Title: Arrested, held 72 hours and released, then arrested again a few hours later.

Question:
In my state (Michigan) we can only be held 72 hours without charges. I was released, then an officer arrested me a few hours later with a warrant.

I was told that the jail wasnt supposed to let me go and that the paperwork was just left on someones desk instead of making it to the jailhouse.

I dont understand the situation. I was told when i was let out that i would just get a court date in the mail and now im under bond restrictions because the prosecuting attorney forgot to send the paperwork over.

Answer:
 They released you because they didn't have the paperwork. They then had paperwork allowing them to hold you so they picked you back up.

What is your question?Answer #2:
>we can only be held 72 hours without charges. I was released, then an officer arrested me a few hours later with a warrant.

They held you for the 72 hours and collected the evidence they needed for the arrest warrant. They might have not had everything they needed to get the warrant signed when the 72 hours ended, and then they got the warrant signed once you left and picked you up.


Title: Used a random dumpster....

Question:
I was parked in some random parking lot waiting for my friend to get off of work. I had a small bag of trash in my car and I saw a dumpster. I threw the trash in the dumpster and as I was walking back to my car a lady came out screaming. I assume she was a bartender at the bar I was parked next to. She said that's a $500 fine and she wrote down my license plate. I didn't know what to do so I just apologized and drove away. Should I expect the police to be knocking on my door later this evening...?

EDIT:
This happened just now, on 6/3/2015, in Colorado

Answer: They could. They might just mail you the ticket.


Title: How much trouble can I get into for walking up to someone on the street, pepper spraying him, and beating him within an inch of his life?

Question:
I live in California.

I am 16. There is a guy that I really hate. I have pepper spray.

What will happen if I walk up to him on the street, pepper spray him, and beat him within an inch of his life?

I will break multiple bones, will send him to the hospital, and will make sure he doesn't get out any time soon.

Answer: You would be charged with multiple counts, possibly attempted murder. At the very least, assault. Not liking a person is not an excuse to try to land yourself in jail. Do not do this, because the police could easily find this reddit account in your history and realize it is premeditated. Then your punishment will be even worse.


Title: Should my wife have Alimony?

Question:
Fresh from university and just started my first job, I married a girl from US (I'm from Europe). She had 3 years in editing but had to quit her job and worked as a dance teacher in my town. After 8 years she met someone back home and wants to divorce and move back. She will have a hard time getting her career back now after 8 years away and I still have my job making 100k USD per year.

We have a total savings of 150000 USD. Her retirement is considerably lower than mine at an age of 37. How much of our savings is she entitled to and how much should I offer her? Does she have a case for Alimony? How does that work when I'm European and she is American? Does her moving in with her new boyfriend change anything?
edit: We live in Norway, she is from Indiana where she wants to move to now but used to work in Chicago, IL.

Answer: I would highly recommend an attorney knowledgeable in international divorce law.


Title: I think I'm being paid more than I should be...

Question:
I'm supposed to be paid $3000 for every 80 hours, which comes out to my expected hourly rate of $37.50. But I'm noticing on my paychecks that I am getting 86.67 hours per 2 weeks at that $37.50 rate so I am paid $3250 every pay period.

It was never discussed that I should be working more than 40 hours a week, and I just noticed that this has been happening since I started with the company more than a year ago. Can I pretend that I never noticed this and continue getting paid more? Can the company ever wise up and reclaim the money they gave me?

Answer:
 Are you maybe getting paid 2 times a month instead of every other week? I'm on salary paid twice a month (24 paychecks a year) and every paycheck shows 86.67 because that is 52 \* 40 / 24. This is pretty standard for semi-monthly pay periods.

&#x200B;

Edited to add an example using your numbers. $3000 for 80 hours is essentially $78,000 per year (assuming no unpaid time off). If paid bi-weekly then that is $3000 per pay period. If paid semi-monthly that is $3250 per paycheck, but you receive 2 fewer checks per year leaving you with the same annual earnings of $78,000


Title: [OH] I was just fired on suspicious terms after I reported harassment/personal property damage in the workplace. What can I do?

Question:
I (used to as of this morning) work at a local government road crew for summer help as a flagger. Yesterday, to mess with me, I had people's ice water dumped on me several times, which I was already upset about, but one of these instances, water got on my phone and tripped the damage stickers. Since I'm leasing my phone (it needs turned in to Sprint in about a week), they will require me to pay a $200 deposit since my phone has water damage, which I can't afford since the money I was earning is going right into my college fund. The guy who doused my phone was summer help like me, on the lowest rung of the crew's hierarchy.

I confidentially reported this to the head honcho at the end of the work day, who has never been a nice person since day one. He then made it a public issue, getting every employee involved in my personal business. The foremen plucked the water-chucker out of the yard (where every employee was present) and had both of us tell our versions of the story. I was told to go home, and the issue would be dealt with in the morning.

This morning, the head honcho had the entire crew I was with yesterday defend themselves/tell what they thought of the situation. They told us that this was a harassment free workplace and that horseplay was grounds for dismissal. Head honcho explains that the damage to my phone is out of their hands, and should be dealt with privately between me and the water-chucker. He then tells the water-chucker to clock out, not come back for the rest of the year, but if he wants to help next summer, that is fine. Note that he was quitting for the summer on Thursday anyways, since he has to leave for college.

Everybody else leaves, and it is just me and the head honcho. He told me: "this is your second summer here, and I expected you to understand the ins and outs of this place. That being said, we've had operators complain about *you* in particular, which I've let slide before. This is now the third incident in which an operator has complained about your behavior, which I cannot have in this workplace. He is a number four, so when the highest paid person and highest person in charge besides me or the foremen has a problem with you, it is serious business. So *you* may clock out, and not come back for the rest of the year. We don't want you back for next summer either."

I was planning on working until the 24th, since I need the money to get through school this year.

First off, I'm a quiet kid. I've never been unruly or obnoxious, and I always did my job as I was told and never got in the way of anybody else. Everybody also pick on/screws with everybody at this job, which I've really only participated in once, since I was getting destroyed by the entire crew, so I fired back a jokingly witty remark in which even the receiver of my failed comedy laughed and said was a good one (this was also in June). In fact, not a single person in the entire place has said that they had a problem with me. Everybody liked me because I did my work, paid attention, and didn't get into other people's business. If anyone ever had a problem with me, I had no idea. I doubt it was true anyways, because gossip spreads like wildfire at this place.

I'm just completely dumbfounded. Why did *I* get fired when I was the offended party? If I was such a problem to the job before, why wasn't that brought to attention sooner? Is there something I can do about my phone?

TL;DR Phone was damaged due to someone else's horseplay. After reporting this harassment, I was fired on confusing terms.

EDIT: Thanks for the responses. I have no means of contacting the guy who got my phone wet. I don't even know his name, I had only worked with him two days and they just called him "Red" because of his hair color.

Answer:
 You can generally be fired for just about any reason- including an unfair one. Your recourse for the phone is to contact the person who dunked water on you/damaged it and ask them to cover your costs.

Since you're probably not getting a reference from this position, you might consider reaching out to the 'head honcho's boss and complain to him/her about head honcho's behavior. Answer #2: First, your phone isn't required for your job, so they aren't responsible for it being damages. You can sue the person that threw water on your for the value of the damage.

Next, you're in an at-will state. They can fire you for any non descriminatory reason. File for unemployment and appeal when denied.


Title: After informing a civil process server that a person doesn't live here, they kept insisting they did and left the documents anyways. Courts are closed all weekend. What do I do to fix this error?

Answer: Ignore them. That process server should lose his license though, that's awful.


Title: [CANADA] Employer sent out a memo asking all employees to no longer eat at their desks out of respect for the Muslim employees who are fasting for religious holiday. This rule did not apply previously. Are they allowed to temporarily change this rule because of a Religion not everyone follows?

Question:
 Previously we were always allowed to eat at our desks, and have food at our desks. But for the month of Ramadan, they are asking us to be respectful and not eat at our desks, and limit our eating to the kitchen. This is pretty impossible since our kitchen has no tables or chairs, and barely fits more than 5 people at a time.

Personally I don't care, but growing up around many devout and practicing Muslims \(among other religions with dietary restrictions\), this has NEVER been an expectation. Seems like its unfair to enforce a rule for the entire company, based on solely one religion.

Answer:
 Since they are asking you, it seems like you still have the choice to eat at your desk. How are they enforcing this? Are they giving you the impression that this is really a requirement? If so, you should take your concerns about break room space to HR or whoever in your company is making this request. Answer #2: > Seems like its unfair to enforce a rule for the entire company, based on solely one religion.

I agree, it is unfair. At my last job half the people there were Iranians and a few of them fasted. They didn't say anything to other people though, because they knew it was their *choice*.

Only caveat is, if you're a dick about it and you work in an at-will state...... keep that in mind.Answer #3: Hot damn Reddit gets stupid when religion gets involved.

You're employer is allowed to ask, but can not punish you for not complying.

In Canada religious accommodation does not mean giving the exact same treatment for every religion. Hence Sikhs being able to motorbike with just turbans.


Title: [Cali] Can you report a corrupted lawyer?

Question: Been helping my friend with his roommate situation. His awful roommate D is selling meth in her room while her lawyer is trying to help her to not pay rent. She doesn't have the money to afford a lawyer since she's behind on her rent for 5 months. The only way she's paying him for his service is with meth, sex, or both. Is there a way to report the lawyer since I'm pretty sure that's illegal for payment.

Answer: You can report the lawyer, but you have no proof of any wrongdoing.  Your feeling is not proof.


Title: [TN] Buddy bought a foreclosed house. Bank-hired mowers want to bill us for work done after closing.

