Title: Car accident question. I had an accident driving my friend's vehicle that was not insured. Now I am being sued by insurance. Does this friend share liability?

Question:
This happened a while ago, but I just want to double-check what people on here think.

Long story short, I got into an accident in my friend's vehicle. I did not own a car and so did not have my own car insurance at the time. This friend did not have insurance on the car. I got into the accident in Texas. It was not a huge accident. No injuries.

Now, I am being sued by the other driver's insurance for the cost of repairs. However, I'm only being sued because my friend did not have insurance to make the initial payment. Is the liability solely on me as the driver or does the owner of the car share in the liability since it was not insured? Thanks.

Answer:
 Wait so your friend was nice enough to let you borrow their car, you crash it and now you want them to pay?

You are 100% responsible.


Title: [TX] Former addict sister is going to visit for a while. Is there anything I need to be aware of in regards to tenancy in case she decides she doesn’t want to leave?

Question:
My dad is in hospice, so my sister who we haven’t seen in 15 years is coming down to visit him in his last days.

The reason we haven’t seen her in 15 years is because of a series of incidents involving drugs, alcohol, assault, and false police reports.

She’s going to be staying with me for the next 10 days. I’m kind of concerned about her overstaying her welcome.

If that happens, does she have any rights to tenancy because I’ve let her stay with me? If she refuses to leave, will the police help me or say it’s not their business? Is there anything I should be sure to say to her in advance to establish that she’s currently not welcome past ten days?

Thanks in advance for any advice. I really hope I won’t need it, but I appreciate it anyway.

Answer: Tell her to get a hotel room. If she stays you will have to go to court to evict her.


Title: Texas Child Support, not having a job. Details inside.

Question:
I had my final custody hearing on monday. The judge ordered that I pay $918.00 a month child support, reimburse the mother $117 a month for kids insurance, and pay $200 a month retroactive child support until I cover about $8000 dollars from the time we split up. I don't have a job, haven't had a job for over a month, and am currently on unemployment. My first payment is May 1st, what do I do?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 Was this order based off of income you had in the past?

The basic idea is that the kid still has to eat, have a roof over his head, etc. regardless of whether or not you're working, but I'm curious about how the calculation was made.


Title: I've been Bar suspended from school for something I did, but they have no proof?

Question:
Im 16, Live in canada, and Im in grade 12

Alright so yesterday, after a game on the field, my friends and I returned to the school I currently attend, to change back into our normal clothing, once inside the change room I pulled out my lighter and set a couple pieces of toilet paper on fire in the shower, we put it out instantly and there wasnt any physical damage on the school property other than some pieces of charred paper on the floor, once i returned back to my home i received a call saying that I was to not return to my school for they saw me leave the change room on the cameras when the fire was discovered by someone after i left the school, the thing is, is that they're going off a whim here considering it happened inside the change room = no cameras in change room means they dont have proof and I could possibly get away with this without something on my record in the end, what do i do

tl;dr Bar suspended from school for lighting a small fire in the changeroom showers leaving only bits of charred paper, but they dont have cameras in the changeroom so they cant prove that i did it, but i am suspect number one. should i lie my ass off?

Also can i even be suspended for something they dont have proof on?
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer: You just said you did it.  Man up.Answer #2: You just said you committed such act. So what's the problem?


Title: (AZ) Can I record my neighbor? And another question about a barking dog

Question:
My downstairs apartment neighbor's kid bounces a basketball on the ceiling for about an hour a day, which causes my dog to bark (he barks for a few seconds when the kid starts with the basketball, then I correct my dog). The same neighbor then complains that my dog barks 24/7.

I see the kid through his open window bouncing the basketball on the ceiling in his living room all the time. I do not plan to video what he is doing. Is it legal to take audio from my own apartment?

He has threatened to call the cops if my dog barks again, so I want to make sure I'm prepared when/ if they show up. Online, it looks like any dog barking and disturbing the peace makes it so the owner could get a misdemeanor. My neighbor claims his peace is disturbed when my dog barks for a few seconds at the door, etc. Could I really get a misdemeanor over my dog barking for a few seconds? Is there a limit to how long a dog has to bark before it is legally considered peace disturbance?

Sec. 8-2 Barking or Howling Dogs

A. No person shall keep a dog within the city limits which is in the habit of barking or howling or disturbing the peace and quiet of any person within the City.

B. A person who violates this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor; however, the city prosecutor may authorize the filing of certain cases or classes of cases as civil violations unless the person has previously been found responsible or guilty of violating this section.

C. A person found responsible for a civil violation of this section is subject to a sanction of not less than one hundred fifty dollars nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars.

D. In addition to any other penalty authorized by law, a person found guilty of a criminal violation of this section shall pay a fine of not less than one hundred fifty dollars.

Answer:
 I am not a lawyer, and I'll leave the question of how long your dog has to bark for you to get charged with a misdemeanor to those more familiar with the applicable laws...

But please for the love of @#$% do not stand around recording a minor through their bedroom window - or you are going to get the police called on you for much more serious charges.  Answer #2: No, I don't believe you can record a minor in their own home through a window.

Also you will likely need to train your dog not to bark.Answer #3: I am not a lawyer.

Have you tried talking to the neighbor about their kid bouncing the basketball? If not you might think about doing that. Preferably before the neighbor brings up your dog again so that when they do you can say their kid is bouncing the basketball again causing your dog to bark.


Title: Xpost from /r/disabled SSI is claiming I am incarcerated while I'm talking to them from my home phone and don't even have a parking ticket.

Question:
https://np.reddit.com/r/disability/comments/6cdpox/ssi_claiming_im_incarcerated_when_im_calling_them/

Long story short I have been going now for 6 months with the Social Security Administration through 3 appeals. They are claiming I am currently incarcerated and have been convicted of something. They will not tell me where or what. I am currently in the same residence I have been at for nearly 3 years, in a different state from where I am supposedly incarcerated. I have even shown up to the local SSI office in person only to be told to appeal and wait. Every appeal has been denied for the same reason. "You were convicted of a crime and are currently incarcerated" - any help or suggestions appreciated.

Answer: In this case, you may want to contact your local representative to congress's office. They're capable of cutting through the red tape that's screwing you over. If that doesn't work, call your state senators then, though that's unlikely to work.


Title: I think my neighbor is taking notices off my door

Question: So my downstairs neighbor has made many complaints about me and my children making too much noise I spoke to the office and they understand we have children and said they think this is the first apartment these people have lived in and that’s why they complain so much, so today my power got turned off I called the cable company apparently I was past due on my payment they said they left a notice on my door but I never got it. I believe that my neighbor took it off my door as me and them are the only people who have access to our door leading to our 2 apartments (upstairs and downstairs only us 2) they were trying to get me kicked out and when they found out I was able to re new my leave this notice goes missing and no I have no electric and had to leave, I paid the balance and will be able to return tomorrow but what can I do about them?

Answer: One thing you can do is pay your bills on time so they don’t get to the point that the power company is leaving noticed on your door.


Title: Can a company own an everyday word and stop all use of it?

Question:
There is a company in the same trademark class as me, using a everyday word as their company name. I see they were able to trademarked the word by itself even though its a common word often used in names,to describe things in various forms or common speech. Since it is not a made up word, can I use in combination with my business name (ex: if the Company name is a color like Rouge and I use Lady and Rouge ?)

Using that same example, I see many companies registered using the word Rouge in combination with other words all selling in the same class of wine/alcoholic beverages.So is it possible?will I get rejected from trademarking?

location: United States of America

Answer:
 The answer, as usual, is "maybe".

Trademark infringement is a big topic, and I'm sure you're aware of instances where similar but non-identical trade names have been successfully blocked.

There's no simple "if you add one word, it's a different trademark" rule, but rather a multi-factor analysis of the likelihood of consumer confusion.

Your attempt at trademarking a similar-but-different trademark is just the first part of possible conflicts;  the original trademark holder hasn't even litigated against you yet !

Start by Googling the "Polaroid Factors" and you'll find plenty of discussions of the strength of the mark, the similarity of the marks, the similarity of the services, etc.

I could probably do business as  "Starbuck's Hull Scrubbing Services", but probably couldn't do business as "Apple Computer Consulting".


Title: (TX) Credit Card Dispute for Services not Rendered?

Question:
I recently attended a concert that was put on by a third-party entertainment company which used Eventbrite to sell tickets. The concert was advertised to run for four hours and included a T-shirt and poster as part of the ticket sales. Long story short, the artist showed up 3 hours late and only performed for 10 minutes, if that. T-Shirts were distributed, but posters were not.

The refund policy set by the entertainment company (and restated through Eventbrite) was no refunds. I submitted a refund request through Eventbrite anyway but it is stated that it is at the discretion of the entertainment company to respond to the request if they want to.

I'm considering disputing the transaction through Bank of America as I made the purchase through credit card. Do I have grounds for a chargeback or dispute for bad services rendered? I realize that the bank will ask if I tried to contact the merchant first, but with a no refunds policy it seems unlikely that either Eventbrite or the entertainment company would respond. What are my options in this scenario, from a legal standpoint?

If it is relevant, I have been using this credit card through Bank of America for over 3 years now, haven't missed a payment, have high credit, and have never requested a chargeback on anything.

Answer:
 Worse comes to worst your card company denies your charge back.

I guess the concert company or Eventbrite could sue you if you win the charge back, but I doubt that would happen.


Title: [OR] I'm a disabled worker and I've had my schedule changed with no notice every week for the last 4 weeks.

