Title: My wife is asking me to sign her name on a check since she forgot to so I can drop it at the bank and pay our car loan late. How terrible an idea is this?

Question:
**Sorry LB, I should know better. - Location PA**

-----------------------------

To add some context missing from the title, out marriage has been struggling a lot lately, and even with 4 kids the word divorce has been brought up. The other night in a discussion/argument she made a point about if we split how much money I would owe her and I would need to find a good job just to pay her after years of being the stay home dad. Sounded like either some research or a consultation has at least happened. :(

Anyway, she also has a history of opening several bank accounts to get those cash bonuses for new customers, and the last couple my name somehow never makes it on the accounts and a majority of her checks are being direct deposited to those accounts. So a few times a month she needs me to take her ATM card and go withdraw money from one and add it to others.

***end background context***

Yesterday, she asked me to pull $520 from one account I without my name on it and put in different bank without my name on it. At the same time, take another $300 from that first bank and use it to pay car bill at same bank (bank #1) where at least my name is on the loan since it's "my" car. I couldn't do the car due to ATM limits, so she told me to write a check to that bank from their account (without my name on it) and just sign her name instead. I couldn't find checkbook yesterday so I didn't. She found it this morning and left it for me, but still did not sign the check and sounded very annoyed when I called and asked what to do, and told me just sign it and go pay the bill. She took the ATM card to work with her otherwise I would just do withdraw like yesterday.

Does anyone else think this sound like a setup to hit me with fraud charges if we do eventually split?  Is it at all acceptable for a spouse to sign the other's name on a check or documents (she has signed mine many times) like this? If it's not a setup, will the bank potentially look into it  on their own? Or am I just being emotional and paranoid and making a deal out of nothing (seems to be her opinion)?

Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 First off why can't you just call the finance company and pay over the phone or even online? Having multiple accounts like she does is a sign that she is hiding something from somebody. The fact that you are a stay at home dad entitles you to alimony so she will owe you money if you divorce. Answer #2: > to pay her after years of being the stay home dad. Sounded like either some research or a consultation has at least happened.

Alimony exists to support stay-at-home-parents who have given up their career to take care of the kids, not to 'pay back' the breadwinner. That is the exact opposite of what she seems to claim.


Title: Girlfriend's dog bit a child in CA, does the fact that child's family was jaywalking (running) onto sidewalk we were sitting at help us out at all?

Question:
We were having breakfast on patio seating on the sidewalk near the curb. I chose a spot close to the curb specifically so the dog wouldn't interfere with sidewalk traffic.

At some point a large family came running across the street to get to the restaurant we were at, it startled the dog, they all screamed bloody murder, and he bit one of their kids in the leg.

I'm just wondering if the fact that they were jaywalking has any effect on how this might go down legally.

This is a first time bite.

This happened in Los Angeles, CA.
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer:
 > I'm just wondering if the fact that they were jaywalking has any effect on how this might go down legally.

None whatsoever.  If your dog bites from being startled, it shouldn't be out in public.


Title: Just saw this in the local paper. Is this even legal ?

Answer: Is what even legal?


Title: My wife's ex-husband wants to move the kids... again.

Question: My wife and her ex-husband share 50/50 custody with their two children. Those are the only two children he has, but on our side, we have 5 all together. According to their divorce decree, neither of them has the exclusive right to determine residency or school, and due to this he has abused this and changed the children's schools (after we enrolled them in school close to us), or called the local principals and told them he refused to have them enrolled in the nearest schools, and moved them further from us, placing a burden on our family. Last year, we were finally able to the neighborhood where the children go to school, but now he wants to move them again, which will again place a burden on us due to school drop-offs and pick-ups. We don't make a lot of money and it would be very difficult for us to move again right now. Our oldest may even have to drop out of college because his grant may be lost. My question is, is there any way we can keep him from moving the children out of their current schools? If so, what documents can we file? Unfortunately, due to our situation we cannot afford a lawyer, and unfortunately, we don't qualify for any probono programs, so my wife is representing herself through all of this. There's currently a social study expected, but it won't happen until March. US, TX.

Answer:
 NAL

Sounds like your wife needs to [file for a modification](https://texaslawhelp.org/toolkit/modification-i-need-change-custody-visitation-or-support-order),  show the judge that the ex’s actions are destabilising for the children, and ask for sole decision making in education.

Most judges will not appreciate a parent arbitrarily moving schools solely to inconvenience the other parent. Ensure she has evidence that proves the move was not for educational reasons.

