Title: [Pennsylvania] House I'm currently renting is going up for auction by the Sheriff's department in January.

Question:
*EDIT 1*

Okay, thank you all for the feedback! I guess my next question is that since the deposit HAS to be stored in escrow according to PA law (see link below), if he can **not** prove that it was stored properly, would it still be considered a security deposit?

*EDIT 2*

I've also signed up for a free legal consult through the school I am attending (which is awesome!). Unfortunately, they were unavailable until next Thursday due to the holiday. I know there is a 10 day period to pay before the eviction process happens so we may have to make use of that before making our final decision.

-----

The other day I opened the door to an officer who notified me that the house I have been renting is up for sale by the Sheriff's Department in a few weeks. Luckily our lease ends before the date, but I fear that I will not get a security deposit back if the landlord has been failing to make payments on the house. Over $180,000 is still owed.

I just want to know if there is anything that we need to do to protect ourselves from this becoming a financial issue for my roommate and I, and if there is anything we should be doing as to not get wrapped into the issues with the Sheriff's sale. We talked to out landlord about using the security deposit as for the last months rent, as there is **nothing in our lease that states this is not allowed** (Live in the Allegheny Country area in Pennsylvania), but he said that he wasn't going to accept that as a form of payment, and that he'd need a check or we could get out. We never did receive the information of the bank that the security deposit was deposited in, which I believe is what is required per the [Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951](https://www.thelpa.com/PA_landlord_tenant_act.pdf). There is still leftover money after this last payment that could be used for any damages, although the place has been taken care of very well so we expect a full deposit back.

Are we legally allowed to do this? What are our options moving forward as to what we can do to ensure that we get the full deposit back? The check is due at the end of this week, and I will be out of town for the holiday so I also want to make sure that I still have an apartment to come back to, and I will be moving at the start of the year, so taking this to a legal proceeding would prove very difficult.

(Just a side note, the house is not up to code and the landlord is fully aware of that. This lease agreement was only for a few months so my roommate and I looked the other way.)

Any and all help or advise is appreciated, that you.

Answer:
 Do absolutely nothing. Ask the LL if you can stay on a month to month lease.

Shortly AFTER the auction, the bank (or a third party bidder) will come and talk to you offering cash for keys. Basically, they will pay anywhere from $3,000 to as much as $8,000 to get you to leave within 30-90 days. Generally, if its a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac Mortgage, you can count on about $3,500 and 60 days of free rent in the house.

You can also sue your LL for the deposit (but that's likely to go nowhere)Answer #2: > I fear that I will not get a security deposit back if the landlord has been failing to make payments on the house

You are generally correct. However, it depends where your security deposit is. I'm a homeowner that rents properties through a property management company. They hold the deposit while I pay the mortgage. If I stop paying the mortgage the deposit is still safe. If your landlord does both good luck suing them.Answer #3: OP, correct me if I'm wrong. You'd like the following question answered:

"It's hard to get blood from a stone. I don't believe the LL is solvent, and that we won't see any of our security deposit back. I'd like to know what would happen if I don't pay the last month's rent, and have the LL ding our security deposit for it, since that way we at least get something out of our deposit, instead of nothing if we trust the LL to be honest. What bad things could happen to me for doing this?"


Title: Legal repercussions of wearing a "Fuck Donald Trump" t-shirt (in a red state)

Question:
I'm curious if my first amendment right extends to things that could be considered vulgar/offensive (cough cough like the things Trump himself says) and what might happen to me if i express myself this way while walking around.

If i am stopped by a police, I assume as long as i follow her instructions (even if i feel they infringe on my 1st amendment rights) there would be no grounds to get me into legal trouble right? I have a job i'd prefer not to lose, but i would still like to express my feelings.

Answer:
 You're welcome to wear whatever you like. But whatever happens to you because of wearing that shirt may not have anything to do with legal repercussions.

Just fair warning.Answer #2: >what might happen to me if i express myself this way while walking around

Legally, just wearing the t-shirt isn't a problem. You can be told to leave a private business, though, and not everyone is obligated to accommodate you wearing it.

Seems like a passive, predictable and somewhat boring way to express your political feelings, but whatever floats your boat.


Title: I committed credit card fraud.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 So, the legal system is full of latin phrases, confusing terms of art, and convoluted sentences.  However, we do have a term for you and your situation:

*You fucked son*.Answer #2: You **had** a clean record.

Lawyer up. Answer #3: Hire a criminal defense attorney. You're looking at doing actual time for this, so you need to get your ducks in a row now. While the boss cannot unilaterally charge you, the police can and likely will get involved in some way or another.Answer #4: 1.  Shut up.

2.  Hire the best attorney you can afford.

3.  Hope that they will let you pay it back instead of going to the DA & asking for embezzlement charges.

Answer #5: Oh, dear. You thought you were in debt before. Answer #6: Get a lawyer. You committed a serious crime.Answer #7: Lawyer up.


Question:
[NY] Is this a violation of freedom of speech?

An Uber driver responded “fuck you TLC” to what he believed to be an automated email from the Taxi &amp; Limousine Commission, the NYC government agency that regulates the cab industry.

In response they hit him with a $350-$1000 fine and possible suspension (I assume he was summoned to court to determine the exact punishment).

The TLC’s justification? He violated [80-12(e)](https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/tlc/downloads/pdf/rule_book_current_chapter_80.pdf) which prohibits “Threats, Harassment, Abuse. While performing the duties and responsibilities of a Licensee, a Licensee must not threaten, harass, or abuse any person, and must not distract or attempt to distract any Service Animal.”

[screenshot](https://imgur.com/a/t8QmhJL)

In the TLC’s exact words, the reason for his fine was “emailed a TLC employee stating ‘fuck the TLC’ “

Is this not a violation of freedom of speech?

Answer:
 Freedom of speech is a right of people to speak without being suppressed by the government.

The downvoted comment touched somewhat on this issue correctly. Freedom of speech does not apply to private businesses, for example. This is a middle-ground: this isn't a random citizen shouting "fuck you" to the police. It's a person with a license to operate saying "fuck you" to the regulator.

1) First, that clause is **only active** "**While performing** the duties and responsibilities of a Licensee" -- was he actively driving a cab at the time? Or did he just respond to an email whilst he was at home? If the latter, I doubt that clause is covering it anyway.

2) The second question is if that clause can prohibit criticism of the regulator. I think that's for a court to decide. There may be precedent, but this isn't akin to "fuck you" to the police from a random citizen, nor is it akin to a dispute between an employee and a private business employer. There are probably cases of private criticism by a licensee of a government licensor or regulator, which is what this case is.Answer #2: Can't imagine why not. There have been many cases upholding the right to say fuck you to police verbally or by flipping them off. Wearing a shirt saying 'fuck the draft' has been addressed in the Supreme Court, but I don't think saying fuck you to police has made it there. However the [the Second Circuit, which covers New York](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/11-2846/11-2846-2013-01-03.html) has addressed the issue.

[Houston v. Hill](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/11-2846/11-2846-2013-01-03.html) upheld the right to yell at an officer. Not sure how NY thinks this case is different than those.


Title: [Baltimore, MD, USA] Excessive “administrative” fee charged by property management company to have additional name added to lease.

Question:
Hello,

I’m moving to Baltimore city and being added to an existing lease with a friend at their home, which is rented from and managed by a regional property management company.

That property management company recently introduced an “administrative fee” of $500 that is only for the paperwork required to add the name. After clarification, it is not any form of security deposit or other refundable charge.

Despite my application initially being submitted before the fee was introduced, they are unwilling to compromise.

I’m concerned that this is such an excessive fee for such a trivial (?) process, and an curious about the legality. I’d like to better understand my rights when I speak with their administrators so that I can better advocate for myself.

Any help immensely appreciated.

Answer: Unless there are unusual laws in Baltimore this is not illegal. They don't have to allow somebody to be added to the list in the first place therefore they can assess a fee.


Title: left gas station without removing gas nozzle from my car

Question:
I was in a rush this morning and decided to save some time by filling up my tank and getting a coffee at the same time. Started pumping and then grabbed my coffee. Didn't remove the nozzle and started to pull out. I felt the resistance after 8-10 feet and got out of my car. The nozzle and hose were still in the tank and the hose had broken off at a joint with the stand. There was a light mist of gasoline, but nothing extreme. I went inside and told them to shut the gas off on pump 8 and explained what happened.

The attendant took down my license plate number, name, and phone. The damage didn't look extreme and I wish I had thought to take some pictures, but didn't.

What kind of repercussion might I expect and is there anything I can do to help myself at this point?

Answer: Happens more often than you'd think worse case scenario you pay $50 for a new coupling


Title: [IL / FL] Misdemeanor theft from 10 years ago holding me back from getting a job today. What do I do?

Question:
**TL;DR:** Need a misdemeanor theft from Illinois expunged in order to get a new job. About how much would it cost, and how long would it take to expedite the process? How will having moved to Florida make this process different / more difficult? Thank you.

***Details:***

Just like most dumb kids that are rounding 18 years old, I hated the world, hated authority, had no respect for others, and was going to end up learning a lot of things the hard way if I didn't wisen up to what was going on around me.

Sure enough, a bout of misdemeanor theft landed me in jail not but a few weeks after my 18th birthday.

I was released the same day, went to court, was found guilty, paid my fines, and was on my way with a better approach to my life. Was this person who just went to jail the person I wanted to become? Of course not.

Well, it's taken some time, but after a swath of financial and educational struggles, I've finally got my life headed down a career path that myself and my family can be proud of.

At least, so I thought.

After four interviews, making an offer for the position and setting a hire date, an 'FBI Background Check' was performed. I didn't know there was such a thing, but after submitting my fingerprinting and waiting nervously for some phone calls, I was given some grave news.

