Title: My ex-wife has scheduled an emergency hearing to take away my custody of my daughter.

Question:
Recently my landlord offered me the opportunity to have them put on an addition to my apartment, I agreed since the rent increase was negligible and it would give my daughter (4) her own space.

After construction was commencing my ex wife wanted access to my apartment to look at the work, requested permits, and generally harassed me over repeated messages. I told her I was a tenant and did not have access to those things and to please respect my privacy.

Fast forward a couple weeks, I moved my things into the new room, my daughter and I redecorated the master bedroom for her. My ex again demands to see it and the permits. I again asked her to respect my privacy.

The next day she asked again and I ignored it. A few hours later property management company calls and says someone reported the addition and that I need to remove my personal items and only use it for storage until an inspection can take place. Then a few hours after that I get a phone call from child welfare services wanting to know about the room and my daughters safety. After a long conversation, submitting photos of the space, assuring them my daughter sleeps in a different room and that the room has a lock, they seemed to say thing are fine and to just lock the door until it is inspected and approved. Then a few hours later my ex informs me she will not be letting my daughter see me during my custody and cited unsafe living conditions. The following day I am served with papers to attend an emergency hearing this Monday.

TIL: my landlord put on an addition to my apartment. My ex wife asserts it’s not permitted and unsafe for my daughter to reside there. I have been served with papers for a court date Monday regarding the addition and have been refused access to my daughter for my time with her.

Answer:
 This addition, is it directly above a garage or carport?Answer #2: Ex-parte orders are granted in emergency situations only.

This doesn’t sound like an emergency

I would expect the following outcome on Monday: “denied pending hearing” with a hearing date set for 21-35 Court days from Monday. The Judicial Officer MAY make temporary orders, for example “dad will house the minor child (name) in legal and safe housing, etc...

At that hearing, though, you’re going to have to show that you housed your child legally and safely “in the mean time”... Get a hotel if you have to and be prepared to show that your current residence is legit.

Ex-parte for this, though? Your ex is WHACK, my friend.

I’m just up the road from you in OC and my ex is averaging about one ex-parte against me per year ..that makes 8 so far.

Every time she’s filed: “not an emergency. Denied pending hearing”

Good luck! Answer #3: Good god. Your ex-wife has taken leave of her senses. Nonetheless, show up to court. If you don’t have a lawyer, request that the judge grant you a continuance so you can procure one. If he asks about the living situation, tell him what you’ve told us.

Just for the record, where are you located?


Title: (NY) Brother-in-law(BIL) was recently fired from a job for creating a hostile work environment. This is relevant - he is a veteran(OIR) with center of right patriotic ideals and values. He claims to be routinely harassed when engaged with political conversation.

Question:
As the title says my BIL was fired. He is a patriotic person, to say the least and he was vocal. However, the climate of his job, a television network editor for a Police reality show would stir up lively debates and discussions.

He has been harassed by a senior level person who tasked him with work beyond his scope, ie making him work from home and outside of normal business hours  This was a place of employment that didn’t allow people to work from home. My BIL feels the senior level person created an environment that was discouraging. He feels this is because of his political beliefs.

My BIL has been reprimanded by HR before as people in his office felt his political views were inconsistent with the culture.   The discussions continued in the office and he would sometimes engage especially when his veteran status was disparaged. He had finally been let go as of Friday.

He feels he had been wrongly terminated. He understands he works in an At-Will state that can use lesser reasons to terminate someone but he feels is rights and his veteran status had been discriminated against.

FYI- he already has a new job and his company email has been deleted. He has no record of his emails proving his harassment from the senior level  person. He has written logs from each person that he’s meticulously recorded since trouble began.
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 Sounds like he was in the situation due to his political opinions, which are generally not protected, not because he is a vet.

Many employment law attorneys will do free or low cost consults, so if he wants to talk to one it can’t hurt, but at first glance I don’t see a viable case here.Answer #2: He can feel free to consult with an employment lawyer, but it doesn't sound like he was fired for being a veteran.Answer #3: if he was fired on the basis of hostile work environment, it was probably based on the arguments and things he said, not being a veteran. working remotely or at different times would probably indicate they were trying to remedy the problem, not punish him. "if you can't be civil when these people are here, do your work at home" or something. not a lawyer but being a veteran doesn't mean a person is going to have certain political views and it doesn't absolve responsibility in arguments they escalate.


Title: Company hired non union employees to do work I've been doing for 2 years as a unionized employee.

Question:
Where to start..

Throwaway just for reasons..

I live in British Columbia, Canada.  I work for a very large cable company. It is a national company with thousands of employees.  In BC lower mainland, the technicians are unionized. They are the only unionized position in all of Canada. The company has a small commercial department. We have in our Collective Bargaining Agreement that if the company is to use any 3rd party contractors, they must be unionized.

Here is where I am affected: I am part of the commercial team. Myself and 1 other technician work in a smaller remote office away from the larger city.  We are part of the union. All installers out of our office are union.

The company has hired 2 employees classified as an In Business Technician.  They have taken over work from myself and my partner. We previously did everything in our city regarding business work. Installing every service that was offered and troubleshooting every service we offered.

Since the new non union workers have been working in our area, we have seen our workload diminish. We have become relegated to doing 1 - 3 service calls a day and sometimes a basic install or two. Nothing like what we formerly did.

Our union has filed a complaint with the CIRB, Canadian Industrial Relations Board, stating that the 2 new employees should in fact be in the union.

My question is: the CIRB has appointed an investigator. What do these people typically investigate? In my case, I am one of two people directly affected by this process. We have about 20 other business installers in our system but they are part of a different union local.

Should I prepare anything in case I am interviewed by the investigator? What I am ultimately looking for is stability with my job and not having work taken away from me.

Answer: You should be contacting your union Rep. that is why you pay dues.


Title: [FL] Will sexual orientation affect custody rights?

Question:
I am concerned that divorcing my wife may open up custody problems for me. i am transitioning to a gay lifestyle now and need advice.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: You need to talk to a local attorney who has experience with the local judges. It is really going to depend on the judge and your wife.


Title: TX - constant problems after new home build

Question:
I'm not entirely sure what I can do. I had a new home built and closed in December last year but since then we have had problem after problem after problem with the home.

All of these problems have been relatively minor, and the builder has responded to fix them, but I think at this point I've had something like 20 cases open with them to fix things under warranty, with another one coming today after I appear to have a gas leak from my stove area (it's isolated and shut off)

I don't know if there's a lemon law, but I'm waiting at this point for the next thing to happen. I don't really know what to do or what to expect. I feel at this point we should be having a third party to inspect EVERY aspect of this home which I realize is a massive undertaking, or at least get the warranty extended for a year.

We are coming up on 7 months in this home and I honestly don't think there's been more than two weeks between us calling them to fix something

Answer:
 Looks like your are in luck being from TX:
(Texas Files First Home Lemon Law in the Nation)
http://hobb.org/index.php?Itemid=229&id=284&option=com_content&task=view

History
The extension of lemon laws to homes began in Texas in 2001. The law, the Texas Homebuyer Protection Act SB 7541, has since expanded to many other states. If you want to know what your state offers, go to the state legislature website and search Lemon under the legislation section or tab.

Protection
The original bill gives builders three attempts to fix the grievances. If, after the third time, the problem still isn't fixed, the homeowner can return the home to the builder and get the full payment back including moving costs. Alternatively, homeowners may receive a home in the same neighborhood at a similar price.

Damage Inclusions
All damage to the property must be disclosed to the new owner in the lease. Failing to include any damage can require the previous owner to fix the issues or refund the purchase price to the new homeowner.
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/facts_7613325_there-lemon-laws-houses.html


Title: Is it legal to setup a Gofundme for trumps border wall and just keep the money?

Answer: “Is it legal to take money in exchange for doing a thing, but not do the thing?”Answer #2: No, I'm pretty sure that would be fraud.


Title: (Ontario, Canada) Could someone explain this loophole outlined in this CBC article about a Dominos Franchise that dissolved to avoid paying a labour judgement?

Question:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/dominos-ministry-labour-delivery-driver-lost-wages-1.5200049

It says that directors of a company have personal liability, but the company dissolved 2 months after being ordered to pay $28k so now that guy is SOL.

But don't those people still hold the responsibility to pay that debt?

Answer:
 >Under the Employment Standards Act, the directors of a company  have individual liability. That means the directors of the corporation  set up to run the Domino's franchise had to pay Cervantes up to six months worth of wages.

The author of this "news" article should have consulted a lawyer (or looked at the court proceedings) before opining on what the law says in this case. Instead, the author made shit up.

Directors (and officers) CAN be liable for unpaid wages, [but only up to two month's worth](http://www.bclaws.ca/Recon/document/ID/freeside/00_96113_01). Which MIGHT (i.e. does) explain why the company dissolved... two months... after paying EXACTLY what it was required to pay.Answer #2: Basically you can't be liable for something that doesn't exist, dissolve the company and you're no longer the owner of the company.

In not sure why that is making it uncollectible though, typically when you dissolve a company you convert it to cash and pay debts. In practice that means the owner sells the stuff inside, but they have to pay their bills before they can take any money. A commercial kitchen goes for a lot more than $25k, so id think they'd end up being forced to pay out anyways.Answer #3: So why isn’t anybody going after the directors who were listed under the numbered corporation?  They are personally liable - not sure what part of that was unclear and how is that a loophole?  Just go sue their asses.


Title: (Canada & USA). Large bank chain embezzled my savings.

Question:
Hey Reddit, first time posting there so please excuse my formatting or whatnot.