Question:
I work a minimum wage job part time to supplement my SSI. I explained this during the highering process and to my direct manager. It is very chaotic for me, financially, to be having my checks fluctuate by as much as 15 hours every 2-week pay period. Due to the nature and way the social security administration calculates my benefits.

every week for the last month I've had my schedule changed. Without notice. Sometimes having it changed on my first or last day off of the week.

As an oregon worker, and a disabled worker. What, if any actions can I take to remedy this situation? I'm at my wits end. I'm literally losing money because of this. well, what little money I do have.

Answer:
 Have you provided a note from a doctor that you have a disability and request that your schedule not be changed last minute?Answer #2: At the moment, Oregon employerd are generally free to change employee schedules with no notice. Two caveats.

1. If you have a disability, you *may* be entitled a more predictable schedule as a reasonable accommodation. You need to speak with your employer about your disability and request the accommodation.

2. Large employers in some industries will not be able to change schedules on short notice beginning the middle of next year.


Title: Jury Nullification in Murder Trial

Question: Question: what would happen if a jury chose not to convict someone who was obviously guilty of murder?  Let's say that a woman shot the man sexually abusing her daughter, and you have a confession, motive, and gun in hand?  Can the judge throw it out?  If it is just one juror, that would make a mistrial, right?

Answer:
 You can expect that the prosecution would look into any indication, however slight, of jury tampering or juror misconduct. If any is found - for example, if one of the jurors unwisely admits that they knew there was no reasonable doubt and voted not guilty anyways - then they could appeal the verdict on that basis.

However, there is no appeal for an unreasonable acquittal in any jurisdiction in North America, or in any other jurisdiction I know of, nor can a judge direct a guilty verdict in a jury trial. (Judges _can_ direct a not guilty verdict, in some situations.) The right of a jury to find fact is all but absolute, even when they deliberately and obviously find counterfactual things to be true. So long as there's no evidence of tampering or misconduct, the jury's not guilty verdict would stand.


Title: Can a contractor who wasn't even hired to renovate threaten mechanic's lien and charge an invoice?

Question:
This is for my parents who recently bought a house and are trying to renovate it and improve it. They talked to 4-5 different contractors to find out who to hire and finally chose one. This isn't about the one they hired, but one they didn't chose. This one person was recommended by one of their friends. He and his wife run a contracting business, (the only 2 employees,) I looked up their business on google: it is called a Foreign Limited Liability Company, they don't have an official website or anything (one of the reasons my parents decided not to choose him, seemed kind of sketchy.) These are the events that happened:

* My parents had not yet officially foreclosed on the house, so the previous owner showed him the home, with my parents
* My parents asked for his previous work, but the contractor said since he couldn't get in contact his old customers, so he just drove around showing the house he did in the past
* They met a third time at his home, which is also his place of business, and my parents asked to interview his architect
* Fourth meeting: Met with him and the architect, which they interviewed (did not pick him)
* Parents decided to go with another person
* Architect they hired needs to find a builder. Contractor that was not hired asked if he could get any of the pictures to see if he could find builders. Parents said they will ask the architect
* Parents talk with architect. Architect says he has other builders he trusts so he didn't send any pictures
* Parents say Ok to the architect and did not contact the contractor because they didn't feel  the need to.
* Month or two later, contractor sends invoice

Invoice Breakdown:

* Initial consultation: free
* Charged for 8 hours due to multiple meetings and emails
* Charged for 3 hours for meeting with architect to measure property and discussing options
* Charged for 10 hours researching zoning, bylaws, locating plot plans, and reviewing files for inspectional services pertaining to the home

My parents were very confused when receiving this invoice, since none of the other contractors they talked to did not send an invoice, and are especially confused about the research charge in the invoice. They emailed the contractor about it and the contractor basically said that he had specifically asked if they wanted him to do research on the district of the house and what was needed to obtain a building permit. My parents however do not recall this conversation and know that this never happened. It apparently happened verbally.  He also said that he obtained a certified plot plan "that costs $1000-5000, and gave it to my parents to free." I'm confuse that if he purchased such an expensive plot plan, why would he not charge my parents that in the invoice as well. He says that he feels he has been strung along for months because he spent hours working on the project. He also says he will file a mechanics lien if my parents do not pay the invoice in 10 days. My question is, does this invoice hold any merit? Especially the multiple hours spent "researching," when my parents don't even remember him asking for this, but the contractor says he did verbally ask them? Sorry for the long post, any help is appreciated.

Answer:
 Your state matters. But in most states, filing a mechanics lien requires a written contract and notice of the right to a lien.

Was there ever any discussion of payment or fees for the bidding process?


Title: At-will employer fired 1/3rd of the company with out notice because of a bad sales month . Can we sue?

Question:
This is in Minnesota. I started at a company 2 months ago. The company is at-will employer. The company had a bad sales month and instead of figuring out what went wrong and trying to fix it, they fired 1/3rd of their sales team (7 people) and their only HR person in order to make up for lost sales. This was right after Thanksgiving break and with no notice what so ever, so people couldn't prepare and look for another job. This may cause some of us to go into debt to pay the bills until we find something else.

Is there a way we can sue them? Or are we just screwed?
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer: You have nothing to sue for unless you haven't been paid what you're owed. You can file for unemployment.


Title: [Cali] how long can an employee claim back pain?

Question: California Hey there I currently have an employee thats claimed workers comp for back pain going on two months now. I was wondering if there was any cap to this time? Theres never been any diagnosed issue other than "pain". I'm fine taking care of an employee if she is hurt but she's  taken a "you cant fire me so i wont do my job" attitude. Thanks in advance.

Answer: The cap is "as long as the medical issue is legitimate" for a worker's comp claim.  But Workers Comp doesn't give you an indefinite leave of paid absence.  If she's unable to work, talk to your claims rep about how to handle the case.  You should be able to push to get a diagnosis and/or a return to work order if she's cleared to work.  If she refuses to return after she's cleared, you can terminate her position.  But I wouldn't do any of that without help from an employer's side workers comp attorney.  Firing her too soon can get you hit with a wrongful termination suit.


Title: Back child support?

Question:
My husband had an absentee father who never paid his child support. The father has finally turned his life around and is now paying the child support he owes to my husband’s mother. My husband’s mother was extremely neglectful and abusive to him as a child. Like to the point of not allowing him and his sibling outside. There are pictures of my husband as a child and he is so malnourished it is heartbreaking. She didn’t allow them to go to school and was never home. She also verbally and physically abused them. There are extended family members who remember this and have told me many horror stories. My husband grandparents even went to court with her to try and see their grandchildren. Is there anything we can do to prevent her from receiving this undeserving child support? We would just like to know if we can forgive his child support debt without the mother’s approval? I know this sounds vengeful but to us it just doesn’t make sense she is getting paid for taking care of children that she did not take care of.

Arizona, USA

Answer: No, you cannot challenge the debt. It is between the mother and the father.


Title: VA - possible termination for admitted prior illegal drug use

Question:
I'm in VA. Today I was suspended with pay pending the results of my employer's investigation. I fully anticipate I'll be terminated. On Wednesday, I was called in for questioning on a number of topics, including drugs. I recently lost a significant amount of weight (about 60 lbs), and there was apparently an allegation that this was due to cocaine usage. This is completely, 100% false and unfounded. And I'm pissed. I told the investigators as much. The investigators asked me a lot about prior drug use. I was very open and honest with the investigation (apparently too much so...) and told the truth. I did admit to using cocaine in the past, but told them it was never a regular habit and it was a rare, one-off kind of situation (this is completely true). They also asked me about marijuana, which I also admitted to using. I told them neither of these are current as I am pregnant (yeah - could the timing be any fucking worse?).

&#x200B;

They also asked a number of questions about some of my coworkers and subordinates (I am a supervisor in our office), whom I know to occasionally use cocaine. I, again, honestly answered their questions and admitted yes, I know these 2 coworkers to use cocaine rarely, and yes, I have used it with them in the past (again, one-off situation). I was concerned about lying as they specifically used these coworkers' names and asked if I had ever done it with them. I don't know what in the hell kind of evidence they could have had against me, but as my husband puts it, I'm "honest to a fault." My 2 coworkers denied it when they were interrogated.

&#x200B;

Now the 3 of us have been suspended with pay pending the outcome of their investigation. I made it abundantly clear to the investigators and my boss (who is totally on my side) that this never took place during work hours, on work property, or at any work-sponsored events. This is all completely accurate. Furthermore, I emphasized that it has never impacted my performance. I have been with the company 7 years and climbed the ranks from a trainee to a supervisor within 4 years. I have never had attendance issues (I've never even called out sick...), never had a bad performance review, and never been on any sort of performance plan. I'm good at my job.

&#x200B;

I work for a very large company that is not based in VA (our home office is in PA). My boss is very upset about the situation. He's not particularly upset with me (though he did admit he wished I had lied), he is upset with the scope of the investigation and feels that the suspension is inappropriate and unwarranted as I am a strong employee. He told me, and the investigators, that he felt like what his employees do on their own time outside of work is none of his (or the company's) business, as long as it is not impacting our work. In my case, it very clearly is not. Unfortunately my boss doesn't have much of a say in what is going on as this has all gone through ethics/HR and this is not his call. I fully believe he would go to bat for me and do anything in his power to help me keep my job - he was tearing up as he escorted me out of the building today. Losing me, not to mention the other 2 employees, will certainly be detrimental to our office (we are not a big office).