Question:
Hi all,
A buddy of mine bought a foreclosed house to renovate. They closed last Friday. He had the yard mowed that Friday by a close friend. When I showed up to work today, two people were loading up a mower and taking pictures of the house. I asked them what they were doing, and they said they mowed the yard. I asked, "Did [Buddy] hire you?" and they replied the bank did. I told them that the house had closed last Friday, and they replied they'd be sending us an invoice. I told them that since we didn't hire their services and since they were working on a house that the bank no longer owned (which had its grass cut last Friday), we wouldn't be paying and they'd need to take it up with the bank. They agreed the grass was short and didn't quite need mowing, but said we'd still be hearing from them soon about payment and drove off. If we get an invoice, can we tell them to pound sand? Thanks in advance.

Answer: Tell your friend to tell those landscapers to kiss both your asses. Friend has no contract with them, never offered or accepted anything with them, and thus owes them zero consideration. They can sue the bank that owned the house and failed to inform them that it had sold if they want.


Title: Victim of Hit and Run while Cycling

Question:
I  was recently the victim of a hit & run while commuting home from  work via bicycle around 5.00 pm. I was taking up the my entire lane on a  two lane road (since there was no bike path) and as I was crossing the  intersection, a white SUV pulled an abrupt left turn in front of me,  causing an unavoidable collision. The driver immediately fled the scene.  Someone called 911 and a police report was  filed on my behalf. I have  an eye witness statement of the incident, as well as security cam  footage (although it isn't good enough to identify the car).

I  don't remember the incident itself, but do recall the SUV taking a  sharp turn 5-10 feet in front of me. I was knocked unconscious and was  transported to a nearby hospital and was eventually diagnosed with a  fractured jaw (in two placed), 4 fractured ribs, and some smaller cuts  on one hand. I was released from the hospital that same evening,  approximately 5 hours later.

I've  since had surgery to put my jaw back together. This involved the  surgeon setting my jaw with titanium plates, then installing arch bars.  Recovery for my ribs is expected to take 6-8 weeks, and my jaw 4-6  weeks, during which time I'm only able to eat liquids & blenderized  food.

Luckily  I have an Aetna health insurance policy through my employer, as well as  uninsured motorist bodily injury ($50,000/$100,000), uninsured motorist  property damage ($50,000) , and Medical Payments ($5,000) through  Geico. I should also mention that I am insured and this accident  happened in Tennessee.

Aetna first:

So  far no claims have been denied by my health insurance (only an  in-patient stay the ER doctor requested, but then decided was  unnecessary). The hospital billed my insurance \~ $3,000 for the ER visit  (an itemized bill from the hospital put the visit at $39,500). They  were also billed $41,500 for my surgery. My plan details are $750  deductible, 80/20 split up to $4,000, then 100% coverage.  According to  my policy, Aetna also has subrogation rights to any settlement.

Geico claims:

I  have contacted Geico, and filed a claim. As mentioned, I have medical  payments of $5,000 and an uninsured motorist bodily injury of  $50,000/$100,000. I've asked the adjuster, and according to my policy,  uninsured motorist property damage only covers the insured automobile  (so my bicycle in ineligible).

Also forgot to mention that I am using vacation days for FMLA leave as required by employer.

Sorry for the long bit, but I figured details were important. On to the questions:

a. **How much should I expect in a settlement?** (Medical expenses alone are almost $50,000)

b. **How does dealing with Aetna's subrogation rights work?**  (I understand they can only collect what they actually payed, but let's  pretend I get a settlement for $40,000. Could they go after me  personally for the remaining $4,500, or is their claim limited by the  size of the settlement?)

c. **I've  already talked to some lawyers, but have no signed one on yet. How  would contingency fees impact the distribution of the settlement?**  (Similar question to b. If the settlement is $30,000 and the lawyer  takes 1/3, can Aetna only make a claim for that remaining $20,000?)

d. **What are the differences between subrogations and liens?**  One lawyer I talked to has it spelled out that they would help me  negotiate a reduction of Aetna's claim, but that there would be separate  fees if legal action is required to negotiate any liens claimed.

e. **How do lost wages claims work when I'm on FMLA, but still getting paid since I'm using vacation days?**

f. **Has any (non-lawyer) successfully settled something like this on their own?**

g. **Am I in over my head and should I just hired a lawyer?**

Thanks everyone!

Answer: Let's start with your last question: yes, you should probably get an attorney for this. In fact, all of these questions are great questions to ask the various attorneys you are interviewing with.


Title: [Tax Law][VA/IL] My father withdrew from my UTMA account after I turned 18. I only know about this after getting audited by the IRS

Question: The account was set up IL, I currently live in VA. Was it illegal for him to withdraw from the account after I turned 19 without my consent? I believe he used the money to pay off my student loans, but I'm not certain. Speaking with him is not possible.

Answer: It appears from [this](http://www.finaid.org/savings/ageofmajority.phtml) source that the age of termination in Illinois for UTMAs is 21. If he is the custodian of the account, then it's probably ok for him to do that.


Title: Witness to incident that was unrelated to me but doing something unrelated but illegal in and of itself. If it goes to criminal court should I seek advice from a local attorney or am I being paranoid?

Question:
As stated in headline I'm paranoid, so not going to answer anything about what I witnessed, this is to protect my relative anonymity.  I will only state the current charge against John Doe is "attempted murder" but no other information about the incident itself.

 The crime committed by me was "smoking the reefers", which I happened around 15 minutes before the alleged crime. I'm not worried about going to jail for this, I just figure if it makes it to court a half decent defense lawyer would want to call into question things I witnessed due to being inebriated, which would really just be a semi public embarrassment I guess..   Anyways, it was only a mid day bowl, not a Snoop style session,  I'm 100% confident I was alert and fully functioning after the initial adrenaline rush ;)

So I know I'm not in legal jeopardy, but if I get a subpoena my current thinking is to have a consult with a local attorney and show them the written statement I gave and lay out the rest of the facts and get their advice.  Unless of course I am just overthinking this whole thing.

So with the assumption I do want to seek advice, what is the best way to go about finding a decent attorney and having a discussion with them about the facts.  My only attempt at seeking legal advice was for an unrelated medical matter and I was not satisfied with those interactions.  My desire is to just pay some fee and get advice, face to face ideally, any tips on what exactly I should say when asking for the consultation?  I'm just not sure of the norms and don't want to demand a face to face if that is not common practice in these types of matters.

General area is south east United States, outside of a moderately sized city  (<100k people).

Answer:
 So you can't lie in court, if you're asked by either the prosecution or defense what substances you used that night you will need to answer in the affirmative that marijuana was involved. I do suggest meeting with an attorney briefly to see if they have any input, but I don't know that there's much they can tell you to do. You don't want to blindside the DA with it during testimony, but if you're like "Oh by the way I was smoking pot at that exact time," beforehand then that information will get turned over and presented by the defense faster than you can blink.

A lot of criminal defense attorneys prosecuted first, so I would suggest using your state bar association's website to find names then google them to see if they have prosecuting experience. An attorney that's worked on both sides of the aisle is perfect for this.


Title: Can creditors seize your brokerage account? NYC

Question:
I have two credit card debt default judgements against me from about 5 years ago.

Even though my credit is repaired now, I am concerned if those creditors can still use that default judgement to come after my brokerage account.

I have recently opened a brokerage account where I am attempting to do some stock trading and my concern is if those creditors from the past can use those judgements to try to seize and/or garnish my brokerage account and I end up losing all funds in it?

The judgements were issued in an NYC court.

Any input would be appreciated.

EDIT:

Also, how long are these judgements even valid for? Is there a time-frame after which they would not be allowed to enforce them? Thanks again for any input.
Topic:
Credit Debt Bankruptcy

Answer: why don't you pay the money you owe instead of worrying about them not finding it? You have a judgement against you.  You want to get this monkey off your back.Answer #2: Yes, if ANY third party (eg. a bank, a brokerage company, etcetera) is holding money that belongs to you, then a judgment creditor can garnish that third party and attach/take the funds that the third party is holding in your name and owes to you.  I think it's generally harder to find someone's brokerage company than someone's bank, but if there is a LOT of money at stake, and if the judgment creditor is any good, then could find it...


Title: [Dallas, TX] Arby's Manager Punched Me In The Face, What Should I Do?

Question:
Okay, so my friend and I go into an Arby's to get some food last night. Not going to lie, kinda short on cash so we don't order any drinks. Instead ask for a water cup when our food is ready, you know.

The Manager tells us in a real douchebag way that the water isn't working and no we can't have a water cup. It was like we were asking him anything outrage is just a cup. I ask for something else and he just continues to be way to concerned about his job.

I'm a server, I work in a restaurant, so I think this guy is crazy: one for being so rude, two he has to be able to supply us with something to drink.

We finish our meal and I decide it would be funny if I knock over a rather large stack of cups that are sitting on the counter. Oops ;-)

Now this is where it gets interesting.  My friend and I proceed to the exit. There is a guy at the door, he is using the usual "fuck you, blah blah blah" verbal fighting stuff.  We kinda laugh and continue walking towards the car.

Half way to the car I get clocked in the face from behind. The Manager ran out of the store with two other employees, punched me in the face, and the other employee shoved my friend to the ground.  I got hit pretty good. This guy had a running start and I was completely blindsighted.  I was down for a second. My friend jumped right up from being shoved, he saw me get whacked. So naturally he is defending me. I didn't really see that part, but I know he got him a few good times the guy ended up running in with blood all over his lip and shirt.