"Yeah, remember that stupid thing you did a long time ago as a kid? Because you didn't go out of your way to rub that blemish from your record, it's costing you your dream job and career as an adult. Who'da thunk, right?"

I sure didn't.

I've not got a lot of resources to my name right now, but they said if I can manage to get it expunged and cleared by the 17th, they'll still hire me. (11 days)

My last concern, was that the charges were filed in Madison County Illinois, and I live in Seminole County Florida, now.

It means everything to me to get this resolved. I had no idea that, even now, my poor decisions as a troubled teen would haunt me so badly to this day.

What do I do?

Answer:
 You'll likely want to see if you qualify to have your record sealed and expunged.

https://www.illinois.gov/osad/Expungement/Pages/Expungement-and-Sealing-General-Information.aspx

Edit: You'll probably want to hire an attorney to help you through this as well. It would probably be beneficial.


Title: Ex-wife filling for sole custody, while I am abroad.

Question:
I am currently an expatriate from the state of North Carolina.  Currently, my ex-wife is trying to file for sole custody, on the grounds that I have abandoned our child.  She knew I was going, and agreed it would be okay, as it would mean better opportunities for our child.  Now after 8 months of being out here, she has decided to file for sole custody, trying to say I have abandoned our daughter. I know my state favors joint custody, and I have no intention of filling for sole custody, and we have verbally agreed before on joint custody.
I just can't fight anything being away, and if I break my contract, I know financially it would be detrimental, financially, and she would only use that as more evidence against me. Trying to prove my instability, as I would have to find a place of residence, a new job, and essentially start over, all during the court case.
Is there anything that I can do?

Answer: You need to find a family law attorney in NC to represent you.Answer #2: Have you continued to financially support your child, and tried to maintain a relationship in other ways (Skype, letters, phone calls?)Answer #3: Do you have any evidence that your ex agreed to this temporary situation? Texts? Email?


Title: Homeowner has blocked street parking in front of his home (TX)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Is operating a home office in a residential-sounding area kosher under your municipality's zoning laws?

Because if it's not your best bet is to suck it up and deal because any more unwanted attention to your little work place may not be good for business. Answer #2: I'd give it a day or two; if he's renovating, he may have materials getting delivered, a dumpster arriving, or contractors coming in who need the parking space.

If he's using if for something like that temporarily, you'll keep much better relations with your neighbors if you walk the extra block for a few days.  If he's blocked off the space for several days and isn't using it for anything, then you can call the city (there's usually a parking enforcement office somewhere).


Title: If you give someone someone else's name and they use that for illegal purposes and you didn't know they were going to use it for that is it illegal?

Question: [removed]

Answer: Uh, what?Answer #2: Generally it is illegal to claim you are another person (see: identity theft)


Title: [MN] car parked in my driveway (add-on from old post

Question:
Long story short from old post: I agreed to let the owner park the car there in what was supposed to be a period under 24 hours and it has been here about 4 days.

I called the police yesterday because he was lingering at the edge of my property. We reached an agreement with the police that we could start negotiations about the 24 hours after that time (11 am.)
I was to call the boys father to start the process with police mediating.

Later that night 4 police officers came to my door at about 10 o'clock at night stating that they intended to come get the vehicle immediately. I talked it over with the officers and stated that it was harassment and what not. The officers told me that the eighteen-year-old owner walked into the police office (given he doesn't have a drivers licence) and it was shortly after the morning shift had ended and their night shift had started.

I reached the conclusion with the night shift that the prior deal of waiting 24 hours from the 11 am agreement would be upheld.

This morning 3 officers different from the ones yesterday (with whom the agreement was made.) showed up to my home asking me to move the truck I had set up to block the entry of the car owner from entering my property. When I asked if it would be a third party that comes onto my property or if the car owner would be using his trailer (which I technically own but we wont get into that) to remove the vehicle, they refused to answer and told me I shouldn't worry so long as the vehicle gets removed. I did not accept their answer for the fact that I did not want them to re-enter my property and I would be fine with a third party removing the vehicle.

I had also asked multiple times why the car owner's father wouldn't come to help us figure that out (to which they gave no clear answer.) I contacted the boys father shortly after the incident to which he said it was because the officers had told him not to come in contact with me.

EDIT: as stated below I gave more background
>I want the car removed without the owner stepping on my land and the police are refusing to tell me if a third party is going to remove the vehicle or not, I have had problems with the owner showing up to my home uninvited, entering my home when I'm not there, causing the neighbors to make noise complaints, leaving trash and spitting out tobacco all over my property, etc

How it seems to have ended: The city sent out a tow truck at the car owners expense and the car owner watched from the street as the car was loaded on the the truck and taken I don't know where. As Lord-Noodles stated it is a shame so much law enforcement was used in this matter but I only called them on two occasions (one call to 911 which wasn't mentioned to have the car's owner and his removed from my property after they had trespassed into my home while I wasn't there and refused to leave my property and another to a non emergency number for the department to send out some police to mediate the incident which was the first call mentioned.)

I am seeking out a restraining order on him to ensure that I have more legal power so to say if there are any future problems.

Answer:
 I am genuinely confused.

The car was parked on your property, and you didn't want it there.  The people want to move it, but you blocked it in so they can't?

If you want the car gone, it seems reasonable for you to allow the owner(s) access to your property for the time.  Demanding that they remove the car AND that they don't come onto your property seems UNreasonable.

TL;DR: It seems that you're unnecessarily dragging this out and are causing drama where none is needed.


Title: Advice needed for traffic ticket (Virginia)

Question:
The other night I was pulled over and given a Virginia Uniform Summons in Alexandria for speeding (48 in a 35) and disregarding a traffic signal.

My version of the events: I was driving at night and came to a three way intersection which everyone had a red light. I was making a right turn so I stopped at the light, saw the other guys were stopped at a red light so I made my right and continued down the road. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a car approaching very fast behind me. i figured he was upset that I turned right just as his light was turning green and was one of those jerks that always had to be first. After he caught up to me he threw on his blue lights- a cop; great.
He pulled me over 1/10th of a mile from the intersection I made that initial right on. He asked me if I knew why I was pulled over. I disregarded his question because I knew I did nothing wrong, knew that arguing with him won't help me, and I was going to get in an argument or admit fault. He asked me if I had been drinking ( I don't drink; haven't since college about a decade ago). I told him nicely that I wasn't going to answer questions like that. He said "okay" also nicely and went to his cruiser for what felt like 15 minutes.

He came back and gave me the two tickets. He said I was going 49 but came back with a ticket for 48 mph. I asked him how he came to such a precise number. He told me that he paced me. I asked him what that meant and he told me that he came up behind me and looked at his speedometer. I told him to let me sign whatever papers he wants.

I know I wasn't speeding and I know I didn't run any red lights.  I have never had a speeding ticket in my 14 years of driving, and not even a parking ticket. I'm not sure why he decided to pull me over.

Anyway, my question is: How can a cop, come from a stopped position (He had a red light) speed up to me, in the dark, over a crest of a hill, on a somewhat curvy road, look at his speedometer and properly gauge me in 1/10th of a mile? My math said he would have only 7.5 seconds to do all that from his stopped position. I believe he was looking at his speedometer as he was accelerating.

I really don't want to pay this before the trial. based on principle and what I know as the truth I want to not only contest it, but win. The total of the two tickets is $300. Is it worth it to hire a traffic ticket attorney? What should I say in court to go against the word of a sworn officer? How can I prove I was stopped at a red light before turning when the officer will contradict me?   There is a camera at the intersection. I'm not sure if it even works; should I try to get the video if any?

Answer:
 >I know I wasn't speeding and I know I didn't run any red lights. I have never had a speeding ticket in my 14 years of driving, and not even a parking ticket. I'm not sure why he decided to pull me over.

So you were going 35?

>My math said he would have only 7.5 seconds to do all that from his stopped position. I believe he was looking at his speedometer as he was accelerating.

All he needed to do is look at his speedometer once he had made it to you and was going the same speed. It takes very little time to do that once he had pulled up to you.


Title: [USA] Is it illegal for a man to grab another man's private.

Question:
Me and my friend are having a really dumb debate. I live in Florida.

He is convinced that if you grab another man's privates. In a Gay Bar, that is not considered a punishable offense. Even if the contact is unwanted.

I'm not sure how he is rationalizing this. He may even be joking. But out of curiosity I decided to ask.

From what I've read that would fall under the "sexual battery" law in Florida. However I'm not 100% sure on this.

Answer: He's wrong.


Title: Question regarding a hospital ignoring a DNR

Question:
Edit: This is taking place in Minnesota. Apologies for not mentioning this earlier.

I'll refrain from using names, but here is the situation that was presented to our family.

My grandfather had a massive stroke on Saturday night. He's lost 80% of his brain function, paralyzed completely on the right side, and has had a long history of heart surgeries, etc. We were told he had a window of 48 hours to live. Our family all came in and said our goodbyes and agreed to a do not resuscitate order as we all know that grandpa would not like to live in such a vegetative state.

Today we had received a call from my grandfathers sister saying that the doctors had been giving him a certain drug to reduce brain swelling, as well as running multiple tests on him. Coupled with that, he had fluid building up in his lungs late last night, so the doctors went forward and aspirated him.

These are life-saving techniques, are they not? Our family had agreed that he should not have to suffer through this any longer, but the doctors are ignoring that completely. Is there anything that could be done about this?

Answer: A DNR tells the doctors to not utilize CPR or other cardiopulmonary support if the patient stops breathing or has their heart stop.  Unless there's a broader advance health care directive on file, it shouldn't prevent the doctors from continuing other treatments.