&#x200B;

So here's my question. If I am terminated, is it worth it to retain an employment attorney to pursue a wrongful termination? Do I have a case? I know VA is an at will state, which is what's getting me here. I'm just fucking pissed that I'm (more than likely) losing my job over something that has nothing to do with my work performance. Thoughts?

Answer:
 You can be fired for any reason a few explicitly protected ones. Or no reason at all.

You can be fired for these things.


Title: Employer takes most of tips

Question:
Hey /r/legaladvice, this is about a close friend of mine and not myself.

We live in Southern California and my friend works at a fairly large boba/bubble tea chain. I was talking to him yesterday and found out that his employer takes most of the tips and they are only allowed $1 of tip per hour that they work during the pay period. To my knowledge they make at or barely above minimum wage.

Is this legal? Should they be recieving tips? I'm not sure if this is illegal or just unethical business practice but they recieve a fairly good amount of tips so learning that his workplace does this means he's lost out on a lot of potential wages. What should we do? Is there anything we even \*can\* do? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Answer: Not even a little bit legal.  [Tips belong to the employee](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/531.52), not the employer.  Contact the Department of Labor Standards Enforcement.Answer #2: Agreed with everyone else. Note - do **NOT** go in and "give the employer one last chance to make things right." File the complaint first and let the state deal with it.


Title: [CA] Guy hit my car and won't call his insurance.

Question:
Two months ago a guy hit my car with his car, I did everything on my end, all that's left is for the guy to call his insurance and confirm the claim, but he won't. He keeps insisting that he has but his insurance says otherwise and tells that they've been trying to contact him the whole time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Answer:
 Then you have essentially two choices:

1.) File with your insurance.

2.) Sue him.


Title: Let's say you're a homeless person and you need to pee. No place for a mile will let you use their restroom. Are you forced to commit the crime of public urination?

Answer:
 Yes because it's a shortcoming of society for having not provided me with a place to relieve myself. I understand their paranoia and their past experiences may have caused ignorant generalizations to spawn in their mind. Either way the solution is likely a sort of public restroom or some fenced area where the homeless are allowed to pee or do anything similar.Answer #2: This and shitting. It absolutely happens and it should be on cities to at least build and maintain public restrooms. That's why so many places are dealing with a Hepatitis A outbreak. Sick of people blaming homeless for something they can't help.

Source: was homeless.


Title: Lawyer misconduct on both sides?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: If you've been through 4 lawyers and $30k in fees, methinks the problem is not the lawyers.


Title: Quick [stupid] tree law question. Who owns trimmings?

Question:
I know R/LA loves it's tree law.  I also know in most states people can trim their neighbors trees up to the property line as long as the tree isn't killed or damaged in the process or as the result of trimming.

My question:   Who owns the fruit growing on these trimmings?

Normally if I trim some neighbors crap trees/brush I'd just compost or throw away the trimmings.  But, over the years one of my neighbors cherry trees has grown over the property line.  I want to trim it because I can't get under it to mow my lawn any more.  Neighbor won't trim it because neighbor is a camo wearing, gun toting, nutbag that doesn't even mow his lawn, let alone think about trimming trees.

Do I get to keep the cherries on branches I trim?   Do I have to give the trimmed branch with cherries back to my trashy neighbor and say "hi mr. neighbor that's going to get enraged about nothing, here's your cherry tree clippings"?  Must I throw them away like normal trimmings?

I know this is stupid, but I'm curious how trimming neighbors trees works out when there's fruit or other valuable materials, like expensive wood, involved?

Answer: In some states, fruit hanging outside a person's yard is fair game to be picked by passersby so long as they don't damage the tree itself; in some states, the fruit still belongs to the owner of the tree.  Which is it for you?  We don't know because, despite the various reminders during the create-your-past process, *you didn't include your location*.


Title: Financial questions for lawyers.

Question:
What questions regarding billing, payments and firm finances do lawyers hate to have to answer to the Judge?  I am looking for some questions that place the lawyer in an uncomfortable situation to the Judge.  Hopefully, these questions would make the Judge question the lawyer's billing, payments and practices and place the lawyer in a tight legal bind.

Thank you for your help.

Answer:
 >What questions regarding billing, payments and firm finances do lawyers hate to have to answer to the Judge?

Generally, none.  In a few number of circumstances does the payment of the attorney have anything to do with the Judge.

>Hopefully, these questions would make the Judge question the lawyer's billing, payments and practices and place the lawyer in a tight legal bind.

Yeah, not really going to happen.  Most billing practices are SOP at this point.


Title: Single Mother in California may lose home. father left, won't pay back $500K loan

Question:
Hi everyone, I'm writing this post for a friend in desperate need of financial/legal assistance. Pardon any typographical errors as I am spending my lunch break doing this on my phone. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'll try to be brief.
She is a single mother in Fremont California with a daughter of 6, in risk of losing her home after finally ending a toxic relationship and being left with substantial debt.
Never married the father who has a cliche fear of commitment, having abandoned them several times before. She owns her home which is valued over $2mil thanks to the Silicon Valley boom.  However, the mortgage is considerable (I believe 6-8 grand/month). This is largely due to a massive $500K loan she took out in order to help the father renovate properties he owns in New York.
10+ Years of verbal and emotional abuse have left her confidence shaken. Finding employment is difficult for several other reasons as well. Raising children has kept her out of the work force for some time, and daycare in her area is obscenely expensive. She has modeled in the past and has worked in graphic design. She has two other daughters from a previous marriage who are grown in their early 20's. All are educated, capable women, and disarmingly attractive. The father is independently wealthy, owning rental properties in New York State. She is trying to pursue litigation against him to recover the loan amount, however this is also difficult since she does not have liquid funds necessary to retain an attorney, although she is trying to find one to take the case as is.

That is all the pertinent information I can think of.  The question here I suppose is, what the hell can she do?  Hoping this message reaches someone with some answers.  Fingers crossed.

Answer:
 She cannot currently afford her home.  She does not appear to be underwater.  Her best course of action is to sell her home and use the proceeds to support her family while she gets back into the workforce.

Litigation, even with an attorney, is generally a time consuming process.  Even *if* she wins her case, she will not see that money likely for several years.


Title: New Executive Caught Lying to Corporate Counsel. Potentially Hundreds of Thousands in Damages. What Do you Do?

Question:
A newly hired executive makes a decision that implicates your company with enormous legal risk.

Counterparty's attorney sends you a letter outlining legal concerns of this executive's decision.

Your in-house corporate counsel questions the executive and responds with letter denying illegal activity as per the executive's assertions.

Counterparty responds with letter producing evidence to refute the executive's statements, and threatens legal action. It's now clear that the executive had been lying to your in-house counsel.

If this proceeds to litigation, it will cost your company hundreds of thousands in legal feels and damages along with adverse publicity.

What do you do?

Answer:
 Are you [this guy?](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3uvnbj/sent_employer_letter_about_discrimination/) You seem like that guy.

Edit: You went back and deleted the thread? Totally that guy.Answer #2: I follow the advice of my counsel given thats their job.


Title: [IL] Project ended prematurely, business partner emailed me saying my contractual obligations were fulfilled. Now, two months later, is demanding I pay for the finished product?

Question:
Hey guys,

Hard to word this right. Collaborated on a film in Chicago when the producer of the project had an emotional breakdown and got into a fight with everyone on the project. He emailed me saying that he considered my contractual obligations fulfilled and that I was not needed to help further on the project.

Now, two months later, he randomly emails me threatening to sue me for not fulfilling my contractual duties of the project that he released me from. I asked him why my contractual obligations were no longer 'fulfilled', per his original email. He goes on and on about some industry drama with people we mutually know, claiming that now he's going to have to be a stickler for his contract and now he's going to sue me for my rights on the project for not fulfilling my duties unless I relinquish my rights. He goes on to threaten to call other clients that I am working with to notify them of my 'future legal problems' with him, UNLESS I agree to sacrifice my % of profit-sharing from the project we worked on together.

I moved on to other work after being 'released' and don't have time to keep going back to his drama-filled project. Does he actually have legal grounds here? Was his original email, stating unequivocally that I had 'fulfilled my contractual obligations', legally binding? The email is from his company account too, if that matters.

**TLDR** - Project ended prematurely, was told by producer my 'obligations were fulfilled'. Two months later, I start receiving threats that I didn't fulfill my contracts and now he will sue me unless I give up my rights to the film.

Thanks people,
-Dr
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Not nearly enough information here to give a full analysis, but here is my recommendation:

1. Get a lawyer to handle this. Have your lawyer look over the documentation and give you specific advice on how to handle it.

2. Whether or not the email is a binding communication of satisfaction will depend on the wording of the contract and the email and whether or not the sender had the authority to release you from the remainder of your obligations. Contract law depends heavily on your state, so there may also be issues with changing a contract in this manner. Your lawyer can explain this part in better detail.

3. Make sure your lawyer explores options for a restraining order to prevent this guy from interfering with your other business.


Title: Is there a way around cashing a check with two people's names on it?

Question:
My friend and his ex had an apartment together where he paid everything and she paid nothing. She turned abusive, and then up and left once he began standing up for himself.

In the meantime, he was waiting on a refund from the place that had both their names on the lease. Check was written out to both their  names even though she never paid a cent. Wording on check is using "and" between their names.

My friend does not want to call her and ask for help because she was an abusive person. How can he get around this? Leasing offic is being a pain in the ass.

Location is california

Answer: Leasing office isn't being a pain - they are fulfilling their legal obligation.  It is not the leasing office's job to get in the middle of their personal argument.  He's going to have to contact her and deal with it.Answer #2: he has her sign it and she gets her share of the deposit.