The other two guys are just talking s*** to me, surrounding me, trying to scare me. A man pulls up and breaks up the fight.
We go straight home. I have a huge fat lip, and my jaw wont even close right, and my teeth hurt really bad. Friend's shirt is ripped up blood all over it.

We talk about it for a while, figure we should call the cops so we do. Arby's had called the cops two. Exaggerated the story told them we threw stuff and fought them first, whatever, you know.

We told the cops our story..but, What do we do Now?

Answer:
 > What do we do Now?

Learn how to behave like an adult?

Otherwise, nothing.  You wait to find out if anyone is being charged.  If it's you, get a lawyer.  If it's not, then nothing.  Answer #2: The is nothing more you can do right now. It's being investigated, and something tells me your version of the story isn't the entire story.


Title: Landlord withholding security deposit after we purchased the home.

Question:
VA

We purchased the home we were renting from our landlord.

The mortgage company sent them a legal document to sign and confirm that we were responsible tenants who paid rent on time. He signed the document and stated that we paid on time, every time.

He then withheld the security deposit return at closing because of the accumulated late fees for late rent payments from us. Our realtor stated that he could not do anything for us because it was a separate lease agreement and not in the contract of the sale.
I have yet to receive documentation of the dates that we were late but, yes, we were late several times.

The landlord states that they only signed the document to help us get approved for the mortgage and then threatened to call the mortgage company back because it's fraud then we'd be without a mortgage.

Is that true and is the signed verification of rent document enough to hold up in court to get the deposit back?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Did he give you a reason as to why he is holding it?


Title: Iowa - student loan scam? National Secure Processing sold to Mission Hills federal?

Question: My bf took out student loans a couple years ago through dept of education, which then went to Navient. He was then contacted by someone at national secure processing about lowering his payments. He signed with them and his student loans have ballooned back up because the payments are not big enough to even pay for interest. He got an email about his contract being sold to Mission Hills Federal but I'm pretty sure it's the same company, doing the same thing. Since he never signed anything with Mission Hills, can he just default back to paying through Navient? His Navient account showed the loans all together in 2 lump instead of each individual loan. We have tried contacting dept of education Iowa branch and haven't had any luck. Does anyone else know how we can stop dealing with this scam of a company?

Answer:
 https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/student-loans/watch-list-national-secure-processing/

Yes, it's a scam document processing company that has been sued by the Feds and lost. Probably why they now switched to a new name.

Call them up cancel all of your contracts with them. Call the CFPB and file a complaint against the scam companies he was paying to. He can still pay straight to Navient who still owns his loans. Just make sure the scam company doesn't take anymore payments from him or his accounts.


Title: My wife can't Bounce. WA state.

Question:
I'm seeking some advice about what to do about discriminatory hiring practices at the bar where I am head of security.

Basically, I've been head of security at this bar for almost two years.

My General Manager (GM) asked me to find a replacement for my regular backup bouncer (short notice, one shift, two nights in advance).

After sleeping on it, I brought the idea of having my wife (We'll call her A) do it to the table, She has security experience, and with how much I talk shop at home to/with her, she knows how to check ID's as well as, if not better than, my regular backup doorman.

Cue conversation with GM,
"I'd rather have a guy, personally."
"I'll have to ask (the Bar's owner)"
"I know he won't go for it because of the what if factor"
"He said no about A, if we can't find a guy then it will just be you, Sorry like I said he is worried about fights if she was working he doesn't want her to get hurt."

I have the entire conversation saved.

After getting that last text message, I started asking around some guys I knew, and one of them agreed to help me out. Called him to let him know I'd found a (Male, now) replacement, whereupon he agreed immediately.

This Guy has **ZERO** security experience.
He didn't ask any questions.
My wife, obviously, is distraught over this. I'm wondering if there are any avenues we could pursue.
Even just advice in general would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 Sex in some cases is a bona fide occupational criteria.  For instance, an attendant in the men's washroom may be limited to male applicants, and that isn't against the law.  Hooters can hire only female waitstaff, and that isn't either.

For a bouncer at a bar, it might well be reasonable that being, for example, a 6'2" or larger person of the male persuasion might be a genuine occupational criterion.

I personally would hire a trained security person over an untrained one no matter their other qualities, because an untrained security person that does something stupid is a HUGE FUCKING LIABILITY, but hey, what do I know, I'm no head of security.

Also, I know you wanted to do the right thing, but don't hire relatives unless you own the company.  Either people will think it's nepotism or it will turn messy in some way.

I know none of these are exact answers to your question, just my thoughts.


Title: Is it possible to voluntarily relinquish a child to foster care? in AL

Question: I am hoping to send my 6 year old to live with a relative because I can't take care of him right now. When I explain to the relative, I want to tell them that if they don't take child in, I will put him in foster care. Can I do that, or it doesn't work that way and it would be an empty threat?

Answer: Do not give this person shit overnight, folks. A parent doesn't ask a question like this unless there's something very, very wrong. Answer #2: It doesn't work that way, not at all.  Foster care is for children who are alleged by the state to have been abused or neglected or are in danger of abuse or neglect.  CPS or your area's equivalent agency gets involved, and court proceedings are initiated to determine if the child should be returned to the parents, placed in a permanent guardianship, or if parental rights should be terminated and the child freed for adoption.


Title: Rules for child custody/visitation while married?

Question:
My spouse is in the military and was caught for infidelity and doing drugs. The spouse is now getting kicked out with possible jail time. Spouse is in California, I moved to Texas. I have a signed memo that states the spouse is aware of our whereabouts. We have a child together and we made a Skyping schedule of 3 calls per week. Out of the blue the spouse wants to limit calls to once per week. The spouse is very inconsistent with the calls and there is never any warning if they aren’t able to make the call. Even after asking for once per week the spouse did not call or text to see our child for over 10 days. The spouse asked to skype now but I don’t feel inclined to answer because it does not seem fair to our child that he is not consistent. The spouse has also done drugs while on a Skype call with our child after which I decided to inform his leadership.

Am I in the wrong for seemingly withholding access to our child? I have not filed for divorce yet due to residency requirements that I must fulfill. I intend to fight for full custody with supervised visitation but I fear that not responding to the spouse will be to my detriment.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: Blocking access to the child will almost always backfire. You don't have to tell your child if dad is supposed to call today. That way if dad doesnt call on schedule, the child wont be disappointed. Blocking access because you really believe the parent is harming the child should be approached by filing in court.


Title: I created a piece of tech at a company. I took it with me to my next company but told them they only had a license.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If you invented a thing using company resources on company time then the company probably owns it. If you weren't using clocked-in time or work resources and the invention has nothing to do with the industry that your former employer was in then you're probably in the clear.

Either way, we really are only guessing. You'll probably going to have to hire a local lawyer who specializes in intellectual property.Answer #2: There's not nearly enough detail in that post to give you any sort of advice.

Who was the license with you or the originating company? Did you have permission to take that piece of tech or was it company property?


Title: [WA state] House next door (abandoned) has a structure attached to my garage. What can I do legally?

Question:
I live in Washington State. The house next door to mine is abandoned. I didn't know it was abandoned when I moved in, but I discovered it shortly after my closing date.

The woman who lived there died and didn't leave  a will, and no family member is claiming the house. In case that's relevant that "nobody" really owns it at the moment.

At any rate, I noticed today that the house next door has a structure attached to the back wall of my garage.

In the picture (link below), my garage is the structure on the right. You can see a metal fence (middle of the image) which denotes the property line. And everything to the left of the fence is the next door property.

As you can see, there's a wooden structure going over the property line and nailed into the wall of my garage.

Am I within my rights to enter the abandoned property and use a crowbar to pry off this wooden structure from my garage and leave it in the abandoned yard? Or could I possibly get in legal trouble for doing this without going through some proper procedure?

Thanks for any advice!

http://imgur.com/k3u3FQQ

Answer:
 Generally this would fall under the city. It would not matter who owns the house as the structure is clearly crossing property lines and is on your property.

What city do you live in? I ask because generally this comes down to the city to decide. Not the state. If you are living in the boonies in the county then it would fall under them as well.

But generally in this case you would file some kind of grievance with the city stating that the structure is intruding on your property. The owner of the home has X number of days to respond or have it ruled in your favor. (Quite an easy win since the house is abandoned.)

But since no one owns that home, it will likely fall on you to pay for the expenses because the city/county won't and you can't find a legitimate owner.


Title: i want my brother out of the house.

Question:
so i’m a 13 year old living in hawaii, i know i’m probably not old enough to be on reddit but i really REALLY need advice. i live with my mom and half brother, and now my moms boyfriend. so to start off this story, let’s go a few years back to when my brother dropped out of high school. he had really nice friends who i was close with. my brother, who i will call kevin had always joked around about doing drugs, and his friends honestly all looked like stoners. he was addicted to reddit and playing osu, LoL. eventually, he went on an acid trip and i had to call the cops. he had 6 tabs of acid and he was sweating like crazy, and that’s where this all began.

fast forward a few months or so, we had to move after we got evicted from our apartment after that acid trip. we forced him to move out because my moms boyfriend didn’t like him and how he treated me and my mother. he found a new apartment and had a job, although my mom would constantly have to help him pay with rent, etc. everything was normal, until the elderly family living there would call my mom, constantly telling her he would sweat a lot, never come out of his room, and he heard voices. of course this was concerning, so my mom tried to help him. etc etc, we found out he was doing drugs. i’m going to skip a lot of details, but fast forward to now. he lives with us in our new home with my moms boyfriend. he constantly talks to himself. we’ve even seen him do drugs in the house, and i had to call the police AGAIN after he had been high and carrying a knife around the house. not gonna lie, i was fucking terrified. now, he’s starting to flick my mom, but it’s getting to an intolerable point where he’s actually starting to hurt her. i hate it. i really would like advice to getting him out of the house or anything, if he could apply for SSI or something. he’s autistic and was incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD previously.  sorry i know this was a mess and i’m just scrambling trying to help him and get him out. he’s very paranoid about everything and is constantly asking questions like where forms are going to go, he’s gonna get doxxed, etc. please help

TLDR; brother is doing drugs and i want him out of the house because he’s getting progressively more violent.

