Title: Underage sex with a 34 year old 2 years ago for money? Canada, Ontario

Question:
*The story is pretty long, but please bare with me. It will all make sense in the end. I am also a girl.

When I was 17, I decided to go on antidepressants for the first time for my severe anxiety. But I was having issues with the medication. I started on 10mg of Cipralex, but it wasn't working the way I wanted it to so I went on a stronger dose of 20mg and I felt it worked too "well" - I had no remorse for my actions, I didn't care about anything, I just wasn't myself anymore. I stayed on it for a while hoping it would just work itself out in my body.

I had a boyfriend of 2 years at the time, he noticed the changes in my attitude and behaviors and because of these changes, we broke up. He meant the world to me but again, I didn't even have a single care about losing him due to the effectiveness of the medication I was on.

I made the choice to move in with my brothers' for my grade 11 year. Their house (a 4 minute walk from my school) was my old house before my mom decided to move across town, away from my school (an hour and a half by bus). My mom paid them $200 for rent but I had to buy my own groceries. I only worked on Saturdays so I pretty much made ~$110 per paycheck.

Christmas was coming up and I practically had no money. I always feel pressure to get my 4 siblings, mom, dad, & stepmom gifts that they ask for otherwise the guilt will eat me alive. I wanted to especially make my mom proud that I could afford things and I was "old enough" to take care of myself. Therefore, I made the choice to go on Craigslist and potentially have sex with a man for money. I knew in the back of my head that it was wrong, but I DID NOT CARE. The medication messed with my head in ways that I can't even describe. I would never do the things I did 2 years ago today.

I ended up talking with a 34 year old man (lets call him John) who was very clean, had lots of money but was the biggest asshole. I told him I was 18 but I don't think he actually believed me when he saw me. He picked me up from my house but I told him through text that I wanted to get to know him first. He said it was fine. Once we got to his house, we talked a bit and then asked to kiss me. I constantly said that I just wanted to get to know him and that next time we can do things (if I felt comfortable enough with him). Eventually he did end up kissing me. I felt trapped in his home, I was scared and I didn't know where I was. I just went with it hoping it would be over soon. He started to take my clothes off, again, telling him that I thought we were going to get to know each other - his response "This is getting to know each other". I was terrified but I didn't know what else to do. I was so ashamed that I didn't want anybody to know what happened or what I did. We had sex and he drove me home, giving me only $120 when he said I would get $300. I was just happy it was over. (Also, he looked at my student card. I thought he knew for sure that I was 17 and I was in grade 11, but he never said anything)

We exchanged a few texts, saying he would give me more money if I sent him pictures. He wasn't a nice person, I was scared and I didn't know what to do so I just always did what he wanted.

I really needed more money so we decided to meet up again. He told me to take a taxi to his place, walk into his place, take my clothes off, and put a blindfold on when I walk in. I did. I heard him come downstairs and he did a few things sexual to me before taking me upstairs, still with the blindfold on, only to realize that there was another man in the room. So at this point, I was blindfolded and forced to have sex with a man that I had no consent of. I never saw the man, but once I got the blindfold off, "John" told me he was doing a friend a favor. I was so upset but I didn't tell him. On the car ride back, he told me that the guy was married and had a kid. I was so sick to my stomach. I had a event to go to that night, I showered and showed up late. I didn't tell anyone.

I stopped responding to "John". He got angry but I was staying at my moms house for the Christmas Break so I felt safe from him. He is from Florida I think, he sells houses in Canada and the last I heard from him was he was going back home to his family.

I tried killing myself 3 times due to this event. I stopped taking the antidepressants and begged for my exboyfriends forgiveness. To this day, this whole thing has haunted me. I have only told my therapist and that is it. I have a new wonderful boyfriend who adores me but when we first started having sex I was terrified all over again. But in all, I am happy and I moved back in with my mom.

I want this guy to go to hell. He ruined my life but I understand that it was my fault, I chose to do this initially. But I also feel that it isn't, you know? The medication made me not who I was. I was 17 and I didn't actually give consent to both events. I saved all of his texts as well, since I have proof, can that help me in any way? Can I charge him? I don't know. Feel free to ask any questions.

TL;DR - I went on antidepressants that changed my whole personality, attitude, behaviors, etc. I moved out, I didn't have enough money and thought it would be okay to maybe have sex with a guy on Craigslist for money. On our first meet, I told him I just wanted to get to know him before we do anything. I was terrified and gave into having sex with him. On another occasion, he told me to taxi to his house and put a blindfold on. He made me have sex with a man that I didn't give consent to. I stopped talking to him and tried to kill myself 3 times because of the event. It still haunts me to this day.

Answer:
 TL;DR:  OP posted a Craigslist ad to prostitute herself. She met a dude, who effectively raped her, and then didn't pay the agreed upon amount.  She met him a second time, when he blindfolded her, and had her have sex with another man as well.

She is pissed, and wants to know what she can legally do.

The rest is commentary.

OP:  Go to the police.  Get some counseling.  Don't let this man & this event define you.


Title: If a lawyer offers legal advice to someone on /r/LegalAdvice, could be seen as forming an attorney client relationship?

Answer:
 I seriously doubt it. I'm a lawyer and I give advice on /r/legaladvice. It's really just a measure to keep the dumbest of dumb people from attempting to report you to the bar or filing a frivolous malpractice claim against you. Some lawyers are super serious about it and feel like it's ethical violation. I think that's hogwash. It's no more iffy than the million of other actions we take a single day.  No one should consider what you get from random strangers on the internet as forming that kind of relationship. It's a good starting point to send you on the right direction.Answer #2: At the firm I work for the lawyers specifically prohibited from posting on  these types of forums because of this concern.

Good thing I'm just a clerk. Answer #3: IANAL Usually lawyers on LA specifically state they are not forming a relationship with you, this is a valid disclaimer that prevents a relationship from forming

Furthermore, here are some relevant parts of the LA sidebar:

"A place to ask simple legal questions. Advice here is for informational purposes only and should not be considered final or official advice. See a local attorney for the best answer to your questions.
...
Please only use responses as guidelines to better prepare yourself for when you meet with a lawyer."


Title: Virginia USA, attempting to break your lease by forging military orders.

Question:
**I'm not going to do this.**

"Forging orders to PCS or deploy" is a suggestion being thrown out to someone who wants to break their apartment lease. This is being talked about on a military forum, which is why orders are being brought up, but this person is actually a civilian (now).

After determining that LLs aren't stupid and will check to see if the orders are real, the reason NOT to fake orders came to rest on "Oh, darn, the asker is a civilian. They can't can't fake orders if they are a civilian, anyway." I think that logic is imperfect. Not actually  having to answer to the military should your LL validate your forged orders might work in your favor...the military isn't going to be able to punish that civilian.

Still, I'm sure some kind of trouble would ensue. I just don't know what that trouble would be. I have some ideas, but want your input.

If a civilian forged orders and tried to break their lease with them, and the LL caught them BEFORE the request came to fruition, what legal punishment would said civilian face? Again, the civilian didn't succeed, so the thinking on my part is that the LL has no damages.

Answer:
 it's fraud, and that's a criminal offense.Answer #2: >what legal punishment would said civilian face?

Fraud charges and of course the civilian would still be liable for the lease.

For an military employee it could be even worse. First of said military employee just discredited the military (they don't like that) so that is a big black mark in his/her file (so no more promotion if he/she doesn't get kicked out). And then you would still have the fraud charges.


Title: [ON,CA] Neighbours new pool equipment is extremely loud

Question:
So a few weeks ago my neighbour decided to get a pool built in his backyard. Finally it was completed last week and the workers began filling the pool and installed the equipment.

This equipment is extremely loud. I can hear it through my closed windows and it vibrates the walls. This been affecting my sleep and has been going on for 4 days now. My other neighbours could hear it so them and I went to his home to let him know it was too loud and that he should shut it off until there is a better solution (or at least shut it off at night).

He declined to turn it off because the workers told him to "leave it on at all times". My question is, should we file a noise complaint (I'm not sure what the laws are in Ontario) or should we take legal action if this continues?

Update: I filed a complaint and an hour later an officer came by and forced my neighbours to shut it off. Thanks everyone.

Answer:
 If this is a new plaster pool, it is common for the builder to recommend the pool to have the filter run for 24/7 for at least the first week.

The plaster will still be curing, and you don't want to have the chemicals settling in one spot.

After that, there is no need to run the filter 24/7.  8 hours a day should be plenty.  Certainly, turning it off at night won't cause a problem.  In fact, I would be very surprised if his equipment wasn't installed with a timer...  And the reason for the timer:  You don't need to run your equipment 24/7... (Except during startup, or if you are having an algae problem).

This doesn't offer a legal solution to your problem, but perhaps give you some hope that this is temporary.  And, perhaps give you some information for you to discus with your neighbor.Answer #2: Call bylaw.Answer #3: I don’t know about the legal aspect of this but the filter should be very quiet. It sounds like there is something wrong with it.


Title: Cashier with a question about selling alcohol

Question:
Sorry if this isn't allowed here.

I'm 20 I just started my job at Walmart and I'm a cashier. During my training we had to do a long section on selling alcohol. One of the things they taught us was to watch for teenagers nearby when someone is buying alcohol. The idea is that someone is buying it for them.

They said if the minor gets caught with the alcohol the cashier is liable for this too. The example they used was a teenager drank too much alcohol and died. When they found out someone older had bought it for them that person and the cashier were charged.

But I'm not sure if I can always pay attention to this stuff. And what if someone is just buying beer and a teenager happens to be in line behind them? Or the teenager could be outside and I don't know about them at all. I don't want to make any customers mad but I don't want to go to jail. I'm in SC.

