent shall not be withheld without good reason relating to the prospective tenant(s) ability to comply with the provision of the lease."

The landlord has veto power; I am concerned I may have no rights here.

Answer: If Michigan doesn't have recreational MJ laws you can likely bring a print out of the ad to your landlord and he'll quickly put the kaibosh on allowing any illegal activity in his home.


Title: USPS sent my certified mail state tax return to the wrong address

Question:
I mailed my local state and federal tax return by USPS certified mail a week and a half before the 15th of this month. I went to look at the tracking, and my state return was delivered to a completely different address than the one I put on the envelope which is my local franchise tax board. Just to make sure I didn't put the wrong address I looked at my certified mail receipt and its the right one, but the tracking gives a different address that I don't recognize. My tax papers which includes my federal taxes has my social security and other very sensitive information that could put my identity at risk. Plus, my taxes will not be received.

What should I do? Do I have any legal recourse for USPS's negligence?

Answer: Are you certain this delivered address is not as a result of an address change to an alternative facility that the franchise tax board has set up with USPS for this tax season?


Title: Car Insurance Company Moving Our Vehicle Without Our Consent- Missouri

Question:
Earlier this month, my husband and children were involved in a major auto accident. Our vehicle was totaled, and it was deemed not our fault (the guy rear ended my husband going 70mph when my husband was executing a turn). The car was totaled.

We have not been impressed with the guys insurance company. Our vehicle was towed and we were told to not empty our belongings from the vehicle. One day, we drove by the tow yard and our car wasn’t there anymore. The insurance company came and moved our vehicle to a car part lot almost 2 hours from our house without informing us or getting our consent. They are now telling us that until we settle, we are footing the bill for the car being at the new place it was taken.

Obviously our car would have ended up somewhere once we settled, but is this legal? We don’t feel we should be charged for our car being somewhere we didn’t authorize. If this is a common legal practice, then fine. I’m just trying to understand this process.

Thanks for any insight.

Answer: You need to let your insurance company handle the other parties insurance company. Answer #2: Cross post to /r/insurance.Answer #3: Tell your insurance ASAP.  They will deal with these guys for you.  They have a cool team of ruthless lawyers. This other insurance company is doing some illegal stuff.


Title: Said something really stupid on facebook, girl's parents want to call the police

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 This was apparently a joke that didn't make anyone laugh.

Yes, you could get in trouble. If the police come don't try to explain it, don't think you can solve everything by convincing them it was a joke...do not speak to the police and hire a criminal defense attorney. The job of the police is to arrest people. (Well it's one job.) Are you are under arrest right now? No. If you talk to them all you can do is increase the chance of being arrested. No speaking to them without an attorney. And if you're a minor, tell your parents now. Hopefully no one will actually call the police.


Title: Can I sue my neighbor for medical costs associated with diagnosis? (Colorado)

Question: Recently I have experienced bouts of horrible insomnia. I think it is due to the fact that my new neighbor is burning a lot of incense. The landlord has told my neighbor to cease burning the incense as it's against the lease agreement, however last night I was awoken by the smell of burning incense. When I asked my neighbor if they were burning incense they denied it. If I go to the doctor to get my insomnia treated and it turns out that the incense is at fault, do I have a case for suing to recoup the costs of the diagnosis? I.E CT scans, blood work, etc?

Answer: I can't imagine how a doctor would diagnose you with insomnia induced by incense. Get a deodorizer near your bed.


Title: [California] My dad was going to kick me out of his place with three hours' notice. Would that have been legal?

Question:
Hi. This is in California. My dad has been kindly allowing me and my sister (both of us are adults) to stay rent-free at his apartment. Today around noon, he told me to pack my bags and get out by the time he gets home at 3PM. I haven't damaged nor stolen any of his property (nor my sister's property) nor committed any crimes.

Between the time I started writing this post and just now, he agreed not to kick me out.

I know y'all in r/legaladvice/ are a skeptical bunch, so I expect y'all to find this situation and/or my throwaway account suspicious, especially since this post is so lacking in details. If what I'm saying *is* true, if i'm *not* hiding anything, would it have been legal for him to kick me out on such short notice? (Are there more details required to determine the answer to that question?) From what little I've read of relevant California laws, it seems to me like it would have been perfectly legal, since he is not the owner of the apartment and thus I am not considered a lodger?

Answer: No, it would not have been legal. That doesn't mean he can't do it anyway though, leaving you with little to no recourse outside of suing him.


Title: UT If I have a note from my doctor which satisfies the guidelines established in the Fair Housing Act for an emotional assistance animal, is my landlord legally required to allow me to keep such an animal?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 Short answer: No

Longer answer: Only landlords that are subject to FHA regulations even have to entertain the thought of having your animal. In Utah, there are tons of small-fry landlords who are not subject to the FHA; they can evict you for keeping an animal against a no-pets policy.

In addition to that, existing case law usually indicates that waiving a no-pets policy is a reasonable accommodation for an ESA. *However*, there are a number of caveats here. First, it may not be a reasonable accommodation if, for example, you're a student on an individual lease and other individuals in the unit are allergic to said animal and it would be an undue hardship to move everybody around. Second, it may not be a reasonable accommodation if the animal is impermissible due to municipal regulations or otherwise unsuitable to the unit (for example, you want to keep a Rottweiler). You always have to ask first.

If you bring the animal in, it's just a pet unless the landlord has already waived the no-animal documentation.

Both the courts and landlords are starting to take a very dim look at ESA abuse. This is a fairly frequent question in this sub, and the easy answer is to just find a pet-friendly complex and start there.