Title: (Sacramento, CA) Was accused publicly by a Best Buy manager of stealing Switch games. I didn't and I'm going to hire a lawyer tomorrow. Need to know best route.

Question:
I want EVERYONE here to know I have evidence to clearly show that I didn't do what  he accused me of and I have video.

Tonight I went into Best Buy and IMMEDIATELY noticed things we're off. The laptop I got was having battery issues I went to exchange and was greeted by a manager, saying he's' going to deny an exchange/return and that he demanded to know "Where I got those gift cards and what I traded in" what follows is pretty much a mix of paraphrasing/verbatim.

&#x200B;

BBM: Where did you get that gift card

ME: First of all, what's going on? I traded in a playstation, games, an old laptop and an iphone; why?

BBM: So what else did you trade in? You don't have to lie I know you stole those switch games.

ME: I didn't trade in anything else plus I have a Best Buy credit card, it would be dumb to do that.

BBM: Yeah, you need to go to Elk Grove where you traded in those stolen switch games.

ME: I didn't trade in anything stolen and I want proof that I stole it!

BBM: You need to get out

ME: I didn't steal anything and secondly I work and make enough that I don't need to steal ANYTHING!

BBM: You stole those switch games and you need to get out!
ME: This doesn't end here and I demand your district managers number and corporate immediately.

BBM: \*proceeds to call security\*
ME: I'm telling you again, this isn't over and I'm calling corporate and getting your district manager involved.

&#x200B;

I'm fucking FUMING! I have a trade in record of everything I ever traded in at Best Buy and I'm clearly being confused for some other Black guy that stole something that day. The only thing I even remotely did on the day he accused me of stealing stuff was browse for laptops, and I was in my work uniform so doing something of this nature would have been obvious and I'm not going to risk my livelihood over switch games.

Answer: He didn't do anything illegal. He can accuse you of things he thinks you did.Answer #2: Nothing unlawful occurred here. Your best recourse is to complain to corporate. The end.Answer #3: Hey, I work at a Best Buy. While I don’t think there’s much you can do legally, and hiring a lawyer is definitely a waste of time at this point- you can call in a complaint. Corporate’s pretty good with looking into those- at least at my location they are. We do get a lot of shoplifters, and you probably just looked like one that came in earlier in the day. I’m sorry about your problem, I do believe you were wronged here, but if the manager truly thought that you were the guy who stole the games then he was just doing his job.Answer #4: He didn't do anything illegal and you have no damages to sue for. File a corporate complaint and one with the BBB.Answer #5: Feel free to complain to the corporate office. There isn't a legal issue here.


Title: (Long Island, NY) Question about Tort of Trespass to Land.

Question:
Publications like "The Pennysaver" and "Home Town Shopper" litter my neighborhood, all over lawns and driveways and in the street.  They are thrown by, what I am assuming is, hired delivery people from their cars indiscriminately and without ask.  You don't subscribe to this service, they just give it to you.  They don't neatly place it at your door, they heave it on your lawn from a moving vehicle.  You can opt out of the service, but most of the time you are still subject to random deliveries as I am sure it is pretty difficult to keep a record of who doesn't want your  paper, when you don't keep a record of who does.

The First Amendment covers Freedom of Press, but would something like the tort of Trespass to Land prohibit a company like the pennysaver or hometown shopper from throwing things on your property without your approval?

The reason I ask is most of the time, these publications come in extremely thin plastic bags that rip on contact with your driveway and then there is paper strewn all over the neighborhood.  Most of the time, I will see four or five of them on peoples lawns and in the street.  This to me shows these people aren't avid subscribers, yet they haven't unsubscribed, nor should they have to.  They do however, have to clean them up eventually otherwise there will be a wall of them on their lawn.  Could one start a possible class action law suit, with enough supporters, claiming fees for cleaning up the "trash" that these companies throw on our lawns and in our neighborhoods?

Just as an example, I live on Long Island, there are 325,000 people in my town.  If lets say 50,000 people get on board and claim one hour of minimum wage per paper cleaned up, that would be $10 per paper, the paper is generally delivered weekly so $520 per claimant per year.  That totals $26,000,000.  To be completely honest, I don't even care about the money, I just want them to stop polluting our neighborhoods.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: If you're committed to gathering popular support, it seems like the kind of thing that might be more efficiently addressed with your city council. The First Amendment allows for reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on speech, like requiring advertisers not to just toss shit on the side of the road.


Title: If possible, can me or my family sue my old elementary school because they did absolutely nothing about their major bullying problem, therefore making me go to therapy and have emotional trauma still to this day?

Question:
This is a longer story than written but I’ll try to summarize it the best I can.

When I was in elementary school, (I’m in college now) I was bullied beyond belief. I’m not talking about usual kid stuff like teasing one another, I’m talking about being called a racial slur in fourth friggin’ grade. It would happen all the time for YEARS. I would also be called “poor” just because my mom was divorced and we lived in an apartment at that time. Kids would spread nasty rumors about me about stuff that elementary school kids shouldn’t even know about yet, even telling the teachers about it. I would be called ugly just because I don’t have blonde hair and blue eyes. I would tell teachers all the time about all the kids bullying me and they did absolutely nothing about it. I even would report to the office about it, and never heard anything back from the principal. It got to the point where I needed therapy because I was coming home crying every single day that I had school. The therapist then recommended moving schools because it was clear the school wasn’t doing anything about the situation. My mom went to the principal to have a meeting and tell her that I’m moving schools because of all the bullying, and the principal literally refused to believe that bullying even existed at the school.

For years even after I left that school, I was still emotionally scarred. I knew if I continued with that school, I would’ve definitely committed suicide in middle school because it would only get worse. Thank god I moved. Even to this day, I’m still scarred from that school. I’m self conscious beyond belief, have low self esteem, and even sometimes I run into some of those kids from that school, and all they do is make snarky comments to MY FACE. All I do is relive those awful elementary school memories in my head and I can’t believe that to this day I’m still damaged from them.

So I’m wondering, is there anything I can do legally about this? I know it seems kinda ridiculous but I mean they did NOTHING about the situation. I know it was so long ago, so I don’t know what I can do about it. How can I even prove it? I mean they would have a record of me attending there, a record of me going to therapy, and a record of me moving schools, but is that enough information? I know the staff there today probably isn’t even the same staff from over 9 years ago, so idk if anyone would even recall this. Even if there is something that could be done, idk if it’s worth all the effort to do something about it. I just wanna know if there’s a possibility. I wouldn’t want another kid to go through the same things that I went through at this awful school.

Answer: That is very shitty and I'm so sorry this happened to you.  However, unfortunately, what they did wasn't against the law.  And to sue them for health damages, even if possible, you would need extensive documentation of the type that you don't have.  And it's surely past any kind of statute of limitations.  I'm very sorry about this, but you have no legal recourse here.  I hope you can heal and move on with your life.


Title: [Roommate] My girlfriend (20F) and I (22M) recently told our roommate to leave, but her (19F) name is still on the lease. What can we do?

Question:
Hello!

First, let me start off by saying the main reason why we want her out. She and her boyfriend would smoke weed in her room, but they would leave the door slightly open and let it spread throughout the apartment and into the hallway. Usually, they would smoke later at night. It would get into our room and make it difficult for my girlfriend to breathe because of her asthma. The first time we asked them to stop smoking in their room, was in mid/late October. We gave them the option to smoke in the bathroom with the door blocked and fan on. Since then, they continued to smoke in their room. Multiple times a month/week, we've asked if they could at least close their door, open the window, etc. after they've smoked in their room to make it less worse. Sometimes, the next day, we would remind them not to smoke in the room because it gets out and affects my SO's asthma. However, we've smoked with them twice, but we do it in the bathroom to prevent it from affecting us later at night and to set an example.

There are other reasons including: leaving food out of the fridge, leaving dirty dishes on top of the stove, bringing friends over that smoke/vape nicotine, using our things without asking, and watching TV really loudly in the living room while we're studying. We've talked to them about these things, as well. But, we've had to remind them about these issues because they haven't been fixed either.

My girlfriend and I have been debating for the past couple months whether it was right for us to kick her out. We don't know if those reasons are valid enough to make her leave. But, we just feel so uncomfortable everyday when we come home because we know we have to clean up after them, etc. It's brought a lot of stress onto us and onto our relationship, and we're sick of it, and we don't want to deal with them anymore.

Lastly, after we told her to leave, she packed her stuff and left. And, we are still able to pay for the apartment without her.

Were we right in our decision to ask her leave? If so, what are the next steps?

Thanks.

TL;DR: Our roommate smokes pot in her room and the smoke gets everywhere. It makes it difficult for my SO to breathe at night because she has asthma. We've asked them to stop smoking in her room many times, but she kept doing it. So, we kicked her out. What do we have to do next?

Answer: You can't kick her out, period. She can only be kicked out if she is evicted.


Title: How do I deal with a failure to appear in Illinois, for a speeding ticket, without going to jail?

Question:
I live in Louisiana and while I was visiting Illinois I got a speeding ticket in Champaign County going 101 miles an hour in a 70 mph zone. I missed the first court date and the subsequent court date, and I assume I have a warrant for my arrest in the state of Illinois. The original ticket was for $150 but now I do not know how much it will be or how to proceed. I know I will have enough money in August to make a trip to Illinois but I am afraid of getting arrested if I show up to the courthouse. I do not have much money now but in two months(September 2017) I will have nearly $3000 saved to deal with the consequences of my irresponsibility any advice would be very much appreciated.
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: Call a lawyer in Illinois, engage their services after you explain your situation. It's going to cost you monies. But a good lawyer will work it out. Do not set foot in Illinois until this is worked out. There are powers in charge that make more money putting you in jail then resolving the issue in court. If the lawyer you call asks you to come to Illinois hang up and call another.