In the meantime, she also has 50% of decision making. Flatly refuse to allow another move, and tell him to file in court if he wants the change.Answer #2: Can you possibly petition the court to expedite stuff?

Request an emergency hearing with the court that determined the guidelines that your wife and her ex are supposed to follow to ask for clarification. Answer #3: Hiring an attorney might be expensive, but it's cheaper than the alternatives of moving. This is something that's worth working some extra shifts, or picking up a side job.


Title: My parents were delivered a court summons today over debt (I think) while I was home by myself. Is this a big deal?

Question:
My parents don’t talk to me or my sister about pretty much anything but I do know that times are tough or whatever the phrase is, people saying they’re from collection agencies call a decent amount, I’ve seen my dad talking to a lawyer at his business a few times, etc. . Some old guy rung the doorbell today and handed me summons to appear in court with XYZ Pediatrics over what I’m guessing has something to do with a sisters recent surgery.

I haven’t read the papers but I really want to even though I know I shouldn’t, but I do wanna know the gravity of the situation since I don’t get told anything. Is this relatively common place or is shit pretty much fucked?

Answer: They are getting sued. Don't read the papers. This isn't your business.  If they want to not tell you about their finances that's their choice.


Title: Going 84 in a 55 [AR]

Question: I am 17 and I got a citation for speeding, I was going 84mph and the speed limit was 55mph. I know, I'm dumb. This is the first time I've ever been pulled over. He didn't necessarily say anything about reckless driving and the ticket shows Arkansas statute 27-50-302(a)(7) which is speeding more than 15mph over limit.  I think he didn't write is down as reckless driving because the statute would be 27-50-302(a)(2) then. Can anyone tell me what to expect to come from this as far as fines and stuff going on my driving record.

Answer:
 That's a misdemeanor (class C), meaning it's not a traffic ticket, it's a criminal offense, and you'd be best served by retaining the services of a traffic attorney.

Looks like maximum penalties are up to 30 days in jail and/or up to $500 in fines, though jail time is unlikely, even more unlikely with a traffic attorney representing you.


Title: My brother was emotionally abused on a mission trip by the youth pastor, what can be done?

Question:
I wanted to post this last night, but now I have a cooler head.

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I want to write a disclaimer saying that not everything has been confirmed as factual as the account came from my brother who was on the phone practically sobbing and there is a chance something was not heard properly.

&#x200B;

My brother has been on a mission trip out of state and last night he's calling us weeping saying that the youth pastor (YP) and another leader had forced him into solitude as punishment for having a polaroid camera on him. He told us that the YP had told the entire group that my brother would be kicked from the trip and that they had emailed my parents (which they lied about, my parents never received anything). Basically publically humiliating him when the fact was that they weren't going to send him home. Regardless, the YP told him to basically stay by himself the entire day not being able to interact with the other people. This is what I'm not sure about because he said this mid-sob, he told me that the other participants were instructed not to speak to him and/or vice versa. He was sobbing because he even had to make this phone call in secret. Additionally, when my parents were upset and getting ready to call the YP, my brother pleaded with them not to as he was fearful of what else could happen to him if they knew that he had made this illegal call. I'll be honest and say that I'm absolutely livid that my brother is being treated this way by someone in a position of power who shouldn't act this way. I understand that allegedly he broke a rule, but to drive a person to absolute despair and to put a minor in essentially solitary confinement makes my blood boil. I don't understand how a person could act this way to another person's child. It makes sense that if he did really do something wrong that they'd contact my parents and let them know what's up, not belittle him and confine him by himself. This isn't discipline, this is emotional abuse in my opinion.

I only wanted to post this up because I'm almost 80% sure the church is not going to bat an eyelash because they have a history of telling people that it's "God's will" and they try to brush it under the rug. I want to be able to tell the YP that we're going to take this to court or something like that.  Essentially making sure that they understand that this is a serious situation and not something that they can just brush under the rug.

&#x200B;

So is there anything that can be done?

Please let me know if y'all have any questions or if there's anything y'all want me to clarify.

Answer: "They were mean to me and grounded me because I broke a rule" does not strike me as actionable emotional abuse.


Title: Former apartment complex sent my info to debt collector when I had overpaid. HOUSTON, TX

Question:
Well nearly two years ago my girlfriend and I were forced to move due to our old complex being demolished. So we start apartment hunting and ended up going with SummerCove apartments as they were definitely in out budget and was a loft style set-up (later learned that's a terrible idea) in Houston,TX.