Edit: We deposited the money from the front desk, and one of their employees personally counted the cash, and issued the receipt. It's crazy how showing them the receipt isn't enough to resolve the issue... we were also forced to provide a lot of unnecessary details, for instance including WHERE the money came from. After providing a receipt from another bank proving that we'd withdrawn the money, and explaining why we deposited the money, the bank simply refuses to accept the fact that we have all the evidence that we'd deposited the money in an extremely rude matter.

My extended family has been dilemma over the last two months, as we are absolutely convinced that a huge bank chain in Canada has embezzled $2800 from us; the story begins as so.
On July 15, 2015, I deposited $7,800, consisting of a $5,000 cheque and $2,800 in cash, into my bank account at TD Canada Trust, Fairview Mall Branch. On August 18 after I returned from the US, I noticed a bank transaction record indicating that $2,800 was removed on July 31st. Initially I thought this could be due to a technical error and thus tried to resolve this by contacting the Branch. After failing many times even though I had provided them with all the supportive documents as requested by the Branch, I am now confident that this is not a random technical error but an illegal action conducted intentionally.
Here are some strong pieces of evidence to support that this is not a technical error:
1.	The Branch stated that I did NOT deposit the $2,800 and thus removed it from my account without notifying me. Later the Branch changed their mind, and stated that I only deposited $800. The contradiction of the two statements is a convective proof that the Branch is not honest.
2.	The Branch then irrationally argued that a bank staff mistakenly typed $800 as $2800. This argument is not logical at all, as we all know that the key “2” and the key “8” are separated by the key “5”. Afterwards, we consulted some of my friends who work with TD bank and learned that, as a quality control measure, cash needs to be counted by a machine and the result is compared with the front desk clerk’s input. In case of deviance the next step process cannot go through. It can be concluded that the typing error of $800 as $2800 is simply a fallacious excuse by the Branch.
3.	We requested to watch the surveillance video. The Branch rejected our request saying only police officers have access to the video records. The next meeting with the Branch stated that they had examined the video recorded. When asked how I counted cash, the way the Branch described it is completed different than the way I count money.
From abovementioned examples and other traits we have drawn the conclusion, that the removal of my money cannot be a consequence of simple technical error. There are artificial influences introduced by the Branch for some unknown reason.  We had contacted the Branch multiple times and had given a formal demand letter on September 03. However I got either another pointless sentence saying that it has already been "verified", or a letter tempting me to accept $800 as an offer and close the case.
In addition to the time and energy wasted during the process of negotiating with the Branch, this situation has seriously affected our family life. The first time that I went out to meet the Branch, my 70+ mother called me every half hour to ensure that I am safe. And now she needs to take medicine to control her blood pressure. I suffer from insomnia and became irritable.
It’s tough for us alone to stand up against such a large organization as TD. We’re hoping that you could help us get out of this sticky situation, and help prevent the same thing from happening to other people.

Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Do you have any independent proof of where the $2800 came from? Pay stub or withdraw record from a different bank on the same day?Answer #2: File a report with the police, or whatever federal agency oversees banks (in the US that would probably be the FBI, I don't know about Canada). If only the police can see the video, then the police need to see it.


Title: Legality of using the vitruvian man in a logo

Question: Hi, thanks in advance for your time. I’m curious to the legality of using something like the vitruvian man in a company’s logo — either altered or unaltered. Based on my understanding and preliminary research, it seems to be in the public domain since it’s so well-known and historic. Would it be foolish to use it in or as a logo? Thanks!

Answer:
 Given the age of the original drawing, it should not be protected under copyright law. At least none that I am aware of in the United States, and would instead be part of the public domain. However as the US post office has recently learned make sure that if you are using an image of an iconic statue or drawing that it's the actual image and not a modern interpretation of that might be subject to copyright.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/arts/statue-of-liberty-stamp-copyright-las-vegas.html?nytmobile=0


Title: Tow company will only accept cash (in violation of law. Should I push this?

Question:
This is not a huge deal so only continue reading if it is mildly interesting to you.

Our truck was just towed for being parked in an abandoned lot of a private community.  Upon calling the company they stated over the phone that they accept cash only.  When we stated that they had to accept an alternate method they simply said "Sue us."

I included the wording of the law at the end of this post.

We ended up having to spend about 90 minutes of phone calls before we were finally able to borrow the money from a friend.  Had we not retrieved our vehicle in time we would have started accruing storage fees.

My questions are:  a.) Should we attempt to take them to court for the time it took us to secure cash simply due to their unwillingness to obey the law? b.) Will suing them do anything to bring them into compliance with the law? c.) Is it worth it?

My main motivation here is ensuring that they comply with the law so other consumers don't have to scramble to come up with cash in a short period of time.  Very few people carry enough cash to deal with an unexpected tow fee and the blunt way that the owner told us to sue him makes me think they aren't worried about what the law says. I'd hate to see an already cash strapped customer acrue additional fees just because the owner feels like they can get away with it.

According to the law in Lee County, Florida:

"(i) The person or entity providing the services under this ordinance must accept payment for charges from the vehicle/vessel owner of authorized representative in at least two of the following three categories:

(1) Cash, money order or valid traveler's check;

(2) Valid bank credit card or debit card; or

(3) Valid personal check showing on its face the name and address of the vehicle/vessel owner or authorized representative.

The towing company at first said they did comply with the law because they would accept "Cash or Money Order".  They later admitted that their lawyer said they didn't have to accept credit cards because they could be cancelled and "nobody accepts checks anymore."

Answer:
 There really isn't a way for you, personally, to file suit against the tow company, since you were able to arrange a payment in cash by the end of the day. However, you can -- and in my opinion, should -- report the tow company for refusing to accept credit cards.

It's not quite clear which agency in your county oversees issues with private tow companies, but you can start by contacting the [Lee County Sheriff's Office](http://www.sheriffleefl.org/main/index.php?r=site/contact). If they are unable to take a report and/or investigate further, they should be able to direct you to the appropriate agency.


Title: Grandparents sold our business, buyer stopped paying and is claiming to be bankrupt.

Question:
Hello legaladvice! As the title suggests, my grandparents owned a business in the Virginia area that they sold a few years ago. Let me preface this also by saying my grandfather is financially irresponsible so most of his money is typically spent frivolously. The buyer offered an amount slightly higher than the asking price that was to be paid over several years. My grandfather signed the deal and retired to North Carolina with my grandmother.

It turned out quite quickly that the buyer was a total shark and stopped paying my grandparents because he knew they could not afford to sue him. He initially was able to get away with this because he was his own legal representative and to go to court cost him nothing.

Eventually, my grandparents were able to win a law suit against him and he started paying again until recently. Now he is claiming to be bankrupt and unable to pay.

My question is, how can my grandparents possibly get the money owed to them by their contract with the buyer? I do not want to defend my grandparents spending habits and say they did not partially dig this hole themselves, but they need help just surviving at this point. My father and uncle support them however they can, but that’s obviously not a long term solution.
Topic:
Contracts

Answer:
 Have your grandparents been served with a notice of the bankruptcy proceeding? If so, they should talk to an attorney about responding. The bankruptcy will stay all other attempts to collect the debt, including enforcing the existing judgement, and the judgement debt _might_ be discharged during backruptcy, but it's your grandparents' best opportunity to recover anything. (There's also some chance they can have the debt excluded, but it's a very, very long shot.)

If they haven't been served, they shouldn't care whether he says he's bankrupt. If he's no longer paying, your grandparents can start the enforcement process on the judgement and seek to seize his bank accounts or garnish his wages.


Title: Ex-wife and I have signed agreement regarding custody of our two sons. She now plans to deny me custody.

Question:
[CA] Me and my exwife divorce officially in 2008 after two years of separation. We have 2 children. I was deployed and she moved with them to another state. From 2007 until 2010, I had, maybe, 3 total weeks with the children. This frustrated me, and I did express to her that I was considering suing for custody. In 2010, she moved back to California with them to a neighborhood about 15 minutes from where I live. She remarried, I was still single dedicating all of my free time to spending time with the children. We were splitting weeks. She's have them for a week, the. I would have them for a week.  Everyone was happy, or so I thought. I began dating again and met a great woman. I waited some time before introducing her to the children. The children loved her once they met. After a year, we got engaged. My sons were ecstatic.

One month later, I received a phone call from her husband stating "in 6 months, we are moving, with the kids, to Germany for 3 years."

I was furious at being told what was going to happen with them and being told that I had no say. I was determined to sue for custody. They had made friends and had a great support system. Now, they were just going to up and move halfway around the world.

I decided to be amicable. My fiancé and I drew up a "Joint Parenting Agreement" that outlined what I wanted to happen. I sent this document to my ex via certified mail. She signed for the document.  I expressed to her exactly what the agreement says and asked if she had any questions and if she wanted me to amend anything.

Essentially, the agreement states that she can take them to Germany for 3 years and I won't make a fuss. However, after those 3 years, they would come to live with me for 3 years. They would both getting to teenage years, and its my duty to be there and prepare them for college, puberty and set them up for success. We discussed it over and an over again. She had the agreement for a month. She said they both read it and agreed. Then, she and her husband sat in my kitchen and signed the document. Me and my fiancé signed it as well.  They were given an original and we kept an original.

This was summer 2012 and I began to prepare for what I hoped would be a fast 3 years. I paid off the rest of the debt from the marriage (approximately $25k), of which she paid none. I spent thousands of dollars visiting Germany just to see them for a week. I purchased 2 iPads so that I could FaceTime with them. Both iPads disappeared somehow a week or so after the kids got them. The last iPad I sent, they got and the kids and I have talked every weekend via FaceTime for the past couple of years. For the past 2.5 years, I have not received a single email from their mother. All correspondence has gone through her husband. If I needed any paperwork from her about anything having to do with the kids or our past marriage, I get no response. Until now. The time for my kids' return is approaching. I even sent copies of the Joint Parenting Agreement, signed by her and her husband along with myself and my fiancé to them via email in recent months because I don't know if they still have their original.

