Title: Uncle found out about large amount of insurance money - might be looking for a hand out

Question: Recently found out there is a large amount of unclaimed insurance benefits from my deceased mothers insurance policy at the state controllers office. An "investigator" company sent some paperwork about it to my uncle, my fathers brother. My father is still alive so he is the legal heir of the benefits. The company sent my uncle the paperwork thinking he was my mothers husband. I have spoken to my uncle and we got it all sorted out. He wants to come over tomorrow and talk to my father and I have a weird feeling he might be looking for a handout. My father is retired and has gone through his savings and is living off his pension and his social security check to check. Him and I rent an apartment and times are pretty rough. My father lets me handle the little money he has and is letting me handle this whole thing as well. With some savings I have plus this insurance money, I'm thinking about getting us a house. I think every penny will help and I'm not sure of what to do if my uncle is looking for a handout.

Answer: How about don't give it to him.


Title: Landlord withholding $6k security deposit because of septic issues he claims are our fault.

Question:
I live in Washington State. Rented a property from a landlord and signed a 2-year lease.

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Approximately 6 months into renting, the septic system (built in 1966) started to fail, and shit was literally flowing into the backyard. He paid to have it pumped, and got it inspected. They determined the leach field had reached the end of its life, and that he needed a new system. He hired a company install a new system, and for the next YEAR, we had no backyard, and for a duration of that period, we had an open sewer trench, (with our waste draining directly into the yard) while we awaited county inspection.

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He agreed to give us a month's rent as compensation for our troubles, and told me let him know if I ever felt it was inadequate, and we could work something out.

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Immediately after the septic system was finalized and commissioned, we alerted him that we were getting pungent sewer odors around the property, and inside the house. The septic company kept telling us that we needed to give it a few weeks for bacteria to build up, and that the odor would go away. However, it never did.

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Fast forward 4 months to us being at our wits-end, and me telling him (politely!)  that I believed we were due an additional 10% reduction in rent until the issue was resolved. This pissed him off, and he said that not only was he rescinding the one month rent refund, but that he believed we were "lying about the odor" in order to get money out of him.

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At this point I engaged a lawyer, and long story short, the landlord ended up tried (unsuccessfully) to evict us on Christmas Eve. As you can imagine, ruined my kid's Christmas, and seriously pissed off my lawyer.  My lawyer responded forcefully, and the landlord very quickly rolled over, apologized, and agreed to honor his initial 1 month compensation offer.

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**He then admitted to me that he hadn't paid the septic company, and they had put a lien on his property. He claimed that they could force a foreclosure on his home, and he needed us to vacate so that he could sell the property.** I asked him what that had to do with trying to evict us, and he said "If they come after me, I have no choice but to come after you." I told him we didn't want to live on the property, and that we were actively looking to purchase or rent a new home in order to get out of the situation.

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While we searched for a new home, the septic company continued to come do site inspections, and claim that they "couldn't smell anything", even though they installed something I've come to learn is known as a "stink pipe" on the system, venting it directly into the neighbor's yard.

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On May 31 (the end of our lease), we moved out of the property after buying a home. **We have a signed copy of the walk-through inspection showing there were no issues.**

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Fast forward to today, 28 days after we have moved out, and the landlord has still not returned our $6000 deposit. I reached out to him several times (cordially) over the past few weeks to provide our mailing address, and to see when we should expect it to be returned, and today he finally responded saying (paraphrased):

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"The septic company had a lab analyze the contents of the septic system, and determined that the odor was caused by *'potent organic waste'* in the system by a factor of two. Therefore the issue was caused by you and your family. Since they have charged me an additional $5800 for repeated inspections and the sampling, I am withholding this amount from your deposit."

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He then forwarded me test results from a third party that the septic company had hired, which shows a value of "400 BOD" which they are claiming is evidence of an overloaded system, and not a flaw in the design.

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It's at this point I should tell you that we are a family of four. (Two of which are children ages 12 and 6.) I also happen to travel extensively. The very idea that we could produce TWICE the amount of waste as a family of four is absolutely absurd on its face. We both grew up with septic systems, and never put anything in the toilet other than toilet paper.

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My lawyer is currently on vacation, so I'm trying to reason through my options. Is something I can fight? How can I defend myself against samples secretly taken months ago, with no ability to have my own tests run?  Our alleged "high BOD" waste wasn't an issue for the first septic system, so why did it only become a problem during the second? Why is this asshole's debt with the septic company \*my\* problem? Ugh.

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Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Would I stand a chance in small claims? I've been nothing but kind and empathetic through the duration of this ordeal, but now my compassion and goodwill has been completely exhausted.

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Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Consult a lawyer. There is no reason you cannot wait until your lawyer is back from vacation. You could send a message to your landlord stating that they have ___ days to return the deposit, otherwise you will be consulting a lawyer. Then wait until your lawyer is back from vacation to continue the process with them.


Title: Can killing babies be legal?

Question:
So i'm not sure about this one;

Question 1: if you murder a pregnant woman, does it count as a double murder because you kill the foetus too?

Here is were it gets fucked up, please don't think I'm a psychopath. I am just genuinely interested in how this would work...

Question 2: If you cut open a pregnant woman's belly, and kill the baby and said woman. Would it then count as a double murder since the baby was technically alive...?

I know it's weird but i am interested in these sort of legal issues.

Answer: Pretend for a second that you're a person who considers women human beings: Is it legal to cause any other part of a woman's body to die without her consent?Answer #2: Federally and in 30 some odd states, children in utero are considered legal victims. Look up the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.


Title: (US) Had my car towed by private towing company who broke the law to tow me.

Question:
Hello,

  Recently, my car was towed and I was rightfully upset about it, since my car was only sitting in the parking lot for around 50 minutes. After paying the fee to get my car out so I could go to work the next day, I looked up the laws in my state pertaining to private towing companies. I believe I've found all the evidence I need to try and get my money back, but I do not know where to go forward. Do I just take them to small claims court?

  Thank you

  Edit: Thank you to everyone for the advise on what to do next. I will be sending a demand letter asking them to reimburse the fee they charged me. If that doesn't work, I will look into small claims court.

  Cheers everyone.

Answer: You could do that. You could also send them a demand letter.Answer #2: Yup.  Note that the laws themselves aren't evidence.  If you're basing it on only being there for less than an hour, then you'll need to show that you were there for less than an hour.


Title: Hotel charged me 1000 pounds for a broken lamp two days after i left (it wasn't broken on checkout)

Question:
I received a bill for GBP1000 on my mastercard and when i checked it was from a hotel that i stayed at a couple of days ago in London.

They sent me pictures of the lamp and it was smashed which am sure is something to be noticed when they do the quick room check on checkout if it was the case.

What can i do since am overseas ?

Answer: Call your credit card company and ask to file a chargeback.  Answer #2: i'm surprised there would be a $1300 US lamp in a hotel room, is this a super high end hotel?


Title: What steps can I take to protect my inheritance from a non-transparent executor?

Question:
Wa State - Probate Law - I'm 1 of 3 heirs to my late father's estate. He named one of the other heirs as executor of the estate. 7 months later she has not disclosed anything and won't talk to the family until she talks with her own lawyer. Because she won't disclose anything I have no idea what the estate is valued at and I have no idea what she is doing with real property.

What I'm needing is more of a push into a direction. I'm rather lost and confused. Should I lawyer up? Is this normal in probate? Am I wrong in thinking that there should be some transparency? Should I wait to take legal action?
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer:
 It looks like the first report required under state law has a deadline of 1 year after death.
http://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=11.76.010

If there is no accounting by that deadline, you'll want to file a petition with the clerk of the superior court in the county where the your father resided (that's supposed to be where the probate is going on).

http://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?Cite=11

In the case of my father's death, it was several years before the assets were finally distributed. This was partially due to one of the heirs having to pay restitution to the estate. Also, he had a reverse mortgage and the estate could not be closed until the finance company took possession of the property.


Title: FL- What jobs can I get with my theft felony record? The case has been closed and I received Nolle Pros-PTI and waiting for the certificate for my expunction.

Question:
I hear many people who have been convicted that are still working and making more money. I was under the impression and from what my attorney told me that I would never get a job and that I would have to do the expunction. I've waited a year being unemployed for fear of even applying anywhere. Now I feel like it's a load of crap and not everyone who is working is an angel. Some people have records and are still able to work.

I never went to prison nor was I convicted at all. I only sat in jail for a couple hours and was released. My final disposition shows "Nolle Pros-PTI" I took the pre-trial program and paid my fees, restitution and everything. I paid for the expunction as well.

I'm waiting for the end of the month for my certificate to file for petition of relief or something like that. But finding out that that isn't even the final step of expunction. And I honestly cannot wait anymore and I think my attorney was full of shit for telling me I will never be able to work without an expunction. A friend of mine has had many charges and was CONVICTED. These were felony charges too, drugs(cocaine)- theft (same as me 3rd degree felony-1 DUI- cruelty of animal. And he never had to expunge anything. He's working now in real estate.

How can someone whom I trusted (my attorney) tell me that I can never find a job. I was never convicted at all nor was I found guilty at all.

Please tell me there's a chance for me.