Anyways, due to the previous complex being torn down, and former management being uncooperative, it was nearly impossible to get a copy of my renters history, so I was told by an employee of Summercove I would be required to pay 1st & last months rent, should have been prorated, but was told $1610 along with my security deposit of $150, pet deposit of $100  (x2), and typical admin and app fees.

I paid rent on time every month and only had issues when my roof collapsed (more on that later)

I put in 60 days notice (120 days really, as my roof collapsed and I was not relocated or given a rent reduction and it wasn't fixed FOR 3 MONTHS! so I lived in a black mold infested apartment, until I could afford a hotel, all while still paying my regular rent ON TIME.

Anyways, come the last days of my lease I am told I am required to pay my pro rated rent (9 days of $805), so $241, and request a walk through which I was told was not needed and was never allowed to sign end of lease papers. I did turn in keys and gate entry device.

Fast forward to June 2016, I begin receiving calls from a very harassing and rude debt collector stating I owe for last months rent and reletting fees ($684).

So I go to the complex,  and request a copy of my lease, after finding all the documents to support my overpayment for the first and last months rent, as they should have both been prorated, as well as multiple violations on their part. and learn that I should have only been required to pay $150+pet deposits, which they only stated I paid for one, and there was no mention of an up front payment of last months rent in the lease.

After refusing to pay the collection agency and even getting a letter from the complex that I have a 0 balance and they even verbally stated that they were aware they owed me. The collection agency still charged my credit for this. Dropping it nearly 200 points as I had very few accounts.

I'm disputing these with multiple credit bureaus, but is there any way to be paid back for my overpayment? I have the cashiers checks to prove the intitial over payment as well as the check stub from the last prorated I was "required" to pay

tl;dr overpaid deposit, never got a copy of lease, paid rent on time every time, even overpaid the final months of prorated, got sent to a debt collector, refused to pay as I knew I gave notice and paid last months rent, finally got lease and learned that I overpaid by almost $1300-$1400, apartment wrote letter stating I had a zero balance, and debt collection agency still hit credit. how do I get my money back?

EDIT: I talked to the manager and I have to go and prove payment for the second month of rent which they are calling the "first".

Answer: What happened when you asked for your money back?


Title: Mum and dad going through a divorce, I didn't want to get involved but now the house might be sold I don't want to leave my friends and family.

Question:
He's requested for the house to be sold, for all his debts to be paid off (around 90,000), and then be split 60/40 with 60% going to my mum.

I've just read the affidavit my dad signed, he claimed he hasn't been working, denied all accounts of physical abuse which I've witnessed, and numerous other things. I know that he's been working for cash through out the year and has saved at least 100k value in cars. I don't know what other information I can provide but can someone tell me what I should do? I love both my parents but my mum shouldn't have to move from our home of 15+ years, nor do I want to move away from this area where we wouldn't be able to find another home. My whole life is here, could someone please give me advice.

Answer:
 There's nothing you can do, nor should do.  Most everything that happens in a divorce is agreed upon by both parties.  Whatever *isn't* agreed upon will be handled by a judge.  I can almost guarantee you the judge would order the house sold if no agreement could be reached

I know it sucks, but both parents (and the court) will try to make this transition as easy as possible for you.  It won't be ideal, but you'll make it through.  I speak from experience- my parents divorced right as I was getting ready to start high school.


Title: (OH) I'm a CCW holder and a lease prohibits firearms.

Question:
An apartment I'm looking for has the following line in the lease:

> Firearms of any kind are prohibited anywhere on the premises.

However, Ohio code [2923.126\(C\)\(3\)\(b\)](http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2923.126) reads:
>A landlord may not prohibit or restrict a tenant who is a licensee...from lawfully carrying or possessing a handgun on those residential premises.

If I sign the lease, does that supersede Ohio law on the issue, or does the law still allow me to conceal carry in the apartment?

Answer: There are exceptions to 2923.126(C)(3)(b) (e.g. it doesn't apply to property owned by a school/college.)  Unless one of those exceptions applies, the lease term wouldn't be enforceable.  Still, it's clear the landlord doesn't want guns owners around and pissing off your landlord isn't going to help you.  Suppose the next place you rent wants a reference letter?