I sent her husband an email expressing that we would be communicating a lot more so I can get all of the information we need to get the kids enrolled in school, also that I'm in the process of selling my current home to buy one in a neighborhood with a better school district.

For the first time in years I received an email from their mother. She stated that she is moving back to California, but will be in a city 400 miles from where I live. That she had no recollection of the agreement and that the kids won't be living with me and my soon-to-be-wife. She also stated that I have no say in where the children live. I responded by sending her another scanned copy of the signed Joint Parenting Agreement along with a copy of the certified mail receipt that she signed.

I still have all of the originals. At the time, I was still paying the mounds of debt left from the divorce so I could not get the document notarized or filed with the courts. However, all of the parties involved signed the document.

Do I have a leg to stand on here?

tl;dr I have 2 children with my ex wife. In 2012 she wanted to moved to Germany with them for 3 years. I only agreed to not dispute the children going if I got them for 3 years only the 3 years was up. We signed an agreement between us all (her husband included). Kids are due to move in with me in 5 months. Now, their mother claims to have no recollection of the agreement.

Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 As you should have done many many years ago, file for custody. You really kind of let all this happen. You had the option to file for custody many many times. You need to go to court. They may uphold the document. But you cannot do anything until the children are back in Cali. Answer #2: It was a huge mistake not to get the agreement entered as a court order.  With both of you signing it, it wouldn't have been expensive.

Now you need to wait until the kids are back in the US, and you really, really need a lawyer.


Title: Mother trying to force us to payback a gift of $2,000. Location: KS

Question:
Hello! First time poster, but long time lurker. Never thought I'd have to post a question here, but oh well.

About 8 years ago my husband and I moved into a townhome co-op. You had to put down $3900 in equity to "purchase" the unit. At the time we were just starting a family and couldn't afford the fee, so our families gifted us the money. My parents gave us aroun $2k and his parents gave us the other $2k, and at the time it was being called a gift. There was never any talk of us paying either parties back or anything signed saying we would.

Now, 8 years after we were gifted the money I have found myself on the outs with my mother. She is now demanding that we pay her back the $2k she gifted us (she calls it a loan now), and says she has all the receipts to show she gave us the money.

My question: Does she have any legal leg to stand on if she  took us to court over this? We never signed a contract with her or said verbally it would be paid back to her or his parents. I haven't responded to her texts yet, because I don't want to acknowledge this "loan" and give her any ammunition.

Answer: Based on Kansas law, the debt statute of limitations is 5 years for written contracts and 3 years for oral contracts. So even playing along with her that it was is loan, she is SOL.Answer #2: Did you get a mortgage for this purchase?  If so, the bank most likely required a gift letter for large deposits like those.  Check your documentation from that time and even call the bank and see if they have an image that they would be willing to send you.


Title: "Damaged" customer laptop during repair. But not really.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You can Google how to put the keys back on, they are a bitch. You can also purchase replacement keys online. Dunno your legal responsibilities, but if a customer's property broke in my care, after apologetically confirming whether or not it was already broken, I'd definitely make sure to fix it myself or discount the service I provided in the amount of what a replacement key costs. Anything else is bad for business.


Title: My apartment was broken into and I no longer feel safe there. Can I get out with my deposit.

Question:
My apartment was broken into on Monday. Someone pulled a window open when I was at work and took around $7k worth of my things.  Me and my girlfriend are completely uncomfortable being there wether it's day or night.  We were told when moving in ,as well as many neighbors I have spoken with since, that there were cameras and security. I spoke with the property manager Tuesday morning and she said the only camera is zoomed in on the mailboxes. The security is outside hired and I have never seen them.  After I spoke with management they put locks on the windows.  I do not want to stay there another night. I have somewhere I can go. I need to get my deposit back.  I need to know exactly what right I have to take them to court if they do not work with me. I have gotten very cold responses from management so far. I can pay for another month and give 30 day written notice as well as giving 1k....i tried making a short post...ask for more details if needed.

Edit: in California

Edit#2: It seems there is a little confusion about my post. I don't think the landlord is responsible. It is obviously the thieves fault that the thief broke in and he is getting charges pressed. The issue is the negligence of the front office.

Final Edit:  thank you everyone for your comments.  I am moving out today. Getting my full deposit.  They see that they were in the wrong.  Good luck lawyering.

Answer:
 > Final Edit: thank you everyone for your comments. I am moving out today. Getting my full deposit. They see that they were in the wrong. Good luck lawyering.

I am 100% certain that this is not true at all. Your little "gotcha" edit is bullshit, hon. Answer #2: If you're on a fixed term lease it's unlikely that you can terminate based on a break in unless it was your landlord who broke into  your apartment. Answer #3: It is not the responsibility of your landlord to prevent breakins at your apartment. Answer #4: A lease is a contract. The landlord’s obligations to you are defined by the contract. The basic obligation is to give you possession of the rental unit in habitable condition, and provide basic maintenance and repairs for the unit. The landlord does not have to provide any protection against thieves unless it’s in the agreement. You aren’t entitled to terminate the lease due to a claim of negligence if the landlord owed you no duty to protect you from thieves at all.Answer #5: Does your lease guarantee against break ins, or any other sort of security?Answer #6: > I need to know exactly what right I have to take them to court if they do not work with me.

Pretty much none. Unless your landlord is the one who broke into your apartment you don't have any recourse against them.Answer #7: > I can pay for another month and give 30 day written notice as well as giving 1k

This doesn't sound like a bad deal.  Does it include return of your deposit after deducting damages?


Title: (AZ) my car clipped the gate of the gate of my workplace's parking lot. HR wants my insurance info. Am I obliged to do so?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Did you damage the gate?

Was it your fault?


Title: Girlfriends mom used her as a cosigner without asking

Question:
While at work my girlfriend's mom called her and asked her could she use her as a "reference" specifically so she agreed, thinking it was about a job because she knew she was looking. She calls zback later to ask what job it was for and her mom says it was for a loan and that she had done it before even calling her she first time.

Her mom is notoriously bad with money, having had several cars repo'ed and evicted from houses in the past. So if she does it again my girlfriend will be on the hook for it. Is there anything she can do short of pressing charges?

If it matters at all, they live in two different states Tennessee (mom) & Alabama (gf)

Topic:
Contracts

Answer:
 She can either subject her mother to criminal penalties or accept the debt as her own. Those are her two and only two choices. She can also sue her mom in small claims court, but there is no way of getting out of owing the debt to the lender without reporting the fraud.Answer #2: She needs to check her credit report from here (it's guaranteed by federal law) [https://www.annualcreditreport.com/](https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action) and make sure Mom hasn't signed her up for anything else.

As u/hellonwheelscba noted, it could have been a reference. In which case, don't worry about it, though if Mom doesn't pay, she'll get hounded by phone calls.Answer #3: Sounds like she used your gf as a reference, not a cosigner. That's pretty common in my experience (having several references on a loan.) From what I understand it's how they can get in touch with the person if they default on the loan.

I could be wrong on the last part, I've not worked in professional finance but have worked in debt collections and this is what we used the information for.

Edit: clarification


Title: Wrecked my car delivering pizzas, no one will cover damages neither insurance or company and now I'm being asked to continue to work and commit what seems like fraud

Question:
So a little bit of back story. I'm single, I'm 27, obviously not amazing off in life and I'm kind of at a loss. I got a new (used car) about 3 months back. It's a 2015 with 45k miles, nicest car I've ever had but anyway.
Start of november I ended up losing my job. I was floored, but I got unemployment stuff set up and delt with that whole thing and did uber eats on the side while I searched for new work.
I ended up getting a job as a delivery driver for dominos. Now I have full coverage insurance on my vehicle. But my 2nd day on the job I ended up taking a turn too wide and hit a concrete slab over a culvert. Popped both passenger side tires. Steering wheel air bag deployed, possible axle or frame damage. Possibly more I'm not sure. I contacted insurance, the police, took pictures and contacted my manager. As I was instructed to by dominos. He came and picked me up. Clocked me out and gave me a ride home. I ended up having to have my roommate give me a ride back to my car so the we could wait for the police.
 There was no property damage, couldn't even be reported as an accident so they couldn't even file a police report. Insurance made a huge fuss and I became a claim concern and the won't cover damages being that I was using the car for business use, dominos won't cover damages, now that car is stuck at a lot and I cant afford to pay for the tow let alone to have it checked out and any cost it may be to fix. Now my roommate said he would allow me to use his car so I can go work. Because they haven't fired me... but the boss called me tonight.. said that I should come in and work... pay for the tow, buy 2 tires and then put them on and drive. Then drive it for a while if able and then call as though I got into some accident on my own time. I've also been told that I should of just told insurance that I was using the car just for personal use which at the same time still seems fucked.
I'm on the verge of thinking I may have to file for bankruptcy, all of this seems super sketchy and I'm not sure as to what I should do. Any advice I'd greatly appreciate.

Answer:
 You should not lie to your insurance company.

Unfortunately if you didn't have proper insurance coverage no one is going to pay for damages caused by an accident you were at fault for.


Title: How to Close Joint Business Bank Account if other Person is not cooperating

Question:
I use to own a barbershop with a now ex boyfriend. I broke up with him (very toxic relationship) 4 months ago and walked away from the business, he is still running it and keeps 100% of income. No licenses or anything are in my name anymore.

But I am having the hardest time closing our joint business checking account through Chase. I have gone in person and called 10 times now. We are both primaries on the account. I was told I cannot remove myself because it was set up as an LLP, so the account has to be closed. But Chase told me there has to be no pending transactions to close, my ex uses the account daily (for personal stuff as well) with either his debit card, atm, numerous bill pays, square, etc. I’ve asked him to stop for months now, he won’t. I was also told to try telling them the account has been comprised, my account info stolen, then it will be frozen, Chase refused to do that.