Answer:
 IANAL, but I'm from SC and ran a convenience store for years. I never had to fire any of my employees for alcohol violations. Here's the things I told them: When in doubt, card the person. If it looks like several people are interested in the alcohol, **card everyone you want to**. If someone says anything about underage drinking take the beer off the counter and call a manager. If they get upset, say you have to card (Walmart checkout lanes generally have signs, I think, point to those). In case you get uncomfortable, ask your management for help. You can always refuse a sale (and a good manager will support you).

**You are under no obligation to sell alcohol to anyone**. Walmart cannot force you to sell it in any situation you are not happy with. It is better to be fired for not selling alcohol than for selling it to the wrong person. SLED is not a joke, they will bust you if you give them a chance and you do not want any part of it.

If you have concerns about fake IDs: We had a book containing pictures of various identification. Ask your manager if they have such a thing for you to study.

Don't be worried about things you can't see, though - people outside the store where you can't see them are not your problem. We had only a few cameras and didn't have 24-hour management on-site. Walmart is way different - you will have cameras, managers, and witnesses falling out your [...]. Take your responsibility to card people seriously and you will be fine.


Title: Is it legal to put a potentially harmful trap in a fake package to trick a package thief?

Question:
My boyfriend and I are debating whether it would be legal or not to set a trap for a package thief inside a fake package. My opinion is that it would be illegal in the same way that it is illegal to booby trap your house (i.e. you would be liable for any injuries caused to the burglar). However, my boyfriend thinks that it would be legal because it's not your fault that that the package was stolen (but it would be illegal to purposefully deliver a harmful package to someone).

So, can someone please *unpack* the potential legal implications of booby trapping a package for us? Also, would the answer be different if there was a warning on the package for the thief?

Answer:
 It is illegal.  You are exactly right. Answer #2: Mark Rober made a fake package that sprays fine glitter and records with 4 phones: https://youtu.be/xoxhDk-hwuo
I reckon that would work.


Title: Job being dissolved and offered separation pay BUT....

Question:
hello.  throw away account.

Thanks in advance to anyone reading this.  I will try to be as clear as possible.

So in December of 2018 I was emailed by my company's management that my position (along with my co-workers) would be dissolving in May 2019.  We would be offered a transfer to another position or a 'separation' payout from the company.  I have been with the company 3 and a half years.

The company I work for is called Instacart, which is a grocery delivery service.  What I do is, I go to the same Wholefoods Market everyday as a third party, receive grocery lists from customers on my phone and then package the items for delivery.  I am considered an actual employee and not an independent contractor as they employ those too.

Basically the contract Instacart had with Wholefoods has expired and they want Instacart out.  Thus my job is ending.  The severance pay I'm being offered is around 6k.  Of course, to receive this money I need to sign the separation agreement saying I wave my right to legal action against Instacart.  This is where I am unsure of what to do.

My feeling is, Instacart is legally vulnerable right now.  During my time with them my pay has been cut 3-4 times.  At the end I was making about half of what I was making when I first started working for the company.  They have been accused of stealing tips from the workers (which they do) and sued over it multiple times.  They are constantly changing the pay structure to circumvent illegality.  They had to settle a class action last year and there's another class action in the works for 2019.  A quick google search will show you how much scrutiny this company is under.

I don't know what I should do.  Over my time of employment I would estimate *modestly* they've taken maybe $25,000 out of my tips, though this would be time consuming and hard to prove.  I would like to sign the severance agreement but I feel I am being extremely low-balled here.  Should I ask for more?  Should I ask an attorney to ask for more on my behalf?  Should I not sign the agreement waiving my rights to sue?  I receive the agreement sometime today by email but have like 20 something days to review it.

&#x200B;

I am here to answer any additional questions or clarify on anything.  Thanks for reading through that.

Answer:
 Bear in mind that any money at all out of a company that is slowly going under is a lot more valuable to you right now than the prospect of possibly being awarded a larger settlement in 1-3 years.

Additionally, whatever the award winds up being (if received at all), it'll come to you minus a healthy cut due to the lawyer.

Please review this situation with an attorney before proceeding either way, but, if it were me in your shoes I would try to ask up more like 8-10k and then cash that check as soon as fucking possible.


Title: Why are expired documents not valid for purposes of identification?

Question:
This is more of a general question. California, US, for the location bot.

I have a passport. Its an old passport. Its expired now. I have to get it renewed before I fly internationally anywhere, but for the purposes of identification I'm still me. I don't plan on international travel anytime soon, but I'd still like to use it for purposes of identifying who I am.

Even though I'm no longer allowed to travel internationally with it, it still identifies who I am. It still ought to be valid for the purpose of identifying who I am.

Same with a driver's license. If my license is expired I'm not allowed to drive, but its still me on the license. It still identifies me. In this case my driver's license is still very much valid, but even if it were to expire it doesn't change who I am.

So many places, both government and private, seem to forbid expired ID's as valid forms of ID mere to identify who is who.

Why is this the case?

Answer:
 > Why are expired documents not valid for purposes of identification?

Damn good question. I've wondered that too. The only answer I can think of is that the person's appearance may have changed over time, and the owner may have discarded the old ID for a current one (so in either case it's easier for a lookalike imposter to use the ID). Pretty thin reasoning, IMHO, but that's all I've been able to come up with.


Title: Neighbors inciting lynch mob against son of resident

Question:
Location: Florida

Im just throwing this out there to get a better understanding of what is legal.

Basically, our subdivision which is HOA controller has a private facebook group for neighbors of the community.

Someone found out a neighbor is letter her son stay with her who just got out of prison after a 10 year sentence for sexual assault.

They want to do "slow drive bys, standing in thier front yard, passing out flyers and other ways of intimidating them to leave the neighborhood".

They also get off on posting every single police record they find on the neighbors, regardless of if it affects anyone (Such as domestic disputes, etc).

Is there anything they are doing that would be considered illegal? I dont know the rights/laws related to someone on a sexual offender list, and while I dont want them in the neighborhood, I feel like they might be taking it a little too far.

Answer:
 > Is there anything they are doing that would be considered illegal?

Not really.  It's not illegal to tell people the truth about things, including passing out flyers.  Slow drivebys *might* be harassment.  Standing in their front yard *might* be trespassing.  But that's really about it.Answer #2: Sounds like one of those "legal but stupid" things, although it might border on harassment, IIED, stalking, etc., with the slow drive-bys and more direct intimidation.

However, publicizing public information, even if done maliciously, is not a crime, and typically 1st Amendment protected.


Title: [Canada] illegal to gather someone's phone number from work for personal use?

Question:
I AM NOT DOING THIS. I saw a girl doing thing in a group and she threw a fit when people told her it could be illegal and I wanted to see if it is illegal or not. I think it's shady as fuck by that doesn't make things illegal.

I think it's Ontario, Canada.

Is it illegal to gather a clients phone number from your job to contact them outside of work without their permission? Aka: to ask them out for coffee.

Answer:
 Yes, using personal info collected for business reasons in order to call them up and ask for a date could violate PIPEDA:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Information_Protection_and_Electronic_Documents_Act

And in many organizations it might get you fired when someone complained.


Title: New landlord wants to use my address for mail and for me to use his. (We live in the same apartment building) Could this cause legal issues for me?

Question: I am about to move into an apartment and have been asked by  the realtor if I can use the landlords current mailbox for mail, instead of the mailbox assigned to my apartment.  The owner just moved out of the apartment I am renting a few months ago. I don't mind as he lives in my building and all the boxes are in the same room, but want to make sure I am not setting myself up for some sort of legal issue in the future. I live in California. Any thoughts?

Answer: He can go to the post office and fill out a sheet of paper that'll forward all his mail to his new address. It takes 1 minute.


Title: Take the Deal or go to Trial??

Question:
Hello,

I am a transgender individual, m2f. I was previously married to my ex wife, we mutually broke up in March and I went to stay with a friend for nearly a week. Beforehand, an employer screwed me over after working for him for just a week, and it looked like he was not going to pay what he owed. While I was at my friend's place, my ex wife and a roommate we took in took it up themselves to harass and continuously contact him for the money he owed me ($700). Before he paid, and before we broke up, I talked about how I was going to use the money for lazer hair removal, pertaining to my transition. After talking about this (before breaking up or getting paid) our roommate convinced my ex that she was entitled to half the money because they had been pursuing it, and not me (I attempted to before though). I of course rejected that idea and argued that I worked for it/earned it and therefor it was mine. Fast forward to a week after the break up, I was on my was to return home from my friend's place. On the way back, I got a text message from my ex stating that they got the money and that they were going to keep half, the employer sent the money to my Facebook account, which my ex got into, in order to transfer to our joint bank account so she could 'legally' withdraw it. When I got home, after arguing about the money, I had half of it given to me, pulled out of an envelope containing the remaining amount. I demanded the money and she refused to give it to me. I tried to snatch it out of her hand but failed, she ran off and presumably put it in her backpack. I tried to take the back pack from her, pulling one strap as she pulled the other, the roommate then called the police on me. During this altercation, I was getting ready for work and needed to grab a shirt. I attempted to go into my room but the roommate blocked the door and said that if I touch her, she'll press assault charges. I squeezed past her (and according to her) stepped on her foot, which was not intended on my part, I just wanted to go get my shirt, before either going to work or getting arrested. The police showed up and talked to them, then to me and I explained my side of the story. They decided to arrest me and charge me with DV menacing, DV harassment in regard to my ex. I was also charged with harassment and assault-4 from the roommate.