Answer:
 Whether you can get a job is up to the person employing you unless legal or regulatory constraints prevent them hiring you.

Your lawyer is not a psychic. He has no way of knowing whether you could ever find a job, but he was correct that it will be harder.

Not every employer is the same and they are likely to view felonies differently. It sounds like you chose to victimize someone, which in general makes it harder to find employment than it would if you had chosen to commit a victimless crime.

You also chose to victimize someone in a way that employers are concerned about being victimized. Theft is a large concern for many employers, and so that is also not going to make it easy.

So, those factors will make it harder for you to get a job with this on your record. However, some employers hire felons especially after time has passed and you are clearly not the same person you were when you committed the act.

This is not as much "legal advice", but your question about whether you will ever find a job is not really legal advice.

If your record is cleared you will be in a much better position to find employment. Theft convictions, especially felonies, make employers concerned about hiring you for good reason.

EDIT: I know chose to victimize is harsh language, but I used it because that is how employers see people with criminal records whose crimes have victims. They are thinking "This person to chose to do steal from X person in the past. They may choose to do so again to me". They don't want to make themselves the victim or bring someone in who is a "threat"


Title: Could this law be used to make the Republican party illegal in my state?

Question:
https://law.justia.com/codes/arizona/2011/title16/section16-806/

"The Communist Party of the United States, **or any successors of such party regardless of the assumed name**, the object of which is to overthrow by force or violence the government of the United States, or the government of the state of Arizona, or its political subdivisions shall not be entitled to be recognized or certified as a political party under the laws of the state of Arizona and shall not be entitled to any of the privileges, rights or immunities attendant upon legal political bodies recognized under the laws of the state of Arizona, or any political subdivision thereof; whatever rights, privileges or immunities shall have heretofore been granted to said Communist Party of the United States as defined in this section, or to any of its subsidiary organizations, by reason of the laws of the state of Arizona, or of any political subdivision thereof, are hereby terminated and shall be void."

Answer: No. It can’t even be used to make the Communist party illegal. Brandenburg v Ohio.


Title: Friend did something against my wishes at a party.

Question:
So my friend got upset at me during a party, and decided he was going to, and I quote, "Oh yeah? Well I'm gonna shit in your lawn!"

I said, "Dude, you better fuckin not."

He did. And now my land lord wants to fine me. Do I have any legal recourse? This is in Indiana btw.

Answer: As long as you're absolutely sure you didn't do it yourself, I'd tell them you want a DNA test to prove it was yours. If you're not the baby daddy, then you can't be held accountable!Answer #2: How do they know you're responsible?


Title: Abused a loophole for free money; might be sued

Question:
Several months ago my friend found a loophole in the policy of a travel agency that can be exploited for free money. Basically the travel agency accepts any currency for booking a flight, but instead of using the real time exchange rate, they only refresh their exchange rate once a day. So if the fluctuation of exchange rate over one day exceeds transaction fee + refund fee, my friend could refund the ticket to the airline (which uses real-time exchange rate) for a profit with no risk (in the sense of investment). This type of scenario is expectedly rare, so my friend wrote a script to check it for him automatically. Recently his script alerted him for the very first time that there's a chance for profit and he acted upon it. It did work. And now the travel agency is trying to sue him.

I don't think they have any grounds to sue, because even if he didn't return those tickets, they still have to eat the loss due to the sudden change in exchange rate. But he did book suspiciously many tickets from their website.

Questions:

a) He found a lawyer via a friend to look over this case. The lawyer told him he needs to check a few things to see if he wants to take this case, and will get back to him. Is this normal for a lawyer?

b) Is what he did doing really illegal?

Location: CA

Disclaimer: despite being riskless and even if legal, this is still not a good investment idea. Chance for profit is just too rare it can't even beat APY from a bank. He was only doing this as a proof of concept.

Answer:
 IANAL   It's perfectly normal for an attorney to consider all legal implications.  Did your friend processed the purchases and returns with the intent of making a profit at the expense of the travel agency.  *Intent* being the key word.  If so, they could claim he knowingly committed fraud.  Taking a loss due to a loophole is not the same as taking a loss due to manipulation of the system. Answer #2: Sounds like there was intent to defraud imho.Answer #3: >   He was only doing this as a proof of concept.

Just because you can do something (gaming someones computer system for profit) doesn't mean legally you are allowed.

Your friend may have run afoul of The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act 18 U.S.C. § 1030 buy writing a script to accomplish his task.

Answer #4: 1) Yes, it is common for a lawyer to look into a few things before deciding to take a case on or not, especially if they have any ethical concerns that may impact their future ability to practice law.

2) Off the top of my head, any time that you write a computer program to exploit a loophole to game a business in an attempt to get money fraudulently, yes, it would be illegal.  That's why companies that make games ban hackers from playing the games as it inherently impacts their ability to make money.  I'm not sure what type of law your "friend" may have broken so I will leave it up to the lawyer to make that call.Answer #5: How much money are we talking about? I do not think they would sue over ten dollars.


Title: NJ, US

Question:
How can I, 13, get a license to use firearms in NJ? What happens after applying at a police department?
Topic:
Juvenile and Youth Law

Answer:
 You can't

You have to be at least 18 to carry, possess, or use a firearm in NJ. The only exception is at under the supervision of an adult


Title: Found a human tooth in my lasagna.

Question:
TLDR: found tooth in lasagna. lasagna company offered $250 dollars to close the case. they didnt really take responsibility for it, but want to end their investigation (in my opinion prematurely)

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I won't be able to name specific companies involved or anything because of an outstanding claim that exists with this specific lasagna company's insurance, but hopefully I can get some advice. We live in Salt Lake City Utah

A few months ago I was eating some frozen lasagna and chomped down on something hard. Looking back it's actually kind of funny, because I was eating while playing a game and was momentarily too distracted to realize what I had bitten down on. I soon figured out it was a tooth. Pretty fucking grossed out, but nothing bad really happened. I assumed this would just end up being a funny and slightly disturbing story to tell.

My fiance's mother was really concerned when we told her. She convinced us that it was a matter of public safety, and we should report it somehow. So we filed a claim with the grocer's health department and waited to hear back. They gave us a bit of a run around, transfering us from one 'adjuster' to the next. Eventually they requested we send the tooth to them in the mail for analysis. (I had saved it like a serial killer in the fridge -- [warning: tooth](https://imgur.com/a/tSh1DoC)).

So, some time goes by and their representative emails us back confirming that not only was it a **human tooth**, but somehow a **child's tooth**? Fucking nasty. My favorite food is ruined forever. Around this time, they had transferred us to people on behalf of the lasagna company and washed their hands of the situation I suppose. The lasagna folks announce to us that they have filed an official insurance claim and that we were to wait for the next steps.

I guess at this point we were only hoping for some sort of resolution. How did a kid's tooth get in the lasagna? Was there... *gulp* ... the remains of the rest of the child spread throughout thousands of lasagnas worldwide? Was it some sort of kid sweatshop? My friend's joked that I should sue them or something, but for what? For being grossed out? I had no medical bills or anything. I just wanted to see the results of their investigation, and at the very least get my lasagna purchase reimbursed.

The last thing we have heard is that they don't know where the tooth came from and that their investigation is essentially over. Their insurance agent offered us $250 dollars and wanted to close the case.

Personally I was stunned that they offered us money. My fiancee and her mother urged me to not take it. They are worried that the company is just trying to pay us off and sweep the situation under the rug. As far as I know, there will be no recall of products and no further investigation.

I guess my main question is: do we have a moral obligation to keep pushing the claim until this company takes some sort of actionable responsibility for the incident? It feels like there could be something scummy going on here. I know the WHO takes these things pretty seriously, but nothing like this has ever happened so I'm not really sure what my rights or obligations are.

thanks for reading, cheers

Answer:
 Work in packaged food:

To put this in perspective, think about the supply chain. They likely don’t know and will not be able to figure out where it entered the product. That lasagna likely has ingredients from 20-30 suppliers (all different spices, cheese, noodle ingredients, etc.). Those all come from the different supplier’s plants and to be used in the final product.

Think of things like tomatoes and spices. Those are grown in open fields in nature, harvested with machines in large batches usually, and then shipped by suppliers. Weird shit ends up in those type of ingredients all the time.Answer #2: If what you want is them to take responsibility and make changes you need to contact the FDA.  You can’t hold them accountable yourself from a practical stand point.  They’d just give you a larger settlement along with an NDA.


Title: Teacher punishment?

Question:
(California) Today in PE class, my teacher punished the whole class for actions of a few kids in our class and kids in other PE classes, and I was wondering if there is anything that can be done to get back at the teacher? thanks

Edit: We were doing mile make ups during advisory, which is basically a period of time where students can go to different classes to make up projects, essays, etc, and the teacher came late, more than 15 minutes, so many kids were fed up with her lateness because this was not the only time this occurred. Then, some of the students who were making up miles decided to clap when the teacher came out of the locker room to let us make up a mile. The students did that and the teacher became very angry with that action and walked back into the locker room and left roughly 100 kids outside by the track unattended. Then, class comes around and she tells the whole class that we are running a mile because we were rude to her during the mile makeup, but 1) at least half the kids that were clapping, if not more, were not from her class, but were in different PE classes, and 2) she made kids in our class that were not doing mile makeups, but rather something else, as well.

Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 No, there's nothing you can do to "get back at the teacher." Answer #2: What do you want done?

Why do you feel like you need to "get back' at the teacher exactly?


Title: Landlord won't let us sublease to people with kids.

Question:
Hello, I'm located in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh to be exact. My wife and I have been renting the same 3br townhouse for over 4 years now.  Recently we've taken a huge step and purchased a house.

Our current lease is ends on July 31, however there is an option to sublease the apartment for a fee. We already spoke with our landlord and he gave us permission to sublease the apartment. The lease says that the landlord must approve all subleases.

We have had a great amount of interest in the apartment, and have passed along all of the applications filled out by the potential tenants to the landlord.  It's been a few weeks and he hasn't approved any of the ten tenants we gave him applications for.  Recently he told us that he would like for us to find a tenant without kids.

My understanding is that it is illegal to discriminate against a potential tenant based on presence of children.  But the lease says he must approve the potential subleaser.  Obviously finding a tenant in October  is harder than finding someone in the summer months.  We're afraid we won't be able to find someone that meets his requirements and be stuck paying for the apartment and the mortgage.  Is what the landlord doing illegal because he is discriminating against future tenants?  Is there any other advice that anybody can give me?

Thanks!

Answer: The [Fair Housing Act] (https://www.justice.gov/crt/fair-housing-act-2) determined that a landlord cannot refuse to rent to someone based on familial status. So, if they have children under 18, you're right that he can't deny them *for that reason* explicitly. Answer #2: This would be a breach of the Fair Housing Act, assuming the unit isn't exempt for any of the reasons identified in [this FAQ](http://www.civilrights.org/fairhousing/laws/faq.html).Answer #3: If you're allowed to sublease you must be allowed to sublease to families with children. It is against the Fair Housing Act to discriminate based upon familial status.


Title: Was rear-ended in a hit and run, turns out it was my co worker, need help!

Question:
So I didn't know when it happened, but turns out my co worker was the one that hit me and drove off. He came to me later at work and confessed it was his fault. It was an accident and he freaked out cause he didn't have insurance, but now the cops are looking for his vehicle with no leads so far.

I don't want the guy to get in trouble, but I don't know if us going to the police and me not pressing charges would help him stay out of jail. Is there any advice I could get on the situation? This happened in Colorado btw.

Answer: Fuck that guy. Sorry, but he reareneded you, knew it was you, and still ran. You don't owe him any favors. In fact, if you don't report him and they figure out that you know him and work with him - it might be you who is on the receiving end of an insurance fraud investigation.


Title: Is there anything I can do to help my minor nephew who is locked up when his parents want to “let him rot?” Michigan

Question:
My 14 year old nephew is locked up because he injured his father who was attacking his mother. The father is refusing to let anyone visit or help his son and wants to “let him rot in jail.” Apologies for a lack of details, all I know is what my niece managed to send me an email about while she was at a friend’s house.

Is there anything I can do to help my nephew when I’m not his legal guardian? I would like to pay for a lawyer to help him. I would love to be his legal guardian and have him live with me. This is in Michigan.

Answer:
 > I would like to pay for a lawyer to help him.

You can do that. Contact a criminal defence lawyer in the locality that your nephew is and explain the situation. They would not normally have any issue with you hiring them for this purpose.

> I would love to be his legal guardian and have him live with me.

If there has been abuse going on in the home (even if it is between the parents) contact CPS. If they deem that he should be removed from the home you can volunteer as a placement for him.Answer #2: He needs a guardian ad litem, which should be free. Contact the juvenile court and explain the situation.Answer #3: "locked up" as in he's in jail/juvenile detention, or he's locked inside his house?


Title: Fiance hasn't allowed me to work full time and took away rights to the money. Any advice on how to get away?

Question: Location:United States, Michigan

Answer:
 [Contact a local domestic abuse shelter and get help](http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-29941_30586_240---,00.html). Financial abuse is abuse, and there is help.

It should go without saying, but _do not marry this person_. Just don't sign the marriage paperwork, no matter what. Someone who takes your money away and keeps you in the home against your will isn't going to suddenly start behaving better when you're married to them.


Title: Sued by new owners of a house

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 * FYI- this sub doesn't give out references for lawyers

* Your narrative is a little challenging to follow. Are you saying the company (which one of your parents work for?) paid to move your family and purchased your house from you as part of their deal to move you all? Now the new owners (who purchased it from the company) are coming after your family?Answer #2: Recommendation: have the buyer contact the entity that actually sold them the house. Your dad sold it to the company - presumably they had it inspected etc before sale. And if the buyer wasn't an idiot they did their own inspection and got title and homeowners insurance.  It seems like the claim is with the actual seller and not your dad.

Not sure about the specifics for TN and I am not a lawyer but I did go through the painful process of purchasing a house which closed two weeks ago. Answer #3: Your parents would do well to review the relocation contract with his company.  In it, there will be some verbiage regarding disclosure and the company's obligation/liability should issues arise.  Answer #4: I should point out that it's pretty easy to identify both the town and the Fortune 200 company you haven't named from your post.  If you don't want people to be able to identify them, you should probably edit it.


Title: Is someone who has no lease and never payed a dime of rent considered a tenant? (South Florida)

Question:
Hello, and thanks in advance. The property is in Saint Lucie county, FL, and the situation is this:

A significant other of mine moved into the house in September, and due to unfortunate circumstances, she's no longer welcome here. There is no written lease or payment agreements, and no rent has EVER been paid to the landlord. She's been here less than 90 days.

Does this person have any tenants rights after this period without a lease and without any money changing hands?

Answer:
 Yes. Answer #2: >Does this person have any tenants rights?

Probably. Being considered a tenant isn't contingent on paying rent. You'll have to check Florida statues, but generally someone is a tenant if they receive mail and/or have lived there for a certain amount of time.

Check Florida/your city statues, but they're most likely a tenant at this point. How much less than 90 days? 80 days? Or 10?


Title: Booked transport company through uShip to move item, which was picked up but never delivered. Allegedly the person who picked up item for the transport company was hospitalized and item is at his house. Company will not take further action. Item is irreplaceable and of great emotional value.

Question:
Through uShip, I contracted a company to move a piece of furniture from Florida to California.  The company sent a guy with a pickup truck to load the item, presumably to deliver it to a centralized packing area for freight transport.  It has been over a month past the delivery deadline and it has not been delivered.  After repeated inquiries, I was told that the employee who picked it up (well first he was the truck driver, and then he was the guy picking up the item, and now I am not exactly sure if he even exists) ended up in the hospital and my item is at his house.  They will not send someone over to pick up my item and transport it.

What can I do?  Should I file a police report in Florida for stolen property?  Also, I am an idiot and did not get any insurance.  uShip has not been helpful, and just provided me the company's contact info to further pursue legal action.  The only thing they will do is refund the deposit, which I am afraid will make the transport company lose complete interest in getting my item back.

Answer:
 Have you considered filing a complaint with the federal agency that oversees moving companies?

https://www.protectyourmove.gov/

http://www.moverescue.com/ looks like it may have some useful assistance also.


Title: Defense requesting social media login info (NY)

Question:
Hey everyone,

9 months ago a truck ran a red light & t-boned my car into another car.

Car was totaled, I (28M) fractured my C6 vertebrae & tore my Meniscus.

Now my lawyer is telling me "the defense counsel is requesting information pertaining to your social media accounts."
They need my login & password info for my Facebook, instagram, twitter & LinkedIn.
I barely use them but I just returned from my honeymoon in Hawaii & there are surfing & hiking pictures of me.

First of all is this a normal request?

Secondly can I delete these photos before handing over the password? Would this be discovered and used against me? All of my pages have always been set to private.

Thanks.

Answer: You don't have to turn them over just because the other side asks for them. Now if you get a court order that's something else.


Title: Wife took our children out of state indefinitely

Question:
I live in Florida. With my consent I agreed to allow my wife to take our two children, 6 and 4, on a quick vacation to NH to stay with friends and come back in a week. I did not go as I had a job interview during that time frame. A few days after leaving she advised me she wants a divorce and wants me to list our home with a mutual friend who is a realtor and she doesn't know when she is going to return. I've had limited contact with her and the children as she states she is too busy to talk. A few days ago we got in a dispute regarding minor mutual property I wanted to donate to Goodwill we had already saved for a garage sale. She's since blocked me on her phone from calling or texting her. Unfriended me on FB and changed her last name on FB. I plan on contacting an attorney this week sometime. What recourse do I have to make her bring the children back?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: You should get that attorney ASAP and file for an emergency custody order.Answer #2: You have a good chance of having a judge order her to bring the kids back before school starts up again, if you get an attorney and file for custody right away.  Answer #3: To be clear, right now the courts in Florida would have jurisdiction over this case. If you wait, the courts in New Hampshire will. Do not wait. Attorney tomorrow.Answer #4: If there's no standing custody order in place, both biological parents have an equal right to take their children anywhere for an indefinite amount of time.  It thus behooves you to get a emergency custody order before she does something similar.