I’ve threatened my ex that I will pull money out if he doesn’t stop using the account so we can close it. I haven’t done that yet tho.

Does anyone know how I can precede? Hire a lawyer or paralegal to write a letter to scare him?
Topic:
Business Law

Answer:
 This is lawyer time. You need to get your name off both the bank AND the business to prevent liability.

If your ex takes on business debts or commits fraud or gets sued, right now you would likely be liable as well.

Get a small business attorney. Sometimes just a letter from an attorney is enough to make him agree.Answer #2: IANAL

Dont pull any money out under any circumstance. Its illegal and it would just cause you more harm than good. Even the threat is a crime, so for the love of God dont say it again.

I dont know what is going on but something is fishy. I dont know what laws Washingron has to look through regarding this, but most bank accounts dont have a contract on them, so I assume that this one is no differant. It doesnt sound like there's a contract at play here but if there is then get a lawyer to look at it. Outside of that you should be able to remove yourself at any time.

Every state has agencies designed to help out with problems like this, and I would recommend seeking them out AND calling a lawyer about this.

Most of the time a strongly worded letter from a reputable lawyer will solve your problem almost instantly, so it is a good first step. The previously mentioned agencies will help put pressure on them as well.

Your ex's cooperation isnt needed to simply leave if everything is so you say.

Sorry for the hassle, I hope it is resolved soon


Title: New housemate towed my car out of the spot I paid to be in

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Pay to get your car out asap. Ask her to reimburse you. If she won't, take her to small claims.Answer #2: Pay to get your car out, because towing companies and impound lots charge exorbitant rates. That bill sucks. Next up, email your leaseholder you're subletting from to confirm you paid for the spot or just break down the costs for this month's lease. It'll establish you have the benefit, which you want, because that girl failing to pay up is going to require you to make a visit to small claims court to recoup your costs. Answer #3: > Not sure what to do.

Neither will anybody else until you provide a location.Answer #4: Get the car out. You have a duty to mitigate the damage. The judge will not look kindly on "I let it sit there for 30 days at $100 a day, and now I'm suing for $3000" Get it out as soon as possible, then sue to be reimbursed for how much you lost.


Title: Paying someone to do my job.

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 Are you without a doubt sure that this is what is going on? If so report it to your managers. If not, just keep quiet.Answer #2: Cleaners are often contracted to do that type of work in offices. If the cleaner was an independent contractor, they can hire people to help them. It may break the contract between your company and the cleaning company, but there is no issue otherwise.Answer #3: If this guy is a cleaner, there might not be anything to it. At the library where I work, we have a fellow come in and clean every night. Every now and again he is away (vacation, etc) and his sister comes in his place.
At the very least I'd look into it more before reporting anything.


Title: My cat scratched my (self-employed) housekeeper. Should I notify my homeowners insurance?

Question:
I have a housekeeper, paid hourly, who works at our house and at least two others. To the best of my understanding, she considers herself self-employed. Outside of us asking her to work 12 hours a week, her schedule is up to her. She brings her own supplies.

My cat scratched her today. My housekeeper described the scratch as painful and that the cat "got her good."

Should I notify my homeowners insurance? Or would this be considered more like a "workmans comp" type claim that my housekeeper would file for herself?

**Edit**

Location: North Carolina

About my cat: He's just a regular old domestic shorthair, aged 11.

Answer: Did she say anything more than that?  Did you see the scratch?  That could just be something that stung a lot and gets a bandaid at home.  (Hopefully with some hydrogen peroxide or something - cat scratches can get dirty.)  It's not bad to keep up on those sort of things; but there may not be much for either to take care of.Answer #2: Insurance agent checking in... Doesn't really matter if she's considered your employee or not.  Either way, if she wants to hold you responsible, you should notify your homeowners insurer.  Your policy almost certainly has workers comp coverage built in for "occasional employees."  Covers things like babysitters, gardeners, maids, and the like.


Title: [NY] Landlord served us with eviction notice because she's selling the building. Do I have to do anything with the papers or just GTFO?

Question: My landlord is selling the building we live in and told us we have to be out by August first. No problem, we told her we'd move out. Then she served us "thirty day notice to vacate" papers. Do I have to do anything with these papers, or just move out before then? Will this appear on my background check in the future even though we didn't do anything wrong and are perfect tenants?

Answer:
 Do you have a fixed term lease?

Edit: Assuming you don't have a fixed term lease and you are a month to month tenant, all you received was a notice to vacate.  This is proof the landlord told you that you need to vacate.  It is not an eviction.  An eviction is what happens if you don't leave by the date on the notice.  It is extremely common to receive a notice to vacate.


Title: My subleaser didn't pay their rent, I paid it off, and they're taking months to pay me back. Legally, what can I do if anything? [MI]

Question:
I subleased my apartment to a stranger. We signed a lease at the apartment complex.

I moved out in December and stranger moved in.

Months pass by. In March, I get a phone call from the apartment complex. Stranger hasn’t paid a single dollar in rent and never put the energy bills in her name. I owe $1000+ in rent and bills because I’m the one who’s responsible for the account.

They change the keys. Stranger tells me she lost her job and couldn’t afford it. Why the fuck didn’t she tell me then? Why the fuck did she think she could still live there? Why didn't she put the energy bills in her name the day she moved in if she intended to pay them at all? Who knows.

I work out a deal with the apartment complex, who feels bad for me in the situation. They rent out the apartment for the rest of my lease and take my name off of it entirely. However, I now still owe over $800 from her dues. They threaten to take me to court over it.

I reluctantly pay the $800. I tell stranger she needs to pay me back by April 1st. She says thats not possible. I give her until May 1st. May 1st comes and she has not paid. Two weeks go by and I get a call from the complex that she has paid $300. I message her and she explains she worked out a ‘payment plan’ with the complex and that she will be paying on it every month.

The sublease was between her and I, not the apartment complex. I already paid off the bills and her payments to the complex so technically they’re overpayments and they just get sent to me by a check. She has not paid anything past the $300 over a month ago. So basically I still have $500 that she needs to pay back to me and I have been waiting months for this money. I’m so sick of dealing with this and I want to know if pursuing legal action has any point.

Her latest message to me read: “Okay I know, but I'm working on paying it back I don't have all the money regardless if you were to take me to court or whatever it would still be payments not like you would get it back in full. I'm not refusing to pay it, it's just taking longer than expected”

Is it pointless to pursue small claims court over this? I keep threatening her with it but she doesn’t really seem to care. By now it's just irritating as the lease would have been over on May 31st anyway.

Thanks for sticking around.

Answer: Small claims. Have proof you paid what and when. Have proof of their rent and unpaid rent. Have proof of the length of time they lived there. Have proof of them saying they'd pay you back.


Title: Las Vegas parking ticket for $594

Question:
I got a parking ticket last week, and finally got around to looking it up online since prices werent listed but they id give me a court date. So i got 3 citations on the ticket 1) wheels on the curb 2) left wheels facing the curb 3) blocking a private drive.

For number 3 the private drive that was blocked was my own and the front end of the car wasnt more than 18 inches overlapped with my driveway. For number 2 i didnt know that you couldnt have your driverside facing the curb when you park on the street.

Do i have any chance of talking my way out of any of those charges? They are also being listed as misdemeanors is that normal? I was also told that if i show up to court instead of paying early that the overall fine would be dropped to around $350

Answer:
 >For number 2 i didnt know that you couldnt have your driverside facing the curb when you park on the street.

Ignorance of the law isn't a defense. Was this a one-way street or a two way street? I imagine a 2-way street, and therefore your car would be facing against traffic.

A traffic lawyer is your best bet hereAnswer #2: Consult a traffic ticket attorney. If the charges are misdemeanors (which it appears they are under NV and Las Vegas law), that means you will likely have a criminal record if you are convicted.

The amount of the fine, in my view, is a secondary consideration when criminal charges are on the line.Answer #3: Having gotten the same car parked facing the wrong direction ticket in North Las Vegas.  I'll tell you that the court will not give a shit that it was your own driveway.

They just want the money and a lawyer will end up costing the same if not more than just paying the asinine fines.

I tried the lawyer route and he did knock the fees for the city down but paying for his time brought it right back to what the original ticket was for.


Title: Can parents come to an agreement that one of them will have nothing to do with the child?

Question:
If you have 2 parents, and one wishes to be a single parent and the other wishes to have nothing to do with the child, can a legal agreement be reached?

This is different from the often asked question of can a father get out of paying child support through some kind of 'paper abortion', in that the other parent also wants it.

[Here](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/1s93da/what_happens_if_a_significant_other_decides_to/cdvjujm) it was suggested that this might be possible if, for example, a step-father were willing to step in and adopt the child.

But could the mother do this on her own, without a partner? And what if it were the father who wanted to be a single parent - would that make a difference, or would he have to have a wife?

I know the concern is with the child, but there are single parents who a more capable of financially supporting a child than some couples. Would having a partner make the difference?

Answer:
 As long as the parent who has custody can take care of the child, keep it well & not rely on government support yes.  There is no obligation to take child support, unless you are getting government benefits.  There is no obligation to visitation either.

So this type of agreement is perfectly fine, until one person change their mind, or the custodial parent needs government assistance.  To avoid that, there needs to be an adoption.