After being released, I was assigned a public defender, however their firm had a legal conflict defending me because they had previously defended the roommate (who brags about her theft record). I got assigned a new public defender, and the same thing happened again. I was then upgraded to a private defending at the expense of the state. My lawyer spoke with the DA to try and drop the charges, but the most she is willing to do is offer DSP, a program that is similar to probation, I would have to go to DV classes, much like DUI diversion. I would have to plead guilty to DV Harassment, and DV menacing (because they claimed I said "I'm going to kill you", actually said "Kill yourself") and I would have the roommate's claims against me dropped. If I succeed in the program, it will result in no conviction.

My lawyer said however that I have a defensible case, but he can not for certain say that we would win. My lawyer also believes that they are guilty of Identity theft, theft, and/or wire fraud. During his conversations with the DA, he said that the DA (young woman) said that she is not concerned about them, possible committing a higher level crime(s). My charges all misdemeanor offenses, while what they did may be felony level. In the area I'm in, the state is "cracking down" on DV cases as I was told by my previous lawyer. That being said, a thought of mine is that we could argue that the DA is trying to manufacture statistics for DV, by charging me and not pursuing higher level crimes, on the grounds of sexism, since the state does not recognize me as female (perhaps transphobia as well).

The evidence I have to support my claims includes statements for the joint bank account, Facebook records, and a screenshot of an argument on Facebook messenger between the roommate and my brother while I was detained regarding the arrest and my stolen money. She said that they were going to buy an expensive dinner with the money, he told her to choke on it, and then he was blocked. I also have evidence of past abuse from my ex regarding my transition, including text messages where she was rude to me, and a post here on Reddit over a year ago about how she pulled a knife on me while I was asleep because she saw that I was texting a guy from New York, and his testimony about me grieving about that to him when it had occurred. I also have a neighbor who might testify for me, regarding her abuse towards me and a friend, both of which I saw nearly everyday.

The state does not have much evidence against me, except for their testimony and the police reports and a recording of me fighting over the backpack with her as I described earlier.

In your opinion, should I take the deal, or fight the charges?

Answer:
 > My lawyer said however that I have a defensible case, but he can not for certain say that we would win.

The last thing that you want is to make a legal decision based on the fact that "reddit told me to."

You have a lawyer, follow his or her advice about what to do.


Title: [FL] Roommate has been scamming us...

Question:
I'll try to make this as short as possible:

Myself and 2 friends rented a house and moved in with another friend of ours in August of last year (2014). We'll call this other friend "Bob" for this post's purposes. When we moved in, Bob set up our utility service and put it all in his name.

Bob eventually became a "utilities nazi" and complained and whined about our utility usage from month to month. Turning off the AC constantly to save power (it gets very hot in Florida, so this was very uncomfortable), telling US to make numerous changes without his help, and he even unscrewed our security lights outside to try to save everything he could (we lived in a bad neighborhood, so this was very unsafe..).

Finally, we said "Look Bob, how about you just pay $80 of the utility bill, and we'll cover the remainder. That way, no one has to keep arguing about utilities." He agreed, and everything was fine since then. Then, we noticed that in the month of May, our utilities started going up. We attributed it to the summer heat and running the AC more and thought nothing more of it. Then as the month's progressed, we started seeing the bills rise higher and higher. Still, we thought this was because of weather.

Well we just moved to a new home (without Bob) and decided to inquire with our utility company about our bill from the previous month. We have never actually seen a bill from them before, because Bob would tell us what the bill was and we would leave cash on the counter for him. So we get the last bill back and realize he has been adding to the cost of our bills for at least the past couple months and telling us it was a higher rate... We were furious. Bob has been pocketing money from us.. at least $70 just from this month alone.

So the big question is: Does Bob have any legal footing if we decided to just not pay him? We always gave him cash every month, his name is the only one registered to our utility company and there are no written statements saying we will pay him "such and such" money. We just feel so cheated and lied to, and making him pay the full bill would really make us "even" in our books. What do you think?

Answer:
 **TL;DR:** OP and two friends (OP+2) rent a house with Bob. Bob sets up and pays for utilities, becomes somewhat of an energy-saving control freak. OP+2 offers to cover anything above 80$ per utility bill, Bob agrees.

OP+2 moved out, asks utility company some questions about past bills. Turns out Bob was asking for more than what OP+2 owed him for utility bills. Can he do that? Does the fact that OP+2 already paid Bob make a difference?

Edit: Apparently OP+2 haven't paid Bob for their final bill yet and also want to know whether they should.Answer #2: I doubt it's worth legal action for 70 - 500.

Consider it an affordable price to find out Bob can't be trusted and stop associating with himAnswer #3: I would ask Bob to see all the past bills because the last bill was higher than what he said. Figure out how much he has stolen from you and ask for the money back. I feel like you would have more of a leg to stand on if you didn't pay him legally but I would still want the money back without having to take an legal action.


Title: Got Assaulted by my GF’s “Mom’s” BF

Question:
Hi guys,
Belonging to a religiously conservative society has its drawbacks. I was at my gf’s house and hanging out. Her mom and “bf” didn’t know i was there because dating is taboo in this damn religion. (Mind you I am in An American state, California where this happened). So he comes home earlier and I try sneaking out but he sees me and Asks me who I am and stuff. I thought that was the end of it but his radical ass follows me on his car through the Freeway and tries hitting me and makes me stop on the side where he threatens me for hanging out with her (we are two consenting adults, doing regular American couple things) and Takes my pics and then when i turn around he punches me twice Making my lips bleed and my nose hurt like hell. He proceeds to go and I’m bleeding , dont know what to do and I don’t call the cops because i was worried about my gf’s safety as this guy has anger issues. I took a selfie of my bloody lips so theres that but idk what else i can do to maybe press chargers and let that Guys know that you cannot get away with assault, and dating is not illegal in the USA? I’m really heated and I want to make sure justice is served so that these nutjobs stop disrespecting american law.
Thank you and Appreciate it!

Answer:
 Call cops file a report. Then the next time you visit girl he’ll think twice. Answer #2: I get that you are worried about your girlfriend but not calling the police on this guy only empowers him and makes him more likely to abuse her.

Call the policeAnswer #3: You can't have it both ways.

Police and press charges.

Or...

Leave her alone to an abusive controlling stepfather, and walk away.

 Answer #4: so, I am confused about 1 point... If the guy who assaulted you is the Boyfriend of the Mom, then wouldn't they be breaking the rule they are trying to enforce (no dating) either you are married or you are not, if not you are breaking the rule.. in other words pot meet kettle. this guy has some nerve and the mom? for picking her BF over her kid? yeah, what a load of crap.Answer #5: Justice will be served when you file a police report for assault. If you dont he will get away with itAnswer #6: You need a police report and assault charge. Knowing you’re willing to get authority involved does a lot to curb these peopleAnswer #7: Let's just repeat that one more time, call the cops, you have 2 options, call them and try to get some justice for this abusive twit, or don't and leave the girl you supposedly care about within his "care".Answer #8: \>  dating is taboo in this damn religion.

Yet mom has a bf? What a hypocrite.


Title: Neighbor has hired lawn care service. They repeatedly bang on my window to rile up and make my dog angry. In TX

Question: They are a group of three guys who cut his grass biweekly. I’ve caught them twice and my wife has caught them once smacking our window to get our dog to bark and get extremely stressed. He is very well behaved- except when strangers are bashing on his bedroom window! He’s actually damaged the wall, blinds, and curtains a bit because of it. Is there any action I can take? I have not spoken to the neighbor as he works very off hours and I hoped to handle this without bothering him.

Answer: Call the cops the next time in happens. Write down in a notebook the previous incidents. I'm assuming they're trespassing if they're able to knock on your windows?Answer #2: Aside from calling the cops. Get some cameras so you have proof of them harassing you and your pets.


Title: Wells Fargo withheld my funds causing me to lose out on a huge opportunity

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >When I go to pay, Wells Fargo decides that I'm not authorized to use my own money to pay for the trip.

Can we cut through the dramatics? Is that actually what they said?Or did they just ask you to come in person to verify the large transaction/renew your card?

>the ticket was gone and prices had once more soared.

Too bad so sad.

>I am furious, I'm hyperventilating, I'm carrying more frustration and rage at this sequence of events than is reasonable. I don't know what to do, I've been dying to meet my bf for over a year and when everything finally for a second decided to click, Wells fucking Fargo decided to fargo me over. Norwegian customer couldn't do anything, even though I was at the check-out stage when this happened..

Seriously, let's take it down a notch.

You're planning on suing Wells Fargo because the price of a ticket went up?

You have no actual damages. They were not negligent, you didn't lose money, you were not injured, property was not destroyed.


Title: I was accused of shoplifting today. What should I do?

Question:
So I was accused of shoplifting today. The store is a small local consignment boutique. I went in with a friend and picked up a handful of items to try on. Some sale, some regular price. I went into the fitting rooms towards the back of the store and tried things on. The sale stickers that they use are those peel and stick circle stickers that they hand write the sale price on and stick them into the item's original tag. While in the fitting room the first time, I noticed a sticker was on the bench in the fitting room. I picked it up and put it on the item I thought it went on, which I ended up buying. I bought 3 things total. While leaving, another dress caught my eye on the way out so I grabbed that dress off of the full-priced rack and another item off of the sale rack and went back to the fitting rooms. Same thing happened. All of my other things were still in the fitting room from before and after trying on a good amount of things, another sale sticker must have fallen off of something so I picked it up and put it on the first dress that was in front of me. I didn't look at the price tags before going in the fitting rom, just the sizes on the tags. I end up buying the dress I put the sale sticker on. I wasn't sure which it had fallen off of so I just assumed it was the nearest item. I pay for it and leave.