Title: Should I ask my landlord to update our lease? (Arkansas)

Question:
I've rented a duplex (in Arkansas) with my boyfriend for 5.5 years. We signed a basic, one year lease, and we've been month to month since then. Our landlord is really great, and I have no complaints. Our duplex is in a little "duplex community." There are 15 or so duplexes on the same street, owned by the same guy. He has started updating the buildings from cheap carpet, to wood floors as people move out. We have 2 dogs and gross carpet, and our landlord agreed to go ahead and update our floors to the new wood floors now, while we live there, as long as we pay half. He said the flooring company estimates that it will be around $500 per person, but he will show us the final bill so that we can pay exactly half of the actual costs. We are totally fine with that arrangement, as we pay about $250 a year to have the carpets cleaned. We are saving to buy our own house, but that purchase is years down the road, so we have no plans on moving any time soon. We figure this will save us money in the long run, since we won't have to pay someone to clean the carpets anymore. Plus, the new floors will make life so much easier.

However, last night I was thinking about it, and I'm thinking we need to do something to protect ourselves. From what I understand, Arkansas has the worst tenant protection laws, and even though we are great renters, there is legally nothing stopping our landlord from taking our money for the new flooring, and then immediately giving us notice to leave, right? I doubt he would do this, but I like to know what I'm getting myself into.

My question is, can I ask our landlord if we can sign another 1 year lease? Or can he break the lease any time, as long as we get the legally required notice (which I believe is 30 days or less, depending on circumstances)? Like I said, I really don't think this will be an issue, but I just want to make sure.

Answer:
 > there is legally nothing stopping our landlord from taking our money for the new flooring, and then immediately giving us notice to leave, right?

Correct.

> My question is, can I ask our landlord if we can sign another 1 year lease?

Yes, this would be the smartest move on your part.

> Or can he break the lease any time, as long as we get the legally required notice

if you sign a one year lease, you can live there for one year - presuming you follow the other parts of the lease of course.


Title: Get rid of car or daughter?

Question: My daughter, 25, purchased a car and I co-signed. She was making payments for a few months but stopped so I had to make them. There have been no missed payments. I have possession of the car. If I stopped making the payments altogether, what effect will it have on her credit? I guess my question is -- as a co-signer, who primarily owns the car and if we both do, is the responsibility for the payments 50/50, or will she take the brunt of credit hit?

Answer:
 You co-signed. The whole point of that was that you agreed to pay if she didn’t. It’s your obligation too.

It will absolutely hurt both of your credit scores.Answer #2: The fun thing about cosigning is that if he name is on the title, that's her car and you still have to pay. That's the whole thing about being a cosigner. The entire purpose is that you are held responsible, must pay, and will face financial consequences if payments aren't made.Answer #3: You are both responsible for the payments.   Both of your credit ratings will take a big hit.

You can sue her for the money you have paid out.  If your name is not on the title, you have no right to keep the car.Answer #4: Don't do it. You both agreed to continue car payments. You're in the hook, creditwise, as much as she is.


Title: Roommate from hell

Question: Hey guys, not really sure what to do about this situation so I’m coming to you. My roommate is an absolute nightmare. She breaks my things, pours food on my furniture, breaks windows, and is now refusing to pay bills. Our landlord gave her an eviction notice last month, but she has completely shutdown and won’t move out. She’s constantly showing aggressive and violent behavior, to the point that our other roommate hasn’t slept here in over a month. Please let me know what I can do, thanks!

Answer:
 Your landlord needs to move forward with the eviction.  Check with them for the current status.

If this roommate does something that directly threatens your well-being, let the police know.


Title: [TX] I live next to a house that is decreasing my property value, making snakes, rodents and bugs come into my property, and is in complete violation

Question:
This house has been vacant for 10+ years, the owner's address is listed as a PO box and wont reply to any letters that lawyers, realtors, and concerned neighbors send.

The front yard is probably mowed once a year maximum and the back yard grass goes to the top of the fence.

The HOA "president" says that I will be arrested if I go into their yard and says that they cannot do anything about the house.

I've called the city code violation countless times and all they do is put a notice on the house's garage, nothing ever comes out of that...

I don't know what I can/can't do with that house, it really seems hopeless.

I just want to hear your guy's ideas since I'm sure a lot of you know way more than I do about all these things.

What actions should I take against the owner(s)/city/HOA?

Edit: Removed the pictures of the house. Words can't even describe how bad it looks...

Answer:
 This sounds really strange. Usually an HOA would be going apeshit over something like this. Maybe the owner is the president's cousin or something.