Answer: Keep calling the police when he threatens or hurts anyone. You can also call 1-888-380-3088 to get in touch with HI Child Welfare Services. They may be able to intervene to help you and your parents.


Title: [US] How do those "Not responsible for damage" signs on gates or dump trucks factor in when the person's vehicle gets damaged?

Question: Are they legally binding? Do they exempt the person from paying for the damage? I imagine the answer is no, so do they simply exist to discourage people from attempting to sue if they do get their vehicles damaged? How would it be presented in a case?

Answer:
 > do they simply exist to discourage people from attempting to sue if they do get their vehicles damaged?

Pretty much.  The signs have little, if any, legal meaning.  They just put them up to try to convince people not to sue.

The only sign I could see having *some* value is something like "warning: keep back xxx feet"

Answer #2: The signs on trucks hold just as much legal weight as a sticker on your front bumper that says "Stay the hell out of my way. Not responsible for running your ass over."


Title: Illinois- I don't want to be held liable for damages roommate is causing. How do I protect myself?

Question:
I rent a house with a guy who for the most part is pretty okay. He pays his part of the bills on time and we stay out of each others way. Even have some mutual friends and we all hang out often.

The problem lies in that he's often a careless and immature drunk. Prone to damaging or destroying things simply by virtue of his foolish recklessness while under the influence. He's broken several doors, ruined the lawn by doing burn outs with his dirt bike or parking his truck on it, not to mention making bonfires that are way too big and have killed a huge circle of grass. Hes put half a dozen holes in the wall (which he has patched up but you can tell in the right light. I worry that one day something bigger is gonna happen that he can't cover over with grass seed or paint. Or that when we move out we'll get slapped by some sort of damages fee.

So legal stuff: we came across this house by an old work acquaintance he had so we didn't have to put down a security deposit. Our contract is pretty bare bones, just specifying how much and when we pay, and what happens if we don't.

So if any fees for damages come along, how can I protect myself from being responsible to pay them. Or is my only recourse to hope that he's man enough to take responsibility and pay it himself?

Thanks

Answer:
 If you are on the same lease, you are jointly and severally liable. This means the landlord can choose to go after one of you or both of you for any and all damages.

If the landlord successfully sues you for damage your roommate caused, you can in turn sue your roommate.

Or, you could move out and find a roommate who DOESN'T destroy stuff.


Title: Professor won’t let me make up my exam even though I have a valid medical reason

Question:
Hello, I’m not sure if I have any recourse for this, but basically I was in the hospital for abdominal pain which turned out to be kidney stones and I wouldn’t be able to take an exam which I let the professor know ahead of time.

The professor refused to let me take the test under any circumstance. I went to the dean and the dean said he’s not allowed to do that as long as he has a drop 1 test grade policy. Unfortunately, on his syllabus it says no make up exams under any circumstances, which the dean also agreed was unfair. After a lot of back and forth the dean said I would be allowed to take the exam in her office the following morning.

Come the following morning today. The dean emails me saying that my professor wants to talk with her and that he would give me my exam himself and so I’m stuck waiting to take my test later which she told me to wait around campus.

Then finally, the dean emails me again and says that he still won’t let me take my test but I have two options.

1. I take a 0 on the first test but he changes the weight of 15% to 10% for the first exam and my other exams worth 17.5% each.

2. She will let me withdraw from the class even though it pass the deadline and get a W and take it next semester.

Are these really my only two options? Is there any sort of recourse that I can have legally under the law?

Answer:
 This is what you work out with the dean or ombudsman. There is no legal remedy here. Answer #2: > Are these really my only two options?

Seemingly.

> Is there any sort of recourse that I can have legally under the law?

A court isn't going to get involved with your grades.


Title: Can CPS take my girlfriends and I baby away because she is a sex worker?

Question: My girlfriend is pregnant and me and her record our sex videos and she takes nude pics and sell them online on a site called only fans. It is a site where people sell content that is taxed. I have a full time job. She is not a prostitute and has never done that in her life. Her family have completely degraded her for it and we are expecting and they know we are expecting. We are scared that they will try to get CPS involved in our lives because of the line of work she is in. When the baby is born we plan on not doing it around him and keeping it private. Can CPS take my baby away because of what my girlfriends job is? Even if we don’t do it around him, live in a nice place, and he’s not in any type of danger or harm? We live in Houston, Texas

Answer:
 No one will care or even ask at the medical facilities. If they ask she should just say she isn't employed or chooses not to answer.

But as long as no one is coming over (lots of strangers) and obviously the child isn't involved, no one cares what she does for a living


Title: My Girlfriends parents wont let her move out with her cat. Do we have any options?

Question: I'm fairly certain that this isn't going to end with the answer I would like, but might as well see. The situation is that my girlfriend desperately needs to get out of her parents house because of the mental abuse and torture they put her through. She's 22 and about to enter a semester of student teaching and can't afford to live under their scrutiny anymore. Today she found an apartment with her friend that she is seriously considering renting and as is tradition her parents blew their lids and in a last ditch effort to get the last punch/get her to stay are now saying she can't take her cat with her. Now the bad news is that none of the cat's paperwork is in her name so there appears to be no way of getting out with the cat and she won't leave without him. I guess I'm asking if there is any sort of action we can take to try and get the cat out of there? This is in Colorado

Answer:
 How is it 'her' cat?  Did she buy it, pay for it, et cetera?

Pets are, legally speaking, property.  If she chose to, she could sue them for the pet.  The court would look at evidence, like testimony and payment records, to determine ownership.


Title: [ID] Should I submit a DMCA counter notification? DMCA notice and takedown procedures were used to remove social media photos due to claimed copyright infringement.

Question:
Apologies for wall of text in advance.  I design and make wallets.  I have a small Instagram social media page where I post photos of the wallets that I make. A company representative of another much larger account on Instagram notified me that the wallets I had posted photos of were strikingly similar to a wallet that they have sold for the past 4 years and consequently reported my content as infringement on their copyright and all photos were removed by Instagram, as per DMCA.

I am faced with whether or not I should file a DMCA counter-notification.  The description provided by the company to Instagram under what work was copyrighted was "Artwork I created."  I was originally confident that I would not be in violation of any intellectual property infringements on a wallet design, however with the work now being, as per the company's description, "artwork" I am less confident.

I understand that the counter-notice requires you to state, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good faith belief that your material was wrongly removed. Also understand that if the complaining party has a good infringement claim, sending a counter-notice may trigger a lawsuit. That said, I am unsure if the copyright owners are simply sending a bogus takedown notices to simply intimidate me.

That being said - is there any advice as to whether it is worthwhile to file a counter-notification? I am wary of the ramifications if I am found in the wrong ("If the defendant is found liable for copyright infringement, the copyright holder will be entitled to recover his or her actual damages (e.g., lost profits) or, if certain conditions are met, statutory damages between $750 to $30,000 per infringement.  If the plaintiff can prove the infringement was willful, the statutory damages may be as high as $150,000 per infringement.").  Thank you - from Idaho.

Answer:
 Wait, so a company took down pictures you took with your camera because the subject matter of the pictures was similar to their wallets?  Yeah, that’s a garbage claim.

It is true that under certain circumstances clothing, jewelry, etc. can receive copyright protection - that analysis is extremely difficult. A case about cheerleader uniforms went up to the Supreme Court last year.  It is most likely to apply if your wallets and theirs have extremely similar prints or decorative patterns.

A counter-notice is basically telling the company who sent you the notice, fuck you, sue me. Two things to note - first it’s possible that they would take you up on the offer (but given what you’ve described here, it doesn’t sound like they would have a great case.). Second, they could sue you even without you filing a counter notice.

Best guess is that their pissed about the competition and are trying to scare you off and won’t react to a counter-notification, but that’s your decision to make, and I’m not your lawyer.


Title: If a wife attacks her husband, who is a police officer, would she be charged with domestic violence, assault on an officer, or both?

Answer:
 The Officer would need to be assaulted during a period in which the officer was serving in his official capacity as an officer for an AoF charge.

Elements of assault would also need to be present.Answer #2: There's at least a 40% chance it would be self defense.


Title: How to stop Abusive School teacher, husband, father and dog owner.

Question: {US, CA} My mother's husband has long been known as verbally abusive but he recently hit me in the face for intervening in his rhetoric. I want to know if I can prevent this individual from ever working with children again.

Answer:
 Dog Law specialist here.

I need more information on the dog, please.


Title: [CALIFORNIA, USA] - Found out 6 months ago that my father liquidated my shares in Microsoft that I invested into in 1998 when I was a minor. Was with ETRADE and it was a custodial account with his. He was margin called, and never copped to it until pressed. I am 33 now.

Question:
[California]
As the title states, when I was 13, I had a Bar Mitzvah and us tribesman and women typically get cash gifts for all occasions. I got somewhere in the $10,000 range. In my limited wisdom, I chose to invest about $8200 in MSFT and asked my dad to open an account with me so I could do so. I remember pretty specific things because I was so proud of myself. I purchased 100 shares of MSFT at 81 1/16 in the beginning of February, 1998 as I had read that it was about to do a 2 for 1 split and thought that was cool ( I was 13 mind you so I wasn't an advanced investor hah,). It has since split 2 additional times since then. For a total of 3 splits, 2 for 1 each time, making the amount of shares I should have in my possession at 800 shares of MSFT, trading at the time of this posting around $94.11 = $75,288.