Next thing I know, a different employee from the store had walked 5 stores down the street to come into the store we were in and asked us if we purchased items a, b, c, d, which were the items I bought. She said two of them had stickers changed and weren't the prices they should have been. I said ok do you need to do a price adjustment and she said no and basically accused me of switching the stickers and trying to steal. She said they have a problem with that and asked if we switched them. We said no, but I did not tell her about the sale stickers that had fallen and me putting them on the product I thought they belonged to. She was very hostile and clearly believed I had stolen. She said a few times, "okay well we have your name and cameras in the store so we will just look back at those and see."

Now I'm kind of freaking out because I worry they will try to press charges and say I purposely went in there and changed the stickers as she was accusing me of in the first place. Two of the items were correct prices, two were not. The first one was supposed to be $30, the sticker I put on it was for $20. The second item was either $70 or $90 and the sticker I put on it was for $20.

I am wondering if I should return the one dress or everything and just get this off my back, or tell them what happened with the stickers and hope they don't try to press charges if I tell them that, or if I should keep everything I bought and not worry about it. I don't want to have charges pressed when I didn't go in there with the intention of stealing, although that's what it may seem like to them, and the police if they have cameras that show me going into the fitting room with stickers on two items, and me coming out with the same two stickers on two completely different items.

Please help! Any advice is great I just don't want to have this become a legal issue and get in trouble. Thank you!!

Answer:
 Well your story sure sounds like the story made up by someone who switched tags.

But either way, nothing you do now changes that you may have committed a crime. Wait and see if charges get pressed. If so, hire an attorney.


Title: Multinational has copied my website and concept almost word for word--should I worry?

Question:
Today a large multinational company dropped a press release announcing their new business line
which is nearly word for word lifted off of my own (solo LLC) website.  I'm thrilled that my business model is validated, and not concerned about them as competition--we're only three weeks old but have already contracted more than enough business to keep us fat and happy for the foreseeable future.  My worry is--do I need to be concerned that they're copying me so closely that the materials look stolen?  I was first to market, all over the industry press, and have proof it was all mine first (or at least long before they went public?)  This organization isn't known for being a good corporate citizen, and I could see them trying to shut me down even though I was here first.

Answer:
 Lawyer territory my friend.

And congratulations on your validation.


Title: Am I entitled to my fathers life insurance?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Depends who he named as beneficiary on those policies


Title: (Ontario) workplace weirdness

Question:
Hello,

I am a female working in STEM. One of my colleagues keeps asking me to bring him treats, breakfast and so on. He regularly holds me up in conversations I'm obviously not interested in. Today (for the second time) he has blocked my path to my work area, by holding down the door after I tried opening it. I let go, went for it again and he did it again. I reported him to my supervisor and to the HR, but I am not sure what else I can do to protect myself. Any advice is welcome.

Answer:
 You've done what you can. Report each instance that's outside the realm of normal office interactions. Don't bring him stuff, ever.

As a fellow woman in a STEM field that is ridiculously male and ubber nerdy, the realistic advice is learn how to be firm and clear when you say no. Don't be one of those women in our field that just kind of laugh it off. When he holds you up, tell him "sorry, gotta run" and then *leave*. Leave him talking to himself if it's not work-related. If there's another path to your desk, take it, and don't engage in his kindergartner-level flirting.


Title: Am I responsible??

Question: I was doing a walk-thru with new tenants when people hired by them thru Offer Up stole $2200 in rent money given to me. I set it down very briefly ugh. Just sick. The police came, but I'm sure it's long gone. My boss, the owner of a mom & pop real estate office, did not fire me, but expects me to repay the money. I make $11.50 per hour and work about 30 hours per week. How in the hell do I pay this back? I feel responsible but I was also the victim of a crime. Should I pay it back? I am in Texas.

Answer:
 > but expects me to repay the money.

You aren't legally responsible for paying the money back. But you very well might get fired if you do not and legally speaking, there is nothing that will protect you.

Before you make a promise to pay the money back I would recommend thinking it over thoroughly whether or not it is even worth it. You can try to negotiate other options with your boss but you really don't have any leverage.

The position you are in really sucks and I am sorry to hear that happened to you but legally those are your options.


Title: [SERIOUS][Indiana] Disabled, Live with Dad, possibly being thrown out. HALP!

Question:
I am 30 years old. I have Autism, Gastritis, IBS, Crohn's, UC, have a permanent lower spine injury and need a cane to be mobile.

I also live in Indiana.

I live with my father, because I cannot get a job. My only income is Social Security Disability.
I pay a majority of the bills in this house. Electric, TV, Internet, help with groceries, help with chores, i've bailed my father out of financial troubles several times.

He and I are fighting, and he keeps threatening to make us "part ways," or kick me out of the only home I've known on a regular basis and I believe this time he's serious. The man is ex-military and has intimate knowledge of unarmed combat techniques, and therefore i am in a real and present fear of him getting physical with me instead of the verbal abuse i usually get.

This man expects me, a person who can hardly be on his feet for longer than 20 minutes at a time to do ALL the housework and refuses to clean up after himself, even though he has a job, that is no fucking excuse to refuse to help with your own living space.

I have a very sensitive digestive system and have to eat different food than him to prevent flareups of my gastric diseases that can leave me bedridden for a day or more, screaming in agony. That means I also have to buy separate food from him.

I only get $730 a month, and by the time my share of the bills are paid, i hardly have any money for myself.

My cousin recently moved out and left behind his things because he had nowhere to store them, and my father has attempted to sell them off for money. I informed my cousin over the phone about this bullshit, and he went off on him, and now i feel I am at risk for retribution for doing the right thing by telling my cousin of this treachery and attempted thievery.

I've got nobody I can turn to, so I'm asking r/legaladvice for assistance in what I can do to protect myself from a vengeful asshole dad. I need to know what kind of laws are on the books to protect myself with from him and his bullshit. I have nowhere I can go. I have nobody I can go to for help.

EDIT: I should have added this to begin with, but father owns the house and is on a mortgage. The payments come right out of his paycheck every week. I have no personal lease/rent agreement either on paper or on recorded audio with father.  I have already looked into section 8 housing, there is none available in my area. That was the first thing I looked for. Apologies for not having clarified this to begin with.

Answer:
 If your father lays a hand on you or starts physically removing you or your property from your home, call the police.

If you are on the lease, then you're reasonably secure as long as the lease is intact. However, your father may refuse to renew the lease with you on it, or the landlord may opt not to renew the lease. In that case, you'd have 30 days leading up to the end of your lease to vacate.

If you're not on the lease, then you're a subtenant under your father. He can end your subtenancy at the end of any payment period, with at least 30 days' written notice, at any time, unless you have a lease. There is no recourse for this, and refusing to vacate will lead to eviction.

In short, your time living with your father is drawing to a close. Spend your energy _finding_ somewhere to go - find roommates, apply for section 8 housing assistance, do whatever it takes. If your disability benefits already cover an appreciable part of the rent and bills, you _can_ find somewhere to live, but it may take some work.

Best of luck. Again, if he lays a finger on you, call 911.


Title: USA, PA: Fired for attendance, but employer reported it as alleged dishonesty. Is this legal?

Question:
Hello all,

I was let go by my employer in June due to attendance issues - I had been struggling to arrive to work on time with depression and lack of motivation being the problem, but realistically it was just me being an idiot who didn't get up on time.

I was given a written final warning on 05/22 and told that I was close enough to the 14 occurrence point cutoff for termination that being late two more times would lead to my separation.
On 06/02/15, I emailed to call out for illness and was told over email by my manager that it would count as 2 points for 'absence <24 hours notice' unless I worked 8 hours from home. I worked 8 hours from home that day, from ~16:00 to 24:00, barely making it in time. My regularly assigned shift was from 10:00 to 18:00.
On 06/15/15, I emailed to call out from work, but was unable to work from home as my fever was high enough that I would not be able to work effectively (hallucinations, nausea..)
On 06/16/15, I drove to work because I did not want to leave my workload abandoned, but due to depression over fear of being fired and still being somewhat sick, I was 30 minutes late. (~10:30 arrival) (Note: The attendance policy DOES NOT count consecutive absences as separate occurrences. If I had stayed home, that would have counted as no additional points towards my termination.)

This is where I acted in a way that my employer is using to deny UC benefits. I used my phone to log in remotely to the payroll system the same way I would if I were working from home, before I arrived at the office. My intention was to log out from the payroll system before finishing my work, as under the old system, we had recorded our times of arrival and departure however we needed as long as the total time added up - with our managers' implicit approval.

My termination letter, which I received on 06/16, states that I was separated due to "your continued egregious violation of company policies, specifically our attendance policy as outlined below:" and near the end, "additionally, you are suspected of falsifying your time card for today, June 16, 2015"

The unemployment office is stating that my employer reported my termination reason as "Alleged dishonesty" - Are they allowed to report a different reason than they put on the signed termination form I was given?

My understanding is that PA Unemployment benefits can only be denied if my action can be proved to be willfully negligent towards my employer. Consider that I went in to work on 06/16 solely to try to keep abreast of my workload and therefore my late arrival would not seem to be negligent of my employer's interests. Also consider that there is no evidence of intent to defraud my employer by billing for payable hours that I did not work.

TL;DR: Fired for absence due to illness (rightfully), employer reported alleged dishonesty.
Can they report a different reason to the state government?
What is the burden of proof that my actions were willfully negligent?

obligatory "sorry if this is inappropriate or too long..."
obligatory "just looking for guidance"

Answer:
 Continual attendance/tardy issues can absolutely deemed to be disqualifying misconduct if they can show you were warned and still did not improve.  But the burden of proof is on them. It will come down to what they can prove. It sounds like they have a pretty decent case. You should still appeal though.

> My understanding is that PA Unemployment benefits can only be denied if my action can be proved to be willfully negligent towards my employer.