Title: Got in a fight with a neighbor. I'm a former MMA fighter and boxer. (In California)

Question:
The next door neighbor's loser 30 something years old son was being really loud and won't shut up. So I went over to tell him to shut up a few times. Last time, I went and told him if he don't quiet down, I'm going to call the police.

As I went home, he follow me. As I got close to the door, I turn and told him to get off my property. He decided to try get in my face. Knowing that he regularly carry knife, I didn't want to take a chance.

So as soon as he got close enough, I threw a hard upper cut that nearly put him out and shoved him down. I step back to watch and wait for him to get up and go home. He got up and tried to attack me. So I fight back.

I end up elbow him, cutting his head badly and kneed him in the face repeatedly. I don't know how much damage I did, but it wasn't pretty. All I know is I didn't stop until he no longer have any desire to fight.

I end up threw him back down again and tell him to go home or I will put him in the hospital. So he say he's going to call cops and went in house.

Since I live lone, I don't have anyone to talk to or call especially at 3 am. This is only place I can turn to.

Is this anything to worry about? Will they arrest me or will I get sued? This guy followed  me onto my yard and try to get in my face then won't leave after he was knocked down and try to attack and got beaten up badly.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 > Is this anything to worry about? Will they arrest me or will I get sued?

All of these things are possible. If the police come, do not talk to them. Call an attorney. Talk to no one about what happened except your attorney. Answer #2: "With your skills, you are a deadly weapon...  and are not subject to the same laws as other  people that are provoked...because you can respond with deadly force. It is the order of this court that you be remanded to a federal penitentiary... where you shall remain incarcerated for a term not less than 7 to 10 years."

Next time call the police. Unless you were in imminent threat of your life then you shouldn't respond to someone getting in your face with such violence. Knowing he sometimes carries a knife doesn't give you any valid defense to an assault. Only talk to a lawyer. If he shows up call the police.Answer #3: > Will they arrest me or will I get sued?

We can't say for sure.  That's up to them.  Realistically, more of the fault here lies on you.  You instigated the confrontation, threw the first punch, and my your own estimation did significant damage.  Including threatening to hurt him again.

In the future, call the police first, not last.


Title: Hotel won't refund my deposit (California)

Question:
Stayed at a hotel last Friday, February 19th.  Checked out, no issues.  A week later, I notice my deposit still hasn't been returned.  I call to ask about how long that normally takes and the lady who answers tells me 4-5 days.  I tell her that it's been a week.  She puts me on hold for a long while and then comes back to tell me she'll have to look up the files and to call back in twenty minutes.

I call back twenty minutes later and a guy answers.  I tell him I had just called about a deposit, gave him my name, and am met with him claiming my file is just open here on the desk and it says I'm not getting my deposit because I had visitors.  I tell him that's not true, I never received any call or notification of this during my stay when I could prove or resolve this.  He claims I need to speak with her but she "just left" right when she told me to call back.

I'm assuming I have to play phone tag with her a bit but seriously, how can I even prove this?  There weren't security cameras, no one called my room to make this claim, and no one mentioned it at checkout.  A week later, all I can do is say it isn't true.  Help?  What direction do I turn?  How legal is a handwritten no visitors sign anyway?

Answer:
 Send a demand letter by certified mail demanding return of your deposit within 10 days or you will sue them in small claims. If they don't return it, sue them. Assuming you even agreed to "No visitors or you forfeit your deposit" in writing, they'll have to provide convincing proof of your alleged violation.

 ALTERNATIVELY, if you paid by credit card just the number on the back of your card and dispute the charge, which is far easier and faster.Answer #2: How did you pay for the deposit? Most hotels will put a hold on enough money to cover the cost of the rooms. If you pay with a credit card it can take a week or more, but it's not a big deal because it will be reimbursed before your next statement most the time. With debit cards though they'll put a hold on that money meaning you can't use it during that time.

Give it another week and if it isn't credited back, then state pursuing other options.


Title: I am a college sophomore with $15,000 in student loans so far, and now I owe $12,000 in medical bills because of one small surgical procedure.

Question:
I live in Missouri in the USA.

I don’t really know if I should share this here or in personal finance or wherever, so here goes: Finding a summer job was pretty tough after I finished my freshman year of college, and if I couldn’t find one then I didn’t think I’d be able to afford textbooks or other necessities when starting my first semester of sophomore year. It wasn’t until late June that I was able to find a job as a cart pusher at Walmart. I knew the job would suck and be physically demanding, especially since I was starting in the middle of summer, but I work an outside job on campus while attending classes and figured I could handle it. At the time I thought I’d solved all of my immediate problems, but I was hardly given any hours and a good portion of my tiny paychecks went towards gas and lunch. Luckily, I was able to finalize my financial aid just before my last few days of work and before moving back on campus, and with the amount I was being given I’d be able to afford everything and then some. Sounds awesome, right? Now I could stop nickel and diming everything and just relax knowing that I have some cash to spare. Well, my problems had only just begun.

Can you guess what happens to your feet when you start working as a cart pusher? They get really sore and develop blisters until you get used to it, but you’ll still ache after every eight hour shift. It’s a pretty easy job in terms of the objective, but the physical demand is rather brutal. The last couple days I worked the job before I had to move back to campus was the weekend starting on August 5th and ending on the 7th. I worked every day that weekend for eight or nine hours, and that’s when I started to notice the increasingly intense pain in my right foot, specifically the ball of my foot right behind the big toe. Of course both of my feet were in pain before that weekend and all throughout it due to the nature of my work and I mostly push off my right foot, so I foolishly didn’t think too much about it. By the end of my last shift on Sunday all I could manage was a limp when I tried to walk and the area in pain was starting to swell a little; that’s when I started to grow concerned. I told my dad about the pain and swelling, but he pretty much ignored me. The next few nights when I tried to sleep I just couldn’t because of the pain. I may be naïve sometimes, but I wasn’t stupid enough at that point to think that this was normal so I decided I’d visit the health clinic on campus once I moved in on Tuesday, August 9th. I’ll mention that the reason I was moving in that day a week before classes was because of my part-time job as a PEO with the public safety division during the academic year.

I was able to get in on the 10th, and we both seemed to think that it might be a stress fracture caused by the physical demands of my job as a cart pusher. The clinic gave me some weak painkillers that really didn’t do much, and they gave me Epson salt to soak my foot in. I’d also contacted the Walmart I’d been working at to inform them, but in order to fill out a claim for worker’s compensation I’d have to drive back to my hometown to fill out paperwork there. I could barely walk at the time and driving was just as difficult, so I decided I’d see what the clinic on campus could keep doing for me before trying to drive to Walmart and back to campus. Of course if it came to it I would make the drive, but most stress fractures don’t need any serious or expensive treatments so I was praying to every god that I’ve never believed in that this was just that: A relatively minor stress fracture.

After just one evening of soaking my foot I woke up the next morning to find that the area in pain was black, yellow, and so soft to touch that it felt like it might all pop open like a damn pimple. It was a disgusting sight, and when the nurses at the clinic saw what the Epson salt soaks had revealed they took a culture of it and sent me to a nearby specialist at a bone and joint clinic. They took an x-ray there, and at this point I was already freaking out about having to pay hundreds of dollars in medical bills. When they came back from the x-rays to bluntly tell me that I need to leave immediately and visit the emergency room for surgery I nearly broke down in tears. I tried to find any sort of alternative and explain that there’s no way in hell I could ever afford surgery, but every doctor in that building told me this was an emergency that couldn’t wait. They couldn’t give me specifics without an analyzed culture, but they told me that whatever was in my foot was at risk of contaminating my blood and bones unless it was surgically drained as soon as possible.

So I did what I was told through the shock and fear of knowing that it would cost me thousands of dollars. Once I got back to my car I just started bawling and screaming, and I didn’t stop until I was already parked at the ER trying to find someone that could pick me up later that night. My boss on campus is a pretty cool guy and I’d already told him about my foot when I first moved back in knowing that I just couldn’t do the work he needed of me given the symptoms, and when I called him freaking out because I was about to have surgery and I couldn’t find a ride because none of my friends on campus had even moved in yet he said he’d pick me up. When I walked in to the ER with crutches they saw me and immediately called out my name and had a wheelchair and paperwork ready to go. I was wheeled to a little room, had to strip into that stupid gown thing, pumped full of “calming” medicine, wheeled to an operating room, and before I knew it I was knocked out and waking up to find that it was all over: Both the surgery to root out what I now know was a staph infection and my financial security were over. To think that just about five days before that moment in time I was barely even worried is fucking insanity, and I still don’t know how I could’ve caught a staph infection.
Before anyone tries to ask about insurance, I’m technically covered through my dad, but the insurance requires a $15,000 deductible before it will cover anything so it’s useless to us. I was only able to start classes halfway through last week thanks so some help from friends, and I’ve recently been able to start walking and driving relatively freely again. I plan on visiting the Walmart I worked at this weekend to try and seek any sort of aid from the company, but they won’t want to help pay. And once they deny any sort of liability or whatever my dad wants to find an attorney and sue. I knew that I was already pretty much fucked in debt the moment I enrolled in college, but this is just so damn sudden and beyond me. Some of you may think I was stupid and I'd mostly agree, but I've always been very healthy and didn't see how it could've been staph before it was too late. I figured this was worth sharing somewhere. If anyone out there knows of anything that might help, please let me know.

