Title: [Update; TX] Neighbors claim our pool company ruined their side yard and made their AC units unlevel

Question:
https://np.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/68oef0/tx_neighbor_signed_a_waiver_allowing_a_pool/

Finally heard back from our neighbors who hired a home inspector and had their builder come by to check their AC units and side yard.  They state both companies were concerned about potential long term issues with their AC units caused by a tilt (1.3 inches to one and 0.7 inches to the other).  They also say there are drainage issues caused by an improper grade to the soil. The recommendation of the inspector/builder is to either 1) add a drain or 2) return the grade back to its original slope.  We originally offered to add a drain that ties into our drainage pipe but they are uncomfortable with that idea and want their own drain installed.  This is a 3' strip of yard between our homes so I suspect there was never any real grade.  The pool company says this as well.  I want to ignore this email as I don't believe they have anything showing a "before" grade of the soil or the level of the AC units.  Pool company wants to fix and is willing to cut the cost.  So - my second question is since this is a grade issue and we had nothing to do with that, are we at fault or is this a pool company problem?

Thanks everyone!

Answer:
 Document, document, document. Everything. Then, ignore them until your sued. They're very likely full of it and until they actually try to sue you, they're just blowing smoke.

Just out of curiosity, did they just email you and say the inspector said (whatever), or did they actually give you a copy of an official inspection report?Answer #2: How did they push dirt into their yard and under their existing AC units?? This does not make any sense.
Also, how did they damage the neighbors drains if they did not do any digging in the neighbors yard??

I would just ignore these crazy neighbors and only respond to a court order.

The only concern is that the pool company is willing to pay to fix an issue they supposedly did not cause.  Something is fishy with the pool company if they are willing to pay for this.  It is almost like they did something wrong that they wont admit.  Answer #3: I'm confused on one point. You said in your original post that you already "pa(id) to have their yard look like it did before the construction which we have done" but also said "We just re-sodded their yard so it doesn't look great but I told them that with some TLC, the sod will take root and blend right in.". So, does it look like it did before or not?


Title: Steps to take when victim of theft from luggage

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Report the loss to United, they should have a claims process you can go through. Beware that it is probably going to be a pain in the ass, and they'll most likely do their very best to weasel out of paying.

You can also report the theft to airport police at the airports you flew through, but I doubt they'll be able to do much more than file a report.


Title: How can my public University require me to hand over my bank records in order to determine in-state residency?

Question: OH

Answer:
 They cannot *require* you to do anything.

But they can make your admittance conditional upon your acceptance of their terms.

You don't have to turn over the requested documents.

And then again, they don't have to admit you.


Title: Piracy laws in the United States

Question:
I understand that I could easily do a Google search but I want to make sure that I'm being thorough. What are the complete context of laws which can be applied and used when addressing internet piracy

I am drawing up a contract to hire web designers for my company and want to make sure I'm not held responsible for anything they might design in violation of internet piracy, trademarking, restriction, copyright, and licensing laws

Answer: Hire a lawyer to write your contract. That is the best way to limit your liability as much as possible.


Title: Can an employer charge women employees more for health insurance than men employees in a group plan?

Question: My wife will need health insurance soon as she is going to be 26. I found out that my works group insurance is broken down by age and gender. A man my age's employee contribution monthly would be $140 cheaper per month than my wife's just based on gender and not taking any lifestyle choices into consideration. Everything about this screams not legal to me because of the ACA but I've found some differing information on this. If it helps, this isn't my employer that is enforcing this, it's the anthem group plan my employer has and it's a business with less than 5 employees. The state is Ohio

Answer:
 [New plans can not charge more, but if this is the same health insurance policy they had pre-ACA then they can charge more](https://obamacarefacts.com/questions/are-gender-ratings-illegal-under-the-aca/)Answer #2: The employer does not set the rates but even if they did, they are exempt from federal anti discrimination laws Answer #3: Under Obamacare you cannot discriminate based on gender. You can based on things like family size, smoking, age and geography.

But Obamacare does not apply to you since your business is five employees or less. You need 50 full time or full time equivalent employees.

It sounds like your employer is simply getting coverage for you and footing part of the bill. In the early 90s, I worked at a place where they offered no insurance, they told me, to go find my own health insurance and with their OK, they'd cover 90% of the cost. It was a private arrangement though.


Title: [CO] animal disturbing the peace ordinance vagueness

Question:
Background info:

Approximately 11 months ago I was contacted by my city police department claiming from an anonymous (to me) neighbor that my dog was barking extensively and given a verbal warning. My dog was not barking more than 5-8 minutes. No neighbor had ever spoken to me about said complaints so I was completely taken by surprised.

When this happened I went to read my home-rule municipal ordinance on animals disturbing the peace so I was completely clear on what is prohibited and it stated the following:

"It shall be unlawful for any animal owner to permit such animal to disturb the peace and quiet of any person or neighborhood by barking, fighting, howling, crying or by emitting any other similar sound."

There is no clear or direct example of when a dog barking becomes a nuisance. Unaware of what to do since I could not determine from the ordinance and it's definitions what is prohibited in good faith I contacted the police officer who arrived at my house via email and asked him to speak to my neighbor about meeting with me so I could understand what they consider a nuisance and so I can correct it. He said he would talk to them and see if they wanted to do that. It never ended up happening and was not given an explanation as to why not.

The above repeated 2 more times once in septmeber, and once in october. The neighbor calling to complain about my dog barking for 2 minutes, and barking for 6 minutes respectively. I was given 2 more verbal warnings.

Then in November I was given an official written warning. Animal Control arrived and sat outside my house after a complaint by the same neighbor and said that in a period of 10 minutes my dog parked for 2 minutes and he deemed that a nuisance. Frustrated, confused, and not sure what to do i purchased a bark collar and for 8 months no issues were had.

Then in June I yet again was greeted with another complaint by the same still unknown neighbor which was false because it wasn't my dog barking, but this time I was given a ticket and summons to appear in municipal court.

My question is if the city ordinance does not provide clear examples of prohibited nuisance behavior regarding length of noise, and the neighbor is not willing to speak to me how am I supposed to know what is and isn't legal. Naturally, dogs bark, but interpreting the ordinance above any time a dog barks regardless of how long or for what reason is considered a nuisance. Isn't this a little overbroad and give the Trier of fact unstructured and unlimited discretion in whether the statue has been violated?

Answer: You're welcome to fight the ticket, but the statute appears pretty clear. Do you know if Animal Control observed the area before issuing the ticket?


Title: Neighbor destroyed my mailbox, now refusing to admit she was driving (OK, US)

Question:
Oklahoma City, US

My neighbor totaled my mailbox a week ago.  I didn't call the police because I didn't see the need to (BIG MISTAKE).  I made a claim with her insurance, I have photos, witnesses, etc.  Every time she calls her insurance she says she is paying me cash and hangs up.  Basically she is not admitting to it.

What are my options here?  Every time I talk to her about it she gets really pissed off and actually hissed at me last time I went over (have been over 3 times in a week, it's not like I'm harassing her).  I just want this fixed.  Her insurance lady is nice but obviously protecting the client first.

Are my only options small claims court?  The damage is in the thousands of dollars.

Answer:
 You say you have witnesses. It is not too late to call police. Simply explain she said she would take care of it but shows no sign of doing so. But the police can help you only if it was intentional or she was breaking a traffic law and took out the box.

Same thing with her insurance, if you have their number. Call yourself and ask for payment directly from them.Answer #2: Small claims court in Oklahoma can be up to $7,500.


Title: Employer Worked Our Crew On A Hazardous Job Site Without Informing Us Of Chemicals Found In Soil (Indiana)

Question:
I work in construction doing excavation work. I am very often around the dust made from disturbing the ground on a job site. I recently found out that a job I worked at for several weeks was found to be hazardous, with up to 14 hazardous chemicals in the soil.

My employer made no effort to inform any employee on the job about coming into contact with these carcinogens and chemicals.

What course of action am I able to take to make sure my employer provides information like this to employees before work begins in the future?

Source About Jobsite: https://www.theindychannel.com/news/working-for-you/judges-concerned-about-marion-county-justice-center-as-campus-proves-to-be-hazardous
Topic:
Labor Law (Unions)

Answer: Definitely an OSHA issue. You may also need to have an evaluation under your employer's medical surveillance program  (also an OSHA requirement) to see gather information in relation to your exposure.  Source: Just did Hazwoper refresher training on this subject yesterday!


Title: Asked to open a bank account to hide money from collectors. What are the ramifications?

Question:
My grandfather passed away yesterday, and he left $80,000 to my mother. She is his power of attorney and executor. My mother is to distribute the money per his wishes between her siblings. I’m not sure of the details, but my mom said he did it this way to allow her immediate access to the money.

My mom and dad moved into a rental to be closer to my grandfather - who then moved in with them when he could no longer live alone. My parents did not sell their house when they moved. They just stopped making mortgage payments. The foreclosure process has begun. Because of the foreclosure, My mother is afraid of the bank coming after the $80,000 before she and her siblings get everything sorted. My mom wants me to open an account in my name to hold the $80,000 for her. This would be short term. Is there any legal or financial reason I shouldn’t do this for her?

Additional info: We live several hundred miles away. I am married. I currently rent. My wife and I have significant student loans which we are working diligently to pay off.

Answer:
 > My mom wants me to open an account in my name to hold the $80,000 for her.

So...you are being asked to open an account...and then put in...$80,000 from what would be an unclaimed source...and want to know if there would be problems with that?

Yes.  Yes there would be problems with that.  Any deposit over $10,000 is going to be subject to laws that require the bank to look into where the money came from.  And if your mother gets the great idea of splitting it up into increments less than that, it is called structuring and is a crime.