Title: Offered a job - tell them my wife is pregnant?

Question:
So I've been offered a part time retail job (just trying to pick up a little extra money). My wife is due with our first child in September.

Should I tell the hiring manager? Before I've signed everything and actually been hired? After?

They are going to ask about my availability - how do I handle this? Do any anti-discrimination laws protect fathers in this scenario. I'm in Virginia.

Thanks for any help!

Answer: They cannot discriminate against your wife because she is pregnant, they can discriminate against you for having availability that is shit.  When to tell them is a personal judgment call.  You have no legal obligation to do so, but they would probably like to know if there is going to be a point that you have to disappear for a bit.Answer #2: I would not tell them before they hire you.


Title: Is it possible to sue under these conditions?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Uh, you assaulted her first.  You are completely, 100% in the wrong here and are lucky the cops didn't get called here because you would have been arrested and charged with a crime over something extremely stupid.

Next time, remember that pushing someone constitutes assault and battery.  The way to deal with a service disagreement is to leave a bad Yelp review or dispute the credit card transaction, not to start physical fights.
Answer #2: I don't think it's really worth to call the police and potentially get yourself into trouble as well.

I personally think you should've just paid and left, gone to a different salon and asked if they could add in the modifications for you. Or even brought over the manager and let her handle it.


Title: Robbed and beaten at gunpoint during a drug deal, possible to press charges?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >Is there any way to press charges without my friends catching heat themselves?

no.  Answer #2: Unfortunately, this is the risk one takes when dealing with criminals.

Your friend is free to make a complaint to the police, but at some point it's going to come out that the incident happened while he was dealing drugs.  Then he's going to be in a world of trouble.


Title: I think my (27/F) lawyer is being sexually suggestive and I don't know what to do. Please help me! Located in Victoria, Australia.

Question:
Hi everyone,

I am in some trouble with the law, because I have been arguing with my parents, and I purposefully broke a Royal Dolton doll of my mother's that I gave her for Mother's Day 8 years ago. My parents called the police, she made a statement, and now I have to go to court.

I searched for a lawyer on https://www.liv.asn.au/find-a-lawyer, and picked one. I went to a free consultation with a well-known, high profile lawyer, and he gave me some advice. We are aiming for a diversion. I don't have a lot of money, so we are hoping to get legal aid, but I need to be on Centrelink payments for this, and am still waiting to see if I qualify for a claim. If I'm not considered eligible for Centrelink, it will be $2200 out of pocket.

During the meeting, he kept saying that I could ask him anything I wanted to, even if it was embarrassing, or difficult to ask. My parents and I have been arguing about me becoming independent despite my health issues, so he got onto the topic of my sex life via this route. For example, he mentioned that at my age I should be able to bonk whoever I want, whenever I want, and that is difficult when I live with my parents. He asked me what the worst thing I'd ever done was, and I cited some incidents including underage drinking, and spraying a friend's cheating ex boyfriend's car with condiments years ago. He said that he thought I was going to say that I bonked a ton of guys all night. He also asked if I was a virgin (no).

I went home, and thought there were a few red flags, but ignored it. I followed up with an email a few days later, asking if he had heard from the police regarding my diversion yet (he sent them an email requesting one). He didn't reply, so today I sent him a text message asking. Our conversation went as follows (L for lawyer; M for me):

M: Hi L, it's M here. How are you going? Have you heard anything from the police regarding my request for a diversion yet? I'm keeping track of my Austudy claim, and it is still processing. Thanks, M.

L: Not yet. Nor have you asked the question.

M: What do you mean by "nor have you asked the question"?

L: Remember I said you must in life ask the question can only get a yes or no.

M: Ohhh, haha, okay. So you haven't asked the police yet?

L: Yes i have the question was personal if you want something you need to ask.

M: What may this "something" be?

L: That's your question if you have one.

M: Are you hinting at something that I'm not picking up? Lol...

L: I wouldn't do that but you are very perceptive

M: Haha, you are very cryptic! *rubbing chin emoticon*

L: It's your question

M: I have a question: what do you want me to ask?

L: Good question think we both know maybe

I didn't reply to that for half an hour, and then he sent this:

L: Still cryptic?

I haven't replied.

What do you make of it? Am I reading too much into it, or does he want to have sex with me?

I have absolutely no romantic or sexual interest in him. He is at least 60, and has four daughters whom are all older than me. Even if he offered me $10 000, I would not have sex with him.

The issue is, he has my summons, and I don't have another copy. He doesn't have administrative staff either, so if I want them back, I'd have to ask.

I was showing quite a bit of skin on the day I went, but not intentionally. I was just wearing a navy business dress and black pumps to look professional, and because I'm tall (5'8") and I accidentally put it in the dryer once, it's quite short (well above the knee).

Please help me!

Thank you!

Answer:
 > Am I reading too much into it

Nah, that is crazy unprofessional and leaning heavily into super creepy.

Find another lawyer, and make a complaint to your local Bar Association.


Title: Extortion charges in Alabama, US

Question:
So, my son did some work for some people that owned a company. They did not pay him. He's gone to small claims court and got a summary judgement that they refuse to pay and the court won't make them pay.

He went to renew his carry permit and they said, great, we've got a warrant for your arrest for extortion. Processed him and he's out on bond.

Does all it take is a phone call to the police and say someone is extorting me and they issue a warrant? Doesn't it take some proof or investigation? He's got a court date. He hasn't tried extorting money from these people. So, get a lawyer and go to court - where does he go from here? More cost and not likely to get anything back from the people that owe him money.

Answer: You're only getting one side of the story here and it's your son so naturally you will be biased. Your son can either get an attorney or plead not guilty and ask for one. You can help him pay for it. Other than that you should not be involved and he shouldn't be discussing it with anybody but his attorney. There a good possibility there is a lot he isn't telling you.


Title: [OH] Friend being asked to confirm my identity for new employment

Question:
I just got a job through a recruiter. The client my recruiter found wanted me to start ASAP so the recruiter sent me my I-9, background check, and drug screening information to be completed the following day. I filled out all the forms and asked if I will need to bring my passport to work with me to verify my identity. The recruiter said that they would just need a close friend or family member’s email address and they would send them a link to follow which will confirm my identity. I thought it would be some odd questionnaire or something. I gave them my best friend’s email since he was with me when I was going over all of this.
He received the link along with a username and temp password. Once he logged in he was greeted with all my information. As in address, phone number, full uncensored social, and passport number. At the end, it said that he was verifying my identity for my recruiter and if anything is falsified, it is considered a federal crime.
Is this even legal? To have a friend or family member confirm your identity in this way for employment? It just seems really sketchy.

Answer:
 Yeah this sounds like a scam. Have you actually spoken to someone at the company? Answer #2: Recruiting is a branch of HR which are notorious cancer cells within otherwise healthy companies.

I guarantee you the recruiter said "Close" friend or family because they are aware this information is all displayed. I bet they know and are just cool with it as being part of their process.


Title: TN - Wife's work republished without permission for monetary gain

Question:
My wife is a teacher for a school district where we live.  She is specialized to teach a certain type of student, as well as regular education students.  Last year, she was asked to come to a training to be trained on the "new and improved" methods of teaching her students.  She went to the training, went through it, passed it and got her certificate.  When she returned to her school, the administration and district asked her to lead a group of teachers in teaching this method to others.  She created a few documents and used them to reteach the other teachers in her districts of this method.

The company that initially taught my wife this method, was there when she was teaching it to the other teachers in the district.

A few weeks later while she was teaching her regular class of students, the company came to observe my wife, and took a copy of what she gave her students.

The company just released a new manual, which they sell to school districts, and two of her worksheets she created are in there, without her permission and copywrited to the company.  They changed just a little of it, but as soon as another teacher saw the worksheet she said, "Oh my God, this is your work."  It's pretty recognizable as similar.

What does she need to do in order to get her fair shake?  She's not looking for something for nothing, she was just very surprised that her work was in there, and she's proud, she's finally published... Too bad they didn't give her any credit for it whatsoever.

Edit: Clarity

Answer: Does her employment contract stipulate that the school owns materials the teacher creates?Answer #2: For starters, it would likely be the property of the school if they paid for the training and then had her train the rest of the staff. Generally speaking, if you create something for your employers while on the clock, the IP belongs to the employers.


Title: I rent a house on a private road and owner of the road is doing nothing about snow removal.

Question:
Hello.  Sorry if this is a basic question, I did some quick googling and couldn't find results that I was looking for.  Basically I am a Pennsylvania resident, and I am renting a house from a married couple that lives a few miles away from it.

The road this house is on is a narrow gravel driveway-like road, off  of a main road.  There are about 6 other houses on this road.  I was told when I signed the lease that the road was privately owned by someone who lives in another one of the houses on the road, so that I should watch how fast I drive on it, as the owner is sensitive to people driving over 10mph.

So now winter is here in PA, and it's a pretty bad winter compared to the past few ones we've had.  So far, I haven't seen ANYTHING be done about this road in terms of snow removal.  This evening my girlfriend called me saying she was completely stuck and we had to shovel the car out the snow.  To finally get the car in our driveway, we had to start at the beginning of the road and gun it up the hill  (It's an incline, with a 90 degree turn at the top, this was really really really unsafe to do).