No the standard is broader than "willfully negligent". Actions that are not "willfully negligent" can still be misconduct.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pamphlets/10339/ucp-41__unemployment_compensation_eligibility_issues/552113

(read about it under DISCHARGE)


Title: Could you take adverse possession of property while the owner is in prison?

Question:
Suppose a person owns a house on some land out in the middle of nowhere. The person has no friends or family of any kind to check on the property, and one day they're suddenly arrested for a serious crime and get thirty years.

Knowing that this person owns this house and land and is not going to be troubling me for the next 30 years, I just move right in and treat it like home, and I even keep up the property tax payments.

In 30 years when the person gets out the first thing he does is check on his house. At this point would I have taken adverse possession of the house? Could he legally do anything about it?

Answer:
 After 30 years of you being in continuous open notorious and hostile naked trespass style possession of the property and you paid the taxes on it somehow for that long without getting caught, then in every state that allows adverse you're able to file a trespass to try title suit.
You'd be able to do that a bit before 30 years, see your state's law for specifics.

You do have to be hostile to their right though.  So if they're a tenant in common that's not going to work.  If they gave you permission to go on the land that's not going to work.  Etc.


Title: Sold my house. Furnace stopped working just a few days after. Am I on the hook for the bill?

Question:
Closing date was 10/15.  Buyer had a house inspection a week prior, and final walk-through on 10/14.  Proceded to close.

Now, 5 days later (10/20), the buyer's lawyer has presented a bill for furnace repair for almost $800.  WTF?  I get the concept of:

*all chattells/fixtures shall be in working order."

but seriously, the furnace worked fine just a few days before.  I was there cleaning up some last-minute stuff in the attic, which Buyer requested, and the temp was fine.  Furnace was definitely working.  I feel bad that this happened, it's an expensive lesson in buying a 100 yr old property, but I definitely don't think I'm responsible for the bill.

ETA:  At what point do I not own this house any more?

Legal experts - your thoughts please?

FYI - The house is 100+ years old and they did have a home inspector.
I am in Ontario, Canada.

Answer:
 did the furnace work on closing? Then you fulfilled your end of the bargain.

 Did you have any idea it might have issues? No? Then you owe them nothing.

They can ask. You can say no.

They might sue, but they would need to prove that the furnace didn't work at all, or that it worked but you knew or ought to have known it was not in good condition. Their home inspection weakens that argument.Answer #2: NAL, mortgage specialist.

Sounds like the buyers have a good case against their home inspector, but not you.  If they sue, get a lawyer to advise you, but really they should be suing the home inspector (unless they are dumb, quick story, on Friday it got cold here in MN, texted my roommate/landlord that I was turning on the furance, he wrote back "good idea" so I turned it on, next day he says "so... how did you do that?"  He tried earlier that day and failed, I walked him thru my process and he was amazed that telling the thermostat that the temp should be higher was the issue, don't discount dumb).


Title: [NY] Will cremains eventually be considered abandoned and allow someone else to posses/handle them?

Question:
Does anyone know if NY will eventually deem cremains abandoned and allow the next of NY-cremain-rights-hierarchy to make a decision on what to do with them?

My boyfriend passed away. He has an ex-wife and 4 children (3 sons, 1 daughter). He was cremated, arranged by the daughter and I, paid for by one of the sons. His final wish was to have his ashes put with his mother's ashes in a church. The kids can't agree on what to do with his ashes. The sons don't even really care, they just don't want the daughter to get the ashes (to spite her for some other drama reasons), so I believe they are doing this on purpose. But, what do I know! Anyway... so the funeral home doesn't want to get into a legal battle and refuses to give the ashes out to anyone or do anything with them until all the children sign a paper agreeing on what they want.

In the mean time, my boyfriend's ashes are just sitting in the funeral home, and HIS brother's ashes have been sitting in the home for over 10 years! I don't want the same fate for his ashes when he clearly wanted to be with his mom.

I know NY has a hierarchy of who gets ultimate decision rights to cremains as follows:

New York (N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 4201):
1.) A person properly designated by the decedent in writing  --He had nothing in writing regarding this
2.) A spouse or domestic partner  --I pray the ex-wife doesn't count, and I am not considered domestic partner, I'm sure
3.) Any children 18 or older  --They can't agree
4.) Parent(s) --They are deceased
5.) Any sibling 18 or older --When can the siblings decide?? They would allow him to be put with their mom.

6.) An appointed guardian
7.) Any next of kin entitled to inherit from the estate
8.) A duly appointed fiduciary of the estate
9.) A close friend or relative who is reasonably familiar with the decedent’s wishes
10.) An appointed county or public administrator
11.) When no one higher on this list is reasonably available, willing, or competent to act, any other person acting on the decedent’s behalf who has executed a proper written statement

Is there any law about "abandonment" time? I just know in general for some states it can range from 60 days to YEARS.

Thanks for any info.

Answer:
 Generally, cremains aren't treated specially under most jurisdictions. They're handled just like any of the estate's other... ash sets.

Okay, that pun just hurt.


Title: Happy Cake Day LocationBot!

Question: Thanks for all the cat facts.

Answer:
 Take a close look at your cat's nose. You will notice little bumps and ridges. The prints are unique to each individual animal and can be used for identification, just like your fingerprints.Answer #2: I... I actually feel some kind of sadness at the fact that we've gotten so far into their cakeday without saying something. LB works all year long, every holiday and weekend, all the overnights, to call posters out for neglecting to use their brain for five seconds and post their location. Not only is this done hundreds of times every week, LB is *completely ignored* by at least half of the people who "require" their service. A fruitless effort. LB keeps us informed with the latest cat facts, inspires us with their ability to deal with idiots every single day without the use of verbal abuse, goes above and beyond to make sure the person in OK knows that OK is not a place, and doesn't expect or hear a single word of gratitude... And we repay them by forgetting their cakeday. Ignoring their comments in every post so much that we don't notice the little slice beside their name.

I'm so sorry, LB. Happy cakeday buddy.Answer #3: Happy Cakeday, even if you hate me, locationbot!

(Seriously, the bot goes off on every post of mine even when I put my location.)Answer #4: Happy cat day, Locationbot!


Title: Is having your will go to whoever catches the most of your ashes contractually enforceable as a will?

Answer: There is nothing generally illegal about having a contest be part of your will, but there are often laws and regulations around what you can and cannot do with ashes. Provisions that require a violation of the law are almost always unenforceable.Answer #2: If you want to get super creative, you could arrange to have your ashes added to marbles, give one to each person, and have them pit their marbles against each other in a race like /r/JellesMarbleRuns.Answer #3: I’d like to imagine that when this goes down, two people have an almost Identical amount of ashes and for a brief moment it looks like a tie but then one of them spits out a huge glob of ashes they caught with their mouth and are declared the winner.


Title: [copyright] Can I ask trivia questions about copyrighted material eg the Mavel universe?

Question:
The situation would be a mobile trivia game (free, with ad revenue) asking general sci fi and fantasy questions. Do questions that reference specific 'facts' from movies and literature breach copy right?

This is for university, a link to something (preferably that says we're in the clear) would be amazing.

Thank you kindly

Answer:
 It depends.

If you are making a game called "Marvel Trivia" which is only about Marvel, you'd get into trouble.

On the other hand, if you make a "Nerd Trivia" (not meant derogatory, I'm a proud nerd myself), and in it have a mix of various questions from all over the comic, SciFi, Fantasy, movies, TV et cetera, you should be OK. If not, every single trivia game would be in big trouble.


Title: Website charged $80 without permission, denied it, then cancelled my account that still had credit in it.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >Would this be worth setting up a consultation with an attorney?

For $43, no. Have you actually contacted the company about this issue yet?


Title: (FL) GF called 911 because of panic attack cops came back after the ambulance left and searched the house while no one was home. Warrant issued at 9:30pm but they started the search at 3pm

Question:
The probable cause as stated on the warrant is “cultivation of marijuana”. There was a grow tent in the back room (an enclosed back patio, which is separated by double doors which are always kept shit), but no plants anything that would leave you to believe the tent had marijuana in it was in plain site. I don’t smoke so no paraphernalia of any kind was around. They shouldn’t have needed to go into the back room as is, but all the plants except one small one had been harvested and there was no smell, and no reason to assume marijuana was being grown inside the tent unless you went and looked inside of it.

My house has live plants all over, and even next to the tent there’s some indoor bamboo, ficus, schefflera and pathos vines. I also have another tent used to incubate reptile eggs which looks the exact same.

I was not at my house that day and found the warrant and inventory list of what they seized in the living room, my house is completely trashed with the grow tent slashed up as to be unusable and the glass light fixture and light bulb both thrown down in the middle of the room leaving broken glass everywhere. The small duct fan (hidden inside the tent but has low noise—also a fish tank next to it easily covers up the minimal noise from the fan) was slammed on the ground leaving chips on my tile and it looked like they probably took a hammer that was next to it to smash up the control box on the fan and the duct fan blades on the inside.

I’ve not hear anything from the cops and from what I’ve looked up online I can’t find that they have a warrant for my arrest or anything.

What should I do?

Answer:
 Immediately contact a criminal defense attorney and get referrals for a civil asset forfeiture attorney in case this heads in that direction.Answer #2: >no reason to assume marijuana was being grown inside the ten

I’m pretty sure police know what a grow tent looks like. I’m guessing there aren’t many indoor tents used for growing stuff that isn’t illegal. Answer #3: Contact a defense attorney pronto. And stop breaking the law?Answer #4: Maryland v Buie 1990 “Cursory sweep of the premises” was the grow tent viewable from the premise?