Title: My apartment neighbor is harassing me (CT)

Question:
I live in a multifamily home.  Me and my roommate live on the second floor.  There is one tenant below us and our landlord.  This one tenant lives directly below our kitchen.  The home we live in was built in the 1840's. (Its very old... ie creaky floors)
This tenant has repeatedly harassed us via text to the point where we had to block her number. (We have a collection of screenshots)  if we even so walk on the floor wrong we are left with a litany of mean texts threatening us to quiet down and how we are "abusive" with the amount of noise (We only cook from 7am to 7pm and all we are doing is walking and cooking we have 0 guests and do not scream/run/jump.)
Well today when we were baking cookies they decided they had had enough.  They SCREAMED at us through their floor telling us to shut up and stop it.  I immediately walked downstairs and said "excuse me" where she then proceeded to scream in my face and threaten me to quiet down.
Do I have any rights to stop her from harassing us?? It has gone from text to verbal.  Our landlord hasn't done anything because he has no idea what he can do. He doesn't want to evict her at this point because it has only been text messages up until this point.  Because there are no violent threats and nothing physical I'm pretty sure I can't call police

Answer:
 Don't confront your neighbors. Literally nothing good can come from that.

Record all instances of them screaming/threatening you. If it's just nonsense screaming with no threats call the non emergency line for noise violations and show them the recordings. If it's threats, call the cops.


Title: OH: Got in a car accident, and being sued now.

Question:
Not sure where else to turn, don't have anyone to talk to about this, and I'm super stressed over this so here we go. I'll try to be as thorough and to the point as possible.
So about last fall / winter I got in a car accident. Was making a left at a green light, and a lady hit my car. I was at blame, went to court, basically just said I was guilty, and had to pay $200. Fast forward to this spring and I got a letter basically saying the woman that hit me is suing me. She denied medical service at the scene of the accident, but it suing for damages if I remember correctly? She wants $20,000, and I do NOT have this money. I'm not even employed right now and just at a really stressful point in life. At the time, I had insurance. Westfield Insurance Company. They dropped me after the accident then I got another insurance provider if that's relevant at all. So shortly after that I got a letter in the mail from my attorney. Basically saying that he's retained by my old insurance company to defend me in the lawsuit, and there was also a packet of questions to fill out. I filled out the questions I could, called him every other day for about a week or two, and we just kept missing each other's calls. So I stopped calling. Fast foward 2-3 months and I got another letter in the mail from him saying this...

"Dear Mr. ____
As you are aware Westfield Insurance Company has retained me to defend you in connection with the lawsuit about. I know we have been playing a little bit of phone tag, but I did want to send you this correspondence to let you know that the Court has set this matter for jury trial to take place on November 23, 2015 at 10:00 a.m."
Then it just basically says to contact me when you can. Which I have talked to him today and we are finally setting up a phone conference to go over the questions I filled out in the packet he first sent me. He's calling me tonight in about 4 hours. So I'm not sure what kind of questions I should be asking him, if there's some way to settle out of court. Frankly, I don't want to even step foot in that court room, I have really bad anxiety and I'm pretty sure I'll be a mess if I have to end up going there. Will I have to pay this $20,000 this lady is asking for? Will I have to pay court fees? Why isn't my insurance paying this lady off? Anyways... if you've read this, thanks a lot. Any insight will help a lot cause I have nobody to really turn to.

EDIT 1:  Oh my god... Thank you guys so much.  Seriously, I could write out a couple of papers to each of you just to show how sincere I am.  Okay, I'm going to ask my attorney when I talk to him in a little what the policy limit is.  Thanks so much...  I'll update in a little when I talk to him.

EDIT 2:  Talked with my attorney, and he's probably the most genuine / nicest person I've met in years.  Basically said he's going to do everything in his power to make sure I don't have to step foot in a court, or pay a single dime.  Anyways, thanks guys.  Seriously...  this is probably the best / most helpful subreddit I know of.

Answer:
 If you have at least $20,000 in policy limits, Westfield will pay all of that judgement.  And they would be responsible for the court fees as well, if they're assessed against you.

No one here can tell you why they're not settling out of court.  It could be that Westfield thinks she's lying.  Or that they're being cheap.  Or that they're just not paying attention to it at this point.  Lots of possibilities, none of which probably impact you at this stage.

Good luck.


Title: Ontario: As a witness in a criminal trial is there a way to testify to what you witnessed when the defence lawyer doesn't ask the appropriate question?

Question:
 I was a witness in a domestic violence case involving my apartment building neighbours. As they had recently moved in, I hadn't met them before the incident.

 One night the young woman knocks on my door very distraught. The boyfriend was drunk and tearing up the apartment. I offered her use of my phone to call police or family.

 She wanted me to help her get her cat out so it wouldn't be injured. I went back with her and just told her to get the cat and get out while I made sure nothing happened.

 The boyfriend was pretty much done trashing the apartment and just yelling. He did threaten me saying **"I'm gonna get a knife"**. I ignored him and made sure all three of us got back to my apartment to await police and her family.

 Fast forward ~8 months and I'm called as a witness where I testify to the above described events. Probably the most damning was my testimony about the threat he made towards me. At least that is what caused the defence counsel to lower her head and decline to cross examine me.

 Now here's the issue: When he made his threat I didn't really take it as serious just from his body language. If someone makes an immediate threat and makes no effort to attempt to achieve it, it's still a threat but in my mind much less serious.

 So really two questions: 1] Is possible or appropriate to testify to this if the defence doesn't bring it up? 2] How much of a difference does my interpretation of his intent make to the seriousness of the charge?

Answer:
 Your one and only job as a witness is to honestly answer the questions they ask you.

You don't help one side or the other with making their case.  They ask a question, you answer it.

And that's it.


Title: Ex-Girlfriend's parents bought me a plane ticket for thanksgiving, but we broke up. I'm not going down for thanksgiving and they're threatening to sue me.

Question:
Can they actually sue me over this?

Edit: I'm stationed in NJ, USA

Answer: Something similar happened to me with a plane ticket to a wedding. They couldn't get it refunded and it was in my name. They threatened to sue before even asking if I'd pay them for it. So I asked them to do that and then kept the 500 credit in my name with the airline. Might hit up some warmer climates this winter. Answer #2: Your girlfriend just has to get a new boyfriend in less than a day then the ticket can be used and everybody is happy.


Title: (Arizona, Tempe) Leasing office of my parent's apartment complex double booked their storage unit 8 months ago, storage doors were found unlocked today, with random stuff inside and personal belongings missing

Question:
Today I was told by my family that our storage room was double booked by their leasing office 8 months ago.  There were a lot of furniture, appliances and boxes filled with sentimental value inside the storage unit.  My parents found out about this by personally checking their storage unit today and finding a bunch of their boxes missing and a bunch of other people's belongings inside.  They contacted the leasing office and the office stated that they had double booked it due to a clerical error and that the other party admitted to throwing away some of our belongings that were in the storage.  The office asked for permission to let the other party come and take their stuff away asap, but my family has refused currently in order to let the police to do a thorough inspection.  Since the storage door was left unlocked by the other party, my parents are worried that some of our belongings could have been stolen along with being thrown away by the other party.

What should we do moving forward?  We don't have a list of the complete inventory of what we had in the unit and they haven't even thoroughly looked yet since the front of the storage unit is blocked with other people's belongings.  Why would the other party throw away other people's belongings when the storage unit was obviously being used?  Are both the leasing office and the other party at fault here or just the leasing office?  The office is being very unresponsive and uncooperative throughout all this.  Is it worth it to possibly open up a lawsuit?  Any advice would be appreciated, thank you so much.

Edit: We have checked the apartment complex's Yelp reviews, and we are not the first to have their storage be double booked with stuff stolen.  Is there any case to be made here for negligence?  They are either severely incompetent or stealing from their tenants under the guise of double booking.

Answer: Hire yourself a civil attorney. There is a very good chance that the leasing office could be found liable for this which is why they're not communicating with you. When you get the chance do a complete inventory of everything that's in the unit and everything that's missing  and total up the costs of replacement. Unfortunately there's no extra value for sentimental items, so you're going to have to go with the replacement value instead. Depending on how much was thrown out you could be over the small claims court limit which is why you're going to want an attorney to help you file this suit.


Title: I lied in court about having an affair with my co-worker. It was hearing where wife was trying to prove fault and after me she showed the master in court emails her husband and me sent each other that proved it. What do I do now? [PA]

Answer: Get an attorney. Those be criminal charges ye could be facin. Answer #2: Lying in courts a bad idea.  It's an especially bad idea when the opposing party already has the evidence that you are guilty.Answer #3: Speak to your attorney


Title: Failed In car brethlyzer

Question: Got aarrsted initially may of last year blew .15. Got an I toxalox device in august, on oct 29 blew over the .03 on the device and scheduled to speak to a judge on Wednesday. It was my mistake cause I drank the night before and left my car went to pick it up next day to run errands around noon. After it failed I ended up getting my brother to drive me and picked my car back up later that day. Now I know I'm at fault, am I screwed bad? Should I just tell the judge what happens and hope for the best? I haven't touched a drink since then it was just a bad mistake. I'm in Texas if that matters

Answer: To still blow a .03 potentially 12 hours after drinking, you were probably hammered the night before. That means you still had one drink in your system. I would talk to the attorney who handled your case, but honestly, from what I have heard these are 0 tolerance. You likely are going to lose your privilege to operate a vehicle.


Title: [US][Serious] How legal is it to hit/beat up/kill, children/adult/teens that tresspass your lawn? (not inside your house, just your lawns)

Question:
please include answer for each possiblity...

^^^i ^^^nearly ^^^got ^^^in ^^^trouble ^^^for ^^^tresspassing ^^^a ^^^lawn ^^^accidentally ^^^as ^^^a ^^^teen, ^^^now ^^^i ^^^just ^^^want ^^^to ^^^know ^^^what ^^^could've ^^^happned..