Plus the IRS would want to know about your $80,000 windfall and please to be paying taxes on this new income, thank you very much.

I am going to say this would be A Bad Idea for you to do.  She made the foreclosure bed, now she is going to have to lie in it.  I would recommend she get a lawyer/accountant to advise her on legal ways to manage this rather than trying to pull you into doing shady shit.

EDIT: It is usually safe to assume that anytime someone asks you to "hold something temporarily", it is A Bad Idea for you to agree.  This counts for money, guns, drugs, and boxes with undisclosed contents.  Actually, just about anything really.Answer #2: Yes, you face significant legal risk by participating in this scheme.


Title: I’m a cake decorator, and my boss just informed me that I cannot save photos or videos of my work anymorel

Question:
I am a baker and cake decorator for a small company. After three months of doing work for my boss (all the while taking photos and videos of my work, mostly because I’m proud of it and want to show it to my friends and family) she has randomly decided that she doesn’t want us recording our work anymore and that any previous videos or photos be deleted from not only our social media, but from our phones as well.

Now, she DID have us sign a “confidentiality agreement”, but upon viewing a copy of what I signed when I was hired, there is no actual detail in the contract at all. It’s basically a piece of paper that says “Confidentiality Agreement” and has a place for the employee to sign and for my boss to sign - there is absolutely nothing stating what the rules or terms of the agreement are.

My question is: does she have a legal basis for keeping us from recording our work?  Does this over simplified version of a confidentiality agreement actually have footing?  Or does she have no right to police the recording of our work because she didn’t outline what was considered  confidential in her agreement?

Answer:
 She can fire you for continuing to record your work, you can continue to record until she fires youAnswer #2: Your boss can say no cameras, cellphones or recording devices in your place of business. I assume this is the owner you're talking about.

You can refuse to abide by that, and take photos or videos of your work.

She can fire you.


Title: Mentally ill neighbor escalating behavior

Question:
Im 22 and live with my parents in southern california and for my entire life my neighbor has done just about everything imaginable to us and all of our neighbors. He is convinced everyone is out to get him and he is the perfect neighbor...
My dad has many folders on everything he has done. Our layer is constantly in the loop but it hasent/isnt going to stop him. We have just lived with this hell but recently hes been acting weirder then usual.

Recently he has been coming up to my mom and I telling us that "something bad is coming our way". we will get what we deserve, and crap. He is so dam unstable I am worried he is planning something. what can I do before shit hits the fan? My dad cant take this stress he isnt in the best health. what are my options? Can he be put into an institution? evicted? please im concerned for my parents safety and their pets

Answer:
 You can try getting a restraining order.

But likely not going to be able to institutionalize him or get him evicted


Title: Mentally failing father sending mother to an early grave

Question: My father suffers from cognitive deterioration, as diagnosed by a doctor. Along with becoming belligerent, he has become very malleable to friends and family, also to strangers online. He's been ' loaning ' money to people without telling my mother. This is causing her panic and stress. He won't explain himself without a fight and thinks he can do whatever he wants and she'll fix it. I really need help for my mother..I don't want him driving her into an early grave. Is there some way she can protect their financial future from this man who is quickly turning into a child?

Answer:
 Yes.

She can have him declared incompetent so that he can no longer make financial decisions.  If he is unwilling to cooperate, this could involve a court process.


Title: [Ca ]cousin says I touched her inappropriate when we were kids

Question: My uncle confronted my parents earlier today saying that my cousin told them that  when we were kids ages 11 her 14 me that I inappropriately touch her. I have no memory of this. We are now 18 and 21 and they had agree for me to pay for her therapist and they would not report it to the police. What should I do. Would a therapist report this to the police.

Answer:
 You're an adult, your parents can't make agreements on your behalf. It's entirely up to you on how to approach this.

Given the seriousness of the allegation, I'd suggest having a conversation with an attorney, but I suspect that "I have no recollection of that, and I am not paying your kid's therapy bills" is a workable response after your attorney reviews the situation.Answer #2: That sounds downright scammy.


Title: I got married too early and i really regret it.

Question: I've been married for 2 years but it doesn't even feel like we are actually married. We don't have any kids, we don't have shared bank accounts, or property. To me it seems like a divorce should be relatively easy. I just don't even know where to begin. I don't have a lot of money so I'd really love to avoid having to pay a lawyer if at all possible. Any advice?

Answer:
 Legal advice- always get a lawyer in a divorce. Always. Both of you. You don’t need a lawyer til you do.

Personal advice- it’s always good to try to work on it before you leave. Divorce is a big deal, maybe evaluate the problems and see if it’s fixable through counseling. Rarely is something completely un-fixable. Sometimes it just seems harder than it is. Good luck.


Title: What would child protective services do?

Question: I am a child and about 2 years ago my brother raped me and, I was sexually abused up until recently. So I was wondering is this a case where child protective services would be involved and if so how? (I live in ohio incase that is relevant)

Answer:
 Call CPS. For Ohio, start here (unless you already have your local number): https://jfs.ohio.gov/ocf/reportchildabuseandneglect.stm

I’m so sorry. I hope you get the help you need.


Title: Threatened on a Bus

Question:
About a year and a half ago I was attending a large outdoor sporting event that is held annually and attracts thousands of visitors. The event attracts many children and families. The event spans three days and takes place on hundreds of acres of land. The incident related to my question occurred on a Saturday. I was attending the event with my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and my two nieces. The main event takes place in a separate area of land from where visitors park their cars, so buses are used to shuttle attendees the short distance from the parking area to the event.

-

After spending a few hours at the event, my family and I boarded a bus to return to the parking area. My family boarded the bus before me and were able to find seats at the front of the bus. I on the other hand had to walk towards the back of the bus until I found a seat, where I sat alone on a two-seat bench. After traveling for roughly 10 minutes the bus arrived at the parking area, and riders began to disembark. As the bus doors opened I stood up and began walking down the aisle in a hurried pace to catch my family who had immediately got off the bus.

-

As other people on the bus seemed to be collecting their things or were otherwise not yet standing up in the aisle to disembark, the aisle was clear of anyone else in front of me. Maybe halfway from my seat and the door in the front of the bus, a man suddenly stood up in front of me, getting within inches of my face and asked me, "Are those your kids?". The question and man's body language were both threatening. I'm 6'2 in height, and this man was probably two inches taller than me. His height and physical presence both added to the intimidation I perceived.

-

From what I recall, immediately before the man stood up, I made eye contact with him in a normal, non-threatening manner as I was paying attention to other people on the bus. After the man stood up and confronted me, I responded by saying, "no, go ahead." However, considering I wasn't near any children, hadn't interacted with any children, or done anything that I see as eliciting that action and question from the man, I felt extremely intimidated and shaken up by the experience. The kids he referred to from my recollection were sitting across from him at least two rows ahead of me, but on my side. Being that this all happened in a short amount of time and that my mind was on auto pilot until the incident occurred, it's difficult to place exactly where the kids were sitting, but I do know for certain they were not in front of me in the aisle where I was in the aisle exiting otherwise I would have waited. From what I remember the kids had rushed off the bus before me. I answered the man's question in a non-threatening voice. In fact, my voice most likely reflected the fear I felt in that moment.

-

Now, my question is, had this man physically attacked me (e.g. pushing, punching, tackling), is it possible that he could have claimed self defense of himself or his family? Could I have been charged with threatening behavior for hurrying off the bus? Had he claimed I threatened him, what would the burden of proof been in that case? What are some of the most likely outcomes had he stated to law enforcement that I was chasing after his kids? I worry that had this incident gone differently or a similar incident occurs in the future, someone with children could claim I was in the wrong somehow, use that as justification for an attack, and me somehow be found guilty of a crime. Is it common for people who have not engaged in a fight or been aggressors to be found guilty of battery?

-

I must also state that this man's behavior was not justified in my mind. His question and body language were incredibly intimidating. Had I responded with anything other than, "no, go ahead", saying for example, "please stop" or "are you threatening me", could this man have likely claimed just physical action against me in that case? I'm also concerned the man may have "snapped" had I responded differently, responding by battering me, then after the fact attempting to justify his actions by again claiming self defense. Had the event played out in this way, given the man did have kids and a woman with him who was presumably his wife, and given that I am a single man and my family was not near me on the bus, law enforcement on the scene may have been more likely to believe his account of the events. (Is that common in cases involving physical attack, battery?) I had a beard and was muscular in appearance at the time. I hadn't yet finished my B.S. I come from what I will call a good background. How much would all this play into a legal case? I have no criminal record other than one speeding ticket.

-

This incident has caused me a lot of stress and anxiety since it occurred. Recently I asked a lawyer friend for advice, but she refused claiming there are too many variables involved for her to give a clear answer. Granted there are hundreds of variables involved in all legal cases. But my obsession on the matter forces me to pose the question anyway.

-

I have self-diagnosed OCD and this has been an obsession for quite some time. Any advice on the matter will greatly help reduce the anxiety.

-

-There was no alcohol at the event
-Event took place in north Florida
-I was 26 when the incident took place
-Man involved in the incident turned around to exit the bus following my response
-the bus was nearly full with other riders/witnesses

edit: "were not" to "was not"

Answer:
 > man asked me, "Are those your kids?"

> that this man's behavior were not justified in my mind.

What?

>I'm also concerned the man may have "snapped" had I responded differently, responding by battering me, then after the fact attempting to justify his actions by again claiming self defense.