He avoided ever explaining what happened, and said the shares were still there. I am now 33 years old with 2 kids, and right before my now 1 year old was born, I started to inquire as to how we can get those transferred over to me, so that I can make some investments for my kids. He eventually copped to that he "sold them" to cover all the expenses he incurred while raising me haha. He has come out to be a real scumbag, we found out he "Allegedly" sexually molested my 4 year old daughter as well, but thats a different story.

Before cutting contact with this man, I had seen a statement on his desk in his home office, when we were visiting with the kids, that showed that it was in fact a margin call, and he was embarrassed to own up to it. I can care less. I need to start setting things in motion to hold this man to account.

 I understand civil statute of limitations is 2 years, and that technically its from the date that the plaintiff became aware of the damages, so I know I can sue him for this in civil court. I've already consulted an attorney friend about the civil side, and we are going to bring civil suit against him for this as well as sexual battery for my daughter, But, I want this man to also be held to account criminally (which I will post a separate posting on any advice about the sexual assault he committed.)

This is illegal, I know that, but don't really know where to go, and how to go about it. FINRA? SEC? Its all unclear, because when I contacted ETRADE they said the account is still in his name as the custodian, and that they can't give me access to any statements etc, and it when I contacted the SEC they wanted details that I can't give without statements etc. Catch 22.

Any help would be awesome.

Thanks all.

Answer:
 It’s the date you knew or should have known, arguably you should have known a long time ago, because you should have inquired 15 years ago when you turned 18.  In any event, you will need to talk to an attorney about this given the potential issues with the statute of limitations.Answer #2: You already have an attorney, so 90% of this sub's purpose is taken care of.

If you're seeking criminal charges, you should file a police report. Depending on where exactly you/your father live, you can also speak with someone at a county attorney's, state attorney general's, or US attorney's office about charges.

You will have no control over whether charges are brought. Although you are a victim, criminal prosecutions are not brought for the victim. They represent the government punishing someone for breaking it's laws. The harm done to *you* is what the civil suit is for.

The best you can do is gather as much evidence/documents as you can (including written accounts of every interaction you had with your father about the money). You can hand this over to the police, and offer it to any government attorney you meet with.

In all honesty, the chance of criminal prosecution seems low. The *only* victim is well-off enough to bring civil claims, the conduct happened long ago, there is effectively zero risk that the accused will continue engaging in this behavior, and depending on how exactly the accounts were set up, your father may have done nothing illegal at all.

Best of luck.


Title: My manager will not allow me to work (Virginia)

Question:
I work a part-time job that pays by the hour. Basically the way that I work is if there is enough business at the time to allow enough people to be on the clock and we have to meet certain quotas for how many people are on the clock at any given time.

Anyways to the point, the way we work is our managers will either call us in, or we receive a weekly schedule with our time we come in, and if needed we come in, and if not we get the day off. The thing is my manager will not tell me not to come in if not needed. So I make a ~30 minute drive, waste gas/time, arrive to work, and then he tells me to go home.

I've probably wasted over $200 in gas over the past few months from his negligence. The reason he also tells me he doesn't text/call me is he doesn't like to work with me. So basically my main question..  Is there any way I can get reimbursed for my wasted gas?

Answer: Not unless you have a contract to be reimbursed for these expenses. You should find a job with more reliable hours and ideally closer to home.


Title: Child Support help. New spouse is in arrears. What are my responsibilities/requirements/rights?

Question:
*Posting anonymously on behalf of someone less Reddit/computer literate. Their location is Nova Scotia, Canada.*

I am neither condoning nor condemning the behavior of the parties involved, merely seeking information to assist the 3rd party who may be unwittingly caught in the crossfire. (I have already advised them to contact a lawyer. Here hoping to find peace of mind for her, if possible, as well as any relevant advice.)

History:
Jack has children from a previous relationship and is in arrears of child support. He is now required to appear in court and submit documentation regarding his financial situation (Statement of Financial Information).
Jill (the ex) is the biological mother and custodial parent of the children.
Diane is the current spouse of Jack. She was aware of the existence of the children, but not the child support order. She has met and interacted with the children, but not as a parent. She has also not supported them financially to this point (I don't believe she qualifies under *in loco parentis*).

Diane does not believe she should be legally responsible for the children's support. She also does not believe she is obligated to provide her financial information under Section VI (spouse's income and assets) on Jack's Statement of Financial Information.
Diane fears that providing her information would result in harassment or orders taken against her finances.
Diane has been supporting Jack (as a "homemaker") for a couple of years. Jack only recently started working again.

Prior to Jack being served with papers, she was unaware of the situation. The children and their biological mother have been hateful and spiteful to her, so their relationship is best described as hostile.
She refuses to support the mother or children and will divorce and kick Jack out of the house before allowing that to happen. She is furious and stressed, as she was oblivious to any form of support order having existed.
From what I understand, divorce won't necessarily protect her.
The fact that she has not previously supported or acted as a parent to the children, may be her saving grace, but where does the burden of proof lie?

What should Diane do in this situation (other than contact a lawyer, which is in the works), and can she refuse to provide her financial information in the form for disclosure of her husband's income?

Anything I can give her would be appreciated, and thank you in advance for any replies. :)

Answer:
 > What should Diane do in this situation (other than contact a lawyer, which is in the works),

Diane should contact a lawyer ASAP. There's really nothing "other than contact a lawyer" that she can or should do.

> can she refuse to provide her financial information in the form for disclosure of her husband's income?

If it is a request from the other party's lawyer, she can refuse. If it is an order from the court, she cannot.

Keep in mind, that Jack is required to submit his financial info. This will likely include his tax return. As a married person, Diane's net income is included on Jack's tax return (as his net income is included on hers). So there is no way she can keep that info private.

Edit: Also, I find it difficult to believe that Diane knew there was an ex-spouse and children, but didn't contemplate the possibility of child support. Canadian courts will not allow a divorce to occur without child support being worked out.


Title: Accused of creating a debit card in China

Question: So this morning, my dad was called by the Chinese embassy and was told that he made a debit card for someone for 3000$. In addition, the person had used his ID. And now, they are telling him to go to China, or something because he broke a law in which he did not. We are not sure what to do. Not sure how else to explain it but that's about it. We live in Canada.

Answer:
 Scam.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/comments/6o4pce/rscams_common_scams_master_post/

This is a variation on the Tax Call under the Phone scams section.

He is called by a scammer who is going to (sooner or later) ask for a payment to make it all go away (usually in the form of gift cards or a Western Union transfer).

Think about it - would a Chinese Embassy worker actually call a Canada resident and ask them to fly to China to turn themselves in?
Answer #2: Did they happen to ask for a payment to make this all go away?


Title: Gpa affecting my pay after 2 years of working

Question:
Hi legal advice,
I am currently in talks for a new engineering job. I have been working in engineering for 2 years. I was originally quoted 56k per year during deliberations. I Have just found out that they will only pay 45k per year(which is 15k under the average starting pay for a straight-out-of-college engineer). their reasoning is my gpa wasn't the best in college. Is there something i can do legally? Is there a limitation on how long GPA can affect my pay?

I was already taking a pay cut(current 60kish) with promise of quick advancement that would bring me above my current pay within a year.

Answer: Any company that cuts your salary offer by 20% because of a GPA is not a company you want to work for. Stay at your current job and continue to look for a company that won’t even mention the idea of a pointless college GPA.


Title: When to not follow a court order?

Question:
I (31F) have an 11 year old son with a man who has had no contact with us for about 2 years and limited contact for the previous 9 years. About 4 years ago, after seeing his father was consistently unstable and making no efforts to be a parent, I filed for and was granted sole legal and physical custody of our son. A side not is my son and I have lived out of state from his father since he was about 6 months old. Part of the custody agreement allowed my sons father supervised visits which he only took advantage of on one occasion right after we finished with court. His father does pay his child support ($150 per month) fairly consistently but other than that there is no contact between us. The last few times my son saw his dad was when I made day trips to bring him to visit. Following the last visit my son basically decided he did not want to visit his dad anymore (for good reason).

As is fairly standard our custody agreement requires that either party provide a 60 day notice to the other party prior to moving. Well, I have been planning relocating out of state for sometime now and was just recently offered a position that I accepted in a state that is about an 8 hour drive further from his fathers home city. I do not have 60 days to give notice but am questioning if I should give notice at all. I know for a fact my sons father has moved at least twice since the court order was signed and never notified me. I’m really leaning toward not notifying at all and just keeping the move quite from the few people in my sons paternal family that I keep contact with. How dumb would this be? Given his absence and complete lack of give-a-shit I highly doubt my sons father really cares or even knows about the obligation to give notice but on the off chance he finds out and wants to cause me problems how easily could he use this against me? I’d rather not contact him as he can be quite volatile and basically blames me for his lack of a relationship with his son. But if giving notice will avoid major problems in the future I may be willing to consider it...

Answer:
 You never get to ignore a court order.  They're court orders, not court requests.

You follow the order.  His violation of the order is of no consequence.


Title: (California) My SO and I are planning on staying at someone's apartment since they need to urgently move back to another state. How can I make sure they send me back the security deposit?