I'd contact the city or county zoning/planning/ officials or even fire marshal about this. It looks like you have already done some of this- if you aren't getting answers, contact your city councilman or county commissioner. It could be declared a nuisance property and abatement would be undertaken typically. It's a public health hazard.Answer #2: it's not hard to find texas lawyers who specialize in HOA issues. you'd probably be able to get a free consultation.


Title: [Ohio] Going through divorce, wife refuses to take on new job with benefits expects more alimony to cover her.

Question: I'm in the middle of a divorce (dissolution) and we are trying to work out alimony and division of assets/debt. My wife currently works part\-time but has indicated that she will be taking on a second part\-time job rather than looking for a full time position with benefits. My total take home income last year was just under $75,000. The lawyer she met with and that is working on the dissolution told her that she should get $2700 per month in spousal support, Child support is $350. That seems insane to me and I'm refusing to pay that much. She is under the impression that I should have to pay her more because she is choosing a second part time job and then will have to pay out of pocket for insurance. Are there any legal grounds that would require her to seek full time employment rather than requiring me to pay more? Also what is a reasonable amount of alimony based on my income?

Answer:
 You can't require her to get a particular type of job, but unless she has a good reason not to (e.g., child care) then it will be taken into consideration when awarding spousal support.

Are you keeping the child on your insurance (you should be)?

>she should get $2700 per month in spousal support, Child support is $350

Those amounts both seem way off -- child support too low, spousal support too high.

Also you need to negotiate the length of support; these days, spousal support is usually not for life or until remarriage.

>Also what is a reasonable amount of alimony based on my income?

How much is she making per year now?  How much does she think she will make with two jobs?  How long were you married?

ETA: Also, if you are keeping the child/children on your insurance, how much does that cost you per year?Answer #2: You should also speak to an attorney.Answer #3: Ive only read alittle of this thread but ive gotten to the point i can firmly say to you.
***stop***
***get a divorce lawyer now*** and stop DIYing itAnswer #4: Ohio judges generally do not order alimony after short-term marriages of less than five years. In long-term marriages of 20 years or more, a judge may enter an open-ended alimony order with no termination date. Most commonly, courts order alimony equal to about a year of support for each three years of the marriage.

(Source: https://info.legalzoom.com/spouse-receive-alimony-divorced-ohio-21174.html)

Under the formula, alimony is set at 30 percent of the higher-earning spouse's income, minus 20 percent of the lower-earning spouse's, as long as the recipient doesn't end up with more than 40 percent of the couple's combined income.

(Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/04/opinion/04harwin.html)

https://www.divorcenet.com/resources/divorce/spousal-support/understanding-and-calculating-alimony-oh


Title: Landlord Withdrew money from my account without permission

Question:
Hi Everyone.

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I currently live in a townhouse in Florida and rent from a couple. The husband is the one thats been handling the day to day interactions and taking care of any issues.

&#x200B;

When we moved in, the dishwater was leaking and needed to be fixed. Our landlord decided not to pay someone to fix it and tried to do it himself. He forgot to turn off the water and broke a pipe and caused flooding throughout the house. We were gone when this happened but all our carpets were ruined and he even went into our bathroom and used all our towels to wipe it up. He then left our rugs out in the backyard to dry (we were away on vacation) and when we came back, we had about two storms that went through and destroyed the rugs.

&#x200B;

He wouldn't admit what had happened. His wife had to talk to us and take care of everything. She was kind enough to take off the cost of cleaning the rugs from our rent.

&#x200B;

A few weeks later we started having leaks again. After multiple reach outs, we finally got him to agree to stop by our house at a specified time to look at it (we told him after the last incident that we want to be home when he's there.) He ended up coming to the house an hour early (we were at work) and didn't want to wait so he went in the house anyways. We were very angry with him at this point because we literally spoke with him and told him we don't want him in the house by himself.

&#x200B;

We pay our rent every 15th of the month. This last months rent, he gave us the wrong banking information and the transactions didn't go through. We notified him and he said to go to the bank and deposit it in another account. We went ahead and did that and just today we saw he went back in and withdrew another month's rent from our account. We called and spoke with him and he said its for last month. We told him that we already gave it to him as he told us to go the bank. He then said "well, you will owe me rent from next month anyways." Is he legally allowed to withdraw money from our account without permission? We have never missed a payment and have never given permission to take money.