Answer: How legal? Not legal. Very Illegal. For all 9 possible permutations of your hypothetical.


Title: Jury summons for me was sent to my mother's house in town, which I've never lived at. What happens if I don't go?

Question:
This is in Missouri, BTW. My mom remarried and has a different last name than me. She moved into the same town I live in, which was a decade after I moved out. Somehow, a summons in my name was sent to her house. I've never even had mail sent to her house. The address on my driver's license is my correct address.

What would realistically happen if I don't show up? Could I play dumb and say I never got it because it wasn't sent to me? Or would I face serious trouble?

Answer:
 > Could I play dumb and say I never got it

You mean lie.  To the court.  You want to commit a **felony** to get out of jury duty?  That makes a lot of sense to you?

Just go to your jury duty.


Title: Recently left a company, there was some bad blood between me and the boss. The guy stiffed me on my last paycheck. What can I do? Its not that much money but i want revenge

Answer:
 >Its not that much money but i want revenge

You are owed the amount that you worked and were not paid for. You are not owed "revenge".


Title: [MD] Car signed over in divorce, now DMV is charging flag fees

Question:
I have a close friend who divorced his wife about 10 years ago, in the divorce he signed over the jointly held title to his wife's car to her exclusively and went along his way. Flash forward to now, the local DMV is refusing to renew his license because apparently after his wife took possession, she never renewed the registration or had the car insured and the DMV is charging them jointly with the fees. The car now sitting in a field on her new property in upstate New York. He can't clear the flags fees on his own, they're several thousand dollars and the title company they used to sign the title over folded a few years ago so there's no way to ever prove that he did sign the car over. The ex-wife is refusing to take any responsibility because she's in a different state and doesn't care.
Is there anything he can do to clear those fees? The lawyers he's talked to say he has to sue but his ex-wife has made it clear she'll never set foot in Maryland ever again so that can't happen.

Any help would be great.

Answer:
 > The lawyers he's talked to say he has to sue but his ex-wife has made it clear she'll never set foot in Maryland ever again so that can't happen.

That doesn't stop him from suing. The idea that just because she won't return to the state protects her from being sued is absurd. He can file suit for the entire value of the fees, since she would apparently be responsible for all of them. If she's served and refuses to show up to the hearing, the result will be a default judgment for your friend for almost whatever he asks for. At that point, he has several options for collecting payment.


Title: I am currently renting a house in Madison WI. My house is now becoming infested with bird mites. (self diagnosis as translucent mites are everywhere, in close proximity to where birds are nesting in the walls). What am i as a tenant covered for generally speaking.

Question: I had contacted the property management about the birds and there Is a paper trail. The management never came to check, I did call them for a second time to no avail. Now I have been swarmed with what I believe to be bird mites, I have begun to pack things to save them from getting infected with the parasites. My parents have advised me I have no legal rights, and being a bug problem it is my responsibility to call an exterminator. What is WI rights (I have read and noticed that it should not be my problem) What should my course of action be. I apologize for spelling and grammar, it's a lot of stress. Th for any help.

Answer: Contact The Tenant Resource Center in Williamson St. They are experts in Madison rental laws and can help you with dealing with your landlord


Title: [Nevada] School has withheld lunch for half of its students, is it legal for schools to do so?

Answer:
 Most likely no.  But you've given us very little information, so that's not for sure.

Who were the kids that had their lunches withheld?  Why were they withheld? Was there a warning ahead of time?  Did they attempt to feed those kids?


Title: Apartment windows open up to a restaurant a few floors down. The employees are regularly out back smoking weed and the smell fills my apartment. Is there anything I can do about it?

Question: Not sure if this is anything illegal or a “nuisance” or anything like that in Minnesota or even where or how I’d report it. I don’t care if people smoke or whatever, it just has become an issue because I can’t open any of my windows without my apartment filling with the smell of pot. Any advice?

Answer: As a restaurant owner - let the owners know. Typically that’s not something they’d like to be known for


Title: [NY] Am I allowed to wear a hidden body cam into a bar in New York state?

Question:
An online community I'm active in is having a meetup in the near future in a bar somewhere in New York. Another person in the community ("John") and I had a "flame war" about eight months ago and John ended up physically threatening me (ie: "if I knew where you lived I would kick your ass."). He was banned for a week and threatened with a longterm ban by the mods of the subreddit and since then he hasn't communicated directly with me although I have occasionally gotten PMs from brand new reddit accounts threatening me.

I announced I was going a month or so ago, and recently John also announced he planned on attending. Since he physically threatened me in the past I'm a little apprehensive about something happening with both of us being in person with alcohol involved.

Would it be illegal if I wore a bodycam recording my surroundings to this meetup in case this guy tried taking a swing at me? Obviously I would turn it off if I had to use the bathroom.

Answer:
 > Would it be illegal if I wore a bodycam recording my surroundings to this meetup in case this guy tried taking a swing at me?

If you're worried enough about violence to spend hundreds of dollars on concealable cameras, just don't go, for Christ's sake.

As is, the legality of recording this boils down to a bunch of factors, including the room itself and how sensitive the microphones are.


Title: My employer has been regularly paying us late, and partial wages, since November. (CA)

Question: I work for a large convenience store chain, since November we have been paid either late, or half of our check at least three times. I just received a direct deposit for 35 hours worth of work when I worked over 80 hours. I'm not the only one this has happened to this pay period. They're only an explanation is they will try to fix it, no idea of when or how, last month a girl waited over a week for her paper check right before Christmas and ended up quitting on the spot. isn't this illegal in the state of California? Is it part of our employment contract that they are to pay us in full on time? Mistakes happen, once is a mistake, several times is a habit. Should I go to the labor board?

Answer:
 >several times is a habit

Indeed it's a patern showing you that this company is in financial trouble. (start the job hunt right now because this company might or might not find a way to stay afloat and if they don't then they'll be out of business pretty quickly).

One question: Is stock still being delivered? on time and in similar quantities as before?


Title: Evicted from own home by fradulent PFA. She doesn't even live there! Pennsylvania

Question:
Asking for a friend. This happened last night.

Quick background: In July my friend got a temporary PFA against his abusive girlfriend and under the PFA she was evicted from the house.

She fought the PFA, and under pressure from his own lawyer (You'll ruin the poor girls career!) he dropped it, since he figured she was out and it was over.

In August she started harassing him. Showing up at his house randomly, etc.

This brings us to last night.

She shows up at his house, saying she wants to see the kids. He says no, leave or I'll call the police.

She leaves.

At 3 AM he's awakened by the police. She has retained an emergency PFA against HIM for "threatening" her. She listed HIS home address as HERS and he and the children were forced to leave.

She is now in his house. It's a holiday weekend.

What can he do? How long is it going to take to get her out? What if she destroys his house? She's caused damages in the house before. Can she get away with listing his house as her residence (she is homeless)? Can he get another PFA on her due to this? Is he going to have to formally evict her?

Sidenote: He has never hit, threatened or harmed her in any way. She has routinely assaulted him and had the police called on her three times, one resulting in a disorderly conduct charge.

Please help and thanks, he's desperate.

Answer:
 An emergency PFA is, by definition, temporary.  He'll be afforded a chance soon to fight it.

He should talk to his lawyer immediately about the possibility of getting a faster hearing or filing his own PFA.  Answer #2: your friends lawyer is the one who caused this, he shouldn't be worried about her career only about his client. He should drop the lawyer, is he retaining that same lawyer for the second time?Answer #3: How was she evicted? What happened exactly?Answer #4: How was she able to produce proof of residency? Seems sketchy at best.Answer #5: He needs a good lawyer.  They will help  with the PFA.

&#x200B;

If the statement about his first lawyer advising him to drop the original PFA is accurate, he should consider suing his first lawyer for damages and at the least a complaint to their professional association.  A lawyer is supposed to advocate for their client, not the opposing side.


Title: Smoking weed in my car (CA)

Question: Just a quick question on the legality of smoking cannabis in my car. If I am parked on private property and sitting in my car with my keys in my pocket, is it legal for me to be smoking? There is no intent to drive afterwards and I have my medical marijuana script for the state of California. Just wondering because this is what I currently do because I don't smoke anywhere near my home due to children being present.

Answer: You can get a DUI for sitting in your car while drunk even if you aren't driving.  I'd assume you can be booked on a DUI for smoking in your car even if you aren't driving it.


Title: Nonresident condo owner, owe another condo owner for water damage to his unit, but there's a tricky factor...

Question:
Throwaway for privacy. Here are the basics:

I'm in Virginia. On February 27th, I received notice that a leak from my condo had caused damage to a downstairs unit. The leak originated from leaky grout work. I contacted my tenant, told him to cease using the tub immediately, and had the leak repaired by the end of the workday. On Monday, I confirmed with the other  owner that the leak was no longer active.

I've been forwarded a contractor's repair estimate ($2350) from the other owner. My understanding is that I'm liable for the repair because the leak originated between the floors and ceiling of my unit. No problem there. Here's the twist: During our email exchange, I asked the other owner when the leak was noted. He told me that his tenant forwarded him images of the damage on 18 February.

During the ensuing nine days, damage was presumably ongoing. My question: Does his failure to notify me of the leak in a timely manner limit my liability in any way? What's the best way to proceed? I really don't want to screw the other owner, but I'm not interested in paying more than I'm obliged to.

For what it's worth, he's the president of the condominium association and had ready access to my email and phone number.

Answer:
 Well, the other owner had a duty to mitigate damages, so possibly you are entitled to a reduction. I don't know how you will calculate just the damage that was caused after February 18 though.

Who notified you, and who determined that it was a grout problem ?