Title: [NY] Ex-girlfriend refuses to remove her name from property title

Question:
My ex-girlfriend and I bought a house in May 2015 for $175,000 with a $40,000 down payment. Since I am the only one on the mortgage she gifted me $20,000, half the down payment.  She left me back in July 2016 and agreed to move out. Since she didn't pay any of the mortgage, I deducted half of that from the $20,000 and paid her the calculated $10,400.

In December 2016, I had her meet me at my new attorney's office to remove her name from the title. She tell me, literally the night before, she wants the remaining $9,600 back because it's "not rent." She shouldn't have gotten to live in the house for free, so I didn't give it to her. She refused to sign the papers and I lost $500 in state and legal fees that day.

We spoke for months and didn't come to any agreements. I believe I owe her nothing else because she CHOSE to leave. And because she chose to leave, she should accept what I gave her and remove herself from the property in good faith. I believe I've been more than fair. Her lowest offer was her signature for $3000, but when I tried to cut her a deal and offer her $1500, she rescinded all her previous offers and insisted I pay her the full $9,600 once more. This was May 2017.

I didn't say anything for a few months because I needed to take care of a health issue. In September 2017, I received another email from her. She had been speaking to a new attorney and was now demanding half the equity, minus the $10,400 I initially paid her. She told me she would get the house appraised and seek legal action if I didn't respond.

In November 2017, I began action to file a lawsuit against her for the $10,400, the $8,000 in outstanding mortgage payments, and $1,300 she withdrew from a joint account without my permission. I'm hoping this will prove fruitful and ensure she knows she can't screw me over like this.

I want her name off MY house and I want my money back. Are there any additional actions I could take to ensure I get what I deserve out of this?

Answer:
 Her name was on the title, she doesn’t have to pay rent and absent something saying the 20k was a gift she is very likely entitled to a full credit for that money.

Taking money from a joint account doesn’t require you consent so you have no claim there.

You should be entitled to a credit for mortgage payments, but if you paid that from a joint account you could have issues there.

You haven’t been more than fair and it isn’t YOUR house.  You should talk to an attorney, be prepaid to have to buy her out and to have to give up more than you want.Answer #2: >I believe I owe her nothing else because she CHOSE to leave. And because she chose to leave, she should accept what I gave her and remove herself from the property in good faith.

You are not going to win on this argument.  She actually has a better argument that you have been solely benefiting from living in a jointly owned property for the last couple years.  She is a co-owner of the property.  She is entitled to half of the current equity.  Even if she never paid you a dime.

Half the current equity minus $10,400. is exactly the correct legal calculation.  Answer #3: You need to negotiate. The chances of you finding a legal mechanism to force her to sign a quit claim without compensating her is slim as hell.


Title: [TX] An illegal immigrant with no papers or documents hit my grandpa on the road and is now trying to sue him, demanding to be paid for life. The judge is refusing to tell the jury that the immigrant is undocumented. Nobody in my family knows what to do.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Immigration status is irrelevant to the case, which is why the judge won't let it into court.  Either he's at fault, or your grandfather is.  He should call his insurance company, report the accident, and let them handle it.  And hire an attorney if he needs oneAnswer #2: The status of the other driver isn't relevant to the trial.

What's relevant is who is responsible for the accident. That's why the judge doesn't want to prejudice the jury. Answer #3: Did your grandpa notify his insurance?


Title: Caught a possession charge of less than two ounces of marijuana in Kerrville TX . Should I let a lawyer?

Question: Got caught with about two grams of weed while driving and smoking with friends. Passed by cops that were at a house and outside of their vehicles, they pulled me over saying they could smell it. I was upfront and forward with them and told them I had the weed in my pocket. Should I just face the charges by myself (this is my first offense) or get a lawyer. Thanks for your time and effort.

Answer:
 Get a lawyer. This is still serious, and will follow you for years to come.

If you financially qualify you can get a public defender by pleading not guilty and requesting one at your arraignment.Answer #2: Get a lawyer, it could save you a lot of problems in the long runAnswer #3: I believe you become ineligible for financial aid for school if you have a drug charge so if you ever want to go to school you will need a lawyer to address the charges.


Title: We were sold an engagement ring with a fake stone

Question: Hi r/legaladvice. My fiance bought my engagement ring at a local jeweler, and the jeweler we bought it from told us it was a solid black opal. He spent $3000 on this ring. To make a long story short, the stone color changed and I was reassured by the jeweler it was because of the backing. I got it appraised by another jeweler and the stone only has a thin layer of opal, and is worth about $30, and the band around $400. I live in California. Are there any laws that protect consumers in this situation? We are going there Friday to ask for a refund or the difference in price, but I have a feeling the jeweler will refuse. Is this worth a civil case or should we cut our losses? Thank you for your help.

Answer:
 Perfect case for small claims court. You need your original receipt, and I would get an appraisal of the rings actual value from at least TWO other jewelers, maybe 3 to be safe. Seems like it would be easy enough to prove in court that you were misled.Answer #2: Most jewelers make their money on reputation. One must trust the person before you hand over a bunch of money for a rock and metal.

If the jeweler works on that principle, you might get some money back. If he doesn't, you have the difficulty of proving you did not switch out the rock. Answer #3: You want a consumer protection attorney.  Answer #4: Was this at a jewelry store that exists as a small chain in SD, OC, LA, and does the name start with R?Answer #5: Definitely sounds like a case of consumer fraud.

You may want to consult with an attorney who regularly deals with these types of consumer fraud cases and the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, which allows for your actual damages ($3,000-$430=$2,570), along with potential punitive damages, court costs, and attorney fees. [Source.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Consumers_Legal_Remedies_Act) At the very least, a strongly worded letter from an attorney may get you a full refund.

It's also possible that your local DA would pursue criminal fraud charges, separate from your civil lawsuit.