Since the weather forecast for tomorrow is 25 degrees, this snow isn't going anywhere, and we'll probably have to do the same thing tomorrow when my girlfriend gets home from work.  I'm almost out of food so I'll have to do the same thing soon (I work from home and leaving the house isn't something I have to do on a daily basis).

I'm assuming that I need to communicate these concerns through my landlords since they own the house, but what I'm wondering is, is the owner of the road under obligation to get the snow removed?  Clearly the township isn't touching it but it's very unsafe to keep a road like this.  We are even at the point where we are starting to consider not renewing our lease on what is otherwise a wonderful rental property.  So I would just like to know my options.

Sorry if this is too much, I just wanted to be detailed about the situation (and rant a little bit if I'm completely honest lol).  Any help would be appreciated.

Answer: They're likely not required to maintain the road.


Title: [Florida] Found a child pornography website, immediately reported on cybertipline.com, but the depictions were downloaded beforehand - need legal advice

Question: I am a 21 year old male in Florida, and I found a child pornography site that was linked through an anonymous "revenge porn" site (anon-lb). The site contained download links to videos and after viewing them, contained sexual depictions of minors. I have since deleted the videos from my ssd, as well as reported the incident with both urls cited to cybertipline.com. I need advice on how I should proceed. Should I contact my local police force? Am I going to be prosecuted for possession of child pornography? I keep reading cases of people being sentenced to over 5 years in federal prison, but those were always people (usually in there late 40's - 50's) who had hundreds and thousands of pictures/videos and over the span of years. This is the first time I have ever come across this, and I am freaking out a little (since the content in question was in fact downloaded). Any legal advice is appreciated.

Answer:
 The fact you reported it makes it rather unlikely they would pursue charges against you. You should wipe any traces on your computer and move on with your life.Answer #2: The one thing you might consider is IF for whatever reason, your computer was analyzed in the future, then it's possible some of the "deleted" files could be recovered. That's just how the hardware works.

Anon-ib is a trash heap and it any anything that you link to through it is probably best to be avoided. That's how you avoid having your computer analyzed in the firs place. So don't go back there, don't watch revenge porn, and swap out your computer at your earliest convenience to get a clean slate.Answer #3: Probably not. You did the right thing, and were protecting children. That stuff is out there on the web, and the feds know it. They know the only way to combat it is to be made aware of it. You're not going to get a thank you, or anything, but it is very unlikely someone will come looking for you for accidentally viewing illicit material, and then reporting it to the proper authorities.

They have a tip line for a reason.


Title: Subletter asking for money - taking my roommates and I to small claims court [Massachusetts]

Question:
This summer my roommate brought in a subletter to live in an empty room in our duplex. There was no written agreement and any terms were agreed upon over text or verbally. She seemed nice and did not voice any complaints with us up until two weeks ago, when she claimed we had been eating her food, which was true but she explicitly told us it was ok to do so. Regardless, we stopped eating her food altogether, and she bought a mini-fridge for her room. Last week I texted her asking for the money for electricity for July. The bill had nearly doubled what it was in June, I believe in large part due to her buying of the mini-fridge as well as buying an air conditioner for her room early on in July, both of which none of the other roommates use or have any of our own. She became upset and said she was refusing to pay, even though she had paid June's full utilities bill, split four ways evenly between the four roommates as it was for July as well. Then she also said that the living situation did not comply with the "lease" she had arranged with my roommate, claiming that she was promised the entire house alone. My roommate claims that she never actually promised this, but she did say over text that the three roommates would not be living there for the summer; this was after the subletter had given her the money for the summer and made the arrangements for her to live there.

The subletter has since moved out and asked for an entire month's rent back for the month of August, despite her only having moved out August 8th. She has stated numerous times over text that she is going to take us to small claims court and will get much more than what she has asked. I'm not sure if she has had any legal advice.

My question is, are we obligated to give her any money? Should I offer her any money? Is there anything I should know going forward?

Thank you for any help; it is much appreciated.

Answer: She's obligated to pay the Aug rent and the utilities she consumed.


Title: [Houston] Adult friend with Asperger's worried about being assigned to a guardian against her will?

Question:
My friend of nearly 20 years called me in a panic last night, saying that her (emotionally abusive) mother wants to give guardianship over to friend's uncle (that she has met twice in her life) when the mom passes.

My friend is terrified that she has no choice in this matter and I want to know where I can find out about her rights here in Texas as a high functioning autistic adult?

What we WANT to do is for her to move to Colorado with me once I get my MLS. She's worried she will be legally prohibited from doing so and instead be forced to remain with her emotionally abusive trash family her whole life. :C

What can we do?

Answer:
 Does her mother currently _have_ guardianship?

A guardian is appointed by the court, and cannot be "assigned" like that. If your friend needs a guardian, and her guardian passes away, an interested party can step up and seek guardianship, but they don't gain it automatically even if the previous guardian stated a preference for it. As with all guardianship proceedings, the prospective ward would generally also have representation, one way or another.

If your friend isn't currently anyone's ward, then it's doubly moot, as any process for establishing guardianship would have to start by establishing that she needs it. That generally requires a medical opinion.Answer #2: Guardianship's can be terminated if the ward can show the courts that they can care for themselves.

If the mother has guardianship, and your friend is not depended on her mother's care due to her disability, she should speak to an attorney about terminating the guardianship.Answer #3: > She's worried she will be legally prohibited from doing so and instead be forced to remain with her emotionally abusive trash family her whole life.

The court won't force this - she's an adult and can make decisions about her own life. No court will make a functional adult give up her freedom and be force to have a guardian.

Does her mother currently have guardianship over her now? If so, she should look to change that status. Also is she working and saving up money of her own?


Title: In this edition of Snowflake Monthly: Teen sues parents for mortifying Facebook pictures

Answer:
 >the court’s decision could set a president

High quality journalism.

Here's hoping she wins. If somebody wants to give all their personal information to Facebook, then that's their choice. But they shouldn't be able to make that decision for somebody else, especially when that person is too young to understand the risks and consequences.


Title: My mother will likely call authorities and accuse me of sexually harassing my brother - need help

Question:
I am 17 years old (male) and will be turning 18 in early July. For context, my mom is mentally ill with bipolar disorder. She has already called the police on my father 3 times IIRC. Over the past month, she has started to believe that I am sexually harassing my 5yo brother. These beliefs are completely without evidence and are absolutely false (we do hug and kiss normally, and wrestle). She is just crazy.

Lately she has been video recording me and stalking me when I'm with my brother. She has hinted that she would call authorities and my dad has warned me that she absolutely would.

I do not want to be trapped in social work hell. From my understanding, even false allegations like these can still severely impact your life. What can I do now to possibly defend myself if she does try to call authorities? I would like to be prepared.

Thank you (I am in Virginia btw)

Answer: Start making recordings of your own. If you're *seriously* concerned, I'd preempt her and call the police yourself. Years ago, I heard I was going to be falsely accused and I did just that. The police took a statement and were incredibly supportive. After a short investigation, they warned the person against making false statements and told me I was good to go. It's never been an issue since.Answer #2: Have you looked into getting her involuntarily committed for a psyc evaluation? If she is having issues due to a mental illness helping her now may save you, her, and everyone else a lot of trouble. Talk it over with your dad first, it'll be very hard to have her committed without his cooperation. Answer #3: Not legal advice, but you can encourage your dad to call your mom's psychiatrist and let them know this is happening. It sounds like your mom might need to be evaluated for inpatient treatment.


Title: Uncle Passed. Could I be financially responsible?

Question:
My uncle passed away this weekend and unfortunately I'm his only living family member. Before my mother passed they had a falling out, so we have not been in touch for ten years. Due to the fact that I'm the only living family member, I have to give permission to the funeral home to cremate his body (his wishes) and to the nursing home to release his stuff. One of his friends is paying for the funeral service which is great. What I'm worried about though is do I need to worry about signing anything that could cause me to be responsible for any of his debts or back taxes? Any advice on what to anticipate would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: This is in New York, USA

Answer:
 Sorry to hear about your uncle.

Please read everything you sign carefully. It is possible that you could sign something making yourself liable for his debts. However, absent such a signature, and absent filial responsibility laws (which New York repealed about 50 years ago), and absent a court order (extremely rare, and definitely something you would know about), you can't be held responsible for your father's debts unless you cosigned on a loan / credit card / etc.

Unfortunately, debt collectors become incredibly pushy and slimy when a family member dies. I speak from experience. They may contact you and say that they just need to "finalize his account" and send you an official-looking document to sign -- and if you do sign, you've agreed to accept responsibility for some or all of the debt. The worst I encountered was a debt collector who acted very sympathetic and said something like "you know what? This is disgusting. I'm just going to offer you a 10% settlement. I'll put the documents in the mail and that way you won't have to pay the full amount." I offered him a creative "alternative delivery location" for his documents, which he for some reason refused.

TL/DR: read everything carefully.


Title: [GA] My wife got a DUI about a month ago. Last week she passed away. Today, her DUI attorney called my cell number.

Question:
I found paperwork where she signed an agreement to pay them $3,000 in $500 monthly installments. A secretary or paralegal called and left me an urgent voice message to call them back. I never signed anything with them nor did I go to their office with her. Can they come after me for the remaining $2,500?

Edit: Thank you to all who have replied. I feel much better about contacting this attorney.

Edit2: You guys are great. :)

Answer:
 Tell the attorney she has passed away.  There is a good chance the lawyer won't bother trying to collect the restAnswer #2: Yes, the attorney can come after the estate for money owed, but it sounds like the $3k was a retainer.  Depending on how much work was done, you may be entitled to a credit for some of it.