TL;DR
Got a job as a cart pusher at Walmart to pay for textbooks late summer. Turns out I didn’t really need the job because I got excessive financial aid. Started to get really bad pain in my right foot during my last few days of work before moving back to campus, but my feet always hurt because of my job. Thought it was worth getting checked once it got so bad that I couldn’t sleep at night. Thought it might be a stress fracture at first, and at the time the circumstances didn’t allow me to file a claim with Walmart. After a culture and some x-rays I was immediately sent to the ER for surgery to root out what we now know was a staph infection. Been recovering well since then and now I’m going to visit that Walmart to seek aid, but I doubt they’ll help and my dad will want to sue. Please help if you can.

Edit: Added extra line breaks to make reading easier. Nevermind, Reddit doesn't like extra line breaks. :P
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer: File a workers comp claim. Get all your evidence and paperwork about what happened. That's why workers compensation exist to cover your bill if you are injured on the job.


Title: Ex Threatens Civil Claim in order to destroy my disability

Question:
So, I broke up with my ex a week ago (I also gave him back the key that night) and have not set foot in the apartment since.

I get a text from my ex falsly accusing me of stealing thousands of dollars worth of clothing as well as a bank card and leaving a paper trail. I have no idea what he's talking about.

He says I have until nightfall to return the stuff or he will take me to small claims court which (according to him, I'm not sure) will take away my disability, regardless of my innocence. I am dependent on disability for income and am very scared.

I am not sure what to do or what actions to take. I have his messages on my phone and I expect I will receive a barrage of them later tonight.

Should I get a lawyer, or wait until he takes more action? I live in CA, will this effect my disability claim?

Answer:
 He can't even garnish your disability payment if he wins.

He's so full of shit his eyes are turning brownAnswer #2: Disability and small claims have nothing to do with each other.  Stop talking to him, if you get served, show up to court with whatever documents you have to support your side.Answer #3: Being sued in small claims court does not automatically take away disability, and you usually can't garnish disability funds for a small claims judgment anyway. Sounds like he's making things up to scare you into talking to him again. Tell him to go away.


Title: Is this entrapment?

Question:
In a video I watched there’s a man in Wallgreens standing around For three hours, the store calls the police to come and check him out. Upon arrival the officer brings the man outside and past the register and proceeds to search them. The officer finds objects from the store on his person and arrests him for shoplifting.
Since the police officer brought him outside and past the registerdoes that make this entrapment and the case will be thrown out?
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer: No, in most states, simply concealing the items inside the store is enough to land a criminal charge.


Title: Employer damaged my car and refused to pay. Insurance doubled.

Question:
At the end of my there was an accident in my old workplace's garage where some lumber was dropped onto my hood by an employee. After a long time of discussing my boss told me either I use my comprehensive and she pays the deductable or deal with it.

I just received my first bill since and my insurance increased from $219 to $420/month. Is there anything I can do here? Alberta-Canada

Answer: Yes, get quotes from a new insurance company.Answer #2: Your other option was to sue your employer for the full amount of the repair.  When you used your insurance, did you tell them how it happened?  They might go after your employer anyway, to recoup what they paid out


Title: Comcast has been double charging me for two years

Question:
Hello!

I moved to Oregon from Washington 2 years ago. When I moved, I let Comcast know and they helped me install my box in my new home. Today I just realized I have been charged for my new service as well as my old service which should have stopped two years ago. When I called they noticed I had two accounts and said it was weird. They also read a note they had left on my account saying I called them to inform them of the move and schedule the installation of my new setup.

The total I paid for a service I have not been receiving the last two years is around $2,400. I have multiple credit cards and both auto withdrawals are on separate cards. They told me they would be willing to give me a refund for the first 12 months but can't do anymore than that because it's "too long ago". I should have been more vigilant of my monthly statements, but I feel as though I am entitled to the money they wrongfully charged.

My question is: Are there any limitations that would protect Comcast from not having to pay me back on anything after the 12 months? Or should they be required to refund the full amount. I understand there probably is a timeframe limit for situations like this. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Answer: I'm not a lawyer and I'm only replying because it's been an hour and you've gotten no response so far and I feel I may have a solution for you.  Would you be satisfied with just the year refund and a free year of service at your current residence? If so, perhaps you should suggest that, especially if it is an equal exchange. I kinda think you need to record your future conversations with them, and also that you should try r/Comcast. Sometimes current/former employees are there to offer sound advice about Comcast's inner workings.


Title: Options for breaking listing agreement on house sale?

Question: We signed a 6 mo listing with real estate agent and want to cancel with no obligation. In NJ - do we have recourse if agent refuses to cancel?

Answer: I'm going to bet you a cheeseburger that the listing agreement lays out whether or not you can cancel early, how to cancel it, and what, if any, penalties or obligations come with doing so.


Title: [NC] Employer Ignoring Health Condition

Question:
To begin my dilemma, let me begin by saying, I don't know much about labor laws regarding health conditions and hardships and I'm really unsure how to handle my situation.

I began working for a restaurant about 3 months ago, I was initially hired for evening shifts and on two separate occasions I explained I only wanted evenings because I have severe chronic anxiety and severe insomnia to the point that I'm medicated for it and can't function on unusual schedules. During the hiring process I made it clear I couldn't work mornings, afternoons were ok, but mornings and evenings alternating were not a good idea.

I had one issue with a morning scheduling on my 3rd week of employment and again explained the situation where my manager said she understood and would make sure to not schedule me in the mornings. I've had a few other issues with them giving full time hours when I'm only meant to be part time.

These past few weeks my manager has had my schedule changing from early mornings to evening more and more often and I have mentioned each time that I was feeling sick and not well at all (I get incredibly stomach sick when my schedule changes, even if I get plenty of sleep).

This up coming week, after repeatedly explaining this to my manager, my manager has scheduled me going from 3pm-11:30pm one day, then 8am-3pm the next and then 3-11, and 8-3 for a five day cycle.

Now to most people, 8 is okay. But being that the insomnia doesn't allow me to fall asleep quickly or stay asleep (even with heavy medication), these drastically different schedules are pretty rough.

I don't know how to go about stopping this before I end up missing days and being fired. I can't go in if I'm sick as it's food service but with early hours like that, I will inevitably be sick to my stomach.

How should I legally go about making it clear that I won't accept schedule that directly affect my health? Is there documentation I should request from my doctor? Any advice is welcome.

Answer: You're supposed to work when they tell you to work, not the other way around. If you have a disability, you can request a *reasonable* accommodation. The keyword there is reasonable.


Title: [San Antonio, TX] Got a divorce in TX, ex-wife has right to designate primary residence for our 3yo son. Does this mean she can go out-of-state?

Question:
Ex-wife says she wants to move back home to Michigan to be with her family because she has no friends or family here in TX, is she allowed to do that? In the divorce she got the right to designate my son's primary residence which I agreed to as long as she stayed in Texas until I finished my degree (projected grad date of Summer 2018). Of course, because I'm an idiot, I didn't get this in writing.

exact wording of the decree: she has the "exclusive right to designate the primary residence of the child without regard to geographic location"

am I fucked? Is there anything I can do? I'm 3/4 my way through my degree and moving across the country to a new school to a new place where I know no one and have no friends or family or any sort of support at all is not my idea of a good time. She's trying to set wheels in motion to be leaving after summer semester is over in August and I'm trying to not only see if I am 100% boned but if I'm not then b) make sure she knows she can't do it so she doesn't end up paying a deposit on an apartment or some other crazy stuff.

Answer: You can still contest the move but strictly based off that one phrase, it doesn't look good. Particularly the "without regard to geographic location" part.