Title: How can my niece leave with me and go to school where I live without taking away any right from my mom (her grandmom). NJ

Question: This is a situation that I am struggling to be at peace with for a long time now. I have been the mother figure of my niece for all of her life and not having any rights has made thing very difficult for us. I want my mother to be able to enjoy life and be the grand mom. My mother is doing great by the way, the issue is she works at night meaning my life and work schedule has to go around hers. I have my niece at every night but barely get to see her since either me or mom take a 3hr bus to get her to and from school since we live in different towns. Something as simple as my niece living with me and going to school in my area would make all of us so much happier in our lives. I do not know ANYONE who is in a situation like mine which makes me feel so lost and alone. I am 25 and I have been taking care of my niece since I was 13. Everything that a great mother wants for their child I want for her. My friends and family fail to understand my situation and how I love her like my own. I don't have any children by the way. Me and my mother have always strive to do our best in raising her. I hope that someone can relate to this situation. and if you have any information that could help, I greatly appreciate. Sorry for the monologue but I am really at my wits end and just shouldn't be this hard to give a child a better life... I do not want to have to go a serve legal route to get the rights for her to live with me. My mom wants this as well.

Answer: If her mother and father can show how it's in the best interest of the child to live with you, then they can file in the court where the child lives for you to be given legal guardianship. This would make your niece your legal ward, and give you permission to enroll her in school near you and for you to make medical decisions and all that jazz. It can be revoked by the mother at any time and doesn't strip her of her rights the way an adoption would.


Title: [TX] Ex is demanding money, scared to refuse to pay and lose my son

Question:
My ex and I have very few joint bills left, she is demanding that I cover the phone bill even though she technically owes me over the past 2 months. I bought a new cell phone on a new plan and planned on telling her no, but found out today while looking into custody, that because we were not married when our son was born and he's only 20 months that there is a chance that she could take him from me over this money. A friend is recommending paying her the money she's demanding which has grown significantly and currently stands at $800 if I cancel out of her contract. Is this the right move? I don't have that money after having put out 4k for day care and 2k on her in the past 3 months.

edit: My name is on the birth cert

Answer:
 If you're in the US and have no custody agreement yet, she can take him anywhere whether you pay or not. And you can take him from her without consequences as well. It doesn't matter if you were married when he was born or not. Work through a family lawyer - it will give you the best opportunity to secure a position in your son's life.Answer #2: NAL

In Texas, when the parents are unmarried, [you are not the legal father](http://www.txaccess.org/paternity) unless you signed a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity after birth. This is a document distinct from the birth certificate, so merely having signed the birth certificate is not enough.

Either way, to ensure you have a right to see your child, and be free of what amounts to blackmail from your ex, you are best served by establishing a formal visitation and child support order. You can do this with the assistance of a lawyer which is best, however self representation in court is common in family law and there are [lots of resources](https://texaslawhelp.org/family-divorce-children/child-custody-visitation) available to help online.


Title: Wedding Photographer made changes in contract without notice (Bay Area, CA)

Question:
My wife and I got married in May, we hired a photographer that was recommended by the venue. Our original contract included 1 photographer, 7 hours of service, 2 locations, online viewing and 100 5x6 prints. I contacted them after the 8 week waiting period that they said it would take to get our pictures. After a couple of days they emailed us a link to our wedding photos which provided a link to download them all, which we did thinking it was the online viewing part of the contract.

I followed up asking about the 100 prints as stated in the contract and they emailed back saying that they were sorry about the confusion and that they were having problems with the printing company that they are working with and that they are still searching for a new one. They said that they gave us a free digital download for all of our photos in lieu of the prints stating that the digital download is normally an add on that would cost \~$600. The email also states that they were supposed to send us a note about these changes but never got around to it. They asked if it was alright for us but I havent replied back because I wanted to ask for opinions before taking our next course of action.

My question is, does this count as a breach of contract and is would it be worth fighting for? Does downloading the picture wave our rights to get what was originally stated in the contract?

Thanks!

Answer:
 If you have access to all of the prints then you are probably better off than being limited to just 100 EVEN IF you have to print what you want for yourselves. Answer #2: Sounds like a breach of contract.

But in my opinion 600 downloads is worth way more than 100 prints and no downloads. Answer #3: Don't accept digital downloads in lieu of prints unless they are full resolution files. Most photographers provide "digital downloads"  which are low resolution meaning your prints will be blurry.

It's worth fighting for imo. Does the contract state they can make changes? Answer #4: Yes, it’s a breach of contract. She can’t just amend the contract without your consent unless that’s what the contract says.

Whether it’s worth fighting is up to you. The photographer can’t just swap out a different product for the one she promised. The remedy would be a reduction of the price in the amount equal to the prints you were promised. If you don’t want the digital downloads, I’d suggest telling the photographer that and requesting a refund of a portion of the fees, or ask them to go through a different printing company. I suspect there is more than one such company in the world with which to work.


Title: My wife's friend wants to park her car in our driveway while she is away on vacation. What legal liability are we opening ourselves up to if we allow her to?

Question:
My wife's friend is leaving to join her husband on a vacation out of country. They have an expensive car that they are unwilling to leave to street parking while they are away, so they are asking to leave it in our driveway until they return. We don't currently own a car, so it's not an inconvenience to us insofar as taking up the space. However, I'm concerned about the legal liability we may open ourselves up to should we agree to it. The friend's husband is very fond of his car, and (in my perspective) appears that he might be of the litigious type. I don't want to damage a friendship by refusing, but I also don't have the utmost faith that particularly the friend's husband wouldn't burn the friendship to mitigate losses should something happen.

We live in Virginia in a relatively safe neighborhood, and am more or less concerned about someone keying the vehicle or something unexpected like a hail storm or branch falling on it.

TL;DR - Friend/Neighbor wants to park their luxury car in our driveway while on vacation, but I'm not sure if friend's husband wouldn't sue the pants off us if something were to happen to it.

Answer:
 If you do move forward you should get them to agree by email or text message that you are not borrowing their car and are providing free storage at their own risk. You are not undertaking any duty of care to protect the vehicle from any acts of god or other damage to the vehicle as a result of negligence by any party whatsoever. You should also consider adding that you will not have their keys at all.Answer #2: Tell their cheap-asses to park it in a garage while she is gone. What kind of idiot even thinks street parking is an option when the go on an extended vacation.

Or go to a pay parking lot, get one of their tickets and copy the language on the ticket into an email and tell her that you need her to respond acknowledging that she accepts those terms for parking.


Question:
Real estate attorney wants to bill 15 hours for drafting an amendment to a condo assn bylaws... Ripoff? How can it take 15 hours to read a few bylaw sections and compare to the state's condo act and write up some language on a form?

Should I haggle a flat rate for this instead of $175 an hour for 15 hours? As a scientist it takes me less time to write up a research paper than that. I just cant see it.

Answer: $175/hour?!?  Are you sure this person is a licensed attorney?


Title: How can I get this landlord in check when I'm not even a tenant?

Question:
I live in upstate NY and I own my house. The house next to mine is a rental and the people who rent it are ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. Loud at all hours, their kids are destructive, they terrorize my dog, etc. I'm currently listening to a party I've already called the cops about twice in the past 3 hours. The cops never respond when you live in the city.

I've written a letter to the landlord who lives a street over explaining nicely the situation asking for his help. He said he'd take care of it - that worked for about a month.

HOW can I see to it he's entirely held responsible for housing these people? I want them gone but I'd settle with quiet. All I can find online is laws to protect landlords. I need the opposite. Is he responsible for the wellbeing of his properties in the eyes of the law?

Answer: I think you are going to have to escalate with the cops, TBH. If you keep calling in noise complaints and the cops don't respond, then you need to work out how to fix that first. When you've done that, you might have leverage with the landlord.


Title: [NJ] Have to pay $100 a year for 3 years surcharge for driving with expired license?!

Question:
I know this might be a bit long but I would really appreciate some advice on this.

Got pulled over for "speeding" even though I was going the same speed as everyone else (typical end of the month quota bull crap). Didn't even ticket me for speeding but my license was expired barely a month so I got a ticket for that and not notifying DMV of address change. (if I'm getting ticketed for driving with an expired license not sure why I need another ticket for having an older address on the license but that's not the main issue here).

Alright fine, no points and $80 so I thought not worth the trouble of going to court. Eventually got another notice saying the state is now fining me a $100 dollar surcharge that I have to pay every year for 3 years, which i can't afford right now.

I expected the fines from the ticket to be it and was not informed I would be fined more once I payed off the tickets. How is this fair? Even if it isn't the municipality I feel I still should have been informed that by paying the tickets then the state has the right to surprise me with more fines.

And $300 dollars seems excessive for driving with a license that was expired for barely a month. The single ticket I got for it was only $50. No one I know has heard of this and one of my friends who was ticketed for the same thing didn't get this surcharge. Is it possible there was a mistake? The notice says that it was for being an unlicensed driver. Could there have been a mix up that they thought I was driving without having a license period? What are my options here

Answer:
 >Got pulled over for "speeding" even though I was going the same speed as everyone else (typical end of the month quota bull crap)

Oh, you're one of those.

Regardless, follow the advice of the other posters.  Seems straightforward.


Title: (FL) MIL going through divorce and being kept out of the house while her things are being thrown away.

Question:
Hi all.

My MIL left a physically abusive relationship with her husband. They are in the middle of a divorce but the house had to be put up for sale due to it going in foreclosure. She has tried multiple times to go back into the residence with police presence but has failed, even when providing the deed they have told her she could be breaking in and have already sold the house. Her husband has moved his mother in who also has a past record of being physically abusive towards my MIL. She does not want to go in without an escort but has had trouble getting the police to help and now is afraid that she will be arrested as she has been told twice, once because she was "pissing off the officer", which I told her wouldn't stand up very well in court. She refuses to go without police help since her husband has threatened her life before.