Title: Hit and run

Question:
Ok so on my way home from work accidentally hit a parked car in front of someones house. I was texting and driving. I knows hes an idiot and a coward for not stopping, ill spare you my excuses but I do plan on going back and leaving money in an envelope I don't think their was much damage I wasn't going very fast and only brushed them.

well about 15 minutes later I drove by to see if any one had noticed and they were already out looking at their car. When I drove by the second time i'm pretty sure they didn't know it was me and if they did they definitely couldn't see my license plate as I was on a different street looking down their street as I drove by it and it was dark.

I'm not even sure they saw my car at all but I am worried they might have so my question is: Will the police look for my car based off of a description or do they need a license plate? I live in semi big town in Texas

TL;DR: Will the police look for my car based off of a description or do they need a license plate?
I live in semi big town in Texas

Answer:
 The police will definitely look for you based on whatever information they have available

EDIT: A fairly common example of how the police would find the vehicle seeing as how you decided to roll by twice to check it out: Residents noted a Red Ford F-150 with similar damage, were able to make out AZ as the first two plate numbers, Texas plates. They can now narrow down their list to maybe a handful of vehicles at most


Title: Bully neighbor

Question: We have some aggressive squirrels in our backyard that kept attacking my dog and so we hired humane trappers to catch and release into the wilderness.  Our neighbor who is super nosy and some crazy animal activist has been taking pictures of our backyard from her yard and harassing the trappers when they come to collect the squirrel.  She even tried to run over one of them.  The trapper was a big tatted up Mexican guy and he said that in our neighborhood since the demographic is mostly middle class, white; he was afraid to call the cops since it would be his word against hers and he doesn’t want to risk any situation that could  turn against him.  Which I understand, but she came after me screaming the other day.  I told her to step off our property at once and leave us alone.  These guys are licensed and legal yet she doesn’t seem to understand reason.  We will be formally filing a cease and desist letter, but during her screaming rants told us that she had been telling everyone in our neighborhood that we were terrible people and that she’s using them to rally against us.  We do not know our neighbors that well since we are new to the area and like to keep to ourselves, but in the short amount of time I see that she is the neighborhood gossip so I can see her doing something like this, but our other neighbors just seem to just keep to themselves also.  Is there anything other then a cease and desist letter that we should get? Or is that the only thing we can do.  Not sure if it’s legal for her to take pictures of our yard and harass our vendors, and she admitted to throwing treats in our yard to my dog even though I told her not to.  I’m in California, single family home, no association.  Also, when is it to the point where I need to call the cops on her behavior. Thank you, I’m still shaking a tiny bit still from her screaming at me.

Answer: Do you have any web cameras/security cameras to capture what she is doing?


Title: [NY] Mom wants me to track my dad without his consent

Question:
My mother is convinced my dad is having an affair and wants to track his location via phone. Since she doesn't speak English and isn't computer savvy, she wants me to do this for her. I'm fully convinced my father is not having an affair and do not want to do this for her but she is still ridiculously persistent.

My questions: Is it legal to track someone using their phone without their consent? Is there a possibility of me facing any legal consequences for helping her?

Our parents are currently on the same Verizon business plan if that helps with context. She wants me to add a family locator to our phone bill through Verizon in order to track my dad. My mother insists that all her friends track their husbands too so her doing this is okay. But all her friends are on family plans. This feels like stalking and an invasion of privacy to me but I am not sure if my concerns are legally constituted.

Answer:
 Whether it's legal or not, it's not something you want to do. Assume your dad will find out you did it.  You don't want that.

"Mom, this is between you and dad and I'm not going to have any part in it."

If her friends all do it, she should get one of those friends to help her who doesn't have to have a relationship with the target (your dad) for the rest of her life like you do.  Asking for your involvement in this is a crappy and selfish thing for your mom to do.


Title: Supervisor allowing coworker 24 hours overtime instead of hiring a 3rd person.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > I'm going to speak with the manager and supervisor together to get it straight that I have been missing making a full 40 hour week because of his decision to allow my coworker two shifts extra. Also inquire about the 20 or so people i've sent to them for jobs that they never contacted. Will the law be able to back me up?

Not even close to backing you up. There's no law that says you need 40 hours. There's now law saying someone can't work 60 (for most jobs anyway, truck drivers and a few other jobs may be an exception.) So as long as they're paid properly. There's certainly nothing illegal about doing both at the same time.


Title: Money disappeared out of my bank account!

Question:
I went to my bank yesterday and made a $260 deposit at the counter, not the ATM. (for context this is a fresh bank account, only a week old so it had $0 in it, and the $260 is the first and only transaction on it.) The guy at the counter said "hmm it didn't print a receipt, oops it seems I cancelled it, lets do it again", but I immediately got an alert on my phone saying thank you for the 260 dollar deposit. He said oh yea never mind I see the 260 in there anyway, guess it worked. He printed me a balance receipt, but not a deposit receipt because of what happened with his computer.

&#x200B;

I wake up this morning and see an alert that my account is at $0. There is no history on the statement at all, nothing showing a deposit \*\*or\*\* withdrawal of $260, just zero. and I do not even have a receipt from the deposit yesterday because of what happened. I feel like I am gonna get fucked out of $260 which I cannot afford AT ALL right now.

Answer:
 Just go to the bank and ask about it. They have cameras above every teller for reasons like this.Answer #2: Go to the bank with your receipt and a spare copy. Talk to the teller and explain what happened. Talk to the manager, because the teller is pretty likely to go "that's weird, let me get my manager for you."

Your bank will sort that out. Even in the worst possible case - the teller from yesterday pocketing your cash - they have surveillance tapes.


Title: Child Custody Problems in VA

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 I'm going to point out the biggest issue to the child's mother for you.

> **We** have alot of evidence from where she's refused to give **us our** visitation.

You have no visitation. There is no "Us" in this matter. This is not your child.

>  my husband and I have been actively trying to get **my** stepson

Your husband has been trying to spend more time with his son. You are a bystander, there to support your husband.

> **We** went to court and got a court order that says **we** can have a weekday

No you didn't. John's father went to court and had a weekday added into the custody order. You don't appear in it anywhere. "We" didn't do a thing.

That's the issue here. What's more, she TOLD you that...

> She told me, that I had no business with John,

You are interfering in your husband's custody situation in a way that is making his child's mother uncomfortable. She is not going to back off while she feels threatened by you. If the interference is truly making her feel threatened and uncomfortable, she can talk to the judge about it and your husband can be told that you need to back off.

In short, YOU are the problem here.


Title: Can I park here?

Question:
[parking](https://imgur.com/gallery/X5toH)

My roommates and I don't have enough space in our driveway to fit all our cars. So we park on the side of the road across the street from our house. It's not in front of someone's house, but is in front of someone's fenced backyard. We've gotten 2 written notes stating we can't park there and they will tow us. Are they allowed to do so? We're assuming that the property lines starts where the telephone pole is, and we park before that.
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: You do realize that this would depend on specific location information, right? Like, County/City level.


Title: I did a hit and run fender bender and a sheriff came to my door while I was not home. What should I do?(CA)(Los Angeles)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Couple of points I want to make:

* Do not contact the police without a lawyer

* Do not say anything without a lawyer

* DO NOT CONTACT THE POLICE WITHOUT A LAWYER

* Nothing you said in your final paragraph matters

* Your job, as a responsible driver is to drive responsibly. It isn't your job to police the road. It isn't your job to "teach other people lessons"

* If you let him in as you said, how did you also manage to hit him?

* You need a lawyer if the police come back to question you.

* A hit and run in California applies no matter who was at fault. Even if he caused the accident, leaving means you have committed a hit and run

* A hit an run can result in up to $1,000 in fines and a maximum time of one year in jail. I highly doubt it will result in jail time but you need to seek counsel.


Title: (Virginia) Jury duty for a salaried employee

Question:
I am a salaried employee of a small company and got selected for jury service this week.  I thought that according to the FLSA my company is required to pay my normal salary unless I'm out this whole week.

I asked about it and was told that it is company policy that they wouldn't pay for jury duty.  They went on to say that if it was just one day it would've been fine but not all week.

The jury selection and trial have lasted Monday-Thursday but the court is closed tomorrow (Friday) due to 4th of July.  My company recognizes tomorrow as a holiday this year as well.

I called the department of labor, they referred me to the Virginia department of labor and industry.  DOLI was pretty short with me so I'm not sure that they understood the whole question but they said that the company is only obligated to pay for time worked.

What's the situation?  Am I out this week's pay?  Does the holiday influence the FLSA rules about being out a whole week?  Am I entirely wrong in my understanding of the FLSA?

Thanks!

Answer: If you performed no work the full work week your employer is not obligated to pay you per the FLSA.


Title: Overextended fence on my property. Neighbor refuses to move it despite being WAY into my property.

Question:
My neighbor owns a large portion of land, about 10 acres of land and after learning that I need to fence my dog in because a neighbor refuses to fence theirs (same neighbor) I discovered that the neighbors fence takes up half of my acre of land. When I told them that they need to move the fence back off the property they refused. When I threaten with cops they still refused. Skip forward a while and after several attempts to have them move the fence they refuse still. And today I found out after getting home from traveling that in retaliation of my attempts, their fence was moved while I was away to take up 3/4ths now.

Their only excuse is that they owned the land before it was bought for a neighborhood in the country to be built. But they no longer own the land. Any attempts to get cops involved end up with them claiming they will move the fence but they refuse.

It isn’t expensive for them to move it because they are filthy rich.

It’s worth noting that I didn’t notice before because I have a line of trees blocking off half my acre from sight and my house is at the edge of the front of the acre.

Answer:
 Get a survey to confirm the encroachment.  Once you have a survey in hand send them a demand letter to remove the encroachment, giving them a reasonable time to do so.  If they fail to do so, I'd consult with a local real estate attorney before proceeding further.Answer #2: Good fences make good neighbors.  Get a survey and find out exactly where your own property lines are.  Put up No Trespassing signs and your own fence on the boundary.
Answer #3: 10 acres of land is not insignificant. Was the property surveyed when you bought it? It might be well worth the money to have it surveyed for the purpose of clearly marking the boundaries if they are illegally fencing off your land so you cannot use it.