There's no legal issue here. You need professional mental help. Please find a therapist that you feel comfortable talking with.Answer #2: TLDR OP is dwelling on an event that occurred 18 months ago wherein a man on a bus may or may not have been rude/modestly aggressive...the latter seemingly being the more likely of the two. Had the man attacked OP, could this man have claimed he was acting in self defense or defense of others?

 OP, if, under the circumstances described, the man attacked you, it is unlikely that he would successfully argue he was responding reasonably.


Title: Android app for nurses about pill distribution - what data can I store without legal issues?

Question:
I want to make an app for nurse so they can set reminders for pills for different patients. Can I input their profiles into my phone and assign the drugs for them?

I'm from Europe, but my main target is US and UK.

Answer:
 Why would a nurse want to use their cell phone for something like this? Nurses are medical professionals and have HIPAA drilled into their heads.

Not to mention the patients. If I'm in the hospital, the last thing I want to see is a nurse putting my medical information into their cell phone.

This seems like something that could backfire very badly in so many ways. Personal liability on the nurse, liability for the hospital, liability for the health system, liability for the creator of the app.Answer #2: IANAL, but am a programmer with a little familiarity with healthcare IT.

Your app's data would almost certainly be considered EMR (Electronic Medical Records).  This brings with it all sorts of requirements for security, storage, and retention.  Before doing this, you would need to research the heck out of these requirements.

Even if you fulfill all the requirements, getting facilities to buy into a phone app without an overall EMR system tied to it will be an uphill challenge.


Title: Transient guest is renewing drivers license at my house (Georgia)

Question: We invited a homeless woman to stay with us, in exchange for doing some chores, on a temporary basis. We thought it would only take a few weeks for her to find a new place, but she's some how gotten the impression she'll be staying for at least three months. She wants to renew her drivers license using our address. I'm concerned she's preparing legal grounds to stay, forcing us to follow an official eviction procedure. It's been 21 days, and she's paid no money (hasn't been asked) and has no written contract (just verbal: help around the house.) Should I let her renew to our address? Can I do anything to keep her from digging a legal trench to hole up into?

Answer:
 Since she's a tenant already, you will have to evict her whether or not she uses your address for her license. If you want her out ASAP, you should serve her a written 60-day notice to end her tenancy. If she isn't out in 60 days, you'll have to start the eviction process with the court. Answer #2: She already has a legal right to stay. That is her home. She is a tenant.

You cannot stop her from using the address she lives at on her paperwork.


Title: [TX] Took my vacation time, was fired after I returned, did not receive a final paycheck with the vacation time

Question:
So basically what I did was took all of my vacation time, at the end of the vacation time I announced that I wanted to step down to a part time position (fast food management) because I had found a new full time job elsewhere. My GM agreed to the idea, however he did not put me on the schedule for the returning week. The following week he told me corporate had caught wind of me stepping down from Asst GM to Shift Manager and terminated me. That was last month, I have yet to receive any paycheck with the final two weeks of mostly vacation time (took over 40 hours worth).

I received advice to speak with the Texas Workforce Commission but am entirely lost on their website. Is this the appropriate channels to go through? Am I even entitled the vacation time?

Thanks for the help!

Answer:
 Submit your claim here...

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/jobseekers/how-submit-wage-claim-under-texas-payday-law

Make them fight their case.


Title: Abusive corp to corp relationship.

Question:
I have a small business and have a contact with another company.  This company has become verbally abusive and I'm ending the relationship.   If I have to pursue legal action against them for payment, can I bring up the abusive portion and claim any damages from it?

Edit: so they can be mean to my employees, calling them retarded,  idiotic, french, and I yet have no recourse??
Second edit:  I've always increased my stress levels holding my tongue.  Can i simply go off in the future with ex clients and be legally clear?? I'm really excited about this!!!!

Answer: Is this a business that either trades Pokeman cards, or sells lemonade, or is it one that just gives away free rainbows and dreams? If you really expect to prosper in the business world you need to gain enough maturity to get you emotionally out of your teens. If you are actually the supervisor of these employees then it is not hard to imagine where the frustration comes from by the other company. No you don't bring up the meanness unless you want to look retarded, idiotic, or french.


Title: Is it defamation if it's true, even if you didn't know its true (Canada: Ontario)

Question: For example. I make a facebook status "Person X sells and takes drugs". I did not know this for a fact, nor did i have a reasonable suspicion. It turns out that this is true. Is it defamation?

Answer: If it is true, it is not defamation. They have to prove that what you said isn't true, not necessarily that if you knew at the time that saying it was or wasn't true.


Title: My redneck friend tried to blow up tannerite

Question:
Central Texas

I got a call today saying that my friend( we'll call him Alex) and his friend( we'll call him john) were trying to blow up tannerite with their rifles. One or more rounds missed and went into a garage some distance away and went through a window or windshield of a car. This property happens to be in the next county. The neighbors came over to talk and they worked something out. Then the police showed up and arrested them for Deadly Conduct. John is bailed out but Alex's bail is a 20,000$ probably from charges he got as a teenager (he's 23).

Isn't deadly conduct a felony?

Answer:
 I'm not going to lie.  I'm a gun owner and all for people having their gun rights, but your friends are the reason people want more gun control.

this is just from google but:
>Texas law provides that anyone who fires a weapon in the direction of someone else has also committed deadly conduct. Further, if you fire a weapon at a home, vehicle, building, or other structure without knowing or investigating whether the building is occupied, this too is deadly conduct. These types of actions are more serious offenses because they involve actually firing a weapon, and are charged as felonies.

yes it appears that it is charged as a felony.  they need lawyers now.

and personally, I hope they lose their gun rights.  they should NOT be allowed to possess or own guns having done something like this.

Answer #2: If the bullet went into a garage, it could have just as easily went into a person.  Your friend is an idiot and deserves that felony charge and to lose his gun rights.


Title: Fighting a parking ticket...?

Question:
I was parked next to a sign that said parking is permitted from 9am-330pm and then below it said that there were no stops from 330pm - 5:30pm.

I walk out to my car at what I thought was 330pm to find a by law officer writing me a ticket. I asked her why and she replied that I can't stop here after 330 (or something to that effect) on the ticket the time stamp is 3:33pm and it says it's for stopping in a no stop zone. The ticket is for $110 and $90 if paid early.

I didn't really think this was all that fair, it's kin of like charging someone for speeding 5km/h over the aspeed limit, it's just stupid :/

So what should I do when I stand in court? Take pictures of the sign? Say that my phone said it was 3:29pm? (Also it would have taken her at least 2 minutes to write the ticket) please help me out, I'm an 18 year old who just got a car and can't really afford to pay a $90 parking ticket

Answer:
 I get you *think* it's unfair but if they wanted to allow you park there at 2:58 the sign would say so. You say a minute or two's not fair. Where's it stop? If 2:58 is alright for you, is 2:48 alright for someone else? It's 3:30, period. Christ, you fucked up, no worries, it happens to all of us. Pay your ticket and move on butterfly. Answer #2: If it was 3:31, and you were parked there, you are guilty regardless of what your phone said.

So, if you go to court and try to fight it, you don't have any legal ground to stand on.  You'll just be hoping that the judge takes pity on you.


Title: Car accident unattended veh. Can I receive reimbursement for time wasted? (MD)

Question: Guy hits my lawfully parked/unattended vehicle. My vehicle has to be towed. He admitted fault. My liberty mutual adjuster is telling me that all of the driving around picking up and dropping off rental cars/my fixed vehicle and dealing with countless phone calls is not time that I can get reimbursed for. Is that true? There were also some additional fees with my car rental that I apparently can’t get back. What should I do here? It’s not much but my overtime rate is about $50/hour and my wife and I spent about 8 hours each dealing with this mess. Is my adjuster correct here?

Answer:
 There is an almost zero chance you will be able to be reimbursed for time, you can ask the other parties insurance but they are under no obligation to do so.

Your sole remedy is to be made whole for the damages to your property.  Your bill rate is irrelevant.  The rental fees *may* be able to be recovered but the action to do so would likely cost significantly more that the recovered amount.


Title: Employer threatened to bill me for summarizing my hours

Question:
Hia! I am a full time software developer in office employee paid by the hour. I use the company's website to submit my hours and I must do this every day as I can only submit my hours on the same day. I've missed logging my hours a few times and my employer says that if I keep missing them then he's going to start charging me his hourly rate to correct my hours.

Also just today he told me that once every two weeks I must start printing out my hours from the website and grouping my hours together for all the different clients I am working for and if I don't hand him my hours when theyre due he will skip paying me. Or if I hand him my hours without being formatted correctly he will charge me his hourly rate to format them himself. I don't really mind printing my hours out and summarizing them for him but I don't take threats like this lightly. Can he charge me for his time to pay me? And since my hours are already in the company's database I am liable to hand delivering a physical copy of my hours to him just to get paid?

Answer:
 He can’t not pay you for hours worked. You must be paid.

However, as your supervisor he can definitely request a paper copy, and fire you for failing to follow his directions.


Title: Who is Liable in this Bike and Pedestrian Encounter

Question:
Alright this might be a long story but here goes nothing.