Title: [nj] soon to be ex-wife hasn't paid my medical bills even after our lawyers agreed on it

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You would sue her, which depending on the total of the medical bills, may require you to retain a lawyer. You have presumably a contract/agreement which bound her to pay your bills, which is the primary piece of evidence to support your claim.Answer #2: You may not need to sue her all over again, or take her to small claims court.  If you entered into an agreement as part of your divorce judgment, you should be able to simply return to the Court that handled your divorce and get it dealt with by that judge.

Then, at one point you  call her your "soon-to-be-ex-wife."  If your divorce has not been finalized, then the easiest way to deal with this is simply not to agree to anything to finalize the entry of the final divorce judgment until the bill is paid.

Finally, yes you should bother your attorney.  If there is an uncollected $2K bill that one of his clients is owed as part of a divorce settlement, he is slacking off at best if he's letting it go.


Title: How much trouble can I get in for using a tractor left at an open construction site at night?

Answer: Too much. Don’t do it. (Or at least provide a lot more facts and context if you expect any kind of useful advice here.)Answer #2: Well, assuming you don't have the correct license and trespassing are two big ones. Probably jail and several hundred dollars in fines. Hope it's worth it (don't take pictures)


Title: Crowd Sourcing While in a Chapter 13

Question:
I'm 2.5 years into a 5 year personal Chapt. 13 bankruptcy. I've been working on a business that I would like to crowd source for to raise the capital, but our lawyer says it can't be done until discharge. Is this accurate and if so, can you think of any creative ways to do it outside of finding a partner and raising the capital under their name? Portland, OR.
Topic:
Business Law

Answer:
 > but our lawyer says it can't be done until discharge. Is this accurate and if so, can you think of any creative ways to do it outside of finding a partner and raising the capital under their name?

Listen to your attorney. Stop trying to be "creative" or "clever." Fixing your next big screw up isn't going to be covered by the flat fee you paid for your bankruptcy.


Title: Help settling civil suit in Wisconsin

Question:
I am looking for advice on how to proceed with settlement offer and to submit my apology to other party.
Very short summary of my issue:
Several years ago (12) I was in a fight it got out of control and I ended up hurting the other guy pretty bad.  After I served my time he filed a civil suit against me.

Out of court I agreed that I would pay him 20k in one week and if I couldn’t come up with the money I would pay 30k plus interest. I signed a document stating I wouldn't claim bankruptcy on the 20k. My resource for the money fell through and I couldn't come up with it. So now it’s up to 40k (I think after interest and fees) The garnished my wages for a short period 1-2 months but then after that job was shutdown they have not garnished my wages since.

I now have some money saved and would like to offer it to the other party along with my apology. In hopes that he will settle and allow this to become the past. The issue is he no longer lives in my county/city and his attorney also moved. How should I approach this?

I am assuming adding him to Facebook isn't the proper way to go about it.

I am willing to pay an attorney if anyone has a recommendation. The attorneys in my town are friends with the family I got into the fight with so they will not help me as they say it’s a conflict of interest.

Answer:
 Definitely do not add him on Facebook. Bad idea.

Call the Wisconsin State Bar Association at (608) 257-3838 for a referral to an attorney who does not have a conflict of interest.


Title: Fake job interviews in Ontario, Canada

Question:
Hello,

I was wondering if there're any laws that prohibit fake job interviews in Canada?

I went to a job interview last week, my qualifications match the job description, and I did well on the interview. Today I got an E-mail saying that I wasn't chosen for the job because I didn't have all the necessary requirements for the position, which was complete BS. so I called the hiring manager right away, not to argue, but because I was genuinely curious as to why I didn't get the job, first she said that there were other requirements that were not mentioned on the job description which I didn't have so I asked her if she could tell me what these requirements were, she ignored my answer and just said that more experienced applicants were already hired (and so i shouldn't bother basically), I asked her once more to tell me what these requirements were, she contradicted herself and said that I didn't get an offer because the hiring process was put on hold and that no one got hired, oh, and the e-mail that I got was just a general e-mail that they send to everyone who doesn't get hired (expected!) and it doesn't actually mean that I don't meet all the requirements for the position. Then she quickly said "i appreciate your interested, goodbye" and hung up on me while I was talking. RUDE.

I believe that since I spent so much time on the application, I somewhat have earned the right to know why I wasn't hired, but it sounds to me that the recruiter was bluffing, and I'm sick of fake interviews, is there anything that I can do about this??

Thank you.

Answer:
 You didn’t participate in a “fake interview” you interviewed for a position and the employer of that position didn’t feel you were qualified. You aren’t entitled to any sort of further explanation. Answer #2: >I believe that since I spent so much time on the application, I somewhat have earned the right to know why I wasn't hired,

That's not the law though. It would be nice. But they don't have to tell you to my knowledge.

> and I'm sick of fake interviews, is there anything that I can do about this??

It doesn't sound like there's any evidence they interview was "fake", just that they were looking for employees, and either found someone else or didn't find anyone they liked. You can review company's hiring practices on websites like glassdoor, but I don't think this company did anything wrong.


Title: Bought puppy from CL and puppy was put down for parvovirus

Question:
[MD/VA] I recently bought a puppy from Craigslist, we agreed to $200 for one. When we met them in person in front of a Petco. We asked if the puppy has his up to date shots and deworming like the post said and they said yes they did but no proof was provided. We did not have a contract and paid in cash.

The puppy was fine for the first 2 days and then got lethargic and began to vomit. I took him to the pet ER the next day and was positive for parvovirus. We couldn’t afford the inpatient treatment so we decided on the outpatient protocol. The ER visit and the medicine for the outpatient protocol totals to $515. Unfortunately the puppies health went from bad to worse. We decided to put him down. The euthanasia fee was waived by our local animal control since they felt so bad.

I contacted the seller and explained the puppy’s situation. They agreed to return back the money. But shortly after they never responded texts or answered calls. I called them from a different phone and I was prompted with a phone disconnected automatic message.

We contacted the non emergency line for the city where we bought the pet, we didn’t have the sellers name but we had there phone number. They ran the number and got information of who may be connected with the phone number. They sent out an animal control officer to investigate. They recommend me to file a civil case for reimbursement of the puppy and medical expenses

Although we don’t have a contract about the purchase can we still file for a small claims court? I have saved all the messages and kept all the medical bills. They never provided proof of the vaccines or dewormer even though they said they did, could we use that against them in court? I just want advice to help me win this claim and have closure for my poor puppy.

Topic:
Small Claims Procedure

Answer: I'm so sorry that your puppy didn't make it.  You saved all the messages and kept all the bills, so it seems like you could document your claim against the owner of the phone number, the seller of the pup.  Since animal control recommended you file the claim, you may ask them or else check with your local small claims court as you begin to file.  Personally, I think you should go for it.  Hold them accountable for the violations against you, your pup, and all the other pups they will harm!


Title: Louisiana:Friend's estranged daughter got him arrested by reporting that he slapped her 3 years ago, and he's been in jail since Thursday unable to get out.

Question:
They haven't seen each other in 2 years, when he refused to buy her a car, and she recently graduated HS and wanted him to pay for her college which he refused and she filed charges of child abuse or something(charge is "Domestic abuse battery") for a time when she was 15(she was mad because he wouldn't let her go out and she started punching him and he slapped her(no bruising, doctors, or anything). They picked him up Thursday morning and he's been stuck in jail waiting for a bail hearing. Not only that, the jail has visiting hours only on Wednesday and charges $25 for 15 mins of phone time.(I couldn't believe this, hello ACLU?)

Does any of this sound at all normal procedure? There isn't a 24/7/365 due process mandate...what the hell was that sitcom "Night Court"...a figment of my imagination? If you Arrest someone shouldn't they get a more immediate hearing?

Who would I contact about how the local legal system is run?

Answer:
 You may only be hearing part of the story.

You may remember that *Night Court* was set in NYC, not Louisiana.

If you want to help him, go find him a lawyer and butt out.Answer #2: >Who would I contact about how the local legal system is run?

I dunno. . . Maybe a local lawyer?


Title: Okay to remove future Ex-Wife from Health Insurance? (Tennessee)

Question: We're on our way toward divorce. I haven't received any papers yet, but all signs point to it. I am faced with the annual enrollment situation, and don't know if I need to keep her on my employee health insurance plan. I would still be including all our kids, but would like to remove her if she's not willing to reconcile. Is that legal, or could it complicate a future divorce?

Answer:
 Consult with your attorney regarding timing.

But a change is marital status equals a "change in circumstance" so you can do this at any time, not just during open enrollment.Answer #2: While still married any medical debt she incurs would still be marital debt, so consult your lawyer in this. Don't do it if it leaves her uninsured. Answer #3: Something being legal and something being in your long term best interests are not the same thing. Don't do it unless your lawyer tells you it's ok.


Title: Friend's dad passed away 1 year ago. She's being harassed over the house and doesn't know what to do

Question:
Hi all,

Posting on the behalf of my friend since she doesn't use Reddit. We're both from Michigan, USA. Her dad passed away on 9/2/2015 when she was 18. The death was very sudden and she had moved away for college a few days prior. She believes she was the next of kin, as her only other sibling is still in middle school. Next of kin laws were never really explained to her, though.

All she knows is that she was in charge of reporting his death and taking care of his funeral arrangements. He was previously married, but had been divorced from her mother for a few years at the time of his death. There was no will and therefore no executor of the estate. She's not legally responsible for his debts or for his estate- the only estate being the house he lived in, which currently has a lien on it. She just doesn't know what to do since she is young and has very little knowledge on matters like this. She doesn't want the house and wants to give it back to the bank. The local courthouse was not very helpful in answering her questions. She's also being harassed over the grass growing in her dad's backyard, even though the neighbors should know that he's gone and she isn't living there anymore.