Question: Hi everyone, this is my first reddit post. My SO and I are planning on moving in to this lady's apartment as she must move out due to her dying mother. She will be moving back to Idaho, and we decided to live at this lady's place due to complications with the leasing office (applications, not qualifying for "Fair housing price" because she is low income and we make too much to qualify). We plan on paying her the 2.5 months of rent in advance as well as a $400 deposit incase damages incur. This is an apartment complex, and we will not be on the lease; only her. My question is, how can I make sure that she gives us back our deposit since she will be getting it in cash, and after we move out, the leasing office of will be the ones mailing her her original security deposit. Also, will having a written contract help? My only fear is that she could potentially do something to screw us over and the apartment complex could force us to move out, or she could potentially receive her check from the leasing office and refuse to send us back our $400 security deposit. Would any sort of written contract and receipts deter/prevent this? My SO and I have written a draft of a contract in case it might help. Thank you in advance!

Answer:
 > due to complications with the leasing office (applications, not qualifying for "Fair housing price" because she is low income and we make too much to qualify

Don't do this.  What you're doing is criminal fraud.  Both you two and the lady on the lease will wind up in jail when they catch you.


Title: [CA] Retail manager transferred GF to different store cuz we were dating. Policy says only management and employee cant be dating. I'm not part of management. He threatens to fire her when I said Ill transfer and quit instead of her.

Question:
(CA) Hello legaladvice, this happened a while ago, but I didn't really know much or how to handle this situation because im fairly young but after talking to some coworkers, ive been told to seek some legal advice about this.

I work in a retail store and my manager found out that me and my coworker have been dating, but the policy says that only management and employee are not allowed together so weve been pretty open about it and pretty much every coworker knew about this because everyone knows the policy( im not part of management). He calls me to the managers office at 8 in the morning(store opening) with 3 other assistant managers along side him and starts questioning me, asking me if me and my coworker are dating in which I respond yes we are, manager says we cant be doing that so he says he is going to transfer her, in which I return by saying no let her stay and ill quit because my friend is offering me a job, (little background story, am a fairly hard worker, and my managers knows that, so thats why from the start he wanted to transfer her). I tell him that ill quit today so she can stay and work, in which he retaliates that shes not doing a very good job, hes going to cut her hours or worst, Fire her. One of the assistant start adding to him saying "youll find another girlfriend" and manager also starts talking about his first year on the job, his wife hating hes not always home, some bullshit. I tell him that ill just quit so that she can stay, he then starts saying that if I need to take an hour lunch to take her to work or pick her up (our lunch is 30min) that its fine. I keep telling him that ill just quit because my friend really wants to hire me, he says ill get more hours here. I leave saying ill think about it, went back to work. He then calls my gf, and she comes the office holding backs tears for the whole 8 hour shift we had. ending is I stayed and she got transfered a week after. (if youre wondering what happen to my gf after being transfered, manager at the other store didnt liker her, she was scheduled to work on the days she cant, making her hated by the management over there, and was forced to quit because she could honestly work 1 day.

What actions can I take towards my manager? Can I sue him?

This was long in the past(bout a year ago) but I still think about what I could have done if I knew what to do. and my coworkers saying I should do something about it.

TLDR: mangers finds out im dating coworkers, wants to transfer her, I say Ill quit, he says no hell just fire her if I do quit. gives me options, gf pretty much loses her job.

Answer: None of that was illegal and you have no recourse.


Title: Can my husband be arrested for this? Child Support related.

Question:
WA State/Indiana

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My husband has a child with his ex girlfriend. She is in IN we are in WA. Cops just showed up at his mothers house in NC looking for him but they informed them that we are not there. They said OK and left. He has been "served" twice but never to him personally. Once the paperwork was mailed to his grandmas house in Indiana and then the second time it was mailed to his mother in NC. They have his current address but it has never once been mailed to him here.

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My Question is: Can he be arrested?

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He is not avoiding anything. He is honest with where he is at, they have never set up a payment plan before, he has never been sent any paperwork never been contacted over phone or email nothing.

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His ex is crazy and I think she is purposely sending the court in circles. She has gotten him arrested before just because (Her dad is a cop in their small town). So I am worried she is trying to make it look like he is avoiding it.

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I just want to know what legal rights he has if any, if cops show up at our door considering we have a 4 month old there and he is the only one there with her.

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I will answer any questions

Answer: Why doesn't your husband want to support his child with his ex? Whether the courts have found or he's been served or whatever seems pretty irrelevant. He needs to step up and take care of his kid. The kid doesn't deserve this crap.Answer #2: Maybe. You didn’t really provide much information. He needs to call the agency that was trying to serve the warrant to figure out what they want him for. He probably wants to talk to a defense or family lawyer before doing that.


Title: Tulsa, Oklahoma : Is there a lemon law for a flipped house??

Question:
My wife and I bought our first house together last July. The realtor we bought it from got it cheap on a foreclosure and then flipped it with his father-in-law. There were a few minor things our home inspector caught during the inspection and he fixed them relatively quickly. We were so happy with our new house! We closed on it 4th of July weekend last year. A few months go by and we have our first rain in the house and notice leaks in several of the rooms. Well shit, end up being out $1400 or so between two different roofers to get that fixed. OK, kinda sucks. Whatever. We move on. A few weeks after that happened we notice the toilets are flushing slowly. I happen to go downstairs (finished basement) after I had just flushed a toilet and I hear water splashing on the drywall ceiling. Shit. Cut a big hole out, tried to fix it myself, call a plumber out and another $1500 later we get it fixed. This time the flanges that were installed on the toilets were incorrect and did not seal to the drain pipe, so when the toilets backed up all the water drained through the floor into the basement instead of backing up in the toilet. The culprit was a clogged vent pipe...like has pieces of 2x4 and shingles stuck in it clogged. Plumber said it was the worst he'd seen in 15 yrs. OK, this one was pretty aggravating, but whatever, moving on. We have a nice built-in tile shower and a couple months ago the grout started popping up...that's weird...I put some caulk in the cracks and hoped for the best. Last week after I had taken a shower I went downstairs and heard a 'splat splat splat' on the carpet stairs. After a call to a plumber we find out that the shower pan was installed incorrectly, it has destroyed the drywall ceiling under the shower, there is mold all over the wood subfloor, and a lot of the wood is completely saturated with water. Right now we are in the middle of ripping the shower out and have no idea what the cost will be...probably at least $1500. This is kind of the final straw and we have tried to contact the realtor that sold the house to us. The two times he has responded he has been very guarded and short, though he did say he would get us the contact information of the people that installed the shower in the first place. My question is : Do we have any legal recourse to all of these problems? Clearly the people that did the work on the house did a lot of things just plain wrong. We are getting very tired of having surprise expenses for broken things that a recently remodeled house should not have for a long time. I really don't know even where to start or what I can do. Any help and advice is appreciated.

EDIT: I just talked with the guy that supposedly installed the shower. He is saying that the previous owner hired him after the shower pan was installed and he told them it was wrong. They said they didn't want to pay for it to be redone so they made him just install the tile on the walls....should we find an attorney? Also just found out the "new" roof was installed on top of organic shingles, which are known to split and crack easily. The roof has to be replaced and that's at least $7K...

TLDR: Wife and I bought a flipped house 10 months ago and have already had $3K in repairs and now found out the shower was installed wrong and now needs to be replaced too. oh, and there's mold now.

Answer:
 There's no "lemon law" for houses.

If you find that the sellers misrepresented the house, including hiding known defects, you may have a lawsuit against them.  But you don't indicate anything suggesting that.

Did you ask if the home-flipper got permits for the renovation?  That's something you should always do as part of your due diligence, and if someone does a major home renovation without permits, I would strongly suggest walking away from the deal.

You can always give your homeowners insurance a try.


Title: Oregon- second-hand smoke in our apartment daily, asthma/serious health concerns, and a non-smoking policy on the lease. Can I put my rent into escrow?

Question:
It has been almost 30 days since I filed a formal letter with my landlord complaining of the neighbor below us blowing smoke directly into our apartment (almost 6 weeks since we first submitted written notice of the problem, informal on our move-in survey sheet). The lease has a non-smoking policy which includes the courtyard where he smokes.

I have asthma that is affected by this smoke, and a 3 month old in the house, so all of this waiting is not okay. I can obtain a doctor's letter and perhaps even a letter from the baby's doctor (as he may be predisposed to developing asthma). I read online that I may be protected by fair housing laws, since I am not able to live in this apartment without seriously aggravating my health condition. I'm not sure how to act upon that information.

The landlords have "spoken" to the neighbor but no change. If we leave now, we will have moving costs and lose $1800 in deposits. If I stay, I'm doing damage to my body with all of the extra albuterol I have to use just to survive here.

Can I put the rent into escrow as the landlords have failed to uphold the non-smoking policy on our lease? Should I begin by filing with small claims court?

Answer:
 I realize this is a super frustrating situation, but as a landlord who gets these types of issues from time to time, consider what they are actually able to do before you file suit or put rent into escrow as your primary resolution.

Even if your landlord believes you entirely, and is as frustrated as you with this tenant, they cannot MAKE him do anything.  All they can do is ASK him to stop the behavior and then move on to evicting him through the courts.  That process takes time, sometimes way more than anyone involved would like.  You can't get an eviction overnight because a neighbor saw a tenant smoking.  You need to send a notice, and most of the time the tenant has the opportunity to cure the violation (AKA knock it off).  So your landlord has to show that the behavior happened, a notice happened, the behavior continued, a notice of eviction happened, and then go through the process of filing suit, having tenant served, tenant having his day in court, and finally law enforcement actually showing up to remove the guy.  And if landlord is worth half his salt, he will not discuss what he is doing/where he is in the process with you because that info belongs between him, the tenant and legal counsel.