I live in California and I have a park relatively close to my house that I bike to and that has a biking path that also serves as a fitness route or something like that. So I am biking down this path going relatively moderately paced, not as fast as bicyclists who do marathons but not slower than someone walking because I ride a hybrid bicycle, and I come across this group of people in my way. Now typically when pedestrians on this path here bikers coming they move to the edge so as to let the biker pass, that is why I make a point of making as much noise as possible when coming from behind a person so that they know that I am present. Now I come behind this group of about 5 people and 2 dogs. The bike path has two lanes like a road with opposite flows of traffic. This group of people take up both lanes and don't give way to the maybe 4 people behind them to pass. The 4 people behind them, two being my parents are staying on the right side, the correct side, while three of the big group are on the left along with the two dogs and the other two are on the right. Now I start making noise by moving my pedals backwards just to make sure they know I'm there ( I only call out when this does not work) and the two groups behind the group of five, one being my parents, move to the right or the very edge so I can pass. Three of the big group move to the farther left side but at this point I'm maybe a few feet away from the group and still in the right lane and I realize the two people in this lane aren't going to move. So I start heading towards the middle to move through and be on my way. Then the man, from the two on the right moves towards the middle and I have to hurriedly brake and swerve right. Then the woman who was on the right moves more to the right. At this point in my head I was so confused I just didn't know what to call out because it was like they were trying to block me from going. So in a split second I brake extremely hard almost to a complete stop and I'm forced to swerve fully to the right and off the path in order to go by them. While passing I hear the lady say, "Geez, he almost ran me over." I stopped a few minutes ahead so I could get the car keys from my parents and load up the car with my bike since I would reach there first. When they catch up they tell me I better go ahead before that lady comes and gives me a piece of her mind. For a half second I felt like giving her a piece of my mind for her disregard of others but I didn't. My parents also told me later that the same group of five people were practically all over the trail blocking others behind them from passing them and overall being uncourteous. They even told me that the lady said that had I run into her (going slower than walking pace) she would've sued me. So my question is was I in the wrong and if she sued me would she have won? I am aware that maybe I should have called out and made my presence more known but by the time I realized they weren't going to move they were only two arms lengths in front of me.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Sounds like a basic unsafe attempt to pass. You're responsible for cycling so that you don't drive into clearly-visible obstacles in front of you, generally. Had you hit them, you might well be fully liable for the injuries you caused.

When it became clear that the group in front of you were not in your way, the correct thing to do, from both a safety and a legal point of view, would have been to slow down, or to turn fully away from them and pass well to the side, if you could safely and legally leave the path to do so. Continuing at speed when they were still ahead of you until you got to a situation where you could no longer safely brake is 100% your decision, and will very likely be 100% your liability if that decision leads to injuries.

It _is_ possible that you could avoid some of that liability based on the fact that they were darting around in front of you, but the bottom line is still that you can move considerably faster than they can, and could clearly see them well before you would have collided with them.


Title: I live in an apartment complex and my neighbor harassed my family so badly that we had to call the cops several times over this weekend for fear of our safety. Rather than deal with all of this, the landlord stuck a letter on my door today saying both parties have 30 days to vacate. [CA]

Question:
The only thing we did wrong was to contact law enforcement. They told us the issue was serious, but it was more a landlord matter. So we waited until Monday and met with our landlord in his office right when he opened. We explained to him that we've got everything on video. We explained that over the last few months our neighbor has done the following:

* Leaves his dogs unleashed, unsupervised, and lets them roam the complex dumping their feces everywhere (they refuse to pick it up)

* I came within inches of being attacked by the neighbor's dogs on two separate occasions

* We were told not to have dogs as pets, but the neighbor got around this by lying that they're guide dogs (neighbor told me this when we were friendly many months ago)

* I witnessed a USPS mailman tell the neighbor that he absolutely must keep them leashed because he feared for his safety and even threatened to call animal control

* Instead of cleaning up after his dogs, he took our shared grassy common area and put up fencing so that now he could only have access (the landlord said he did NOT have permission)

* During that process, his dogs dug up a section of earth which left our pipes unprotected

* He put one of those large, swinging arch sprinklers in between our common area and it sprayed all over into our unit. It came within inches of my laptop. I had to ask him several times to have the common courtesy to not spray water into my unit.

* **I went to the bathroom to urinate and I noticed that the blinds were facing the wrong way. While adjusting them, I saw my neighbor about 1" from the glass staring inside my house. I almost had a heart attack. It scared the Christ out of me.**

* The landlord admitted to us on Monday that our neighbor his bipolar

* The morning after we contacted our landlord, my mother and I both noticed that our cars were keyed several times and it stretched from the front headlight all the way to the rear. I don't think it was a coincidence.

I would post videos, but I read the sidebar and it seems they aren't allowed.

The neighbor began closing off the shared common area just before this weekend. My family agreed we would do nothing until we spoke with the landlord because we didn't want to unnecessarily escalate things. That was the plan until something happened. My mom was dead asleep in her room. I was on my computer. I heard a loud engine sound right outside, but from the room where I was, I didn't think anything of it. That's when my mother started beating on my door hysterically. I asked her what's wrong and she said "look over there now". I looked and within one foot of our front window, our neighbor had a chainsaw and he was destroying our rose bushes. My mom said it scared her half to death because she was dead asleep, had the lights all on, with the blinds up and he could clearly see in. He did this to try and intimidate us. I've got this all on video. My mom was frantic and pleaded for me to call the cops so I contacted the non-emergency line. They sent the cops and they met with both parties. The cops said while what he is clearly doing is harassment, he is in a legal gray area and that we should contact them again if he continues. They stressed the importance of contacting the landlord.

So later that night our neighbor comes back. This time he is raging, loudly. He starts beating on the front door as loudly as he can (he's pretty big). I turned off the lights and started filming from inside my unit because I was so scared. He rings the doorbell many times while he is shouting at us. He then makes his way to our glass windows and starts beating on those. Then he moves his way to the back of our unit where we have a door with a glass window. He continues. Again, all of this is on film. So we contacted law enforcement again because they told us to if our neighbor came back (they told him to NOT mess with us anymore). They make us feel safer, but still offer nothing concrete. They even advised us to purchase home security stuff and pepper spray.

On Monday morning, my mother and I met with our landlord to explain everything. **He agreed with us, but refused to look at the video we recorded.** He said something like "keep that as it may be helpful if you ever end up taking him to court." He also said "we've had another tenant make the same complaint that you did. I'm going to speak with him." etc...etc...How can our landlord claim in his letter "I cannot say who is more at fault..." if he refuses to learn?

We thought our landlord would handle everything. We asked him before we left his office "can you please make sure to call us and let us know what is going on?" He said "I'll do everything I can." So we left his office understanding that he was clearly on our side and that he was going to handle this matter properly. I spent the rest of that day buying home security and self-protection stuff.

So today I look out my window and see my landlord walking by. I look through my peephole and see that he is posting a letter on our front door. I read it and he's giving my neighbor and my family 30 day notices to vacate. It reads "It is painful to serve you notice to vacate our premise. The events that occurred the past few days are not taken lightly by me nor the rest of our tenants. I cannot say who is more at fault but I can only do my duty to provide a quiet and safe environment for all tenants. This notice is being served to both you and the tenant in Apt. B"

My take from this is: he's upset that we were afraid for our lives and "caused a scene" by contacting law enforcement. So instead of properly handling the situation, he's taking it out on everyone involved.

Should I contact a lawyer? Is this something we can take to court?

My landlord never contacted us through all of this except to deliver this letter. He's very hands-off. I've lived here for a year and a half and only saw him come to this property once. No supervisors or other employees either. Only landscapers. We are living pretty much paycheck to paycheck due to student loans and we don’t even know if we can scrape enough to put down another deposit and rent at a new location. I don’t know what will happen to our security deposit either. I live in California.

edit: grammar
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Why did you call non emergency? A man threatening you with a chainsaw is more than enough to warrant calling 911.


Title: In law school, sibling about to go to jail asking for advice [CA]

Question:
This has a lot of background issues that will be better suited for r/relationships and I’m using a throwaway for obvious reasons.

Basically, I have been working at a law firm for 2 years now, and they have recommended I go to law school. I’ll be starting this fall, but in the meantime, my sister has gotten into significant legal trouble, and has been calling me asking for advice.

The firm I work at does not handle criminal cases, so even if I wanted to provide advice I wouldn’t be able to. What I’m really concerned about here are possible threats to a future career in law. I don’t want anything I might say to be construed as giving legal advice if it could in any way attach to my company. I haven’t told anyone I work with about my sister’s issues, and I don’t plan on any of them finding out.

My sister is, frankly, extremely manipulative. It’s part of the reason why she’s looking at multiple years in jail. I’m concerned if I don’t make things extraordinarily clear in this situation that it’ll be taken advantage of.

Is there any way I can communicate with my sister about her case without it coming across as me giving legal advice and misrepresenting myself or my firm? I’m close to considering just saying I can’t talk with her at all until she’s out of prison, but I’d like to know what sort of alternatives there are here.

Thanks in advance to you all.

Answer:
 The only responsible thing you can do is to help her get legal counsel.

She should absolutely not talk to you about her case.  Not for your self-serving reasons, but because you enjoy no privilege and can be forced to testify about anything she says to you.

Also, as a not-even-law-student yet, with no criminal experience whatsoever, you cannot give her any helpful advice.


Title: Bf/Fiance left me and tried kicking me out/changing the licks in less than 30 days. What is there to protect me ?

Question:
So I moved in with my partner in early January of this year. I furnished the entire 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house for him. He had added me to his health care and we had made a change of address form ect the previous October so I could become his dependent as I was a college student turning 26 and needed healthcare. I recently graduated and got a full time job mid September. He ended things out of the blue on Oct 1st. Asked me verbally and in text to be out in 2 weeks.  I know that in CA I am supposed to have 30 days. I am under the impression that my 30 days starts when I get a formal eviction note. It's has been 27 days since the break up, he has escalated in emotional and Physical behavior , he has changed the locks so I may not retrieve the last bits of furniture ect, unless he's decided to be available. He has accused me of stealing 1-3 items which were packed by friends and I have no intention of keeping and will return.  My biggest fear is not retrieving my left over possessions, and to see what rights I have incase he gets rid of them. Things that were left are very heavy expensive furniture that wasn't able to be grabbed in the first 2 rounds of moving .