She don't know what bank he went through, or what steps to take to give it back. To her understanding, it can't legally go through probate since there is a lien on it and it is only about $18,000? She is just really confused and wants to be able to grieve in peace and move on but she's not able to find any help for the situation.

I apologize if the post above was muddled. She's under a lot of stress right now and no one is being helpful. What would be a good place for her to start with this situation? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Edit: She also mentioned that the house was under chapter 7 bankruptcy

Answer: She needed a probate attorney like yesterday.Answer #2: LISTEN, it's likely the house and property is worth much more than $18,000.   Maybe that is the remaining mortgage.   Any honest probate attorney will help your friend sell the house, pay any outstanding debts, including their fee, and liquidate whatever is left.   someone needs to be appointed executor and it might as well be her.   tell her to go talk to an attorney.  things like this happen all the time and the attorney will explain everything.   Usually they will review the case for free.  She could potentially walk away with a few thousand dollars.      All this might take a year


Title: As a minor, How can I get diagnosed with a disorder without a parents consent?

Question: there is a personality disorder that I suspect myself of having, I go over the symptoms a lot and most of them strike a nerve with me. I am hoping to put my mind to rest, and see if I can finally get diagnosed, or see if it’s all in my head. The problem is, my parents are divorced. My dad is mentally abusive and I’m probably going to live with my mom more soon, so If I got diagnosed I’d like to hide it from him, but my mother isn’t very educated in this stuff, and would probably not understand. I do, plan on talking to her about it, but if it doesn’t work out, I’d like to know if there is a way I could see a doctor without my parents consent. Kudos!

Answer:
 IANAL, but I am a clinical psychologist. The primary purpose of receiving a diagnosis is to receive treatment to improve functioning. I don't know you so I can give you direct advice but if a kid is having problems in school or home, the school counselor is a resource. You should be cautious about putting too much weight on a possible label (like a personality disorder) as again they are mostly given just to identify the type of help someone needs, and those labels can even be controversial in children who are still developing their personality.

Good luck.


Title: Abusive boss, fired for pointing out unsafe work environment, intolerable working conditions (California) [x-post r/jobs]

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >want the reason for termination (gross insubordination) stricken from the record and given severance

What record? Also, typically speaking severance isn't something that's required, but is something a company offers as a goodwill gesture.


Title: Interested in buying land in Mexico to build a home on. [Yucatan, Mexico]

Question:
Hey guys, I plan on working remotely in a few years, and I wanted to start a project I've had my mind on since my last trip to Yucatan, Mexico.

I want to buy a plot of land in Mexico then commission a construction team to build a small home on it.

I have no experience buying land outside the US, and even less experience hiring foreign workers. I'm a US citizen, and barely speak Spanish.

Buying the land should be easy enough, but what does the process look like for hiring a Mexican construction crew? Are there architecture firms that can give me a blueprint, how does that even work? What's the legal process for such a project in Mexico? How difficult would it be to get residency in Mexico while maintaining US citizenship? Is that even possible?

I've done some research on these questions but I'd like some confirmation or any words of wisdom. Thank you!

Answer:
 Time for an attorney to be honest with you. If you can afford to buy land and start a business, you can afford an attorney.Answer #2: I love the Yucatán. If you're successful, let me know, I'll come visit.

You can own property, directly, in the interior of Mexico. You cannot own property outright within the restricted zone, you would need to use a fideicomiso, and your attorney would probably advise you against this type of transaction as it is complicated and involves the federal government, banks, trusts, and in some instances ownership can be revoked.

The restricted zone is any land within 64 miles from an international border and 32 miles from the coastline at high-tide. The lovely city of Mérida also falls into the restricted category.

Outside the zone, however, you can own property with a title issued in your name. Regardless, you absolutely need legal assistance here.


Title: Is this a valid sexual assault case?

Question:
A friend of mine came back to his dorm one night and went to bed. A girl who had a boyfriend asked to cuddle. He said yes and they went into the same bed. She started touching him and he touched her ass back. They then went to sleep, no clothes came off and no sexual acts were performed.

The next day, he gets a text from her boyfriend saying he raped her. He denied raping her. Her boyfriend then said it’s sexual assault for touching her. She did not say no to it nor did she try pushing her off. She initiated the cuddling. There are multiple people in the room confirming no sex happened. However he is threatening my friend with the cops. Is this a valid case? Can he lie to make my friend look guilty?

Answer:
 Your friend should stop communicating with either of these people. Block them on everything, do not respond in any way, and talk to no one about the situation.

If contacted by police he should refuse to say anything, and hire a lawyer.


Title: [NJ] Can a company sell something it does not have?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: I think I speak for everyone when I say we want a picture of that cat in the headdress statue.


Title: Girlfriend hit a deer in her brothers car and looked for a parking spot before pulling over [PA]

Question:
My girlfriend hit a deer while driving her brothers car on some dirt road about 20 minutes ago. the car is just a bit scratched up, as far as we know the deer is fine.  And there were no other cars involved.

She called her mother for help because she didn't know what to do, and now her abusive mother is yelling at her, saying she should've pulled over and that she's going to be in big trouble with the cops now. her mother  also called 911 and they said you normally don't file a police report for this.

Is my girlfriend going to be in any legal trouble for leaving the scene or is her mother overreacting as usual?

Edit: Happened in Penssylvania

Edit 2: Thanks for reassuring us, it took a lot off stress off my girlfriend.

Answer:
 The deer most likely didn’t have insurance so stopping to exchange information is unnecessary. If the deers insurance company does summon her to court make sure she shows up or she will get a default judgment against her.Answer #2: Her mother is way overreacting. You didn't mention where this happened, but in some states, you don't even have to call the cops for minor accidents with other cars. Certainly no need to call the cops over a deer.Answer #3: No you are fine. It's bad to leave the scene when there is another car. Your gf is fine and clearly the mom is wrong because 911 said so as wellAnswer #4: Oh good grief... no, she’s fine. I hit a deer once, and 911 told me to just keep going home. Insurance didn’t care either because there were pieces of deer fur where the damage was, so no police report needed.Answer #5: Pulling over is necessary when the car is smoking or making questionable sounds, if another car was involved, and maybe if the animal was injured or dead in the road, which depends on location. The animal would be moved off the road at least so it wouldn’t cause any accidents. But since as far as you know it’s alive you’re fine. All that’s to worry is the damage of the car.

She won’t be in legal trouble for leaving the scene and the mother seems to be overreacting.


Title: Possession of 8 ounces of marijuana in texas.18years, freshman in college.

Question:
My first time ever getting in trouble with the police.
So basicly I was pulled over for speeding and the officer smelled marijuana from my car. The officer made me and my 2 friends (did not get in trouble) wait outside the car while he searched it. All that was in the car was 8 ounces of weed and a grinder. No bongs, pipes, or rolling paper etc.
I did everything the cop asked me to do and was completely honest and cooperative. I ended up spending a night in jail before my bondsman got me out. I Am planning to get a lawyer and hoping to drop the charges as well as eventually erase it from my record.my court date is not set yet but I have about 3-4 months before I can expect it.
What actions should I do if I eventually want these charges dropped and erased? Is it worth investing in a good/expensive lawyer if I want to dismiss these charges? What's MOST likely gonna happen to me?

Answer: Dismissing the charges is a nice goal but you're not looking at a few joints and a bong here.  8 ounces can easily be charged as possession with intent to distribute which is a felony.  You **need** a good attorney and a reasonable goal is to try and push for misdemeanor charges instead of felony.Answer #2: Eight *ounces*? As in half a avoirdupois pound? Damn, son.Answer #3: Speeding with a felony amount of drugs on you? Darwin Award Winner here.


Title: Lawyers on reddit HALP! I was in a car accident that wasn't my fault and I'm getting stuck with all the bills.

Question:
On January 30th, I was involved in a car accident that was not my fault.  Driver came into my lane trying to make a U-turn lane and weather conditions were terrible resulting in a car crash with airbags deployed, totaling my car.  I was advised to go to the hospital since the airbags were deployed to make sure everything was ok and fortunately everything was fine. Turns out the driver of the car had suspended license and was not allowed to drive and also lied on the police report. The car belonged to his girlfriend and it was insured under her parent’s policy.  According to their insurance company they technically do not have to reimburse me for the car or medical bills and other expenses caused because he was not on the policy and his girlfriend was not given permission to lend the car.  As a result I am stuck with having to be forced to buy a new car (that my mom has to help me pay for because I can't afford it on my own), and pay a $3,000 medical bill.  This is not including the days missed from work nor the emotional stress my family and I went through or the expenses it took to drive from NY (that’s where I’m originally from and was heading there to visit family) to get me and stay at a hotel so we were able to take my belongings out of the car the next morning.

Though I was not seriously injured and for some $3,000 may not be much, for someone that comes from a working class family (if there was another class like very working class I'd use it here, my mom has worked 2 or more jobs at a time all my life) and has only been out of college for almost a year and is just starting out something like a surprise $3,000 bill and having to buy a car unexpectedly is extremely stressful and frustrating.  This especially frustrating and seems extremely unfair when the driver that caused the accident was not suppose to be driving yet was lent a vehicle.  I feel as though regardless of that fact that the daughter was not supposed to lend the car out to anyone she still did and someone has to make up for the troubles they have caused and the choices they made. I'm not looking to get rich here all I'm a looking for is to pay for the totaled car and medical bills and I'll be happy. I'm currently in the process of reaching out to lawyers but wanted to see what anyone else thought and see if I'm just wasting my time.

Answer:
 You've just demonstrated why, in the future, you need to make sure you have collision and underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage (and comprehensive, too).

You can sue the other driver, but $3000 in medicals is not much, and it may be hard to find an attorney.  Depending on what state you're in and how much the new car cost, small claims court may be an option.