Answer: Is there a reason that you gave him access to your account to withdraw money in the first place? I usually just mail a check or turn in cash/money order and get a physical receipt when paying rent. That way I don't have to deal with this kind of fuckery.


Title: Should I email my probation officer?

Question:
On Tuesday I have a probation violation hearing. In January of 2015, I was sentenced to 2 years of probation for a misdemeanor DUI in MN. In July of 2016, I was arrested for possession of Marijuana in Iowa and convicted in October. I served a week in jail in November for the possession of marijuana.

I know probation violations for drugs are very serious and I am wondering if I should email my probation officer and ask if I can avoid jail time. I am pretty much willing to do anything other than jail.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: What are the terms of your probation? Usually you have to report any contact with law enforcement. You should have talked to him back in July...


Title: Possible medical malpractice against chiropractor in Arizona.

Question:
Hello, I am inquiring for my sister. I want to know if this could be a medical malpractice situation and if so how to prepare for a visit with a lawyers.

Basically my sister(age 29) was suffering from a migraine and neck pain for a week. She decided to visit a chiropractor. The chiropractor did an adjustment along with neck manipulation. A few days later my sister had a stroke. The MRIs showed a dissection(a tear) in one of the arteries in her neck. It also showed she had small veins on the other side of her neck(genetically smaller). She doesn't have a history of blood clots but is/was a smoker and used birth control( both of which I know can cause clots)

Her Dr's at the ER, the Neuro ICU and regular attending physicians all stated they believe that the chiropractor either caused the tear or loosened a blood clot which caused the stroke. She was in the ICU for a few days, I believe a total of 5 days in the hospital. She lost the vision in one eye temporally, its almost fully back but trouble with peripheral vision. She has to wear a neck brace for 3 months and has lifting restrictions. She currently works a retail job but they won't schedule her because she cannot lift bags for carry outs for customers( they say it is a strict requirement). So she has been off work since the beginning of October. Her work doesn't have short term disability or sick days.

What I am wondering is, is this a medical malpractice suit?
What steps do we take to pursue it if it is?
Is there something we can do about her employer refusing to accommodate her for medical condition?
Is it legal for them to not schedule her or accommodate her temporarily for her condition?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance for reading and/or replying.

TLDR: Sister had a stroke, Drs say it was caused by chiropractor, her employer is not accommodating her, what to do next?
Topic:
Medicine and Malpractice

Answer:
 > What I am wondering is, is this a medical malpractice suit?

Medical malpractice is fact-specific.  You'll need to speak to a medmal attorney for a good read.

Medical malpractice, though, isn't merely that something went wrong as a result of the treatment.  It requires a finding that the doctor violated the standard of care.  In short, if the chiropractor's actions were appropriate, based upon your sister's medical history and presentation, it's not malpractice - even if she suffers damage from it.


Title: I'm 21, and tried to go to an adult out patient center for mental health treatment, and the center said that they needed my legal guardians permission in order to do anything.

Question:
When I was a baby my biological mother let another person take care of me, because at the time she wasn't mentally, stably, and financially fit to do so. So long story short my now legal guardian went to the courts, and got legal guardianship of me.

After I turned 18 (21 currently) I've had no issues, and no one asking for my legal guardians permission to do anything (including medically of course). The only issue I've had is with this particular care center. I told them what that I've never had this issue before, and they said "this is behavior health, it's different". So I waited while they tried to call her, and it didn't work at which point I said I'd find someplace else, and walked out.

So are they in the right? I don't think so. I read [here](http://www.flcourts.org/resources-and-services/family-courts/guardianship.stml) that "Florida law requires the court to appoint a guardian for minors in circumstances where the parents die or become incapacitated, or if a child receives an inheritance or proceeds of a lawsuit or insurance policy exceeding the amount allowed by statute." Which makes sense when I was a minor, but I'm not anymore, and my legal guardian never attempted to peruse legal guardianship for me as a adult afaik.

Location: Florida

Also sorry if flair is wrong. Don't know what it would fall under as.

EDIT: If it matters I'm on medicaid.

Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: It sounds like ~~the~~ they want someone to co-sign on your contract with the center so they can have a better chance at being paid. This is 100% legal for them to do.


Title: Could you sue your own child?

Question: Me and my friends got into a debate about this and now I'm really curious. If suing a minor is effectively suing their legal guardian if you sued your own child, who you were the legal guardian of, what would happen? Is that even possible?