Is it legal that he has changed the locks? Or not given me a formal written notice to vacate ?

Answer:
 > Is it legal that he has changed the locks? Or not given me a formal written notice to vacate ?

Nope. That's self-help eviction and it's illegal. Call the cops.Answer #2: If the locks were changed, that is a constructive eviction.  You can call the police and they may assist you.  Your other remedy is to sue for illegal eviction.

If physically assaulted, call the police.

There may be women's shelters in Cali available for you.  Try to stay with friends/family if you can.

Additionally, call the police and see if they will help you retrieve your items.

If any items are removed or disposed of, you can sue for the fair market value of said items.


Title: Fed-Ex driver waved me into oncoming traffic.

Question:
**The Story:**

So I was driving home from work today.  I came to a Stop sign. The road I was on had a stop sign the road I was trying to cross did not. I did not have a blinker on. To my right is a large fence that you cant see past. A Fed-Ex driver came up the road (from my left) that did not have to stop and stopped at my street. She stopped and waved me into the road. I inched out and didn't see anyone coming. Looked back at her and she waved quicker to get me to go. I went quicker and hit a man in the driver side door who was coming down that road the opposite way of the FedEx driver. We both went into the nearest parking lot and exchanged information. The Fed ex drive simply drove away.

**Facts**

We both have insurance. I provided to the other driver and the police.

The was no noticeable damage to my care but his door was severely dented and more than likely needs to be replaced as it would not close.

We live in an at fault state (TN).

I know who the fed ex driver was. They deliver to my office building on occasion.

I have pictures of my car, their car and the intersection.

We both reported this to the insurance company immediately after we called the police.

**Questions:**

A person I know, who was a driver for Fed-Ex said to call 1800 GO FEDEX and complain. Could this have any negative affects on anything in the future if I did?

I came from a no fault state recently. Does this sound like I will be entirely responsible for the accident?

Is there any other advice you would like to give or any more info you would like me to provide or make clearer?

I appreciate all your advice!

**EDIT:** I do realize this is my fault. I couldn't see to my right and should not have listened to the driver waving me on. I only ask about the calling and complaining because my friend, who worked for them, recommended it and was unsure why or if it would affect anything. Thanks for all the answers!

Answer:
 >Is there any other advice you would like to give or any more info you would like me to provide or make clearer?

That this isn't the FedEx driver's fault.


Title: [MD] Girlfriend's workplace is doing some shady things. Are they breaking any laws here? Or does this kind of thing differ form company to company?

Question:
I'm not going to say the name of the store, but it's a restaurant. And I work in a similar business (Starbucks, kinda close but meh).

My questions are:

In regards to hiring minors Starbucks can't schedule any minor over a 4 hour shift, and no minor can work past 9:00 PM. I've been told that's the law by my SM.

When I go over there, however, I see minors working 8 hour shifts and getting off at 1 AM. Is that something they can do?

There was also an incident (last night) where a manager *forced* a minor to stay past her shift (which ended at 10 PM to begin with) because she didn't stock enough in the shift manager's eyes. Number one, she's a minor. Number two, I'm a shift manager, too. Does that mean I can kidnap people and hold them hostage an hour after they're shift to stock assorted candies as well? The girl was breaking down crying in the back because she couldn't leave or else she thought she'd get canned.

And also in regards to breaks, it's my understanding that any shift <5 1/2 hours you'd get 1 15 minute break. If you work 6-7 hours you'd get 1 15 minute and 1 30 minute break. And anything over 8 but less than 12, you'd get 2 15 minute breaks and 1 30 minute break. At least that's how Starbucks handles it.

Now at her place, they didn't start running half hour breaks until last month. Nobody ever gets a 15, and 99.9% of the time the workers are asked to work off the clock on their break.

Is this seriously legal? If not, what can I do about it? Call the DM?

Thanks in advance for any help!
Topic:
Business Law

Answer:
 > Does that mean I can kidnap people and hold them hostage an hour after they're shift to stock assorted candies as well?

It's not kidnapping.  She's free to leave - she may lose her job for it, but no one's forcing her to do anything.

Maryland law requires a [30-minute break after five hours work](http://www.dllr.state.md.us/labor/wagepay/wpbreaks.shtml) for minors only.  Minors have restricted shift lengths [when school is in session](http://www.dllr.state.md.us/labor/wages/empm.shtml).

You can call the state or call the higher-ups at the store.  Without standing(which you don't have) you can't take any other action.


Title: Neighbors behind my property have chickens that are attracting literally hundreds of pigeons that are destroying my property.

Question:
The homeowners behind my property (las Vegas) have a makeshift chicken “coop”. I use the term “coop” loosely as it appears to be an area contained by chicken wire and some kind of tarp tented overtop. For years I have been growing increasingly frustrated by the over abundance of pigeons hanging out on my roof, shitting on my pool deck and perching around the pool to drink.

I have realized that the mass pigeon population is being supported by whatever is happening in that back yard. I spend a lot of time in my back yard and at least 2-3 times a day the pigeons make a mass exit of the property and disperse themselves onto the trees and roofs of neighboring properties, mine being a favorite to them because they enjoy drinking from my pool. When I say they make a mass exit I am not exaggerating that there are at the very least 100 pigeons regularly flocking from their yard numerous times a day.

I have spent a good chunk of money on things that are supposed to deter the pigeons with minimal effect. I was going to hire a pigeon removal company (very pricey) but I realize it won’t do much good if the neighbors keep enabling their roosting with their poorly maintained chicken area attracting the birds for an easy, regular meal of chicken feed.

I looked up county codes and found codes regarding the specifications required for having chickens (I’m almost certain they are not complying to the specifications for coops)
There also is a code stating that you cannot enable or encourage pigeon roosting (specifically you cannot leave out bird food, amongst other things). They are also most certainly not compliant to the code about keeping your property free of junk/debris/trash.

I have reached out to code enforcement regarding the issue and expect to hear back soon. In Clark county they often bring complaints to mediation between the property owners which I am more than happy to go to as the pigeons have become the bane of my existence, even though I am uncomfortable with them knowing it was me as I don’t want to be retaliated against.

I need advice on what the next steps to take are. Assuming we go to mediation I see no solution other than for them to make the feed inaccessible to the pigeons and hire a pigeon removal expert for their property and ideally mine too.

I’m also looking for advice to see if there is another avenue I can look into.

As I was typing this animal control called and said the birds in the picture I sent of their yard are morning doves and they can’t do anything about that. I explained that the pigeons are also coming and eating the feed for the other birds. She said she would send a cease and desist to them about feeding the birds. She also mentioned there is illegal structures and junk on the property and that she has forwarded the complaint to the county code enforcement team and they would go to the property and address the structural and junk violations. I’m hoping this helps! I’m losing my mind.

So again if anyone else has any suggestions on what I can do to get these pigeons (and morning doves) to stop shit bombing my property regularly PLEASE let me know. I’m truly at my wits end here!
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Mourning doves (not "morning," fwiw) don't really look that much like pigeons, although they're called Carolina Pigeons in some regions. They're stupid, stupid birds. I am forever finding wounded and dead ones on my patio from them trying to fly into the glass windows of my house. They also dive bomb pool toys and drown, even though they're not supposed to be fisher birds. Mostly, they leave so much poop everywhere.

They're also often friends with asshole pigeons, and both are massive bird poop factories, especially if well-fed like these seem to be. The good news is they're almost certain to go away with the actual pigeons when you get the neighbor to stop leaving an abundance of food available to both species.

You are handling it the appropriate and only real way to do so: reporting the neighbor for the code violation of leaving feed out. If there is a dispute and the pigeons (not mourning doves) are the cause, mediation is a common solution. Since the neighbor is in violation, the mediator will require they knock it off with the loose feed, and only if they disregard that directive would you potentially have civil relief for having to clean up so much bird poop.

Keep reporting and keep taking photos of the chicken feed outside of coops. Do try to photograph the actual pigeons rather than the doves so the municipality can see the neighbor is causing conditions that pigeons are likely to be/start nesting nearby. Every 10 days or so is usually a good timeframe to send a report over with updated photos and factual statements. Continue until the city takes action.

Seriously I like mourning doves, but they're still messy little pricks.

Good luck. I absolutely sympathize with you here.


Title: City posted notice of condemnation on the front door of business without an inspection

Question:
So i get a phone call today from a friend who said there were red papers all over the front of my business. I go over there and its a notice of condemnation. Im like uhh wtf?

I go down to code at city hall and the guy there tells me he didnt put up the notice but its fire related and hands me the notice of condemnation where it says my fire protection system didn't pass inspection and is inadequate. He tells me the guy that put up the notice, his boss, went home for the weekend conveniently less than hour after putting up the notice.

OK. So you might be thinking, case closed, right? Wrong. Because there was no inspection. None.

I tell him that there was no inspection and he tells me that there had to be and i tell him there wasn't. He gives me the fire chiefs number and tells me to contact him.

I reach out to him and surprisingly he calls me right back on a friday afternoon at 5PM. I ask him whats going on with this notice and when i failed a fire inspection. He tells me that he never inspected the building and that he doesnt know anything about my fire protection system. He tells me there must be some miscommunication and he needs to call the city and call me back.