Her husband is now throwing away her things saying that she "abandoned" the property. She has filed a motion for sole use of the house three times, once as an emergency which was denied as the judge said it was not an emergency, once was 'lost', and the other she has been waiting for over two months to hear back.

How can she go in and get her personal property like clothes? And if he has thrown away all of her personal property, is there anything she can do legally? Last but not least, if he has pawned any personal property such as marital gifts does she file a police report as the items were stolen?

Thanks in advance.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: If they are going through a divorce then she should have a lawyer, right? Can't he intervene with the authorities on her behalf? Generally the authorities tend to side with the woman, so it seems like there is some part of the story we're not hearing.


Title: Young person exposure online under 18

Question: So let's just say someone under 18 exposes themselves sexually online, could they get into any legal trouble? (In my case I had cam sex with a couple girls on omegle and I'm only 15) oh and I'm in California FYI

Answer: Yes. You could all get charged with creation of child porn. That's a federal felony, and minors have absolutely been prosecuted for that.


Title: Is one notice acceptable for my landlord to enter my apartment for 3 months straight?

Question:
Hi Reddit,

I am a Sacramento, California resident and today I received the following notice on my door:

"February 8, 2017 through April 30, 2017
The following items will be completed: insulation installed in all upper units, all new windows/patio doors for all apartments, Hot water heaters installed, 181 AC units replaced, 263 refrigerators will be replaced, Solar installed on each building, Light fixtures
Management needs your full cooperation in order to complete this project by the end of April 2017.
This notice will serve as your one and only notice to enter your apartment.  Please make sure you will have your animals kenneled or have an adult home to tend to them."

Here's the thing - I really don't want to keep my dog in a crated for 9-10 hrs a day for 3 months straight. I did not agree to any of these renovations (not sure if that matters).  Shouldn't they have to give me a heads up each time they enter my premise, not just one notice for the entire three month span?

*Key detail to note: I am on a month to month lease and I do not want to get kicked out before I find a new place to be.

Please help!

Thank you,

Answer: No. Respond in writing (keep a copy) that this is not sufficient notice, you will NOT be keeping your dog kenneled (I assume you mean crated) and that you require specific X hours notice (48 is reasonable) and then you will kennel your dog on that day.


Title: [CA] Pharmacy gave us wrong syringes causing insulin OD in cat

Question:
My cat is diabetic and has prescriptions for insulin and syringes that we have been filling at CVS for about a year. Last week, my husband picked up a new pack of syringes at CVS. He gave our cat her usual dosage but when he went to dispose of the syringe where we keep the other used syringes for proper disposal, he noticed that they were different sizes. Turns out that CVS gave us 100 ml syringes instead of 30 ml resulting in an overdose of insulin to my cat.

My husband immediately called the vet about the situation and he said to bring her in right away. Once there, the vet said an overdose of insulin can be fatal and recommended keeping her overnight at the animal hospital where should would receive a mild, constant glucose drip and several tests to monitor her blood sugar level. My cat was fine after the treatment which is the important thing. However, the hospital bill was $816 which is no small amount of money for us.

My husband called the CVS pharmacy to tell them what happened and how much our vet bill was. The staff said that our prescription didn't specify the size of the syringe, only the gauge and length of the needles. However, we have a copy of the prescription from our vet that shows that the syringes are supposed to be 30 ml. CVS was not out of the size we needed but even if they were, it seems to me that the pharmacist should have brought this to my husband's attention and asked if he still wanted the syringes and if so, how to properly set the dosage for my cat's insulin. No one from the pharmacy gave any indication that they were giving us a different size from what we had gotten in the past.

My husband contacted the CVS main office with a complaint as the staff refused to give the district manager's contact info but they did say the manager would contact us but was presently on vacation. That contact was supposed to have happened yesterday but we haven't heard anything yet.

Sorry if this post is longer than is usual. My questions are:

1. Does the pharmacist have a duty to inform customers if they are receiving an item that is contrary to the prescription? If so, are they required to explain how to properly use the different item?

2. Is CVS at least partially financially responsible for our vet bill? I suppose one could argue that my husband should have noticed the different sizes but the syringes are small and don't look that different from each other until you compare them side by side.

3. What should we do while we wait to be contacted? Is there some sort of risk management division we should try contacting instead about the bill? Should we start gathering statements from the vet who treated my cat and the vet who wrote the prescription? Anything else we should be doing at this point?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide.

Edit: To correct what I wrote above, we were getting 30 *unit* syringes, not ml, and then got 100 unit syringes by mistake. My husband handles the insulin and I thought he said they were measured in ml.
Topic:
Medicine and Malpractice

Answer:
 I would say that the issue lays with the vet and whoever instructed you on giving insulin. You never just draw up a syringe of insulin and say "ok, good to go." You are supposed to give an actual unit of insulin. If you were taught correctly, you would know that insulin is dosed in units and not mls. A 30 ml syringe is huge. A 100 ml syringe is so huge I don't know if it actually exists to give medications besides oral. A 30 unit syringe is not that much different than a 100 unit syringe in size but a 30 is the same on a 30 unit syringe and a 100 unit syringe. If you had been taught or if you were following proper technique, you would have looked at the syringe and been like, "hey.. the 30 here is in a different location than the 30 on the other syringe."

You were not taught properly by the vet's office or you failed to comprehend what they were teaching. This is apparent by the fact that you keep on saying ml when an 100 unit syringe is equal to a single ml. If you were following the script's order, you would have been giving a number and not a syringe. You would have given 10, 20, 30, whatever units. You would have seen that the 30 units was different on the other syringe.

As to whether you have a legal case, I don't know. I don't think so.


Title: My child has been molested by their other parent, who I am divorcing. I'm stuck in limbo. I need some advice. [VA]

Question:
I need to keep this vague for the safety of my child and myself. If my stbx were to be aware of these allegations, our safety may be endangered. Genders have been omitted and some insignificant details slightly changed. This is long, so please bear with me.

I am divorcing my stbx; we have been separated for over 1 year. I noticed some behavioral issues starting after our child (3) began spending unsupervised time with them that could be indicative of sexual/verbal abuse, but weren't clear enough to make me terribly suspicious, and child wasn't speaking in sentences at that point. Without getting into the details, I now have evidence beyond reasonable doubt that child has been sexually abused by stbx, meaning that not only is there ample evidence in child's behavior, but also multiple verbal admissions by child that this took place.

CPS is aware but have yet to open the case in lieu of child being seen by a child abuse counselor. I received a referral from child's pediatrician to see such a counselor, but they need to be contacted by a particular person at CPS in order to make an appointment. That particular person has been out of their office for the better part of the past month and in spite of almost daily phone calls, I have only been able to get in contact with them once. They said they'd return my call after speaking with the child abuse counselor. That was over a week ago.

I'm stuck in a loop.

I haven't allowed stbx to see child for over a month. They are not happy, but are not aware of the reasoning. I have informed them that they may not see child on the advice of counsel. I was told by the director of CPS in my area that I could do so due to my concerns. This was seconded by my child's pediatrician. I know I'm not technically supposed to do this, but because of my concerns as well as the absence of a visitation order, I have been told that there isn't much legal action that can be taken against me.

How true is this?

Also, what can I be doing NOW to move this forward? Can I call CPS and demand that someone more available be put in charge of my case? Can I go straight to the police? I have a lawyer who is aware of the whole situation, but they have been hired for my divorce, not for this matter.

Multiple calls to CPS have been made by me and other members of child's family. I have voice recording of child saying various incriminating things. I have written recording of other things that could not be immediately recorded.

I'm very frustrated and I want to know what I can do now while I wait in limbo. Please help if you have any insight.

Answer:
 You should not be seeking advice from the internet at this stage. Seek legal counsel Answer #2: I am a police redditor who worked in a sex crimes/child abuse unit for 8 years.

For the most part, child protection is useless as stale bottle of piss.  If you want something done, pick up the phone and dial 9-1-1.

Speaking from professional experience, any time there is an allegation of CSA (child sexual abuse) while a divorce is in progress they are handled much more carefully.  I know that this might come as a shock, but there are actually parents who would lie to the police about child exploitation in order to gain the upper hand in a divorce.

To avoid muddying the water, I would recommend that you do not try to insert the pending divorce into the investigation.  It might even be a good idea if you have another trusted family member be present for the interviews and medical exams.  That way you can show that your interest is truly that of your child and not some personal agenda against your estranged spouse.


Title: Is Washington DC statehood constitutional?

Question: Given that DC statehood has come up again, it makes me wonder if it would pass constitutional muster. The constitution grants congress sole power to manager the capital district. Wouldn't statehood require a constitutional amendment?

Answer: Congress would still maintain power of the capital district. The area proposed to become a state would be ceded to that state and not include the federal buildings. So the federally administered DC would just shrink to the capital mall area more or less


Title: Landlord refusing to give me all the keys discussed in contract

Question:
Hey guys. So I moved into my condo about 3 months ago in Toronto. Last week the door to get to from the elevator to the parking has been down (I need a keyfob to electronically open it) which causes me huge inconvenience because I carry a lot of equipment with me for work. This means that once I get back from the parking garage, I have to walk up a flight of stairs to get to the main lobby, to get to the elevator. This costs me two trips from my car because my equipment is so heavy.