Have you asked landlord to help you prevent penetration of smoke into your unit?  Have you told the landlord you would rather move than put up with this?  The landlord has the ability to let you out of your lease without penalty and refund your deposit.  If you ask nicely, it might happen and get you into a healthier living situation faster than an eviction next door can.


Title: (USA) Immigration law question: Will an abducted child brought to the USA through no fault of their own be deported?

Question:
Disclaimer:  This is a throwaway account due to the sensitivity of this matter.  Thanks for your understanding.

A person I know may have been kidnapped in the Philippines as a child and brought here by a woman who then claimed the baby was her own. This happened in the late 1970s. The "mother" married a US Citizen and immigrated on a spouse Visa. She and the child then became a naturalized citizens. The mother and the father then had another child who is born in the USA.

Years later, that child is now an adult and married to a US born citizen. Through genetic testing the adult finds out that they do not match with their younger sibling.

Here is the immigration law question.  If it comes out that the abducted child who is now an adult and married to a US citizen was kidnapped and brought to the US through no fault of their own, could they be deported?  Could they apply for citizenship and wait in the US for it to process without being deported?  TIA.

Answer:
 It is conceivable that he could lose his citizenship. The "mother" withheld material facts when applying for citizenship and could have her naturalization revoked because of that. Because he obtained his naturalization through her, he would be deemed to have lost his citizenship as well.

That does not mean that he would be deported. "The person returns to his or her immigration status before becoming a U.S. citizen as of the date of naturalization shown on the person’s Certificate of Naturalization." Presumably he was a permanent resident before he naturalized.

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartL-Chapter3.html

He should definitely consult with an immigration attorney before deciding whether to contact the police or otherwise make the alleged kidnapping known.


Title: Friend was raped, her job refused to fire her rapist and told her she couldn't tell anyone or she'd get fired [MI, USA]

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 She should have contacted the police as soon as it happened. She can do so now. She may still be fired for this.Answer #2: Right now, your friend only has the accusation of the guy raping her.  She needs to go to the police and open a criminal investigation against her rapist.

The employer is not taking any actions on the accusation, and rightfully so.  The accused rapist is not guilty of any crime until the police get involved and press charges, so the employer has no obligation to do anything based on just the accusation.

I'm sorry your friend had to go through this, but she absolutely needs to go to the police.


Title: Neighbor tore down shared fence (WI)

Question:
We’ve lived in our house for 30 years, the house next door recently sold and we have new neighbors.  The new neighbors plan to put in a garage, the lot property previously only had a shed.  The neighbors have told us that they plan to pour cement up to the property line where our properties join.

They are now telling us that our garage is partially on their property and that they have every right to lay cement all the way up to our driveway and intend to.  Currently there is about 5 feet of grass between our driveway and their house.  The previous neighbor put up a chain link fence from their house straight back to our garage.  We privacy fenced in the rest of our property.

Since we do not want them to rip out of all the grass separating our properties they decided to annoy us while we were out of town and rip down the fence between our properties.  We have dogs and this is now going to be an inconvenience until we can put up a new fence.

What action should we take before putting up a new fence?  Do we need a survey?  The neighbors appear to be doing a lot of work on the house and we don’t see any permits posted in their windows, so I’m not sure if the people they’ve hired to rip out the fence and pour cement etc are even licensed.  Is this worth hiring an attorney to dispute the property line on our behalf?

Lots are standard city lots, 40 feet wide.  Most of the yards are fenced in the same way ours has been for 30 years.  Don’t they need to at least mention to us that they will be ripping down a fence that borders our property?

Answer:
 Survey. You need to know exactly where that property line is.

Even if they are not encroaching on your property, many areas don't allow permanent structures within a certain distance of the property line. Pouring cement up to the property line sounds very questionable.

Your local city or county building code enforcement should be able to advise what permits the neighbors might need.

I myself would find a real estate lawyer. These people sound like the type to try to claim part of your property by adverse possession, and otherwise be nightmares. It's always good to CYA.Answer #2: You need to find out what land you own and what land you don't own. It sounds like you aren't sure if they tore down your fence, or if they tore down their own fence. One of those things is legal, the other isn't, it's up to you to present evidence of which it is. Get a survey and that will make your next decision much easier.Answer #3: You should also check building codes in your community. Many places require any permanent structures be setback from the property line.


Title: [Indiana] would a therapist need to take action if they were told this?

Question: So in my personal life I am having sexual relations with a partner that hurts me alot and I would genuinely rather die than do it but I'm consenting. I know therapists legally have to report abuse and self harm but it I say it's consenting does that make it safe no matter what?

Answer:
 Therapist have to report when they feel you are a harm to yourself or others. They don't have to report past crimes you were a victim of. Especially since you said you are a consenting party. Because you consented there is no crime.

On a personal note; go to therapy and get your personal situation worked out. Mental health is no joke.


Title: [Alabama] Police called my mother looking for me?

Question:
Hello,

I'm located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I'm 23 and live alone. The police just called my mom's phone number in Georgia and asked to speak to me? Do I call the police back? Why would they call my mom and not me? Where would they even get her number?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: They want me to come in and speak to them in regards to stealing/theft. I have since hired an attorney. Thanks for the quick advice!

Answer:
 Could be any number of reasons. When I was in college, the city's PD was unable to get in touch with me (I was in class), so they called my mom, who also could not get in touch with me. Caused a bit of panic all around, but it ended up being because they thought I'd been the victim of a panty thief that had been making the rounds on campus. Answer #2: >Do I call the police back?

Not if you do not want to

>Why would they call my mom and not me?

They probably do not have your number.

>Where would they even get her number?

Many numbers are public information and/or easily attainable with a google search or social media.  They have other legal means to get it.


Title: ADA issues with Doctor note not being sufficient

Question:
Indiana, all hail location bot.

You can check my past post history for the longv version, but I have been fighting  uphill for a reasonable accommodation at work. (The turds thought it was possible to get an appointment  with  my specialist two weeks before Christmas.)

Well a few days ago I finally had my appointment and got my note stating whatt accommodation I needed. Doctor even wrote it on his prescription pad. I turned it in after my appointment on Thursday. Today (Friday) I got ambushed by the store manager and told that they needed my doctor to fill out some questionare because they need more information. I wasn't given the questionnaire yet. He said it is required to continue my reasonable accommodation that they are, again, providing.

I already know that they aren't allowed to ask the name of my condition, but what if anything are they allowed to ask? I thought that all they legally could require was a doctor note stating what accommodation  I needed?

I have been talking with the State ADA, and will update them Monday or Tuesday if they take a 3 day weekend, but I want to have some idea what's going on in case the holiday makes getting a human to talk to take longer.
Topic:
Disability Issues

Answer:
 A doctor can't determine what is a reasonable accommodation at your workplace because he/she does not work at your workplace.

You need to work with your employer to come up with an accommodation that allows you to do your job and is reasonable for your workplace.


Title: Mother in law with dementia was removed from her assisted living facility by an unauthorized person and now they are threatening to sue us because I called the police when they refused to let her back into her apartment. More details inside. [Ohio]

Question:
x-post from r/relationships

My MiL who was recently diagnosed with Dementia was victimized by her half sister. Her half sister removed her from her assisted living facility without my spouse's permission (spouse is power of attorney.) We explained to the assisted living facility that she was removed without consent when we showed up with her today and found her lock changed with her stuff inside. MiL was paid up for this month in rent. Director of the facility said she voluntarily moved out. We stated she did not nor did she have the right to do so.

Police were called and she was ultimately let back into her apartment but it was decided by the police and Adult Protective Service worker that this place is not appropriate for my MiL but she did not have anywhere else to go. They said  the only other options for her were to let her roam town or go to a homeless shelter but the shelter was filled to capacity. My MiL was banned by the APS worker from coming to our house because she was seen as too unstable to be around our child earlier this week.

The landlord/director of the assisted living facility stated that he will now sue us for the remainder of her lease since APS worker is moving MiL into a more secure facility later this week. He said my spouse signed as a co-lease. Spouse said it was only as a witness but we aren't sure because we were not provided a copy of the lease with the signatures.

We were also instructed by APS to apply for emergency guardianship either nominating my spouse or requesting a court appointed guardian.

My MiL is an evil and spiteful woman but the only family my wife has other than myself, our child and her aunt (half-sister.) MiL and Half Sister called CPS and APS and stated we abuse our child and abuse my MiL by locking her away in the assists living facility (which she had to move to after setting fire to her apt and having her keys taken away by the doctor.)

Half sister also found diary with these crazy rantings saying we abuse our son and MiL. She ripped pages out of the diary and sent them to CPS as "proof" of our abuse. My spouse is a social worker and I'm an educator. We do not nor have we every abused anyone, let alone family.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm also angry because there are 5 years worth of journal entries documenting fabricated abuse. To be fair, I don't want to even help her after reading the diary, but I realize she is sick and being preyed upon. Her half-sister also took her to the bank, cleared out her bank account and closed it. Now half of her money is missing.

TL;DR: MIL crazy, being preyed upon by her half sister and the courts are establishing a guardian for her.

Answer:
 APS seems to be guiding you down the right path with the guardianship. The POA you have doesn't strip MIL of her rights, it just adds your ability to act on her behalf too. So just because you had a POA doesn't mean she's been declared legally incompetent to make decisions like checking herself out or financial activity. That's what the guardianship hearing will be about.
After you get it, you can start drilling down on half sister to see if she fraudulently got access to the other half of the money and try and recover it. Answer #2: Did you talk to APS about the aunt cleaning out the bank account? IANAL, but I've heard that they can investigate financial abuse too.