Title: Ignoring 50/50 decision making.

Question:
My wife and her ex have 50/50 decision making as well as 50/50 physical custody for the two kids. The oldest went to preschool in our town (which her ex agreed on at the time) and now that's it's time for kindergarten he changed his mind and is suing us to force the kids to go to school half way between our houses (we love about 45 minutes apart). He has always prioritized his job over the kids and will not be available to pick them up, drop them off, involve them in extracurricular activities, etc. My wife, however, is a stay-at-home parent for the kids as well as a 9 month old that her and I have together and is able and prepared to do all of these things for the l kids.

The court order states that mediation is required if the two parties cannot come to an agreement. They went to mediation and could still not agree (my wife's point is that the oldest is already enrolled in a district and there is no reason to change it given that nothing has changed since the last time her ex agreed on a district and that if they are half way between, nobody lives near the friends they'll make while at school, neighborhood kids, school functions, etc. whereas at least we will live close to them if they continue in the same district). Personally, I don't see a legal reason why it needs to change and I can't see a judge forcing a kid to change districts just because the dad changed his mind.

That being said, he just emailed my wife and spilled the beans that while we are waiting to be notified of a court date, he enrolled them in a school near his house without her consent. He never made mention that he was considering this, and frankly her and I are floored. I can't believe that with a court order granting both parties equal decision making power that he can just make a decision like this without her.

At this point, we really need some advice as soon as possible on how we can go about expediting an appearance with a judge so that he doesn't start taking them to a district that we have not agreed on. Also, is there anything we can do (without compromising our ability to hold him accountable for these types of actions as he has a history of bullying my wife into decisions in this way because she doesn't want to put the kids through any turmoil if it can be avoided) to make sure he does not do something like this in the future (maybe ask for the 50/50 decision making be revoked in her favor by making a case that he does not abide by the Order)?

Any and all advice will be absolutely helpful and appreciated!!

Edit: I'm in Arizona (thanks bot).

Answer: You can try and file to expedite but this is not an emergency. All he did was enroll the kid in school. Enrollment can change. The kid has to go to a school. Waiting for court is not an option in that regard. So wait to see when the court date is. There is nothing you can do until then really. You can hire an attorney and see if they think it can be expedited since they would know the local judges


Title: Using images in a thesis paper

Question:
Hi, I've never done this before, so please forgive me if I do something wrong. I live in the US in the state of Georgia.

I'm a graduate student about to submit my Masters thesis looking at aspects of video games. I use screenshots from games that I played as figures in the thesis to show examples of my points. In my final round of edits, one of my committee members thought that the screenshots of the games may violate copyright of the games and so I may want to toss them out. Please let me know if anyone has any idea about whether or not using screenshots of games in a masters thesis could violate copyright. I can take them out if need be, but I'd like to know before I make this adjustment.

Thank you for any assistance that you can provide.
Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer:
 Wow, it's an actual fair use case! Amazing!

Yeah, you should be fine.Answer #2: You can use the pictures as is described [here](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107) This is as described in the link fair use.
IANAL: but I am 100% sure here.


Title: Grandparents died, fuckery ensues.

Question:
I’m in Ohio, USA- My dad had an extremely rocky relationship with his abusive parents. We saw them on and off my entire life because of my grandma’s severe abusive, mental instability state of being. We were very close and cared for my grandpa, but he decided he wanted to go back to his abusive wife who we did not want around. He chose to leave our lives. That being said, we hadn’t talked to them in about 5 years unfortunately. A few days ago, a distant cousin messaged me on fb to tell me that my grandpa had died a few weeks ago and that her mom had to get in contact with my dad, and that my grandma had died a few YEARS ago. No one contacted us to tell us she had died.
It was a huge blow, they were still my grandparents after all. My grandpa had a will in place leaving my dad as the beneficiary seeing as he was the only living child left and the will specifically stated they wanted my dad to have everything. My grandpa told my dad no matter how mad I get at you, no matter what happens, as long as I’m living, this will will never be changed, you will get everything. He was always good on his word.
My dad’s cousin and my grandparents nephew, Mike, were “taking care” of my grandparents, more just checking in to see if they need errands run, etc. Mike had house keys and was the one that found my grandpa. My grandparents had a revokable living trust through an attorney. Both parties had copies and a family friend, my sister and I were witness to the will. My grandpa told my dad if anything ever happens, the will will always be in he computer entertainment system in a specific spot.
No one contacted them about his death until weeks later. Mike had three weeks to contact us, but did not. My grandpa didn’t even really like mike but mike had my grandfather cremated already. My dad had the locks changed because mike had the keys to the house and was ignoring my dad’s means of contact. We searched that entire house for a will and it was gone. Which means that Mike and his snake family got ahold of the will, it’s nowhere to be found. The only people on that will was my dad, my sister and I as beneficiaries, no one else. The only people that could represent my grandparents and have anything to deal with that will are my dad. My dad called my grandpa’s attorney to get a copy of the will seeing as the one in my grandpa’s house was clearly taken, and the lawyer’s secretary told my dad they were no longer executing the living trust as someone called them representing the family and terminated the relationship with the attorney. Serious fuckery going on. My dad  was like “well the only person that can represent my dad is me, and i just found out YESTERDAY my father died.” She said she’d call back and never did.
Everything will go through probate now, and that isn’t what we wanted to have happen because my dad has a half brother, who died, but has 6 children so now half of the estate will go to them, which is specifically what my grandpa did NOT want (6 other grandkids are drug addicts and gamblers).

TLDR; So all of this being said- the main issue is the attorney is refusing to execute the will or even show my dad a copy because someone, “representing the family” , called after he died and fired the attorney. But my dad was the only person that could do that seeing as he is the beneficiary of their estate. If my dad is saying that it wasn’t him that called and that he JUST found out, being the beneficiary, don’t they have to honor that? We’re not sure why they took the will, but my dad’s other cousin said “well, before your mom died, she wanted me to have the house”. It sounds like they’re trying to get the estate. They’re distant blood relatives of my grandmother. Next of kin is my dad, my sister and I and then the other grandchildren. What can we do about the attorney refusing to show my dad, the beneficiary, the will?

Answer:
 Get an estate attorney of your own. Hire them not only to help you through probate but to talk lawyer with your Grandfather's attorney to figure out exactly what happened and to get a copy of the will. Answer #2: WHEN you get an attorney ASAP, make sure he's a bit of a bulldog and doesn't take junk from other attorneys, and sets deadlines to deal with things.  You probably want someone to be a little aggressive here.Answer #3: You need your own attorney.

There are a lot of issues to be addressed here.


Title: (IA) Separated and wife moved out. She's now wanting to move back in with boyfriend.

Question: My wife and I separated in December of last year. We are not divorced legally, just separated. She just told me today that in two weeks she's moving back in with her boyfriend, since the house is in both of our names. Is she able to move back in since the house is still hers?

Answer:
 Unfortunately, Yeah she can. Answer #2: Absent a court order stating otherwise, yes she can.

You should hire a divorce lawyer immediately.


Title: Ordered something online for one price, shown different price in order history

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You can cancel the order.


Title: Worked for free for over a year, right after finally becoming a salaried employee, employer is trying to terminate me

Question:
First, I'm sorry about how long this post is. I intended on making it short and sweet but also want to provide as much backstory as I can. This is the first time I'm asking for legal advice, and I'm unsure what you may need to know.

I work for a small tech startup in NYC, and have been with the company since it's very beginning, first as contractor then as an employee. The founders are husband & wife. I was employee #1, and spent the majority of the time at the company unpaid. I was told that because of my devotion to the company, once we landed an investment, I'd be put on full time with benefits and a fair salary.

Because this is /r/legaladvice, you can pretty much guess what happens next. Investment comes in, and instead of getting an offer letter, I am told that they're unsure if they can trust me in my position and that I'd have to prove myself if I want to stay. I'd be given minimum wage (less than half of the salary we had discussed) for the time it takes for me to "prove" myself.

Fast forward about a month, and I've finally proven myself. Instead of that fair salary, I was offered 40% less than what was previously discussed. In addition, the benefits package includes none of what I was told it would. I'm told that this is because we're growing (we had two more employees at this point, with three more in talks to join). I'm living paycheck to paycheck, and have to live an hour and half away from the office to be able to afford to stay in NYC. I felt like I had to stay, and I did really think the company would take off. Admittedly, I could probably use a dose of business advice, too.

So now fast forward another 3 months and there's a shift in attitude towards me. We're a team of 8 now, and doing very well after some major launches. Tons of press about the company, great response to my work, etc. I fully expected for us as a team to be excited and closer than ever. Except the opposite happened. Every email/conversation with the CEO was met with cold, sometimes offensive replies.

The same work that was praised a week earlier was now garbage, and not what the company was looking for. Deadlines were all set for mere hours after receiving a certain task, creating unrealistic expectations and making it seem as though I wasn't working hard. Then some of my tasks were handed off to a third party team, because the CEO felt as though I wouldn't be able to do the job well.

So then last week it came to a head and I was told to fill out a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). Basically, I was told to find the PIP document online, fill out what I believe I need to improve and then explain how I plan on doing that. Then, sign and deliver.

Now, this is the first time I've heard of a PIP but after googling it, they appear to be a lot scarier than I had thought. It seems as though they're the first steps to terminating an employee. This combined with overhearing phone conversations with the third party team that has been taking on some of my tasks, I see what is happening.