I spoke to management and they told me that I needed a dwelling key, which I didn't get. I spoke to the landlords agent and told him the situation and he told me he would get back to me in a week. I followed up with him a week later, and long story short they are refusing to buy the key for $100 from management. What I've been told was the previous owner did not give them this key. I told him that I don't care if the previous owner didn't give them the key, the contract we signed stipulates I will get all keys associated with the unit, as well as the condominium. I told them to fulfill their end of the contract and I want it resolved by the end of Christmas.

I'm paying $2000 in rent a month and I don't think it's fair for me to pay $100 for a key that they signed to give me. What are my options?

Answer:
 Your recourse is as follows:

1. File a complaint with the landlord tenant board (which in my experience is very pro-tenant) they can put pressure on the LL to follow your lease and provide the keys. However is very time consuming.

2. Pay the fee and sue your landlord in small claims which is also time consuming and a huge pain in the ass over 100$.

3. Read your lease for the terms about breaking the lease or any penalties associated for you or your landlord for not adhering to the lease. Follow those terms to a T and hope it allows for a resolution.

Legally speaking these are your options you can however continue to press your LL on this and raise he'll until he adheres. But if you have access to the unit and building even if it is inconvenient I wouldn't expect the courts or LtB to be overly hard on your LL about this.Answer #2: Liberty Village condo? Most of the management companies that specialize in renting to young tenants try and pull this or another version of a 'key deposit.'

If you have a parking space in your lease and they won't give you the key to get into your apt from the garage you'll almost certainly win in front of the LTB, but that's going to take a while. For me what worked is pestering the fuck out of them. Be polite, but call often. If they believe you'll actually go to the LTB they'll likely cave as it's just as much trouble for them as for you.


Title: Disgruntled ex-employee contacting clients and spreading lies.

Question:
I live in ontario, Canada. I'm posting on behalf of my mother, who has her own business. One of my mother's employees had a falling out with her a few months ago and my mom let her go. Now the ex employee is making threats to phone people and claim fraud, unless my mom gives her 10% of the commissions, although my mom had her set up for 5%. She's also phoning clients that she's worked with and claiming they won't get the services they paid for. This has resulted in many angry phone calls to my mother and some clients just plain walking out.

I'm just wondering what can be done about all this, because my mom is losing out on business and its stressing her out.

Answer: That's called extortion and tortious interference with business relationships and defamation and your mom's lawyer will probably write a sternly worded letter, ask the local court for an injunction (a court order telling the former employee to STFU), and file a lawsuit for damages. Of course, that's just my guess -- my point is that your mom needs a lawyer ASAP.


Title: Why can your license get suspended for an underage consumption of alcohol if you were not driving a vehicle?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Alcohol Related Other than DUI

Answer:
 Because the laws say that it can happen and because having a driver's license is not a right.  Answer #2: It's allowed because elected officials wrote the law that way. The purpose is to punish you.Answer #3: Because better safe than sorry.Answer #4: The purpose is to be an incentive to not break the law. Your apparent premise that a crime and the punishment must be directly related is flawed. Answer #5: Why don't you get to vote after committing most felonies? Why can't you legally own a gun after murdering your spouse?

Because that's what the rules say. If you don't like them, become a legislator and change the law.


Title: [US] Have discovered a notable (C-list?) celebrity used an existing karaoke track of a song - on which I sang - to release a parody version; can still hear my vocals on it in places. Should I sue?

Question:
Unfortunately it seems wise for me to keep the details vague here.

A famous person who is not exactly movie-star famous but has been on TV, is notable within their field, tours the world, etc... released a parody of a well known pop song in 2012 on a full length album. This particular parody did not chart, but the music video for it has over 4 million view on Youtube. Also the album sold remarkably well - another song on the same album charted top 20 on Billboard in comedy songs.

So I was listening to this song parody yesterday at full volume on my headphones, and long story short, it's clear that rather than create a sound-alike of their own to sing the parody over, the artist used a pre-existing karaoke track, because I can hear the vocals to the original song faintly in the background. (Often times when karaoke tracks are released, the company records a version with full lead vocals as well as the instrumental. They often mute down the vocals for the instrumental but you can still faintly hear them.)

The vocalist in question is me. I can say this with 100% confidence. I know my own voice, and I was hired for this job in 2010. I have contacted the owner of the recording and they confirmed they did not license the track to anyone for this purpose.

So my questions are two:

1.Do I have a legal claim here over the fact that a track featuring my vocals, however faintly, was altered and widely circulated for profit by someone who did not hav epermission, over the last 5+ years?... and...

2.If so, what should I do?

My instinct is to issue a civil demand for a flat amount and see what happens. Is that a good move?

Answer:
 The statute of limitations for copyright infringement is three years, so that may or may not be an issue.

Also, do you even have any enforceable rights in your performance?  Or did you instead assign any rights in it to the producer, recording company, or label as part of your employment agreement for this gig?Answer #2: I don’t know the details of your contract with the karaoke company. But it would seem...unlikely...that you personally retain any copyright claim over the song; especially if it was produced as a work for hire (as it sounds like it was). If this was an original piece of music that you licensed to the karaoke company; maybe. Even then, I imagine it’s typically it’s be up to the recording studio as the ultimate right holder.

So even if the copyright holder potentially has a case (and the argument seems relatively thin); you haven’t given enough details to know if you retained the copyright. If you haven’t; then you have no more standing to take action than I do; even if it’s your voice.


Title: What happens if you have an enormous amount of legally-prescribed medication when entering the US?

Question:
[Here is the CBP's guidance on traveling into the US with medication](https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1160?language=en_US).

Suppose I'm a traveler from some country with extremely lax regulations on medical care. My doctor has decided that this splinter I got the other day is best treated with an hourly morphine dose, and since I'll be traveling he decides to go ahead and prescribe me the CBP's recommended maximum 90 day supply. I show up at Dulles with my prescription and my doctor's note as required. Will my 2160 legally-possessed and prescribed morphine tablets be confiscated?

Answer:
 >Will my 2160 legally-possessed and prescribed morphine tablets be confiscated?

It's impossible to say what customs or border agents *will* do.  But they are going to pretty *severely* question an hourly prescription of morphine.  It's not impossible (especially in the massively suspicious circumstances you're describing) that even though you have a ... "valid" ... prescription, everything would be confiscated.


Title: Someone else’s name came up on my husband’s background check

Question: He had a background check done for work, and an “alternate” name showed up on the report. Does this mean someone has stolen, or is trying to steal his identity? What sort of action do we need to take?

Answer: NAL, I have an unusual name and when I bought a house last year I literally had over 4 full pages of aliases I had to initial as being "me" - most were misspellings and some were odd combinations of my last name(s) and first/middle. If it's close to his name, that is probably why- if not he may want to check his credit, or run a background check on himself (I can't say the sites but just google his name, and the altername one and they should pop right up). Then, depending on what you find out you will know whether or not it was stolen identity or an honest mistake.


Title: I think my daughter's stepfather is abusing her. Please advise.

Question:
I am separated with a 6 year old daughter. I live in a neighboring state about 3 1/2 hours away. We have joint custody and I have her the standard every other weekend, odd/even year holidays etc.

Here's some background.

I left her Mother in 2013. We had no custody agreement and I paid child support. Wouldn't let me see daughter without  seeing her too and wasn't healthy environment. Towards the end of 2014 she has me arrested for assault (my Mom forewarned me of this as my ex felt that if I didn't want her I couldn't have my daughter) and files a restraining order. I agree to the restraining order and plea my case with the assualt charge.

Female judge, found guilty. Look, I didn't attack her. I understand some will judge me or whatever and that's ok.   Fact is, now I have a record. Assault against a female. I had visitations every other week supervised by my ex's Dad and/or sister. Wtf judge?!?!

I enrolled my self in parenting classes and put my nose to the grindstone at work.

Before the end of three months (only a few visits) it had become less than a  healthy place to be with my daughter and my advisor through my classes advised me to stop going.

Waited 6 months with no contact and graduated my parenting course and excelled in my career.

The day the restraining order was up I called the best lawyer I knew and gave him my savings to file for joint custody.

Rep from my parenting courses go with me, my new partner and the best lawyer I could find go to court.

The two lawyers meet up and after reviewing circumstances both parties agree to joint custody.

Fast forward to now.

My daughter told me tonight her stepfather of just over a year has been choking her. Grabbing her neck where she can't breathe and choking her. Also grabbing her face and squeezing it.

She says he does this because she won't stay in her bedroom late at night. She says Mommy doesn't know and she doesn't want to tell her because whenever she tells Mommy stuff like that she doesn't believe her and gets mad at her.

She told me they put a lock on her door backwards and lock her in her room. She says they allow her stepbrother (16) and stepsister (14) spank her. They are not blood. These kids just met her in 2015.

I don't know what to do. She started crying her eyes out telling me this. She asked to come stay with me and my fiance (Same woman who went to court with me).

Please advise.
Thank you so much.

Answer:
 You really buried the lede.

Call the police.  Call CPS. Answer #2: Please call the police and CPS immediately, as well as contacting some family law attorneys to help you gain urgent custody. I know it’s Thanksgiving eve, so the second suggestion will probably need to wait, but you could also see if any attorneys or firms in your state list cell numbers or 24x7 contact details.

Best of luck protecting her and keeping her safe.


Title: Received garnishment paperwork.

Question:
I received garnishment and whit forms to intercept my state tax return for a judgement of a 2009 default credit card dept.  The judgement was 11/09/14.  I never went to court.  Im dumb. My memory of the time frame is lacking. I was focused on getting my kids out of foster care(they were with my parents) and was lacking foresight.  It was a bad time.

I don't know what to do.  My family is well off, but they attack me when I ask about financial issues.  So I avoid.  Which is why I'm here on reddit out of desperation.

Today is my last day to file an injunction.  I have not worked for 2 years.  I'M behind on my tax filing from the last time I worked.  I'm debating bankruptcy filing.