If it was a flat fee, then maybe not.  You need to find her agreement with the attorney.

IMO you should definitely call and let them know she passed away, before they spend more time and money on the case.Answer #3: They can come after her estate. Answer #4: I'm sorry for your loss. Hopefully they don't hassle you over this.


Title: My car was towed from my apartment complex for "unauthorized" parking.

Question:
My car was towed from my apartment complex at the end of June this year. The apartment complex gives out stickers to cars that are authorized to park within the complex; my car has the sticker. When I called the towing company they told me that they didn't have a record of it in their system and that I needed to call the police station so that they could tell me where it is located. I called the police station and they told me that in fact my car was towed by the towing company (for unauthorized parking) that my apartment complex deals with. I called the towing company back and they told me that they didn't know what lot my car was located so I needed to wait and they will call me back. They never called me back. The next day i had a flight and would be out of the country for 2 weeks. I was unable to call them during the two weeks I was gone but I did have my spouse call once during these two weeks, and they basically told him the same thing; they will call back when they know where the car is. Now that I've returned from my trip I called again and they finally told me where the car is located but the total is $1,500 currently. I asked why my car was towed in the first place and I was informed that I can't store my car. They told me that this information was given to me in my lease agreement for my apartment. I looked over my contract and I didn't see anywhere stating a specific number of days that my car can be stationary in parking spot. I asked if they could give me the reason in writing and they told me they can't give me that information until I come in to pay and get my car out of the towing company storage. Is there any thing I can do to either try and lower the number of days i need to pay. For example, from the day it was towed to the day i first called to inquire? I am located in Southern California.

Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 You're going to need to pay and sue your landlord for the unauthorized towing and storage.

The fact that they couldn't find it for two weeks while you were gone actually helps, because now your landlord can't claim you failed to mitigate.Answer #2: why did they think you were "storing" your car? Is your registration/inspection up to date?  Did you contact the lease office? They are the ones who have a contract with the tow company.


Title: Sprint owes me money...but is turning me in to collections. Maybe the people here can give me some ideas!

Question:
So, after having their service for over 15 years, I closed my account with sprint last January.  They continued drafting the bill from my checking account for 3 more months, at which point I called my bank and told them to block any further drafts from them.  They put in a block, and were able to reverse the charges for the one month.

So now, I paid for 2 months of service after my account was closed.  I'm actually pretty sure when I opened the account in 2001 that they made me pay a full month up front also, so I kinda paid for 3 months, but I'll let that go.

So anyway, as far as I'm concerned, Sprint owes me back about $240, but they have turned me in to collections for the last charge that was reversed.

Any thoughts on how to handle this?  I'd rather spend $120 than have a collections account on my credit report, but I'm more on principle here.  I spoke with the collections company and explained it to them, but they were only mildly helpful, and have not emailed me any updates as I asked them to.

On a side note, the biggest shame is that when I closed my account, I said multiple times how I was sad to terminate my business with them, because even in their Nextel days, they were always very friendly to deal with, and had the best customer service, but I couldn't justify continuing to pay $120 a month for a phone that I used maybe once every few months, since I was primarily using a mobile provided to me elsewhere.   Then when I cancelled the line, they became the master of evil.

Any thoughts are appreciated.  Thanks!

Answer:
 Contact the collections and ask for verification of the debt, supply proof you closed the account prior, and dispute the connections with all 3 bureaus.

Contact sprint before they put you in collections and tell them you closed your account and would like to be refunded for those two months they overcharged you and to not put you in collections


Title: Subletter wants to charge me for not keeping the apartment clean, 10$ per infraction.

Question: I live in Montreal, Quebec, and this guy who advertised a room for rent on Craigslist wants to charge me 10$ every time I fail to clean up after myself around the apartment. That must be illegal? I haven't signed any rental agreement or anything, I'm just checking out the room.

Answer:
 You ever go on a date with someone, and they do something that warns you they might be insane to the point where you don't want to deal with them? Like, when she spots a vaguely crystal-shaped ice cube in her glass, she takes it out of her glass and presses it to her forehead and starts humming a tune to the astral realm, and every time a droplet of water hits her lips she gives a little "fffft" breath and blows it across the table, and then when the waiter comes over she starts asking about the vegan options and whether the carrots are cruelty-free? And you look at the way her hair falls over her shoulders just-so and you remember what she looked like walking to the table and you think "quelle criss de decision icit" and you're not really sure if you should run the fuck away or see where the evening leads you?

Yeah. This is the version of that moment, but with apartment hunting. Get out.


Title: Child support?

Question:
My baby daddy is quitting his job to go to school and claims he cannot also hold down a job for the next 2 1/2 years. Does that get him out of paying for child support?

&amp;#x200B;

Answer: No he will still have requirements to pay


Title: [Australia] I think work has forged my signature on a contract?

Question:
My work has been talking about changing everyone's hours and has been saying for months that it would be around this week. I had annual leave for the last two weeks and went back to work on Sunday. As I hadn't heard anything more about the potential change in hours, I called my boss on Monday to ask about it. He told me that I had signed a new contract with completely different hours, that apparently started that day. I worked today and confirmed with some fellow employees that they had signed the new contacts while I was away. I 100% did not sign a new contract, and have been trying to get them to let me see the copy I apparently signed. I'm pissed, but I'm not really sure what to do from here.
Topic:
Contracts

Answer:
 Contact Fairwork.Answer #2: They may have forged your signature, or your boss may be under the impression that *you* signed a new contract because *~everyone* signed the new contracts a week or so ago.

Their inability to provide the contract "you signed" my be because they can't find it.  Talk to HR and/or your boss.


Title: (Arizona) My friend is being told that she has to volunteer (unpaid). What can she do?

Question:
She works at an elementary school as part of the aftercare staff. In my own opinion they get paid entirely too little for the amount of work they do (I used to work there), but that's beside the point.

The school is putting on an event that the aftercare staff is to organize and run. It's a big event, and it'll run for 8 hours total, but she's only getting paid for the 5 hours that it's open. She's being told that she HAS to volunteer (unpaid) in setting it up and breaking it down which is no easy task.

She's a minimum wage worker, what can she do? I don't know for sure, but I'm fairly certain this is illegal.

Answer:
 If she has to work, she has to be paid.

https://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.pdf


Title: My mom is threatening to watch my bank account.

Question:
First off i live at home with my mom and i am 23 years old.
So lately my mom has been saying she is **going** to see my bank account because she wants to see how much i have saved these past years. I've told her that i have saved some but not that much, and  that's my privacy and i don't want to share it with her. But she insist she is going to see it because i live at home with her.
Isn't this against the law or some sort of privacy rule ?

Answer:
 Switch your bank account to paperless billing so statements don't come in the mail, and set a secure password and security questions she doesn't know the answer to.

She can't force you to show her your bank account, but she could kick you out, with appropriate notice.Answer #2: She cannot force you or your bank to show her your private bank records.

You cannot force HER to continue to allow you to live in her house, or provide a car, insurance, food, Internet, utilities, or any other kind of support.Answer #3: How is she going to see it? Is she a signer on the account or is it sole owned in your name only?

It's simple, make sure that you're the only one on the account. Inform the bank and ask to put a verbal password on the account so if someone calls in with your info trying to be 'you' they also have to give the verbal password prior to getting any info.

In addition, make sure you only have electronic statements.

I would highly recommend not banking at the same place as your mom in case she is friendly with a teller/banker who may violate rules and give her info anyway.


Title: Hit and Run. I have a lot of evidence. Help me please.

Question:
Austin, TX

I was a victim of a hit and run. I have dashcam footage of the accident. I have a license plate that I assume came off their car. I had a witness in the passenger seat, I was driving for Uber at the time. I reported to the police and insurance company. This happened today. What should I do to benefit the most from this situation?

I make a living with my car so I'll be out for weeks at least. Do I need a lawyer? I want to handle this the best way possible.

Answer: Did you get a report at the scene? If so, and considering your evidence, it should be pretty straight forward to not only recover from their insurance (assuming they have any) but to also get a prosecutor in Travis county to seek an indictment. Hit and run is a felony.


Title: Deemed as "quitting" after walking out on shift

Question:
So, in real context, I work at a small commercial gluten free bakery in Ohio. Since the first few cases of COVID-19 arrived there, work had not considered implementing safety measures. After week 4, cases were in the 1500s and work still did not have any safety measures for us, despite our county being the second largest one with cases (currently still 2nd highest). They tell us to practice social distancing at the facility, but I will tell you this, it is impossible for us to do so. We are constantly within 6 ft (or less) of each other. **On April 6th, after coming into work, and seeing that they have not made any changes, I expressed to my employer that I don't feel comfortable working under those conditions and left work.** They asked me if I was resigning from my position, I told them I was not, also have the text message. I received an email on April 8th stating:

***In regard to your decision to leave work after just 30 minutes into your scheduled shift on Monday, April 6, 2020 and abandoning your job and your fellow employees thereafter, \[\[redacted\]\], recognizes your decision to quit your job as of Monday, April 6, 2020 without further requirement on your part.***

***We thank you for your efforts and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.***

I have been with the company for 3 1/2 years. Was well trained on nearly all the things in the book, minus scheduling productions and bookkeeping.  I've been trying to voice my opinions on many things, especially with ways of finding shortcuts to help save time and money, but I've only been told to just keep my mouth shut and continue mixing. I felt very undervalued.