My question is, is there anything I can do about this at all? I fully expect that this is a case where I just have to accept the situation, but I need to reach out somewhere and make sure of it. Like I said, I'm paycheck to paycheck and I need to hold on to this salary as long as I can, so I can at least search for a new job.

Thanks for reading this giant wall of text, and I apologize again about the length.

Answer:
 Contact the Department of Labor about getting the back pay you are owed. It's illegal to not pay employees.  If you did qualify legally as an employee, they will be fined and you will get paid. It will probably be minimum wage for the hours that were not paid. Answer #2: I'm posting this here for anyone else who ever finds this again: DO NOT DO THIS. It's fine to take a reduction in salary in return for equity, but get it in writing, and don't do something like work for two years for free. This is a really extreme case of someone being taken advantage of but not entirely that crazy.

You are right that the PIP is them trying to get rid of you. Echoing for you to please get an attorney, because you have some serious issues with understanding how businesses work. Call the NYS Bar Association referral hotline and they will get you a one-hour consult with a qualified attorney. Please do not try to navigate this yourself.Answer #3: Look for a new job. If you ever find yourself in a start-up with your position, get a contract drawn up that gives "sweat equity". IANAL but it sounds like these people are assholes. Use your experience with this company to sell yourself. Never work for free ever again.Answer #4: Sounds like they want to cut you out of anything they make in the future.

Did you sign any paperwork stating that anything you created while working for the company is now their property?


Title: What is the proper procedure for bringing prescription medication into the u.s. from where it's non-prescription?

Question:
Asking for a friend.  Said friend is coming into the u.s. on a visa.  She takes an antidepressant that is available over-the-counter in mexico, on her mexican doctor's instructions.  Needless to say, as an antidepressant, it's not the kind of thing you just stop until you can see an american doctor.  So she'd like to bring a supply of her own medication for personal use into the U.S., but isn't sure how to go about that legally.

(Yes, I read the instructions, but this is federal law, not state.)

Answer:
 She doesn't need to get a prescription here.

Have her get a note from her Dr (in english if possible, if not have it translated).  Make sure it names the medication, the directions for usage, the dose amount, and a time frame (like 6 months).

Make sure she gets the medication from the pharmacy in a labeled bottle.  Make sure it matches the DRs notes.  Make sure she brings a 90 day amount or less.

If she needs more she will have to go see a US Dr or follow the guidelines for having medication shipped to her.

Make sure she has it in her carry on.

It will cause less confusion if she can get the pharmacy to label it as prescribed by her DR and her name on the bottle.  But in absence of this, the Dr note will suffice.  Just make sure the pills are right and the bottle is identifiable as the right medication.

Tons of people visit the US with prescription medication or medication that would be prescription here in the US.  They don't rush out the first day and see a Dr.  Thats ludicrous.


Title: A cafe worker physically assaulted me (customer) after a verbal dispute. Police are unable to do anything. Help?

Question:
Hello,

I am a 22 year old female from London, UK where this incident occurred.

I went to a reputed shisha café with my female friends last Friday. We had a decent time until it was time to pay the bill. I realised that I had been overcharged by £10. I went to the counter to speak to the workers who had served me. They refused to give me the refund and said I am lying. I was firm in my response saying that they had indeed overcharged me. The workers then decided to start verbally abusing me by calling me a f**king ugly b*tch and telling me to get out of the cafe as they didn't want my custom. Several customers witnessed this abuse. I demanded my money back. I finally got my money back after several more abusive taunts and turned around to walk out of the door as I was annoyed. One of the workers decided to start throwing objects at my head. These workers are grown men in their 30s. After 3 failed attempts to harm me, a ceramic bowl came flying and hit my ear hard. The other workers were restraining the worker who was throwing objects at me but not very well. The other workers started panicking as they knew this would land them in trouble as it's assault. The worker who threw things at me got his coat and left the building as quick as he could. All the customers witnessed this.

Me and my friends exited the establishment and a customer came out and asked if I was okay. He then proceeded to tell me that the workers were nice people as they were from his country (they are African), and that I should not cause trouble by calling the police. I walked away from him and called the police.

The police arrived and took my statement and my friends' statements and then went into the cafe. The workers refused to give CCTV footage on the basis that it was not working and no customers came forward to give eye witness accounts.

I'm aware that in this cafe, the workers are paid cash in hand and underage smoking occurs. Children from the age of 15 are allowed to smoke in the cafe. Drug deals regarding marijuana also happen. I am upset that this happened because I wanted my money back and I am upset that the police were not able to obtain CCTV footage. Essentially it is only my word against theirs. What can I do?

Answer:
 You reported this to the police which was the appropriate thing to do.  The police will take it from here.

If you have concerns about the police handling of the incident you can raise that with a police supervisor.

> I'm aware that in this cafe, the workers are paid cash in hand and underage smoking occurs. Children from the age of 15 are allowed to smoke in the cafe. Drug deals regarding marijuana also happen.

You can say all this stuff to the police involved in your investigation but you probably don't have any actual evidence on any of these points, some of them probably aren't a priority, and after the assault you can't be considered an impartial witness so even if you've personally seen something it may not matter.

DO NOT try to go back to the cafe and gather evidence, though.  Stay away.  Let the police do their job.

If you were seriously injured you could sue the cafe for damages, but it doesn't sound like you were.


Title: My parents want to send me to juvy.

Question:
Saint Paul, MN

So my parents want to send me to juvy even though I haven't broken any laws of any sort. Is there anything I can do to help myself out? I would really appreciate not spending time in juvy and falling behind on homework. Thanks for any help on this I'm on mobile so if I missed any rules my bad.

Answer: Your parents cannot send you to juvenile detention.  Boarding school, however, would be possible.


Title: My wife is having her hours cut because she voiced concerns about working alone late at night in a crime ridden area.

Question:
My wife works at a studio downtown in my city, in British Columbia, Canada. Her bosses have always kind of been selfish and inconsiderate, but now I feel they crossed a line.

Downtown here, especially over the last 6 months or so, has been filled with violent crime. Robbery, theft, muggings, vandalism, etc. Its really not a safe part if town. Usually there are 2 employees in the building at all times, but sometimes the bosses leave a few hours early and leave my wife alone at night.

This has always made her uncomfortable, but recently there was an incident of a scary disheveled guy trying to get in the studio that really made her fearful. Today, when she voiced her concerns about being left alone at night, her male boss said "then you can stay home and not work" and proceeded to cut all her nighttime hours. Do we have any recourse? If not I understand, but just really want to know what our options are. Thanks.
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer: Time to find a new job. There's no law that says they can't cut hours. Plus, why would you want to work for someone so terrible to their employees even after an incident actually took place?


Title: Could you use "I plead the 5th" to avoid identifying yourself in a stop and identify state?

Question:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_and_identify_statutes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_and_identify_statutes)

The article touches on the idea that the 4th had been bypassed by SCOTUS, but not the 5th.

Let's say we're in Nevada, legal resident of the state, you don't have your ID on your person.

If stopped and the police demand you ID yourself, could you please the 5th?

Would this answer be different if you had a warrant out?

Answer:
 > If stopped and the police demand you ID yourself, could you please the 5th?

No.  Your identification is not incriminating data.  This is true even in states without "stop and identify".


Title: is there anything i can do if my landlord, who i had been living with lock me out and keep my things and then tell me im evicted the next day with no chance to get anything and move out?

Question:
I was very late on paying rent and she locked me out because of that and said i wasnt going to get anything back unless i paid by the 31st, which i had plans on doing ( i got paid the 28th) but before i got a chance she just decided i was just evicted and is keeping everything. She wont even let me get my wallet or pain medication.

I was told i could only sue them but that could take months and id likely only get money back and doesnt really help me at all at the moment. I dont have anything but a pair of clothes and honestly if theres nothing i can do my life is just pretty much over, everything i own is there.

Answer:
 > She wont even let me get my wallet or pain medication.

If your pain medication is a controlled substance, this will also help you with getting the police to force her to return your items extremely quickly. If you have texts her saying she has claimed possession of your possessions, she's essentially admitting stealing a controlled substance. Count your pills carefully when you get them back.Answer #2: Also I'm not sure how long RTDS takes but as someone who works at a court in Alberta, and am more trustworthy than your sketchy landlord trying to intimidate you, civil cases can almost always be heard in chambers within a week or two, sometimes faster if you can go ex parte, and you can at least get some sort of help from a judge even if you need to book a longer hearing later.

Your landlord doesn't have a clue.

Look into RTDS right away, and if you're still confused, use some of that paycheque to at least consult with a lawyer and get an idea of what your best steps are (going to Resolution Services next?), because your landlord is in the wrong for illegally evicting you and holding your possessions hostage.

I'm not a lawyer yet though so I don't know for sure what sort of resolution you can get and the exact procedure to follow, but everyone is here to help people like you and I hope your landlord gets what they deserve. Answer #3: Contact the RMCP, get them to go with you. That's a illegal eviction.  (Granted I'm in WA state & a landlord) but keeping your medication & ID is very illegal


Title: Are Letters of Financial Support Legally Enforceable?

Question:
My roommate had his godmother send a letter of financial support to our landlords so that he could be accepted to live there.  He wasn't making enough on his own, but the landlords said this was enough.  Now, the hard times have come, he's short $750 for rent, and she said she doesn't want to help.  How is this possible?  Wouldn't the blame be on the landlords for accepting a candidate who could not support themselves, and didn't go through the proper channels to make sure that the godmother wouldn't back out?  How can the letter be legally enforced?  Really trying to not get evicted here.

We are in Berkeley, California.

Answer: You have no right to enforce the letter.  It's an agreement between your roommate, his godmother, and the landlord.  The landlord can (possibly) sue the grandmother for unpaid rent, but he doesn't have to.  If rent isn't paid, he can evict you.