So he calls me back 15 minutes later and tells me that the city said your health license expired last month and that i didnt renew it. I tell him first its the cities responsibility to contact me to renew my health license, not the business owners, and second, that thats not the issue at hand at all. The notice of condemnation was for the fire protection system and code is saying you said its inadequate. He denies telling code that. I tell him i just left city hall and thats what they told me and that im holding the notice of condemnation in my hand and it says fire code violation 108.1.1. I tell him i need him to take the illegal notice off my building. He says he cant do that because he doesnt have the authority and the person who has the authority went home for the weekend. I inform him that i own a night club and that we do all of our business on the weekend and if we miss out on 10 grand worth of sales because of this that i am going to sue the city. He tells me he will try and reach him.

Thats where it stands. So the city inspector hung a notice on my business condemning it for an inspection that never took place then tried to blame the health department when i started raising shit about it and the fire chief said he never inspected it. Not only that, the fire chief admitted to me on the phone that our last inspection went fine and that there was no reason to have an inspection right now since the property didnt change hands.

The city has a long history of doing shit like this too. Just this week they settled for $75,000 for condemning 2 rental properties without any cause at all.

Im thinking i sue the city next week for loss of business, damage to my business' brand, and punitive damage for violations under the 14th amendment. I already contacted my lawyer and he said its completely illegal.

I documented my entire day by the minute on who i spoke to when, what they said, who i spoke to on the phone at what times, and photos of the notices.

EDIT: Since someone said i didnt ask a question, does anyone have any other advice to share?

Location is PA.

Answer:
 >  I tell him first its the cities responsibility to contact me to renew my health license

What makes you think this? As the owner of several businesses, I can tell you I may occasionally get courtesy notices that tell me it is time to renew, but ultimately it's my responsibility to know when it's due and to handle it.

> ...and punitive damage for violations under the 14th amendment

LOL wot?


Title: Will I be fired?(WA)

Question: I work at a minimum wage job(food service) that gets busy on fridays. I called my employer, told them that I couldnt make it in today. I was fairly sick the day before at work, so theres no question that I'm ill in their eyes. I got phone numbers from 2 employees and they both said they couldnt cover for me, which i told the boss. When my shift was starting I received a call stating that I either needed a doctors note or I needed to come in so they could send me home. I had no knowledge of this beforehand, but this is the policy on Fridays only apparently. Can they fire me? I told them I wasn't coming in, and I'm not going to the doctors.

Answer: Yes, they can fire you. They don't need a reason.Answer #2: They can fire you for (nearly) any reason.


Title: Is there any legal reason why my 67 year old father can't live in an rv in my brother's drive way?

Question:
I am in Illinois. So my father is 67 and in terrible health. Diabetes, depression, anxiety, bad liver, hyperthyroidism, and bleeding in the stomach.

He lives with me and my husband and we take care of him. I have personally saved his life twice so I am not exaggerating his health. My brother has convinced him to get a loan for 10,000 dollars and buy an rv and live in his drive way.

I am terrified of this. I think it might actually kill him. I mean this last summer we got up to 100+ degrees a couple times and right now it's -4. I don't think the rv is meant for such extreme weather.

Please tell me that legally it isn't allowed in Illinois.

Answer:
 It depends on whether local law forbids the parking of an RV in a driveway.

RV's can handle temperature extremes fairly well if properly equipped and hooked up to power.


Title: Laundrymat caught fire while I was in it, several hundred dollars of clothes lost. Do I have any legal recourse?

Question:
Friend said I should post this here:

Went to the laundrymat yesterday while I was there one of the dryer units began smoking. The laundrymat attendant got out his booth and began yelling for everyone to get out. By the time the fire department arrived the smoke was thick and there were actual flames visible. I left three loads of laundry in the washing machine and I can only assume they're a total loss now. I obviously was not allowed back in once the fire was extinguished to check on them. I asked the attendant about compensation for my clothes but said the laundrymat attendant said they was not responsible for "abandoned" items. I pointed out that I did not abandon my clothes but was following his instructions to leave. He then repeated something about their policy about not being responsible for items left unattended.

I am not a rich man, which I guess that's obvious since I am using a laundrymat. I didn't loose a thousand dollar designer suit or a hundred dollar tie in the fire. A week's worth of jeans, shirts and bedding materials however is coming out to little over five hundred dollars. That's a little less than half my rent for the month, do I have any legal recourse here or should I cut my losses?

Answer:
 The laundromat's insurance should pay.  Their claim that it was abandoned is certainly not going to fly.

That said, you have less than even odds of having decent insurance coverage, if it's a *small* ~~privately run~~ laundromat.

So, write a letter laying out what you lost & what they owe you.  If they respond with "fuck off" or don't respond, you can sue them in small claims court.

* Edited to clarify. Answer #2: Yeah they can have any policy they want, that doesn't make it legal.

Sue them in small claims court. Answer #3: >I asked the attendant about compensation for my clothes but said the laundrymat attendant said they was not responsible for "abandoned" items...then repeated something about their policy about not being responsible for items left unattended.

Yeah, neither the attendant nor the laundromat's "company policy" can simply absolve themselves of liability for negligent maintenance of the dryer which caught on fire, or the collateral damage caused by that negligence — the loss or damage to your clothes.

When the laundromat deliberately separated you from your property by ordering you off the premises, it took custody of your property and created a bailment.

Your recourse is to file a claim with the laundromat's insurer. If they're uncooperative, sue.

That's a real hassle. Sorry it happened, man.Answer #4: You should be entitled to compensation, but probably less than you think.  You are entitled to put in the same position that you were in before the fire, meaning the value of your used clothes not new clothes.


Title: (WV) Mental health lock on prescription pickup

Question:
I (35f) went to pick up my prescriptions today. Was told I am unable to. That they would only release my prescriptions to my sister and brother in law who I haven’t seen in 8 year due to being low contact.

I asked why they said a mental health place I had went to called and issued that order. It was in their system and they had to go by what was on their system.

I asked them what mental health place they said they couldn’t tell the name but it wasn’t one in WV is all could tell me.

They did say I can call the one I see here and they should be able to take it off but I’m wondering how it got on there in the first place.

I haven’t been in the mental ward in over 5 years or self harmed in the same. I don’t understand the need for it.

If anyone has any clues on how to figure this out or if I posted this in the wrong place I’m sorry.

Answer: Call the physician that issued the scrip.  They should be able to figure it out.  Or to help you find a pharmacy that will fill it.


Title: Is it legal for my College to send texts to my Dad who I don't talk to anymore?

Question:
I'm a 19 year old man living in the UK. I stopped talking to my Dad a year ago due to reasons I'm not willing to discuss here, I will only say that I do not want contact with him at all and want nothing to do with him.

Since I started College they have been sending texts to my Dad telling him mundane stuff like I have to complete an assessment and coursework and stuff like that.

I have told them a total of four times now to remove that number off the system because I do not want them contacting him as I feel this invades my privacy.

The College contacting my Dad every few weeks causing a lot of problems at home between my Mum and Dad who no longer live with each other.

I never gave my College his number so I am completely baffled by how they even got it. I even watched someone in the office delete the number.

I'm just completely confused and angry. They're either going behind my back to get the number or they're ignoring me.

I want to take this further however I'm not sure if what they are doing is illegal.

Please help.

Answer: r/legaladviceuk


Title: [SC USA] How can a Notary Public refuse a Sovereign Citizen?

Question:
Let's say a Sovereign Citizen walks in and I ID him properly. I have a look at something and it reeks of Sovereign bullshit.

I am well aware that I can't give legal advice, but how do I go about refusing whatever he is trying to get notarized?

Answer: As a notary, all you're doing is verifying this person was the one who actually signed this document. It is not your job to evaluate the quality of the contents of the document. You're not liable for that.


Title: If you are within probation at a new job, even if you are great at your job, can you be fired because you “don’t fit in” Under the “at will” language?Nothing wrong was said or done, just not fitting in. - MI

Answer: Under "at will" employment, either you or your employer can end the relationship without notice or cause at any time. Unless you believe you were terminated for "not fitting in" as a blind for some legally-protected reason, such as your race or gender or in retaliation for a wage claim, your recourse is to file for unemployment and start looking for your next job.


Title: Other than probably widespread protests, could it ever be possible for a judge in case of sexual assault or rape to basically throw out the case on the grounds of "Did you see what she was wearing?" or "Well...she looked 18"?

Answer:
 Judges don't usually decide guilt or innocence- juries do that most of the time unless the defendant specifically requests a "bench trial" where the judge decides.

Typically, judges decide matters of law, and juries decide matters of fact.

But in either case, when a judge or jury returns a verdict of guilty or not guilty, they don't generally give a written statement of reasons as to why they decided how they did.

They just issue the verdict, and that's the end of it.

So, yes, a judge or jury could do that, but no one would ever know that's WHY they did it unless they chose to disclose it later on.


Title: A family member is charged with possession of cocaine even though her friend put it on her. What should she do?

Question:
A family member(FM) of mine was out on a night on the town when she was talking to a acquaintance about art work for a band that was hired her to find a background for the band. So she was sitting in his car talking and according to her she was sitting on the passenger side when a cop pulled up. Her acquaintance, who has multiple priors for cocaine, took her hand and placed a dime bag of cocaine in her hand, and before she noticed what he had done the cop was already at the window, so she panicked and put it in her purse. The cop pulls up and ask what they're doing, she says they're talking, and then the cop, who her lawyer says had probable cause, says step out of the vehicle and searches her. Not the guy with the priors and the owner of the car, her. So he calls in a female cop and she searches my family member. The cop finds the cocaine and FM is arrested, according to her she was also not read her rights or given a drug test. And since she couldn't make bail she spent a day in jail and was sent to the pre trial division twice a week. She has no previous criminal record and has multiple people who can vouch for her that she world never do cocaine or even be able to afford it. FMs lawer says the even if it wasn't hers she can be tried with possession but not cocaine use. So according to her lawer she has three options, go to trial and if she's found guilty do up to 5 years in prison, go to drug court and after a year the charges will be dropped and it will be off her record, or she can do probation which is just drug court but it stays on her record. She really needs help she has tons of other shit to worry about and  this can't be one of them.
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer: Well she was in possession of the cocaine. She already has a lawyer so she should probably just listen to him. If this is a first offense she wont get jail time.