Title: Landlord discriminating because I’m not on section 8

Question: I live in a 4 unit apartment complex that I’ve lived in since September 2015 ,a little over a year ago the private landlord sold the complex to a real estate company, we were told nothing would change.  There was one vacant apartment when they took over and he moved a woman in right away , not shortly after the woman started harassing everyone in the complex even the children , she follows me around and takes pictures of me and my kids, even when they’re in the pool, tries to , and has,  damaged my private property , shouts and yells at me out her window , says things every time she walks by , is constantly touching and trying to break my things , I actually purchased a security camera which caught her throwing my standing ashtray off of my porch and there was a police report filed against her . I have contacted the office several times regarding her and they always say that Michael (the landlord) is the only one who can handle these issues and tell me to call his cell phone . I have been texting him and calling him about this woman for the past 6 months and he never has once called me back , he has only a couple times text me back “send a police report” which now I have and now he still, doesn’t respond . I have sent him all of the videos I have of the woman following me , taking pictures of me , and several of her damaging my property, and he still hasn’t responded to me. She is clearly breaking rules of the lease (quiet enjoyment) she has also damaged the property by breaking both of the gates to the residence , one of which she did by banging on it with a hammer which I recorded and sent to the landlord , no response to that either. Now the woman has filed a restraining order on me claiming that I had a charge for battery and assault against her which never happened , and she said I broke her window , which I also, didn’t do, and now I have a court date to attend because this woman is insane is clearly lying on court documents making false accusations against me , she has really messed with my life and the landlord has had clear evidence she is breaking the lease and refuses to do anything at all . I have been so stressed out and I cannot even leave any of my property out in the yard or even go in the yard without having the anxiety of being watched and filmed or waiting for her to come outside and start cussing and yelling . This woman is on section 8 and she is the only person in the complex on it and the real estate company’s page says “specializing in section 8” so I feel that he just wants us all to leave so he can make the apartments all section 8. Every one of the tenants have went to the landlord and complained about this one woman , we even sent him a certified letter , signed by everyone who lives in the complex , including a neighbor from the apartments next door that she’s been harassing,  and he still has done absolutely nothing.. oh here’s a real topper .. she complained to him about us all smoking cigarettes outside , and he sent us out a notice that we can’t smoke anymore . It’s absolutely insane she’s allowed to do literally anything that she wants , he does nothing , and she complains and he responds . Also,  in my lease under the no smoking section it says “intentionally omitted”  which correct me if I’m wrong I believe means it was left out on purpose . I feel that he’s 1. Being negligent 2. Discriminating . We have also went to the housing authority and filed a complaint against her and she is under investigation, they also have all the videos of her that I sent to the landlord as well . Is there anything I can do ?? We are all suffering over here I’ve already looked in to moving I just cannot find another place I can afford at the moment and I’d like to not be tortured in the mean time . Thank you for listening

Answer:
 You aren't being discriminated against here at all, let alone for not being on Section 8.

You have no legal mechanism to force your landlord to act or enforce a lease contract with a third party (the neighbor) You contact the police if you are being harassed or a crime is committed against you. You can move, though, but almost assuredly cannot hold the landlord liable for the acts of a third party. The eviction process is protracted and can take months or longer to complete, so tenants can not hold landlords accountable for not evicting other tenants. If they're on Sec 8, there are also limits to what they can evict a tenant for.

It seems that the non-smoking clause was intentionally left out of the lease. That doesn't mean you can smoke anywhere on the property; it means you can smoke in your own unit, although that depends on where you are located.


Title: [GA] I'm representing myself in small claims court to recover ~$5000 worth of damage my parents had to repair on their car.

Question:
Hey /r/legaladvice, I was hoping you could let me know if I'm well prepared for an upcoming small claims court appearance. My father (whose name the title is under) and I are the plaintiffs, and I'm trying to recover about $5000 from someone who rear-ended me while I was driving my parents' vehicle.

I was cited at the scene of the crash for "Improper Lane Change" (GA code 40-6-123). The other driver was a local, much older than me, and was able to convince the police officer that I was at fault. I am to blame for the incorrect placement of blame, as I was shaken up from being in my first car crash, and worried about my girlfriend (who was in the car at the time).

I contested the citation, and won. I had pictures that showed that I was in my lane at the time of the accident, as well as a more convincing argument (the other driver's story on the witness stand differed substantially from his statement in the accident report). However, his insurance company still would not pay for the cost of repairs, even though they proved 0% liability in an arbitration with my insurance company.

I'm taking the other driver to court, and I would like to recover the money my parents spent to fix their vehicle. I've come up with a plan, and I'd really appreciate it if someone could review the outline of what I'm planning on saying in court. So without further ado, my outline:

**1. Give the facts of the case in (mostly) chronological order in my statement**

* Detail what happened at the crash

* Explain why I was cited, why the citation was overturned (this includes giving the judge the pictures)

* Explain that the defendant's insurance company has refused to pay, despite the evidence against them

* Give details on the figure I provided, give judge receipts

**2. Counter the defendant's argument**

* Highlight discrepancies between his story now, and his statement in the accident report

* Point to the pictures as evidence that his story isn't true

So how good is my gameplan? Do I have a decent understanding of how this case will work? My only other time in court was contesting the citation, so I'd like to be as prepared as possible, especially if the defendant brings an attorney. My understanding is that I'll be given a chance to give a statement, then the defendant will, and then the judge will decide. I also assume that I'll be able to give the judge relevant evidence (pictures, emails between my parents and the insurance company, the result of the arbitration). Am I on the right track?

Thanks for taking a look at this, I'd appreciate any advice!

**EDIT:** Also, would it be a good idea to bring my girlfriend as a witness? I know that someone who's in a relationship with the plaintiff isn't the most credible witness, but would it hurt my case, or help it?

Answer:
 IANAL -- why are you suing the driver directly (for what I presume is more than your deductible) rather than paying your deductible and letting your insurance company worry about recovering from the driver?

That is what they are there for.


Title: My boss is requiring mandatory flu shots and I DON'T work at a hospital.

Question: I work at a retail store in Hollywood and my boss is threatening to fire us if we dont obtain a flu shot that he wants to pay for. I'm ethically opposed to it for numerous reasons and do not find that not getting one would impair the health of my coworkers. If that was the concern than items like our customer baskets that are handed to every customer would be sanitized regularly and when we actually called out we weren't forced to come in late and not stay home to fully rest. Without ranting, is forcing us to get the shot legal?

Answer: Essentially, California is a right to work state, and because "I don't want a flu shot" is not a protected class, yes, he can fire you for it. He can't fire you for "I can't get a flu shot because I have an illness that makes it dangerous for me."


Title: [Los Angeles, CA] I'm getting sued, but I'm broke. What next?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: They can seek to attach your assets. It isn't automatic, per se, but taking your car is a realistic possibility.


Title: first date scare...am i a sex offender??? do i need to take action?

Question:
19F from Texas

Basically went out on a first date with a guy, then after dinner we decided that we wanted to keep our night going. Ended up inside of his car in the parking lot of a community park after hours. Things got frisky, my pants were taken off. We did not have sex, we were not naked.

A cop comes up since we are there after hours, so that’s the first offense. He asks me to step out, and I tell him I need to put my pants on first. Then I get questioned and slut shamed about how I shouldn’t let someone that’s not my boyfriend get intimate with me. He took both of our licenses and ran them, said he marked them? I don’t know what that means. He told us that instead of taking us to jail, he was just going to chew us out and let us go. Ended everything with “i didn’t see nothing”.

What I’m worried about is what he did with my license. Is that going to show up on any kind of record? Am I a sex offender for indecency?

Thanks for replying

Answer: No. It's nothing. He checked for active warrants and unpaid fines. It's a nothing burger.


Title: Legality of making up a fake quote for a t shirt?

Question:
Long story short, my friend and I are working on a small BBQ company together. We've got some logos made up and want to start making t-shirts. My idea for one shirt is to have our logo on the front with a fake quote from the American Heart Association on the back condemning us for undoing all of the positive work they've done.

My first guess is that this would be illegal, but figured it would be worth asking anyway. I guess the second question is, would the AHA even care? We're doing this on such a small scale, I'm not sure there's any real risk. If they did care, what's the worst that could happen to us?

Answer: The risk is small, but the hassle could be huge. How about making up a name that carries the same connotation as the AHA but isn't actually a real organization? And the real question -- Eastern or Lexington?


Title: [KY] Transportation Cabinet wants me to pay $1850 for hitting a guard rail. What are my options?

Question:
My accident happened back in September. Today I received a letter from the Transportation Cabinet telling me I had to pay $1850.50 for damages to highway facilities. The breakdown is:

* lane closure: $325
* inst block wood or comp: $6.50
* remove block: $2.00
* repair E T Type 1 FST. Rail & Post: $1,500

The police traffic report: "Unit #1 stated she was east bound on HWY - when a white truck pulled into her path from - Road. Unit #1 stated she swerved to avoid the white truck and lost control striking the guardrail and coming to rest in the ditch. The white truck did not stop and continued on. Witness confirms Unit #1's account of the collision."

The car had full coverage insurance, so is it possible that my insurance will cover the cost? They did not close the lane during or after my accident and I was on the same road the next day and every day for months after and the lane was never closed for repairs. Would it be worth it to dispute the lane closure charge? I am not able to pay that amount without having to withdraw from classes at my university and I am stressing. Hoping that another instance like this never happens to me again, but for future reference, would it have been better to hit the truck? Thank you.

Apologies for any formatting issues and I will do my best to fix them.

Answer: Contact your insurance


Title: Can my jrotc instructor fail me for not having myself groomed a certain way?

Question:
I live in Georgia, USA. A regular grade of ours is an "inspection" where he checks if we wear our uniforms and are groomed a certain way. It just doesn't seem right for me to be forced to cut my hair just for a class grade.

Edit: Alright I get it I fucked up for taking a military course without knowing what was even going to happen.

Answer: Sure.  Why wouldn't they be able to?


Title: Crazy ex says I wont be allowed to see my kid when I'm born due to my "party lifestyle" and a rape accusation when I was 18. She thinks she can simply deprive me of my kid because of those two factors.

Question:
Sorry about the huge title. Location is New York. I am 19.

A couple of months, I started dating this girl. She's one of those boring girls who doesn't party or drink and she ended up getting pregnant.