My employer was this high-strung person that always wanted to keep tabs on me, even the productions manager was telling me that she was always asking about me and what I was doing. These actions made me feel very uneasy because she's never done that to anyone else aside from me. I have documented very detailed descriptions, and even have it in text from the aftermath, on the days that they yelled at me in front of all the other workers for making small mistakes. I remember when a worker dropped a $10k piece of equipment and fractured part of it. They told them to be careful next time, accidents happen, and **proceeded to buy a new piece of equipment.** I got distracted and set one of the mixers too high which resulted in some flour blend flying out due to speed, I stopped it very quickly and there wasn't much lost. **But the employer saw the resulting mess from the flour and yelled at me in front of everyone.** They had handled any situation that involved me very inappropriately.

**I will like to state I was the only minority at the facility (African American).**

I just want to know if there is anything that I can do in this situation, because clearly there have been times when I should have quit long ago, but I stayed there because I needed the paycheck, despite all the verbal abuse and harassment via texts.

**Can anyone help me with this?** I've been told to contact the US Department of Labor, and Civil Rights about looking into creating a case for this.

**Note 1**: Now, the bakery is home to a lot of OSHA violations, our employer having had us put things together equipment that should have been professionally done only because they wanted to save money rather than hiring someone. I've even watched our employer mishandle some of the equipment. I've spoken out against some of these violations, but they jokingly asked if I was going to report them to OSHA. **Should I?**

**Note 2:** From having various talks with the accountant at the facility, it had come up that the employer has been lying to the investor about how production has been going. The only thing that really is moving sales is online orders (due to the current state of things). I also believe our accountant is going to quit, because she's tired of the mishandling of the funding, overworking of the employees, and lying to the investor.

Answer:
 >I just want to know if there is anything that I can do in this situation, because clearly there have been times when I should have quit long ago, but I stayed there because I needed the paycheck, despite all the verbal abuse and harassment via texts.

You should file for unemployment. You should describe your departure as being around your concerns for your own safety with respect to COVID.

If you continue to be concerned that the company isn't adhering to reasonable practices for operating an essential business through the pandemic you might report those concerns to your local health department.

>I will like to state I was the only minority at the facility (African American).

Did other non-minority employees walk off the job but have different treatment or outcomes?  Because short of that this would appear to be about your obvious job abandonment and not your race.


Title: Refused every test in a complicated DUI case

Question:
Last October I (20m) was pulled over crossing the ponchatrain bridge heading out of New Orleans at around 1:30 AM. A had been advised from a family friend a few years before on how to handle that situation.
The limit is .01 under 21 years old. Mouth wash could have sent me over that, let alone a night in New Orleans.

Therefore, I made the decision to shut everything down as soon as the officer asked me to exit the vehicle. I calmly refused and informed him I wouldn't consent to any field sobriety test or any test until I could speak with my lawyer. I was then taken to be booked, refused the breathalyzer and was taken to jail.

Fast forward to February. I have retained a lawyer and had a over the phone hearing about my suspended license (automatically suspended for refusing breathalyzer). That penalty was dropped and my license reinstated.

Today, I appeared in court for the first time. The only evidence the DA has is a dash cam video of me, with only about 1 minute of me driving and it's fairly neutral (neither good nor bad). My lawyer met with the DA as some of the smaller traffic violations were cleared up and they decided they wanted more time, they had no idea what to do.

My lawyer advised a continuation until August for two reasons: 1) the DA had no idea what to do since I had refused every test. The only evidence being the video. 2) the presiding judge was apparently the most conservative in the parish( St. Tammany) and anyone but him is preferable.

So what am I working with here? My lawyer believes I've got a solid case and wants to go to trial if we can't plea down to a minor traffic violation. What's my best path forward?
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 >What's my best path forward?

Listen to your attorney, instead of people on the internet who don't have intimate knowledge of your case.

That said, I've convicted many people who refused the tests.


Title: Is it legal to live in a ghost town?

Question:
(Was referred here by r/NoStupidQuestions)

Given that I have enough money, resources, etc. is it legal to settle in a ghost town? I know I would need to build my own house etc. I was looking at some places on Google Maps for fun and found the town of Unga on Unga Island in Alaska (Aleutian territory) and read that the last family left in 1969.

Answer: Unga is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The entire island is owned by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, with the exception of a small enclave owned by the Aleut Corporation. So if you want to live there, you'll need their permission.


Title: A drunk cop just punched my mirror off my car while sitting at a red light...

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Do you know if the cop was charged with anything? He should have.  You should follow-up on that and attempt to talk to the prosecutor.  If he is charged with a crime, you can request that part of his sentence includes an order to pay you restitution ("reimbursement" in legalese).

If he wasn't charged for some reason (blue line privilege), contact internal affairs, or whatever office that takes public complaints, and tell them what happened.  They may pressure the officer to reimburse you to avoid public embarrassment.

If you can't get it through restitution, you can sue him in small claims. Answer #2: You can sue him if he refuses to payAnswer #3: [Heh.](http://i.imgur.com/kp76gaq.png)Answer #4: Sure, you can sue the intoxicated police officer (I'm assuming they weren't on duty). If they were on duty, you could sue the police force in which they are currently employed.


Title: [Minnesota] Can my employer force me to clock out for unpaid lunch when I can't leave the building and have to be "on-call" during it

Question:
I work for a retirement community where there is one staff member on each shift. We cannot leave the building during our shift because there is no one else to cover while we are on break. Since there is only one staff member on and we can't leave, we've worked straight 8hr shifts with a *paid* 30min lunch where we keep the emergency paiger (similar to the life-alert system, just in-house) and in-house cellphone and respond/answer calls if anything comes up.

Now we have new middle management that is requiring that we clock out for our 30min break but we still cannot leave the building and must keep the pager and cell phone on us and if we have to respond during our break we're supposed to fill out a time doc to get paid.

I have been under the impression that since we cannot leave the building and have to be available to respond even during our break that they had to pay us. Is what they're doing legal and if not can you please give me a source to be able to bring up to my new bosses?

Answer: Your covered by the FLSA here, specifically "restricted" on-call conditions. You have to be paid. https://www.employmentlawhandbook.com/flsa/fair-labor-standards-act-when-on-call-time-is-recognized-as-hours-worked/


Title: Is it illegal to have a swastika tattoo?

Question: [removed]

Answer: Assuming you are in the US, it is legal to have a swastika tattoo. It also says "I don't want a job". Answer #2: In the US? No it is not illegal. Extremely distasteful, but legal.


Title: My Parents Died and My Aunt Isn't Transferring The Deed to Our House As Promised in Notarized Letter

Question:
Backstory:
The house my sister, brother, and myself grew up in didn't belong to my parents. It belonged to my great aunt. She allowed my family to rent the home from her. When she passed away a few years ago, my aunt received stewardship of her "estate." She also inherited the house. She continued to rent to my family. When my parents died, my aunt took us all out to dinner and shared with us that she would be transferring the title of the house to the three of us. She gave us a notarized letter of intent. We were happy that this would be something all three of us could use, and possibly rent out as we have families of our own.

Fast-forward a year. My aunt has transferred the property to my siblings, but her lawyer stated that it couldn't be transferred to me as well (despite being the oldest) due to me living out of state. So, my sister and brother are getting the house. Not a big deal, really.

My question is simple: did my aunt break a contract?

TL;DR- My aunt gave my siblings and I a notarized letter of intent, didn't follow it.

Answer:
 >but her lawyer stated that it couldn't be transferred to me as well (despite being the oldest) due to me living out of state.

That makes not a damn bit of sense.

>did my aunt break a contract?

A promise to give something away is typically not an enforceable contract. You can have an attorney review to make sure.


Title: Inheriting a timeshare.

Question: Don’t know if this is the right sub for this but here it goes. I was recently told that I would be receiving a timeshare from my grandparents. I have absolutely no interest in owning a timeshare. I am looking to try and get rid of it or sell it so I don’t have to pay the annual fees. I have tried talking my self out of getting the timeshare but all that has done is caused hurt feelings from my grandparents. The timeshare is at the Waiohai Beach Club and it is through the Marriot Vacation club. So my question is, can I go to Marriott and ask to return it? Can I sell it? Should I get a lawyer?

Answer:
 If you’re hurting your grandparents feelings then you haven’t inherited anything.  Only been told that as of now their will leaves the timeshare to you.

Upon their death you can choose between not accepting your inheritance, or accepting and selling (or even using ) it based on the circumstances at that time.


Title: [TX] Old car likely to be declared totaled, can we sue to repair?

Question:
Background: Husband's early-90's sports car was parked and unoccupied on a residential street. A driver backed out of their driveway across the street right into his car (there's a reason those backup cameras say to check your surroundings). The impact pushed the car into the curb, dented the panel over the rear wheel, and might have jostled things within the engine enough to cause a radiator leak. They've accepted liability.

Due to the age and low number of private sales of the car, it's a certainty it will be totaled. It still gets you from A to B (once the leak is fixed) though, so we would prefer to fix it. Even if we do move on from the car, people like our mechanic have expressed interest in buying it "when we're done with it".

If the insurance check isn't enough to make the car drivable again, could we sue the driver for the difference?

Answer:
 >
If the insurance check isn't enough to make the car drivable again, could we sue the driver for the difference?

No.  He has to make you whole(presuming he's fully at fault).  If you had a $2000 car, and it costs $4000 to fix, he only owes you $2000.

If it's important to you, you can negotiate a payout with the insurance company that allows you to keep the car and you can repair it yourself.  That payout will be lower than if you surrendered the car.