Title: (CA) Prior landlord is billing me for damages in excess of deposit

Question:
My wife passed away on May 4th. Due to the fact that she died in the home and there was no one to care for our children on my return to work, I moved out as quickly as I could manage given the circumstances. My wife was disabled and fell frequently, and several items in the home were damaged due to her catching herself on items not meant to hold her weight. Others were damaged due to having, at one point, 3 cats and a dog and a destructive toddler. Normally I would have made sure the home was clean and in as good of shape as possible before moving out, but given the circumstances I didn't have it in me to do much more than get our stuff out. As such, I wasn't expecting much of the deposit back, and was okay with that. On Sunday, I received an email from the prior landlord claiming costs of over $6000 (our deposit was $2650). He offered to take $2800 in lieu of the difference if I pay within three days, otherwise he states he will go to small claims court. I'm trying to figure out the best way to approach this, as some of the items he itemized seem sketchy and as far as I understand he didn't follow California law in how he handled the deposit or the email.

My last day at the property was on June 20th. We had already moved out at that point, but I met with him that day to turn over the keys and pay the pro-rated amount for June, so I would consider that the last day of possession. He sent me an email on July 12th with the itemized list of charges.

We lived there for a little over three years. Some of the itemized items I have no argument with. The carpets were trashed due to a senile dog and spills that didn't get cleaned up in a timely fashion. The porcelain sink in one bathroom was cracked by our son and needed to be replaced. The yards and interior were in need of serious cleaning. A couple shelves in the fridge and a couple drawers in the master batch had broken and would need to be replaced. Had the charges ended there and eaten up the deposit I would have had no argument.

So, to the questionable items. My understanding of what can be charged is mostly informed by the CA tenants rights handbook.

1) $1410 to repaint the interior. The home was freshly painted when we moved in. There were crayon marks and other stains, so that he felt the need to repaint does not surprise me. Reading through the CA tenant handbook it seems to imply that after 2-3 years a tenant can't be charged for repainting, as it would simply be wear and tear. Is that correct? Even if one assumes a longer life for the paint, he did not prorate.

2) He charges $2250 for the new carpet and an additional $250 to haul away the old carpet. He prorated the new carpet charge assuming a 12 year life for the carpet. 12 years seems a bit long to me, but I don't know what the standard is, or even if there is a standard. The haul-away charge also seems fishy to me, but I've never replaced a carpet.

3) He charges $427 in lost rent due to the time it took to do all the repairs. This is a weeks worth of pro-rated rent. Is this actually a legitimate charge?

4) He charged $450 for his own time in dealing with the property. $45/hr and 10 hours. He states this is time above and beyond what he would typically spend after a unit becomes vacant. He doesn't seem to be referencing labor, as he charged separate fees for cleaning the interior and exterior. This seems to be time spent hiring contractors or other parties to work on the property. Can he do this? Even if he can the hourly rate seems ridiculous to me.

5) He charged $450 for two sets of cleanings. One an initial cleaning at $200 and a final cleaning at $250. He states everything was still filthy after the initial cleaning. This seems excessive, particularly since this is supposedly after repainting and new carpets.

There are some other things I could nitpick, but on the whole I don't disagree with them, just with the amount within $50 or the tone. For instance he asserts some of the items were deliberately damaged, like the refrigerator shelves and some dents on the air conditioner intake. The fridge shelves cracked under normal use because their cheap plastic, and the air conditioner was dented because my toddler son likes to hit things with sticks. He also asserts that items that were damaged were "destroyed". For instance, the bathroom cabinet (which had an attached sink) had a couple drawers where the plywood had broken apart and those drawers were no longer usable. He said the sink was destroyed.

IIRC, I have the right to have the deposit returned or to receive an itemized bill by mail or in person within 21 days. If it's a bill, it is supposed to include invoices and receipts for all claimed damages. By my count he sent the email on the 22nd day, and it was a just text with no attached invoices or receipts, so he didn't meet the law either in time or substance. He also does not appear to have placed our deposit in an interest-bearing account, which I think is required under CA law. Our last landlord did that and we actually got more than our deposit back, even after a couple minor deductions.

So, those are the highlights. Please, if anyone has experience in CA tenant law please advise me on the best way to contest this. Should I take his offer (which I really can't seeing as I just returned to work and haven't received the life insurance payment yet)? Should I contest this in small claims and bring up his deficiencies in complying with his obligations? Should I respond to his email contesting the items I disagree with? Any guidance would be appreciated. I'm so angry about this on top of everything else that's happened that I can't really think straight and am at a loss as to how to proceed.

Thanks in advance.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 My sympathies for the loss of your wife aside, you sound like an absolute nightmare of a tenant.Answer #2: I would take his $2800 offer.  It sounds fair given your description of the damages.  Your rationalizations for why damages occurred are completely irrelevant -- what's at stake is his ability to re-let the place.Answer #3: You might be able to fight back on a technicality but none of the charges seem too crazy and it seems like you sort of knew you had damaged the place.Answer #4: I'll let an actual lawyer specializing in landlord-tenant law answer but to me, as a law student working in an office that deals with mostly property law, all charges look legitimate to me.

Definitely request an itemized invoice and copies of receipts for work performed, but I doubt the fact that he was maybe a day late or didn't provide those before you requested them would give you the right to not be responsible for any portion of the damages.Answer #5: You can try negotiating a bit on some of the prices for repairs, but it sounds like the landlord is being relatively reasonable considering the amount of damage to the unit. I agree that some of the estimates seem a bit high, but nothing seems outrageous.

You could try using the 21 day rule, but I kinda doubt that a judge is going to let you off the hook because the landlord was 1 day late. Even if it did work, it would be a dick move considering the amount of damage to the unit.


Title: [US-MA] Rebooting electrical breaker damaged my computer, but we had to do it. Where do I stand in terms of collecting damages from landlord?

Question:
On Monday I had to kill the breakers to my entire apartment because my roommate's heater (which was off) started sputtering and making quite loud electrical shorting noises. The breaker was not labeled so we had to kill the whole apartment. When I turned it back on, my computer was broken. My external hard drive no longer functions properly (its pretty much toasted, intermittent functionality is being kind to it), and I had to reformat my computer in order to even get it to boot (which implies that the SSD must have been affected). Once it did it is not performing as well as it used to and is perpetually overheating; I suspect the power supply has been grievously injured and I will be testing its voltages later this afternoon.

What I am wondering is if my landlord is liable for any of the damages to my equipment. The hard drive is ~$100 to replace, and assuming a best case scenario where I only need to replace my motherboard (and therefore operating system -- thanks microsoft) and power supply (100-150 and 100 respectively), its $300-$350 worth of damage. Worst case scenario I have to replace pretty much whole thing, which would run me something like ~$1000-$1400 depending on if the graphics card can be salvaged.

I have a standard Boston lease, which doesn't say anything about something like this. I sent my landlord an email about this immediately after it happened so he has been aware the whole time. Also, the electrician who came today said that the socket that the surge protector is plugged into is registering half voltage to ground (60 instead of 120, which is what it should be registering).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer: You should file a claim with your renter's insurance. They'll take good care of you, this is why you have it.Answer #2: Not a chance. You should not have had the computer plugged in when closing the breaker. It was an inrush current that damaged the goods, common and standard when closing a breaker onto a load. This is only your fault.


Title: Crashed my car, who's gonna be at fault

Question:
Alright so I just crashed my car, and I wanna know who they're gonna find at fault, tactics to make it seem more like their fault, and how much my insurance will raise.  I was coming off the freeway at around 45 and declining, and this girl was in the far right lane on the access road.  She didn't yield at the yield sign, but I crossed a double white line trying to turn right into a fast food joint.   Who's fault? 50/50 since we both didn't follow traffic laws?  Also, any tactics to say to the insurance companies to make it sounds more like her fault?  This is my 2nd wreck in the last year, how much more will my insurance go up? Will they drop me? Texas
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer:
 >I wanna know who they're gonna find at fault, tactics to make it seem more like their fault

>any tactics to say to the insurance companies to make it sounds more like her fault?

You sound like a lovely person.  You were exiting a highway onto an access road.  Absent any idea of what the intersection looks like, you'll most likely be more at fault than the other driver.


Title: Hypothetical question: If you are speeding in New York and you hop the boarder into Connecticut can you still get pulled over and ticketed by the NY cop?

Answer: Yes. Happens all the time across city, county, and state borders. Law enforcement agencies have communication protocols and procedures in place to handle these scenarios and will contact the agency with jurisdiction for assistance.


Title: [Medical Malpractice](Virginia) First doctor doesn't follow procedure and makes a misdiagnosis, treatment worsens injury

Question:
02/12/2015 I fall in the shower. I land on my butt. There is significant pain near my coccyx. Over the next couple of days my pain increases, and Saturday night I visit Urgent Care at 10:20 PM.

Side note: I am away at school Monday-Thursday at VCU, and typically commute home on weekends. I am home this weekend and so I visit the urgent care center for my (read my father's) insurance provider, Kaiser Permanente.

I tell urgent care doc, the doctor in question, I fell and where the pain is. I try to remove my pants to show him the injury and he stops me. He presses against my lower back and down to the top of my butt through my clothes and asks if it hurts. He tells me I broke my coccyx, but is insistent on not getting an x-ray because "it won't change treatment" and the radiation exposure is unecessary.