Anyways, I found out last week and I told her that I'll be there for her and support them both but she's saying that I'm going to be a bad dad and I am too "unstable" to support a kid. This is just stupid. I asked her why she thinks I am unstable and she pointed to my "party" lifestyle (I'm in a frat and partying is the norm) and because I drink. She also pointed out that I was accused of rape a little after I finished high school (nothing came of it. It was utter bullshit and I never got in trouble and it didn't impact my life) and she says that "rapists should not be allowed to have kids".

Thankfully we both go to the same college but we're off vacation. I'm worried she's going to try and disappear (I've been keeping tabs on her social media and have some mutual friends watch her so if she tries to disappear, I should find out).

She's around 7 months pregnant so if we go by 9 months of pregnancy, she will be due in 1-2 months.

I'm wondering if there are any truth to her claims. I'm in a frat so I do drink (but only at parties and social events, I'm not an alcoholic) and I dont do drugs. The false rape accusation was never brought to the police or any other figure of authority. It was on social media and spread around by her friends. It blew over after a week or so and nothing happened.

Answer:
 You living in a frat house will certainly be considered in terms of custody. I don’t suspect any judge will want to create a bad 80’s movie scenario there. However, you drinking and living a party life style is not likely going to in and of itself be a complete bar for you seeing your child.

However, it’s a moot point as your party lifestyle is about to come to an end. The court is certainly going to expect you to pay for your child. “Partying is the norm” will not be a bar from the judge ordering you to find some sort of employment. Nor will any bitchin ragers exempt your from any other requirements now that you are a father.Answer #2: > she ended up getting pregnant

Amazing how that just happens sometimes.

You can petition for paternity, demand a DNA test, and petition for visitation and (eventually) joint custody.  It's very unlikely that you would get custody of a newborn.

New York does have a putative father registry to alert you if the mother tries to put the child up for adoption.  The putative father registry appears to require an acknowledgement of paternity, so if there is *any* chance you might challenge paternity you should probably not register.


Title: MI Coworker is being promoted because she has a child and I do not.

Question:
I was suggested to come here from /r/relationships. If you want to get the full gist of what is going on [here is a link to that post](https://np.reddit.com/r/relationships/comments/5qietz/i_25f_and_some_of_my_coworkers_are_starting_to/).

In a nutshell though my manager put up my coworker, Jane, for a promotion recently. I sat down with my manager in private and asked her why Jane was being promoted over me. I had a suspicion and it was confirmed. My manager said we both did excellent work but Jane "She has a baby. She needs this."

Just for comparison, Jane has only worked at my job a week longer than I have (we started a week apart going on three years ago). Jane averages calling in 1-3 a month, sometimes more, does not have open availability, and relies on her husband for transportation. I have open availability, one call out in the last six months, and have my own transportation. I've also received nothing but excellent and above average reviews since working there.

Basically at this point I was just going to bide my time and transfer to a different location when possible, but now I'm being told I should at the very least go to HR and, again, someone suggested I post over here and see if legally they can promote Jane solely based off the fact that she has a child and I do not.

Thank you for your help! I can answer any more questions if you have them.

Answer:
 According to [this](http://www.michiganlegalaid.org/library_client/resource.2005-05-29.1117417921286/html_view), promoting because one person has a child over another person who does not, does not seem to be illegal according to Michigan's discrimination laws.

edit: punctuation.  Answer #2: While the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of "pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions", does that prohibition extend to the natural consequences of those conditions? And does it cover the opposite status of not being pregnant, and not having given birth? Likely not.

In the federal public sector, one can't discriminate based on "status as a parent", but that protection was extended to those who are parents, not those who aren't.

It's not always illegal to discriminate based on familial responsibility and you'll find that most protections that relate to family protect those who have them and not those who do not.

This sort of thing has been addressed in Michigan before in different circumstances ([this article is a good read](http://www.michbar.org/file/barjournal/article/documents/pdf4article1457.pdf)), and I'm not persuaded an illegal act has occurred here.


Title: Grumpy old man

Question:
I was teaching a friend how to drive manual on a quiet road in a suburb in British Columbia
. We drove up and down the road numerous times just so he could get the hang of it. After maybe 10 minutes a man came out onto the road and started taking pictures of us. We parked and got out to ask him what the problem was. We explained that my friend was learning to drive manual but he didn't care. He started swearing and told us to leave before he called the police. They were also saying that we were "excessively speeding up and down his road." We were actually going 40km/hr.
I don't want to really do anything about it, I was just wondering if they had any right to tell us what he did.

Answer: He has the right to be an asshole and take pictures. I'd just find a less grumpy street. School parking lots are usually empty during weekends in the summer as well.


Title: [CA] Credit Card

Question:
I was hoping to get some legal advice about my credit card situation with Wells Fargo.

I have a maximum balance of $10,000 dollars. I have been a member for 3.5 years and made payments 2x the minimum for approximately 2.5 years and always a few days early. They have not once lowered my interest rate at 24.99%, even after I have requested (always citing 'length of credit history' as the reason).

Over time from student debt, I have maxed out my credit card. I have not used the credit card for about six months now. My typical minimum payment due is around $310 dollars. Here is my dilemma:

I owe currently $10,036.00. I can only afford about $350 a month for a payment, which covers the minimum; however, three days after my minimum payment is due, Wells Fargo charges interest in the area of $190. Since I am maxed out, deduct $350 from $10,000, which brings my balance to $9,650, exactly three days later, my balance increases to $9,840, followed by the next billing cycles minimum payment of ~$310 dollars, which puts my new balance back up to $10,150. On top of exceeding my credit limit, I get charged a cash advance fee and interest on the cash advance, which in turn increases my total monthly amount due.

I have applied twice at the recommendation of two separate bankers for a credit consolidation loan, both of which times I was denied when it went to underwriting. First time, for 'length of credit history' and the second time, for having exceeded my maximum balance too many times.

My question, now knowing the background, is this legal for Wells Fargo to do? My minimum payment is not paying down the principal and it seems as if I have put myself in a trap loan.

Thoughts/suggestions/comments?

Answer: You've spent more money than you have, and won't be paying it back anytime in the near future. Why would any lender in their right mind lend you money?


Title: Court day coming soon for distributing alcohol to under 21, questions about preparation

Question:
EDIT: My court date coming up, is actually an arraignment.

Hi /r/legaladvice,

This all happened in California.

I have an arraignment coming up soon for a misdemeanor offense for distributing alcohol (one case of beer) to someone under 21. I am not familiar with the legal system at all, so I have a question.

I was told by the officer that gave me the ticket that this is just a misdemeanor offense, and the punishment can vary from probation, fines, or community service. Being a misdemeanor case, do I need to lawyer up or hire any type of person for that matter.

or do I just go into myself and take whatever punishment I get, all while speaking for myself. To be honest, the cop said the worst it could be is an under $1000 fine, so I'm not really too worried if I am faced with the fine like that, I just want to get this over with and off of my mind.

Is there any advice/tips/LPT anyone has for me?

Answer:
 Don't take your legal advice from cops. They are not lawyers.

You are advised to get a lawyer, especially as they will advocate on your behalf for a reduced punishment, diversion programs, or community service. Don't wait on this.


Title: [FL] Business we briefly hired sending threatening messages and demanding more money

Question: We recently moved into a new house that had popcorn and wanted to get it removed ASAP before we actually moved in our things. We hired a company that estimated it to be done in about 5-6 days and required a deposit. We paid the deposit, there was no contract but they got to work the next day. They would work for a few hours, leave, and repeat the same thing the next day. They wouldn't really answer our calls and sometimes not show up to work at all the next day. 5-6 days turned into 7-14 days and they were only about 50% done. Then they did not show up to work for 3 days and didn't answer our calls. We just finished paying them for the work they have gotten done. We were fed up with this and assumed they were just never coming back and hired another company to finish the work. So they randomly decide to show up while the other company is finishing the work and were surprised that they were replaced. We sent a complaint to Better Business Bureau and I guess they just got the complaint and are now blowing up our phones, demanding more money, calling us cowards and "goons", threatening to sue,  and threatening to beat my boyfriend up. This is all mainly through text so we're holding onto those texts but we're not replying to them and just ignoring them. We live in a gated community and we put them on a restricted list and asked them to call the cops if they do try to enter. Do they have anything to sue over? They've been paid for the work they did manage to complete with the deposit and the extra we gave before they disappeared for 3 days. Is there anyone we can complain to so they can leave us alone? This seems to be a common practice for them after I did a little bit of research on them.

Answer:
 > threatening to beat my boyfriend up

Call the police, full stop.

Keep documentation of all the shoddy work they did, and keep photos of the condition they left the property in. Keep copies of all the texts you've sent and received, including texts where you asked them to come back and finish.


Title: [VA] Got a speeding ticket while driving on a revoked license. What will happen next?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You got lucky. Stop driving.


Title: GA- What sort of legal ground are those companies that use elementary school children to sell their magazines?

Question:
Not sure if this is the proper sub for this, so sorry if it isn't.

In retrospect it seems like those companies are just employing child labor and paying them in weebles, limousine rides, and wind tunnel cash grabs. I imagine they got a huge tax write off for creating school programs too.
What sort of status lets them do this?

Answer: Are you talking about the fundraisers where the kids sell useless things to me?