Answer:
 Legally, you are on the hook for your debts, regardless of how "bad time" it was when you incurred the debt.

You can talk to bankruptcy counsel.  Before doing so, collect all the data you have about all your debts.


Title: [TX] Neighbor shooting across property line

Question: I live out of city limits, in a semi rural area. Neighbors next to me like to shoot firearms on weekends (which I know is legal and enjoy doing so myself). 3 separate occasions, Ive noticed the projectiles coming well into my property, around my home and vehicles. First time they were shooting clay pigeons; my house, vehicles, and trees all around were getting "peppered". That in itself isn't a huge deal, but Id recently built and moved out there, so I rode over to let them know someone lived back there now and that they were spraying bird shot all over my place. Issue seemed solved. Months later they are at it again, but rifles and pistols. By the sound of it they are shooting in line directly towards my house and some seem to be going through my brush between my house and the property line. I see a lady at a deer feeder away from the shooting so I go talk to her, and tell her my concerns. She assures they have a good back stop they are shooting into, so I let it go. This last time, bullets are definitely flying all around me, to the side, over head, landing in the dirt in front of me. Whatever they are shooting into DEFINATELY isn't stopping everything. Called the DPS this time and told them the story, they said they would go talk to them. That was yesterday, they were at it again today but nothing seemed to be coming across. What should I do if next time its clear again that they are shooting past property line and into my area.  Does it have to come down to catching a bullet in a vehicle, my house, or myself?? I love shooting as well, but they are obviously not being responsible about it. Thanks.

Answer:
 "Hello, 911? Yes my neighbor's are shooting guns directly at my property and bullets are landing around my house. They won't stop and I'm afraid for my life."

Shooting towards a structure is illegal anywhere I've ever cared to look up and surely must be in TX too. Answer #2: Those people are idiots. They should not be shooting anywhere toward a house. You need to keep calling the police if they keep shooting into your area. Answer #3: What they are doing is illegal. Call 911.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/LG/htm/LG.229.htmAnswer #4: Document all damage. They should have a berm(earthen trap for bullets) at least high enough to trap any stray bullets. Also do you have a stream or well water on your property? Congratulations! You now have lead-contaminated water. The EPA or Texas' Department of Conservation equivalent may stick you with a huge bill for cleaning up the lead that ultimately lands on your property. I don't wanna say superfund-equivalent, but if this has been going on a long time there may be a large deposit of lead in total on your land.


Title: MN - sold my cabin with the water system and plumbing listed as is. Buyer wants me to pay for repairs to the system.

Question: I recently sold a cabin in the northern part of Minnesota. When I received an offer it was late in the year so I asked for a May closing. I explained to the realtor that with a May closing I could dewinterize the water system, make sure everything was working as it should, and the buyer could get an inspection. The buyer insisted that we close in January and signed an addendum saying she was buying the house without inspecting the water or Plumbing Systems. The addendum also states that she is accepting the water and Plumbing Systems as is. Long story short, they ran into a few issues while dewinterizing the system. The buyer has come back to me asking me to reimburse her for what she paid to have it fixed. These are problems that I tried to avoid by suggesting a later closing date so I could handle any issues that may have arose. She insisted on closing in the dead of winter and accepted the system as is to make that happen. For the record, the disclosure list the systems as working, but I signed those in the summer when everything was up and running. It was after that date that she agreed to take the system as is. Is there any reason that I would be forced to pay for the issues that have come up?

Answer: They turned down your offer of waiting and having you fix any issues with the plumbing.   This is not your problem.  You can tell them you are just going to stick the contract and wont be involved in this anymore.


Title: Why is prostitution in america not legal?

Question: Over the centuries prostitution jobs been around for thousands of years. Why is it that its not legal in america? why do people turn their head the other way and pretend its not there? Every high roller have paid these services for all kinds of party. Why are they trying to stop something thats been around for so many years? Can they really stop this kinda of service? Im sure it ties to so many things. But what about those who just need good time and all that? Why is america hold such thing against it? Because they think it ruin relationship and such? Im trying to understand why they have not legalize this kinda of thing.

Answer:
 You know what *else* has been around for thousands of years?

Murder.


Title: [CA] Racist conspiracy talk in the workplace as a private contractor

Question:
I work as a private contractor moving cars for a start up company in California. There isn't an office, but we do congregate on the lot as well as during rides when we're shuttled between locations.

A few guys I work with believe deeply in some sort of "Jewish Illuminati Conspiracy" and make a lot of comments about it. Today a couple of them vocalized their opinions to another contractor who self describes as a secular Jew. They asked him about Judaism which led to a series of comments about "Jews controlling the banks," "only helping out themselves," etc. The whole situation grew rather uncomfortable and the conversation was ended.

I contacted the HR department for the company about how I don't feel this behavior is appropriate for a workplace environment and urged them to issue a statement to that point.

The message I received said that, unfortunately as an independent contractor these guys are entitled to their opinions, citing freedom of speech, and because the workplace is not an enclosed office setting, the company cannot control what is being said. Furthermore I should resolve the issues I have with this behavior with the individuals directly.

My question is this: are contractors not afforded the same hostile workplace protections as employees, and is discussing conspiracy theories rooted in racism protected speech?

Answer:
 To add to what /u/lawyerdcanada advises, OP I would remind you that HR is there to protect the interests of the company first and its employees second. Answer #2: IANAL.

>are contractors not afforded the same hostile workplace protections as employees,

What you've described does not sound like it is anywhere near a hostile work environment.

>and is discussing conspiracy theories rooted in racism protected speech?

Yes, although that just means the government can't restrain their speech or punish them for it.


Title: Potential Underage Girl Scam

Question:
Ooooh this is not what I needed or signed up for. Met a girl on OKCupid, profile said she was 19 (I'm 28), that she lived near me, yada yada. She initiated contact with me, and within a few very brief messages said her data was being slow and asked for my number. Gave it to her cause I'm stupid and lonely. We talked a day or two later. She asked me for a pic for a contact ID, I obliged by sending her a picture of my face. I asked her for one in return, she sent me a pic of her in a thong and a small t-shirt in front of a bathroom mirror. She said she was about to shower, wished I could join, blah blah. I asked if she could share more, she did. Then she prodded me to send something, so, I did. Eventually she vanished.

Next evening (tonight) I'm eating dinner and get a call from a neighboring state number and answer. It's, supposedly, a private investigator contacting me on behalf of this girl's father. Turns out, they claim, she's only 15 years old. He tells me the dad doesn't want it getting out and wants to handle it by talking to me. So, I call the dad, we hash it out, he's going crazy, but I explain I had no clue she was 15, her profile said she was 19 and lived in my town, I sent him a screenshot to prove it, etc. He said he felt more relieved hearing the shock in my voice and doesn't want to go to court and make a huge mess of it. Said if he contacted a sheriff it would go haywire, doesn't want his wife finding out, questioning his parenting, divorcing him, getting custody, etc. His life is apparently in shambles, and turns out he wants me to fix it, with money. He said the private investigator cost him $1,000, he's going to have to spend $1,299 on a new laptop (says his daughter slammed it closed in a panic when he walked in on her) before he picks his wife up from the airport tomorrow at 7pm, has to pay off his daughter's phone and pay to cancel the line, and it's costing him a lot. Essentially he wants $1,000 out of me, even if it has to be in monthly payments. I told him I was a victim as well, as I was told she was of age and have NO fucking desire to speak that way to a 15 year old girl. Told him it's not my responsibility to cover costs of something that happened because his daughter was being deceitful on the internet. All of a sudden he has to tell his wife now and he is saying straight-up she's probably going to take it to court. All of a sudden he's not worried about a divorce or anything like that at all, just changing his plan cause I won't pay him. I told him it sounds fishy and he said, "Look I don't know if you think this is a scam" or something along those lines. Eventually got off the phone, I'm not paying him shit, he's telling his wife, whatever.

After this I Google the situation and found a similar one in [this](http://www.justanswer.com/criminal-law/8thzb-received-naked-pictures-sent-naked-pictures-underage.html) article. Seems like a scam, lady said it sounds like a scam, I feel a little better, but still don't know what the hell is going to happen next.

I called the private investigator back and asked for his badge number and precinct. He said he doesn't have to give me that information, said he doesn't work for me, and goodbye.

I was just trying to meet someone, things got sexual in nature, I had no damn clue the girl was too young, that being if this is even legit at all.

One other thing to note: We were talking via text message. She asked me if I could receive video on my phone, to which I replied yes, I can. The supposed dad said she was on a laptop recording some shit with her legs spread, and when he caught her she slammed the laptop and broke it. Doesn't add up to me. She couldn't send the video via text message from a laptop. Why would she even get the laptop as opposed to just use her phone? Just doesn't make sense.

So, what in the hell is in store for me?

I have the conversation archived, a screenshot of her profile with age and city, I have all 3 conversations saved on my phone as I record all calls. Oh, and I deleted my OKCupid account. Fuck that noise.

Answer:
 This is a well known scam.

You will go on and live your life as though nothing happened, although hopefully you will have learned to not trade naked photos with people you don't know.


Title: Speeding ticket, as it relates to Eye of the Tiger [TN]

Question:
As suggested by the title, a few days ago, I received a speeding ticket (15 over the posted limit)- but **only because** *Eye of the Tiger* had come on the radio just before I got pulled over, and I was too busy imagining myself in a sweet boxing-related montage to pay attention to my speed.

I want to fight this- is there any sort of "Survivor"-based defense for traffic court?  Failing that, does the band itself have any sort of civil liability?  What about Sylvester Stallone?  This is really their fault, when you think about it.