Side note: I am a 24 year old, athletic male. I work out 4-5 days a week powerlifting and Olympic lifting and am quite visibly muscular. I am 5' 6" around 155 lbs. Not a high risk, fall-injury demographic.

Urgent care doc also insists he gives me an anti inflammatory, Toradol shot because I came in complaining of pain and inflammation would be exacerbating the pain if it is broken. I tell him I do not like shots but he is persistent and gets the nurse to give me the shot.

Here is the kicker. I didn't break my coccyx. I have pilonidal cyst which had become inflamed when I fell on it. The Toradol shot was injected directly onto an abcess and by Monday, 02/16/2015, the infection had become so large there is a visible, golf ball sized pustule on my buttcheek. The pain is becoming unbearable, inescapable. I can't sit or lay down, and kneeling and standing are both painful and exhausting. There is so much pressure from the inflammation in my butt that now the front of my hips are tight. I can't lift my knees high enough to walk up the stairs.

Naturally, being machismo, I suffer through this until Wednesday morning. Having not slept all Tuesday night, I drive myself to the VCU medical center. I check into the ER.

At this point it has crossed my mind that the pus blister was the result of an infection and not a broken bone, but for some reason I am still convinced it's broken and that's it's just complicated somehow. I tell the nurses at the desk I have coccyx pain, resulting from a fall. They check me in under the same "broken coccyx" as before.

VCU ER doc comes in with a resident. I tell him the same story of the fall, pain increasing and the first diagnosis. He asks to see the injury. I pull my pants down and in less than five seconds he says "that's not broken... It looks like a pilonidal cyst." He tells me he's getting me a surgery consultation.

A few hours pass and the head trauma surgical resident shows up. She asks how I went from a broken coccyx to pilonidal cyst. I say I don't know, I'm not the doctor. She says she needs to give me a rectal exam. Puts her fingers in my butt and in less than five seconds says "your coccyx is definitely not broken or dislocated" and the pilonidal abscess (because the cyst is now infected) "looks like it's about to burst".

So Wednesday night I had the abscess drained but now I have to wait weeks for it to heal and then have another surgical consult about the cyst.

I guess my questions are: is what the first ER doc did negligent? He didn't give me an x ray or rectal exam before completing his diagnosis. Can it be definitively said that the Toradol shot he gave me at the cite of the abscess exacerbated the infection and the amount of pain I was in?

Some perspective for just how painful this infection was/is. I have had a lot of experience with pain: compound fractures, herniated disc, torn hip labrum, metal splinters trapped in my foot for literally months (and I ran 5 miles with them in my foot), wisdom teeth removed, acl and pcl strains, tendonitis, shins splits, etc.. And this is by FAR the worst, most debilitating pain I have ever experienced.

Answer:
 >The Toradol shot was injected directly onto an abcess

I just wanted to point out that a pilonidal cyst is almost always just above the coccyx, while toradol is an intramuscular injection.  IM injections go in the right upper quadrant of your cheek, so the injection wouldn't have gone 'into' the abscess.  Honestly, it was probably a combination of time and the fall that caused it to abscess when/as it did.  Likely the anti-inflammatory properties of the toradol helped a bit.

I do understand what you mean about the pain, though.  Those suck.  But it doesn't appear to be anything negligent, IMO.


Title: What could I do if my doctor released me from surgery and did not ensure all my needed prescription was ordered?

Question:
My mom recently gotten knee surgery and was released on Thursday. Her doctor was suppose to give her a prescription for some type of pain medication but he never called it in or written a prescription for her to get filled. I realized this when I went to see her Friday afternoon. I called the pharmacy and their response was it had to be written because it is policy. I called the doctor’s office and they called me back with “she would have to come in and let her doctor see her before he can write her one”

I explained to them that she was released Thursday and her needed medication was not all called in for. They still responded with having to physically bring her in again to be seen but shouldn’t it be on record she had just been released only 24 hours ago?

She has been trying to subdue her pain with ibuprofen but it is not helping and I don’t know what else to do. I feel her doctor was careless with her release and medication orders but I can’t get a hold of the office or anyone who can help till maybe Monday. I thought about taking her to the emergency room but that’s more money we can’t afford especially after the surgery.

Could I make a case for her doctor being careless?

Answer:
 > prescription for some type of pain medication... but shouldn’t it be on record she had just been released only 24 hours ago

Most likely, she was prescribed a Schedule II drug (Oxycodone, hydrocodone, HCPs, etc). The prescription must be handed to her, after a meeting with the prescribing provider. The doctor [is not legally allowed](https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/faq/prescriptions.htm) to fax it, call it in, or otherwise transfer it electronically in this case.

You can file a complaint about the issue to the appropriate accrediting body, but that's about it. It does not sound like your mother has enough in the way of legal damages to make a legal case worthwhile


Title: Cockroach Infested Apartment [US - SD]

Question:
I've been homeless since the end of February and desperately looking for an apartment to rent. I heard about this guy who is sort of a slumlord but he has a lot of properties in town so he might have something open. I call him and he tells me that he can rent out this one apartment on the 15th of March because this family in it wants to move out. We would take over the second half of the month and pay them half rent for it.

We go look at it and the family is still living in it and they welcomed us to look around. It was a decent size and the rent was cheap. The family didn't speak a lot of English so we didn't really talk to them. We left the apartment to discuss it.

My bf and I wanted a short lease so that we could move out of the city soon (we can't move right now on such short notice because both of our work places are severely understaffed), we were hoping for less than a year. As we were discussing it, the landlord offered a nine month lease if we signed the lease then and there. At this point, we had about 2 or 3 other apartments fall through so we were feeling desperate and signed the lease (yes, I know, I shouldn't have, hang on for a second).

The day before the move-in date, I called him and asked what time we would be able to move in. He said that his guys were actually done cleaning everything so we could start moving in that night. But. He said that he found a couple cockroaches behind the fridge. His guys were treating it but he wanted to be upfront with us about it. Me and my bf went to look at the apartment that night and we open the door and it's just.. Cockroaches everywhere. Not a couple behind the fridge, more like 15 in the kitchen, 20 in the bathroom, I didn't even look in the bedrooms because I wanted to get the fuck out of there.

I called him the next morning and told him that wasn't a couple of cockroaches, that's an infestation. He said that he didn't know about it because the previous tenant didn't tell him and he didn't know it was so bad because his guys were there in the daytime and we went at night. I told him I didn't care and that I wanted to break my lease.

He said that he can't break the lease and that, legally, I have to give him time to deal with the problem. I asked him what he's going to do about it and he said that his guys will leave out traps and treat the cupboards/baseboards. I told him that he needs to fumigate the whole building if he's going to get rid of them and that they'll just keep moving apartment to apartment if he just treats the one. He said that he's been in this business for 20 years and he knows what he's doing.

I told him I'm not paying for the half month and that I'd give him until the end of March to fix it. He said that he would have it done in a week and I could pay a quarter of the rent. I called the housing authority and a health/building code inspector and they both told me the same thing, I have to give him time to fix it before I can do anything legal to break the lease.

So I have to wait a week for him to improperly get rid of these roaches. I know they're just going to go into someone else's apartment and then come back after awhile and that would be when I could deal with this problem legally (after they're in all my belongings and i have to toss my brand freaking new couches I got with my tax return). But i don't want to wait for that to happen. I don't even want to try to live there because I'll always be scared of them showing back up because he's not treating/fumigating the whole building. Is there anything I can do to get out of my lease before then? Or a way to prove the roaches are still there after he 'treats them' without me having to live there?

Tl;dr: is there any way to get out of a lease I signed before knowing that the apartment had a cockroach infestation?

Answer:
 Your landlord is fully complying with the law regarding treating pest infestations in rental housing. They are treating the problem, have abated part of your rent, and clearly know that they must continue to treat until all cockroaches are eradicated.

You know this because both the housing authority and building code enforcement have already told you this.

You are not entitled to walk out on that lease yet, and are obligated to allow your landlord to take care of the issue.


Title: AZ-Apartment maintenance came into our apartment without notice and let our dog out

Question: A few days ago, on 1/25, maintenance at our apartment complex came into our apartment to change the filters in the a/c and let our dog out. They usually leave a note a few days in advance, but there was nothing this time. We still haven't found her. What are our options in this situation? Any advice is appreciated

Answer: If they are truly the cause for the dog getting out, you can sue them for the purchase price of the dog, but not much else.


Title: Is there anything to stop police investigators from omitting critical information for serious crime investigations when it comes to the case being presented to a prosecutor?

Question:
I’m speaking in terms of serious investigations where a detective has to present enough evidence for a prosecutor to consider the case.

If so, how can the defense in court advocate for this?

Please only answer if you actually know what you’re talking about. Frankly, if you never worked in police work or were/are a lawyer, I don’t care to hear what you have to say.

Answer:
 Your question isn’t entirely clear to me.

“Critical information,” can be inculpatory: it can tend to show that the accused is guilty. As a general rule, there is little motive for investigators to withhold any such information, since they presumably share a common goal with the prosecution team to convict the accused.

“Critical information,” can also be exculpatory— that is, it may tend to show that the accused did not commit the charged offense, or in some other way weaken the prosecution theory of the case.

Obviously there is a motive for police to withhold such material. But the Supreme Court has ruled that the defense in a criminal trial has a due process right to have such material disclosed. The case was Brady v Maryland, in 1963, and such exculpatory evidence is often called Brady material. A convicted defendant may win a new trial if he can show that his defense was hampered by the failure of the prosecution to disclose Brady material.

So — what are you asking?