Title: Ethical and Possibly Legal Dilemma here. [Medical]

Question:
I'm volunteering for a hospice company in California where i'm going to deal with a lot of primarily terminally ill patients before and while I go to EMT school and likely after aswell depending on my preference and time constraints. They offer contact hours for being a caretaker with patients.

The volunteer coordinator is a nurse and as are many of the staff at the company.

The topic of resuscitation and CPR came up, and while of course in the case of there being a DNR you don't resuscitate. The recommended and said 'even if they don't have a DNR I shouldn't attempt CPR because of how fragile they're likely to be and to allow them to pass with grace.' Along with that i'm not legally required to give CPR in a situation that calls for it if I don't present my CPR card to the company.

They also strongly encourage the hospice patients to call the hospice company themselves instead of 911. But this seems standard practice for the industry.

I am CPR certified and certified in Advanced First Aid, in the state of California it doesn't require a duty to act when i'm off duty but is this a gray area since I am working for what is a medical company?

I haven't presented my CPR card to the company and i'm here to ask am I stepping into a legal minefield here as a volunteer? Is this poor ethics?

Also, I am counted as an employee of the company within the company.

Thanks in advance

Answer:
 Usually hospice has them sign a DNR in order to be in hospice care. As a volunteer, you probably do not have access to that information and you should call the hospice nurse. It is rough but families and volunteers are not supposed to call 911 because hospice is managing their care and hospice does stuff differently.

If the family wants to call 911, then they should feel free to call 911. In that case, get on the phone to the volunteer coordinator of hospice nurse.

Each state is different with ems. In my state, I have no duty to act if I do not advertise myself as an ems provider. Hence why I am not an idiot who decks their car out with the star of life or has "paramedic 1" as a license plate. Advertising yourself as an EMT is a gray area. We have had several lawyers discuss this with us.

Hospice is a very different world. Now a DNR can be revoked. If you feel that there is a major conflict of interest and you do not feel comfortable volunteering in hospice with an emt license, you need to discuss this with the volunteer coordinator. She should be well versed with the legal liabilities since as an RN.Answer #2: I am uncertain as to your concerns. Even a doctor would let a patient pass in this type of circumstance. Your duty will not be as high.


Title: [Považská Bystrica, Slovakia and Massachusetts, USA] Guy in a Facebook group is asking for advice on obtaining child pornography on the deep web. How do I tip off the appropriate authorities?

Question:
I'm the Masshole, he's the Slovak. In a Facebook group dedicated to finding eerie content, some genius started a thread about using the "deep web" safely and quickly made it apparent that they were really asking how to obtain child pornography without being busted. Saying that they needed to fap and that drawn cartoon loli pornography wasn't cutting it anymore, saying that they needed "real people" "if you know what I mean," using a bunch of euphemisms like "cheese pizza" etc.

Luckily their name, image and hometown are readily available and they're located in Slovakia. Who in Slovakia/the EU could I inform to keep an eye on this guy? What's the best way to do it? I don't speak a word of Slovak, and explaining the euphemisms, innuendos, etc across the language barrier sounds like a minefield.

Answer:
 Slovakia is in the EU. Try Interpol:

https://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Crimes-against-children/Crimes-against-children


Title: Is this legal?

Question:
I and a friend of mine bought a rank(MVP+) on a server from a video game called Unturned. However, a couple months later, the server shut down. This week the server started up again and are bringing back ranks. Now as the ranks are being added to the server, the owner changed the ranks drastically removing benefits such as kits and commands even though when we bought the ranks it was clearly saying that the ranks were permanent. He is also adding those removed benefits to new ranks that costs more money.

[https://imgur.com/gallery/YD5xvo3](https://imgur.com/gallery/YD5xvo3)  As you can see, it says that the ranks given will not be removed, which is a promise the owner did NOT keep.  As we're writing this today, the owner has just told us that he is entitled to make changes to the ranks.  As I've said, however, these changes aren't minor. He removed massive perks such as the ability to spawn in a vehicle every 20 minutes or so, and about 10 other kits that played a huge role within the game.  The main problem for us is that we can't actually click on the terms and conditions, as the picture is from a website that lets you view other websites from the past, so we can't actually see what the terms were.

**Is there any way for us to get back what we paid for? Is it potentially possible to file a lawsuit? We're not from the UK, but we know the owner is, and that the server is there.**

 TL;DR: we bought ranks on a video game server, server shut down, the server came back up again, we still had ranks, but the owner removed like 80% of the benefits. Anything we can do?

Answer: Exactly how much did you pay for these ranks? Because that's how much you'd be entitled back *if* you had a case and *if* you won. I seriously doubt it's worth an international suit to recover that. Answer #2: You realize your ranks haven't changed, just the description of the ranks. You have no case.


Title: My niece (5 yo) is saying things about my brother that are factually untrue and a bit disturbing, and occasionally shows up with bruises on her body she doesn't want to talk about (Lancaster, PA)

Question:
This is extremely troubling and I have absolutely no idea where to turn because I have no idea what to do or where to turn without screwing up my nieces life.

My brother gets his daughter every other weekend and some holidays, and she's with her mother a majority of the time who, for lack of better words, isn't exactly the most mentally sound individual. My family (mother, father, brother) and myself live in the home we grew up in while I finish school and my brother gets settled into his new job where he'll be traveling to train people for a few months).

Her mother recently remarried to a man she hasn't known very long and since their relationship has started my niece has shown up with bruises on her body that she doesn't give a full or factual coherent story (story will change, story will have things not possible or involve fictional characters). My niece can be pretty rambunctious (what 5 year old isn't?) but despite how out of hand she can get our side of the family doesn't believe in hitting her at all to discipline.

There's been times where I've asked about bruises and she's told me that her new step-dad "tripped her", but then she'll quickly change the story to something else or just stop talking.

Her mothers side of the family openly talks negatively about my brother frequently and what I'm hearing my niece relay now is extremely disturbing. We make it the goal in our home not to mention her mother unless my niece brings her up, and only to talk about her mother positively because there's just no way in hell I'm going to lie about her mother just to make my brother seem like the "better parent".

Today my niece told me "I remember when I was a baby my daddy punched me because he thought I wasn't cute". After asking a few questions without pointing her in a direction of who told her ("Do you remember that? Did someone tell you that?) she eventually said "my mommy told me". This wouldn't be the first time that we've heard this kind of disturbing information, but would be the first time she's mentioned any kind of violence involving herself and my brother.

In the past my niece has told us stories about her mom has told her about how my brother used to hit her, which aren't true either. It seems like a grab to make herself look like the "better parent" and brainwash her child into hating her father.

My brother has never hit his child, nor has he ever hit his now ex-wife, nor does he have any history of violence or criminal record documenting any.

Their divorce was basically from my brothers depression and apathy towards his wife combined with my brother not wanting to deal with her emotional outbursts and fits of emotional rage where she'd say some pretty hurtful things. The divorce had nothing related to any sort of domestic violence.

I don't have any hard evidence that her mom or her side of the family says these things (nothing recorded, no chat logs etc.) but it just doesn't seem like something my niece would just make up. The bruises disturb me as well but without being with her I don't know the full story.

I feel powerless. We need help.

Answer:
 You should report this to cps. They are trained to question children without influencing answers.

Also, if it is allowed in the divorce decree, your brother should get her in therapy. Quickly.Answer #2: This may be an attempt to implant false memories. This could be to make an attempt to deny any custody/visitation with your brother or to create a false history of abuse try and cover up current abuse by blaming it on your brother. No matter what's going on, this needs to be reported to CPS immediately.Answer #3: Take pictures of the bruises whenever you see her.  Try to do this in an unobtrusive manner.  Here is a guide to help determine when bruises are due to child abuse.  https://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/portable_guides/abuse/bruises.html

If your suspicion is reasonable, call CPS.

Answer #4: CPS


Title: Apparently I was sued....

Question:
I am a Texas resident (born, raised, and current), but used to live in Wisconsin for about a year around 2013. I had a capital one credit card that I defaulted on and kind of forgot about/couldn't afford to pay for awhile. My life has been picking up lately and I am attempting to purchase a home. My loan officer brought up a small claims suit that was apparently filed about the time I moved from Wi back to Tx. The credit card had about $350 owed on it, now I am finding out they sued in circuit court for that amount, and won by default because I never defended myself (I never got any correspondence from anyone about it). Now I owe over $600 (according to the case file online that I managed to find).

I don't really have a problem paying the debt, but it will cut into my down payment, is there a chance that I could settle for less or am I screwed as far as flexibility? How would I go about settling this, do I just contact the lawyer that is listed on the case file?

For the record, I have paid off all of my other past due debts and my finances are looking up. I am considered 'low-income' by most standards, but I recently graduated (Undergrad) and got my first full-time entry level career worthy job.

Answer:
 >Now I owe over $600 (according to the case file online that I managed to find).

Pay your debt - if you can afford to buy a house, you can afford to pay your credit card debt. Totally fine to negotiate the amount down if the debt holder is willing to.

>I don't really have a problem paying the debt, but it will cut into my down payment

On second thought, if $600 will make a sizable hole in your down payment, you may be well advised to hold off on buying your home until you can save some more money AND improve your credit score by paying down the old debt, which will get you a better mortgage rate.