In all seriousness, you guys are one of the best reddit communities out there.  Thanks for all your wonderful advice!

Answer: Did every shot show a little improvement? That is key to the montage defense.Answer #2: That sounds like a perfectly reasonable defense if only it was Dio and [Holy Diver](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkysjcs5vFU) that was playing. Since it wasn't, I don't think that's going to fly.Answer #3: For the montage defense to work, the song needs to be "No Easy Way Out" you must upshift and downshift constantly while staring in the rear view mirror for the duration of the song.


Title: Calls and no messages left from a law firm and now a bail bondsman. No idea why and I've asked all the shady characters I know. No one has a clue why. PASADENA, CA

Question:
Hi Everyone,

I've never answered the calls because I'm usually in meetings or doing something with my kids.  I've always figured that if someone needs to talk to me then they'll leave me a message.

The first couple of calls without a message I took about zero notice of, but the third and forth made me curious.

I did a quick google search of the number and a legal group in Pasadena, Ca came up.  Looks like they specialize in family law from what I saw in google.  I don't even pretend to know what the other specialties were.

Now today I had a similar call from another number but waited to see if they'd leave a message.  They didn't.  A wee bit of digging turned up what is a bail bondsman in Pasadena, Ca.

Made the same phonecalls again this afternoon to see if anyone I may have known has for some reason used me as a referrence or someone who could post bond.

I'm broke, I haven't seen any of the shady characters I used to know for over a decade now, and I've got zero clue as to what the heck may be going on.

Reddit, any clue as to what might be happening?  Should I be lawyering up?  I'm completely clueless right now.

Answer:
 I suspect someone you know skipped court. There may or may not be bail involved. Sometimes, bondsmen act as skip tracers. If a family law firm called you, child support comes to mind.

At any rate, it's easily cleared up. Call the bondsman who keeps calling you. They'll tell you what's up. They won't send you to jail or anything... they're in the business of keeping people OUT of jail.


Title: Girl lied about her age. I sent nudes and she screenshotted and threatened to report me to police. We are both minors

Question:
This girl added me on Snapchat and we started talking, I made a mistake of sending her an explicit picture after she had been asking a while. We got into sending messages back and forth and more of that happened. She sent me fake pictures but did ask for pictures of me. Now she said she is 13 and not my age and started talking screenshots of chat before I blocked her. She said she’s going to report me to the police. What should I do and wouldn’t she get in trouble if she has a picture and asked for pictures of me? I am a minor, I’m 16. Also likely is it that the police do something about this? She said she did not believe I was 16 and said she is going to report it as if I am an adult. How do I handle this? I’m freaking out so bad
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 If you’re 16, you produced and distributed child porn which is illegal.

This is a common scam though. Next someone will demand money so they don’t go to the police. Ignore them, block them, and don’t repeat this situation.


Title: Teenager doesn't want to visit non-custodial parent

Question:
Divorce occurred in Texas when child was under 2 years old.  Child is now almost 16.

Custodial parent lives in Texas.  Non-custodial parent lives in New England area.

Non-custodial parent hardly ever interacts with the minor, usually a phone call 2-3 times a year.  Every 2-3 years, minor visits non-custodial parent in New England.

Trip set up for a few days from now, and minor says they do not want to go.  Claims non-custodial parent treats them indifferently, body-shames, insults, etc.  No physical abuse of any kind.

If custodial parent grants the minor's wish and allows the minor to stay home from the trip, does this violate custody laws?  Custody agreement is standard, "reasonable access to child", etc.  Custodial parent is in no way preventing minor from going on the trip, it's 100% the minor who does not want to go.

Is custodial parent making a mistake by allowing him to not go on the trip?  Thanks in advance.

Edit: Forgot potentially important fact: The non-custodial parent has already paid for round trip airline tickets for this trip.  Non-custodial parent is also under court order to pay child support, and rarely does so.  They're approximately $15K-$20K behind in payments, though I don't know if that affects this situation at all.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 If custodial parent does not see that the custody order is enforced, the non-custodial parent could file for contempt and likely win.

As I am sure you well know, sometimes being a parent is MAKING your kids do things they don't want to do.

You can, however, file for a modification.  Given the age of the child, their wishes may be taken into account and contact in the future may be at their discretion.  Answer #2: /u/NAThrowawayay

I just saw your PM to me.:

> Can I
>
>
> from NAThrowawayay [-1] sent 6 hours ago
>
>
> Please fuck your asshole till you comply

 What are you, a filthy-mouthed juvenile? You know PMs are not allowed on this sub, right?

Sorry, OP, that your question has gotten some people de-railed. You should really talk to your attorney to see if there is something you can do now to lessen any bad consequences to you and your child.


Title: When does Pepper Spray go from self defense to assault or other troubles? [CA]

Question: My wife just told me about the third homeless man  in two weeks that has aproached her outside of her workplace (the most recent time having blocked the door to her office) to say say vulgar sexual things. If she were to carry pepper spray, at what point can she act on her fear for someone making advances on her? If she were to defend herself against a potential attacker, could she do herself more harm than good? Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 "potential attacker" is different than "said bad things to me."

If a reasonable person would fear for themselves self defense is absolutely legal.

Pepper spraying someone for catcalling you would be a Bad Idea.


Title: [NJ]Student Loans: who gets the money?

Question:
I took out some loans for college. When my refund (the amount that is left from loans after tuition is payed) came back i left it in the account for when i needed it.

The loans are in my name but she co-signed them. I actually applied for the wrong loan so she cancelled it and filled out right loan and sent it in and then told me later. But i don't know if that matters...

About 5 months ago i got kicked out of my house with no money, car, job, or place to stay. So i took my refund out and applied to some apartments.

My mother has since lost her job due to drug addiction, and can no longer pay bills. Now that she has no money she wants to sue me for taking the refund.

Does she have a case? Should i start preparing for court?

Edit: more information

Answer:
 You will have to provide more information.  First of all, the term "refund" is confusing.  A lender sends you loan proceeds or funds, they don't "refund" you.  I assume what you mean is that you paid your tuition in full to your college, then the loan proceeds were paid by the lender directly to your college, then your college "refunded" you the "overpayment".

If YOU took out loans for college (meaning the loans are in YOUR name only with no cosigner), and the loan funds were deposited into an account that is in your name only (not a joint account or a custodial account), then the money is yours to do with as you please within the parameters of the lender.

But of course if the loans were taken out by your mother in her name only to help her pay for your education, and she used the proceeds of the loans that she received to "refund" you what you paid in tuition, then that would be a very different story.

Just a word to the wise.  Be VERY careful about taking out loans for education.  Many cannot be discharged in bankruptcy and many people have a hard time paying them back, especially without family support.


Title: NH - Mechanic says an intern "slightly damaged" my hood while working on my car. I said no problem as long as it's not going to incur the wrath of the rust out here and isn't too much of an eyesore.

Question:
I suspected it was more than that from his response.  I'm just curious as to the strategy going in.  I'm pretty sure I should be OK w/them and maybe agree to pay 1/4 of the cost (or less) for a new hood/paint, depending on the damage and to pay the bill and get the keys before negotiating further.  I don't want them to hold my car at ransom if they can do that for not paying.

Thing is, I really like this local mechanic.  I want to continue business with them but the pain of replacing *another* hood on my own or them doing a half-ass job or getting strategic partners to do so might be a thing.  I also suspect them, now of raising the bill for things to be sure it's almost covered or whatever.

Either way, I want to go in with a strategy.  Thoughts, please and thank you?

Edit: The job I gave them was to make a 7-yr.-stored Honda runnable again.  Cost so far is about 700 including checking brakes (possibly replacing 2 pads/rotors), replacing/flushing some fluid, etc.  Last time I had this same thing done 5 yrs. in storage it was 4-500 from my favorite mechanic ever.

Anyway, the hood looks like it costs about 200 delivered and I guess paint would be about 100 but I don't know.  Slightly more perspective.

Edit 2: I'll update after paying for service, maybe waiting for the hood repair.  Thanks for your input thus far.

Answer:
 > I'm pretty sure I should be OK w/them and maybe agree to pay 1/4 of the cost (or less) for a new hood/paint

Why? The mechanic is liable here. Two mechanics have damaged my car (one backed it into a wall, another broke something while trying to fix something else) and both immediately told me they would fix it for free. I'm really surprised he didn't offer.

Your strategy going in should be "You are liable, fix my car. I'm not paying for your mistake."

They should have insurance you can report this to if they're really not willing to make good on their mistake right away. If that doesn't work, you can take him to small claims. Hopefully someone else will come to offer more legal advice.

You may like this mechanic, but if you can't trust him to fix his mistake when he fucks up your car, you probably shouldn't leave your car with him any more. Stuff like this is not that uncommon, and you might as well avoid the headache.

And for the future, insist that they fix any damage, even if it's minor. You have no reason to let them botch your car and not fix it because it's not "too much" of an eyesore. It's not demanding to insist that your car is not returned to you in worse shape than you sent it in.


Title: If Grand Theft Auto V added a casino to their game, could it be considered illegal gambling?

Question:
If you don't play the game, GTA V has a store where you can spend real life money to buy in-game money. For example, you can spend $10 in real life to get around $1,000,000 in-game and spend the in-game money on stuff like jets, cars, etc.

My question is, if they added a casino to the game, could it be considered illegal gambling since you can spend real life money on the game? You can't spend in-game money to get real life money though.

Would a person playing the game have any legal grounds to sue if they put down lots of money on the game and lost it all in a casino if they added one?

Answer: The palyer would be using real money to buy digital goods. There is no way to transition the digital goods back into real money. It's not gambling since you can't regain your money, you're just playing an expensive game.