Title: Can spousal spousal maintenance be easily modified if both parties are on board(WA)

Question:
My wife and I are getting divorced (amicably).  Right now I'm giving her the house and $500 in support for 2 years.  If I put down that I'm giving her $750 for 3 years though she'd be able to refinance the house in her name which would help me afford a better place when I buy again at the end of the year.

If we do put down that I'm giving her $750 for 3 years and assuming we're both still not angry with each other so she's still cool with doing this could we modify this later on to be $500 a month after she refinances?

Answer:
 So here's an important thing to consider:

When applying for a loan, all the information has to be accurate -- including how much income the applicant has.

Intentionally giving misleading information to a lending institution for the purposes of obtaining a loan, under the belief that without the misrepresentation the applicant would not get the loan, is itself a federal felony (18 USC 1344) punishable with prison time  (The max is 30 years, but federal sentencing scales by many factors that would not likely apply to you or your wife, so something on the order of 6 to 18 months is closer to reality).

If your wife says her income is $250 higher than it is in order to qualify for a loan, she would be in violation of sec 1344.

If you provide any documentation to her, believing that it would be used in that manner, you would be in violation of 1344.

If you and she discuss the matter ahead of time, then you and she *may already* have committed a conspiracy to violate 1344, though the conspiracy probably wouldn't be chargeable without an actual form of the type needed to fulfill the conspiracy, on which you or she had written the false information.  It might not matter whether one of you actually filed the form -- the existence of the fraudulently created document itself could be enough proof that the conspiracy existed.

(Now, to be real, it's unlikely that at this point you've done anything that a federal prosecutor would ever find out about or even bother investigating.  Just don't *file* anything like that and forget that you ever discussed the possibility of maybe thinking about looking into considering doing that.)


Title: [WI] My elderly neighbors are keeping cats inhumanely in their garage. What can i do to correct the situation without ruining their lives?

Question: There are maybe 7 cats in the garage, caged at all times. They open the garage a little every now and then, presumably for fresh air. They're very private people. I'd like to help the animals without involving criminal proceedings.

Answer: Generally speaking, you should be able to contact animal control and let them know that you believe there may be an issue.  They will visit the property, probably ask to view the animals, and advise the owners of any changes they need to make.  They would not immediately charge the owners with any crime unless they find something really awful, like starving, sick, or dead animals -- and even then there's usually a delay.  In all likelihood, they'll simply tell the owners that they need to do a,b, and c, and then they'll check back at a later date to make sure it's been done.


Title: Son of mom's deceased live-in companion shaking us down - veiled threats to sue

Question:
We are in northern Virginia (Loudoun County). Mom recently died at 90. She had lived with the husband of her best friend after best friend passed (we believe that his family thought that this relationship stated too soon after the friends' death). They owned a house together for several years and shared household expenses and a checking account, though due to the man's wealth he was more than generous to her outside of that arrangement, which was unwritten to my knowledge. Gentleman showed signs of Alzheimer's as the relationships' five year mark passed. His family, wishing to protect his assets (we presume) and avoid a common law situation, suggested they sell the house and move to a retirement community, which they did. Our family felt that was a good move. Unbeknownst to us, their intent was to remove him shortly (a few months) after the move to the new facility. Meanwhile, he had bought some new furniture and upgrades for the new apartment. His family removed him and his belongings at around month 3 after moving and he passed away about a year later (2012). Mom continued living there and paying $600 monthly more than she would have had he continued to reside with her. Now she has died and his family is claiming we owe them for a claimed $10k worth of new furniture and $20k in residence upgrades that their father had presumably paid for (thinking he would be around to enjoy it, no doubt). No documentation has been forthcoming. They also say my mom closed the joint checking account after they removed him (balance around $1500). We think she did do that. The son (a lawyer himself) asks that we respond within 5 days so that we can both avoid "costly litigation". Are we likely to win such a case if he follows through on this veiled threat to sue?  Thanks for any help - I can provide any needed details.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: If it was a joint checking account the money in it was Mom's as much as it was his.


Title: Imminent Danger to Property as it Relates to a Rental Agreement

Question:
Hi guys, I'm currently going through the ringer with my landlord. I recently had an inspection, and hadn't been able to take my trash out because the receptacles were full. Everything else was relatively clean, aside from the sink full of dishes. The garbage was a little stinky, but like I said, I could not remove it until the receptacles were emptied. He brought this to my attention afterwards. Fast forward about a week and a half to today, and I find out he has been in my apartment since then, without notifying me. Admittedly, the place was a mess. He took photos. From the photos, I could tell that he was there in the days following the inspection (my take out was visible, and I ordered it four days ago). I'm located in Vermont, and I've read the section of the handbook of renters rights that deals with right to privacy. It seems he is allowed to enter without notification if he believes his property is in imminent danger.

My question is, is a messy place a good enough reason for a landlord to enter without permission?

Thanks!

Answer:
 An emergency is something like smoke coming out the windows or water running out under the doors. Walking in because he wants pictures of your dirty dishes is inexcusable.

Check your states statutes which will have a section regarding your landlords right of entry. I'd nearly bet you money it requires he give you written advance notice of 24-48 hours.

There's also probably a statute about taking the garbage out, but I'm pretty sure you aren't legally required to do your dishes, just keep the place clean.


Title: Can my employer charge employees for water cups

Question:
So I am currently working as a beach club in Queens new york, and the general manager has recently decided to charge the employees 25 cents for a cup if we want to a drink of water. They used to keep an orange water cooler full of fresh water for employees with cups but decided to get rid of it so the employees have to go to the cafeteria if we want water and pay for  the water or bring our own bottle. I am curious to know if this is a safety violation and what I can do to report this. I myself always brought a nalgene but I am worried about my fellow employees.
(The employees end up reusing the same cups all day.)
Sent from mobile

Answer:
 OSHA requires employers *provide water* but it does not say anything about cups except they cannot be shared. So I don't know any reg which requires them to provide a vessel to hold the water. The obvious answer is for them to bring in their own water bottles.

https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=202
Answer #2: Your employer is providing water (as he is obligated to do so). He is within his rights to charge you for any cups (that he presumably has to pay for out of his own pocket) if he so chooses.

Is he charging for water or just the cups? If you go to the cafeteria with your own cup (or nalgene bottle) would you be allowed to fill it for free?


Title: Ontario, Canada. Marijuana Possession in Private Dwelling.

Question:
I've been looking all over and have been unsuccessful in finding an answer to my question.

In Ontario, Canada is there a limit regarding the amount of dried cannabis that you are able to posses in a private dwelling?

I know that if you go out in public the amount is 30 grammes. I am also aware that there is a limit of 4 plants per residence. Does the amount harvested from the 4 allotted plants have any regulations? Hypothetical if I'm Mr Miracle Grow and manage to yield 15 pounds from my harvest is this legal to store in my home? Am I allowed to store it in pre weighed portions(1 gramme, 14 grammes, 28 grammes)?

Thank you in advance.
Topic:
Canada

Answer: The per-residence dry storage limit is 150 grams in some territories, there is no such limitation in Ontario.


Title: Stepson was hired and became a part of a sketchy business, how to safely get him out?

Question:
I was suspicious when he started earning so much money at 18 years old, but he is a programmer and lives in another state for school so I couldnt really look into what he was doing.

He's back for spring break to visit / prepare his first year of taxes and just told my wife and I that he's helping run a "Bitcoin" casino by designing their website and 'grunt' work as he described it. They gave him a small percent of the website in return.

&nbsp;

 He told us he's not doing anything illegal and that he's completely safe since the website is not available in most of the English speaking countries. Still sounds very iffy to me though.

I plan on forcing him to quit even though he's making more than me right now (I earn a decent living), i'm assuming this is the right choice even though he's being completely unreasonable.

I also made him show me his chat logs with the other website partners and they all sound pretty unprofessional, I doubt it's even registered as a business to be frank.

Anyways what would you all advise me to do? Maybe go see a criminal defense lawyer to see what he recommends?

Also if he does decide to leave, what are the chances this will come back to bite him in the future?

I don't reddit much but I hope I am posting this in the right place.

&nbsp;

I forgot to mention that we live in the United States

Answer:
 He's 18, so you can't make him do anything.

You can ask a lawyer to figure out if what he is doing is illegal, and what the possible penalties are, and then scare him with it. But you can't force him to stop.


Title: One-night gap in leases

Question:
I live in Boston, MA. I'm currently subleasing an apartment for which the lease agreement ends on 8/31. My new lease starts 9/1 and my landlord has told me my move-in time is 9:00 AM. Neither landlord wants to allow me to stay late or move in early. This creates a gap in the leases the night of 8/31, requiring me to stay in a hotel as well as pay for a mover to store my belongings overnight. This isn't something I can afford.

Since my new lease is for 9/1, is it legal for my new landlord to not allow me to move in until 9:00 AM? Alternatively, if I were to overstay my current lease by a few hours and move out first thing in the morning, what legal risks am I setting myself up for? Thanks for any advice.

Answer:
 It is definitely legal for your new landlord to specify that your move in time was 9:00 or later.

If you overstay your current lease, I would be prepared to pay for the entire months rent.

This is a pretty common situation for people to be in.    You’ve got 3 weeks to find a cheap motel or a friend to stay with.


Title: Getting a puppy, question about breeder contract...

Question:
Hello,
     I am adopting a puppy in NJ, but the breeder's contract says that all legal disputes will be settled in some district in florida, and that I will abide by the laws of florida, etc etc. Since I'm signing this in NJ and buying the dog in NJ, isn't the contract already void?

Answer: No, the contract probably isn't void, as choice of law/venue clauses are fairly common. And even if those clauses are unenforceable that doesn't mean the entire contract is necessarily void.