Title: Illinois Landlords kept security deposit but have not provided receipts proving they did the repairs. Do they have to give my money back?

Question:
I was renting a home in Illinois and moved out on March 30th this year. The landlords kept a chunk of the security deposit for repairs. So far they have not provided proof that they spent the money on said repairs. I asked for receipts at the time, and since then I've sent an email and texted the property manager. So far they're all ignoring me. Per IL law, do they forfeit the portion they kept? Can I reasonably demand that money back?

Thanks in advance!

Answer:
 As I am reading it they have to:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2202&ChapterID=62
> an itemized statement of the damage allegedly caused to the leased premises and the estimated or actual cost for repairing or replacing each item on that statement

I'm not seeing where they actually have to make the repairs.  They can likely take your payment and accept the depreciated value of the property.

Did they give you an estimate?


Title: Wife cosigned student loans for ex years ago and ex stopped paying and blocked all contact - is there anything she can do?

Question:
My wife cosigned students loans for her ex-wife years ago when they were together.  Since then, the ex has not paid the loan regularly and has since cut off communication with my wife altogether.  The ex used to pay every now and then, but recently has not been paying.  We have been paying these loans, but have to monitor to see if they ex is going to pay at all.  Lender told my wife she can pay late bc they don't report to the credit bureau until the middle of the month after the payment is missed, giving us a little grace period.  So my wife gives the ex a chance to pay and then pays a few weeks late if she hasn't paid.

At the end of last year, my wife went to make a payment and mistyped our bank account number.  The online system does not send a payment confirmation email or anything, so there was no way to know it was missed until we didn't see it come out of our account.  By then it was reported to credit and affected my wife's credit score which is impacting our mortgage refinance rate.

During their divorce, they had a verbal commitment that the ex would reconsolidate to get my wife dropped as cosigner.  The ex never followed through and has since made every attempt to block my wife's attempts at contact, going so far as to be hostile whenever she did happen to get in contact.

Is there anything my wife can do here?

Answer: She can sue the ex for the payments she's having to make.


Title: WV a cop gave me narcan even tho I wasn't od'ing I was only high and then arrested me for possession even tho I didn't have anything on me. I was kept in jail for 9 days except for one trip to court and then the charge got dropped. Can I sue for giving me narcan and making me withdraw in jail alone?

Answer:
 Just because you weren't caught in possession doesn't mean you can't be charged with possession.Answer #2: You cannot die from opiate withdrawal, so allowing you to suffer through it is perfectly acceptable. I worked on a detox unit in a hospital where we used to let patients withdraw from opiates with no medication. That was the protocol. Everyone survived.

Were you high on something else? If you've got a serious benzo issue then yes, that kind of withdrawal can be fatal.

Stop doing drugs and you'll never have to endure this crap again.


Title: What are the chances of me getting a felony of my record?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You need to settle in to the reality that you have massively fucked up your life.

To reduce, but not eliminate, the damage, you need a lawyer NOWAnswer #2: The only wrong thing you did was breaking the law? Yes. Yes it was.

You can hire an attorney to fight the case or get the best outcome possible.

But I doubt it is just going to disappear.


Title: Neighbor's Maple Tree is Ruining my Driveway (CA)

Question: Hi, Like the title says, my neighbor has a maple tree which is lifting up portions of my driveway and creating cracks in my driveway. I have tried to communicate with my neighbors multiple times but they refuse to listen, even when we offered to pay for the tree to be cut down. They state that they don't want the tree cut down, and we told them that all we wanted were the roots to be cut that were on our property (or under). What can I do that is within my jurisdiction? I live in California btw

Answer: In most states, you could hack at the roots all you want.  It's your property.  You don't live in most states... you live in California.  Trees are very well protected in California it seems.  Read Booska v. Patel and Rony v. Costa.  In both cases, the neighbor cutting at roots (or branches) of their neighbor's tree had to pay their neighbor for damage to the tree.  In the Costa case, that was to the tune of $45,000.  The law technically allows you to hire a licensed professional to "reasonably" cut back the roots.  You are supposed to be able to recover those costs from your neighbor.  When a court will deem cutting at tree roots reasonable in California... who knows.  It may not actually exist.  But if the actions damage the tree, you might be in trouble.  You are clearly going to want a licensed professional with liability insurance, and you are going to need to make sure that insurance covers you if there is a claim.  Basically, you need to meet with a California real estate lawyer and measure the costs/benefits of taking care of the roots versus some other course of action.  Given the prior costs of messing this up, there is no way you should proceed without hiring an attorney first.


Title: Neighboes dog has been coming on our property they have been warned to stop him thoughts on next step?

Question:
To start out I will be contacting our local dog warden tomorrow but I wanted some ideas on where to start.

We live in rural upstate NY and the neighbors dog has been trespassing for a few years now but it's come to a head recently. He's been growling at me (24f) and my fiancee (27m) he goes into our garage and will back me into a corner inside. I've caught him messing with the chickens he leaves disgusting pooptastic presents on our front porch and pees on the house. On top of all that bearly an hour ago I went out because I heard my dog crying out in pain. I found the neighbors dog pinning my baby down by his neck while he yelped and whimpered.

We've told the neighbors twice now we don't want their jerk dog on our property but they take no steps to keep him conatined. I'm pretty sure hes got worms and he hasn't been vaccinated against rabies. I wasn't going to do anything just tell them to keep him away but after seeing him pinning down my dog I won't have it! I'm already getting documentation on him coming on our property but where else do i start? I don't want a neighbor war but I want to feel safe again in my own home. Thank you very much for any help.

To add our dog does not go anywhere near their property we have 30 Acres he has about 10 for free rain the rest is fenced in with electrical livestock wire because we keep animals. He's terrified of the road and is trained to respect the fence. (He licked it when he was a puppy and now gives it a very respectful distance)

Answer:
 Next time that animal menaces you on your property feel free to shoot it.

Report the dog to your local animal control.

Put together a bill for all the damages the dog has caused (vet bills, cleanup, damage to property, etc) and present it to your neighbor. If they don't pay, sue them in small claims.


Title: Teenage kid next door causing (now intentional and spiteful) disturbance every early mornings on the weekend. He does not answer the door, and responds by being even louder.

Question:
My girlfriend moved into a new apartment about 5 months ago. Everything was smooth sailing, up until the 2nd month. Amongst the family who lives next door, is a teenage kid, probably 14-16 years old. EVERY morning on the weekends, whenever his mommy would leave the apartment, he would startle us awake with the most obnoxious, most bassy, terrible music (and it’s always the same 8 songs on a loop). The walls are thin, and on top of that, the bedroom wall is shared. His sound system is very obviously propped against the shared bedroom wall. We have tried knocking on their door, but he would never answer. We’ve knocked on the wall and have yelled, “Please turn your music down”, and yet he’d often react by turning the music even louder and spitefully singing along loudly. It’s to the point where we can’t escape the sound and bass, and can’t sleep in on the weekends after long shifts at work. And though I do not live in the apartment, it’s beginning to give me anxiety on how frequently my gf has to deal with this nuisance. There was an incident where the kid spitefully turned his volume up so loudly, that my gf’s entire apartment was basically a giant subwoofer. The cops were called, and the kid managed to tone it down for a few weeks. And now he’s back at it again. We tried contacting the property manager to file a complaint and to try and move forward from this issue, but to no avail. We don’t know how else to handle this recurring problem. We have countless videos recording the audio of the neighbor’s obnoxious disturbance on hand, as well as a Ring surveillance video of when the cops came by to shut down the disturbance. What else can we do to handle this situation for good?

tl;dr, Teenage neighbor wakes us up every weekend with unbearably loud music out of spite. Property manager is of no help. How to shut this behavior down for good?

Answer:
 Continue to call the police each and every time it happens.

Also, record the noise you hear from the inside of your home. Record in a notebook (written at the time it occurs), the details of what you hear, and when, and how loud, from where. Show this to the police, each time they respond. If they don't respond, complain in person at the local station. If you are not taken seriously, elevate it up the chain of command. Basically, become the metaphorical squeaky wheel.Answer #2: Have you tried talking to the mom when she's there?

You could tell her what her son is doing and about your attempts to get him to stop what he's doing.

I would also let her know that you plan on calling the police every time this happens from then on.Answer #3: Call the police every time. Don’t give a warning anymore. Eventually the number of calls is going to cause fines for the Mom.Answer #4: If there are noise disturbances sufficient that the police take the call and do something you can keep calling the police each time it recurs.

After a warning or two the police may cite the resident for an ordinance violation. Answer #5: In addition, continue to complain to the property manager, and document each complaint and the resolution.  Answer #6: When you say you “tried” contacting the property manager, what does that mean? You have to get them on the phone or show up at the office in person. Be the annoyance they need to solve.


Title: Is it legal to use a dog as collateral in Illinois?

Question: Me and my fiance had to board our dog at a vet so we could leave town for our wedding and honeymoon. They had her sign a form that says we would agree to pay for any treatment the dog required during its boarding and the bill grew to over 4x what they had quoted. We dont have the money to pay in full and when I called they told me my dog wont be returned until the bill is payed in full. The only option they will offer me is to sign up for a credit card with them and pay it off, and I dont qualify due to bad credit. Is it legal to use a living breathing animal as collateral?

Answer:
 Absent an agreement allowing them to keep your dog, no, they can't take your things to compel payment. Call your local police non-emergency line and ask if you can arrange a civil standby while you go and get your dog in person, or sue the vet.

Expect your vet to countersue you for the outstanding debt. If you believe the amount charged is excessive, get a second opinion from another vet or two as to what they would have charged for the same services - you may be able to argue that the amount sought is excessive, and that their attempt to hold your dog to guarantee payment was plain extortion.