Answer:
 >If suing a minor is effectively suing their legal guardian

Well, there's your mistake. That isn't correct. Infancy is not generally a defence in tort.


Title: Me (15) my mom and my boyfriend (18) were going to move but now my moms in jail however me and my boyfriend still plan on leaving is it possible to go about this without any charges on his part?

Question: A quick backstory about 8 months ago my boyfriend moved in with me and my mom in Louisiana but about 6 months later we all decided to go to Georgia (where my boyfriends from) but now my moms in jail and has been for a couple months is there anything me and my boyfriend can do to leave without him getting charged with kidnapping? Can my mom write a letter saying I can go with him? Or am I screwed until she gets out or until I turn 18

Answer:
 Your boyfriend could be charged with a vast number of things. Including statutory rape if you two are doing anything.

Age of consent in both states is 16. As a minor you’re still under your parent’s authority.


Title: [OH] Landlord won't give us deposit, itemized list of damages, or his address so that we can file small claims. Can we send court documents to rental house?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Do you have his business address? Send a certified letter demanding return of your security deposit to the _last known_ address of the landlord. How have you been paying rent? If through a 3rd party you might be able to get their customer service to give you his address.

Edit: After 7 days of sending the letter and no response, you can file in small claims without an address and the court clerk can usually locate it using public records.


Title: Can an apartment lease be void if the apartment management misled the tenant?

Question:
I'm writing this on behalf of my girlfriend. She signed a one year lease with an apartment complex after seeing a model apartment. The agent led her to believe that the apartment she would be moving would be the same but with a few changes. She was okay with all the changes in the layout that was communicated before moving. After moving in, she found that the kitchen is missing a few shelves and has less functional space on the counter. **This part was not communicated when the agent showed her the model apartment.** This is a large apartment communite in the bay area and I'm hoping that this is a misunderstanding and not some bait and switch tactic. She hasn't spoken to the management yet and plans to do that tomorrow. I'm posting this here so we know what options are on the table as a renter. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 Help me understand why you think a few missing shelves and less counter space in the kitchen amounts to baiting and switching?

To answer your question: no, missing shelves and reduced counter space do not in any way give rise to a legitimate reason to void an apartment lease.


Title: [WI] Is keeping my dad's biker vest a risk?

Question:
My dad was a legit outlaw biker. He was a member of a club that had wars with the Hells Angels and had the national leader on the FBI most wanted list.

He was killed last year in a motorcycle accident. His 'brothers' gave me his vest with the patch and all that. I have kept it in my closet with a few of his other things (pictures, birth certificate, military records).

My girlfriend found it when cleaning and wants me to get rid of it. She thinks it's a risk I own it. I own a motorcycle and a gun (legally). The only 'criminal' activity I do is we possess and smoke a little amount of marijuana (still illegal in Wisconsin). But I never wear the vest or hang out with the 'brothers' or affiliate with them. Seeing them at the funeral was the first time I had seen them in a decade  probably. Girlfriend is afraid we will get raided by the police and I'll get sent to prison for a long time under a RICO thing. Is this possible?

Answer:
 >  She thinks it's a risk I own it.

A risk of what, exactly?

>Girlfriend is afraid we will get raided by the police and I'll get sent to prison for a long time under a RICO thing.

For owning a jacket?  Your girlfriend needs to watch less crime dramas.


Title: Someone creating fake dating accounts

Question: [deleted]

Answer: No, not from the legal side of things. There are some creative ways one bored individual might try to discern who is messing with them, but the easiest thing you can do is change your phone number and not answer calls from unknown numbers. You can report any CL ads with your details to the website administrator.


Title: Can a school district require a social security card for enrollment? (Missouri)

Question:
Hi, so for our daughter to enroll in her new school, they want  a copy of her ss card. She's 6, and the ss office wanted *her* to have a photo id. School starts in 2 days, there's no way we can get it together by then. The internet says they can't require a number, but if we provided a number do we have to provide the card in order for her to attend?

*And im asking here instead of the school because from experience i know it's a lot easier to tell the secretary the law, than to ask and have her get stuck on whatever her opinion is. I thought we'd have this together  until the ID issue came up.

Answer:
 The SSN is not to be used as an method of identification (eyeroll). But someone does not have to have one until they become an employee and have to pay SS tax.

Except they want the actual card?! That's ridiculous.Answer #2: They want her to have a state ID?
Or a school one?


Title: Need to communicate a concern for a family member straight to his/her doctor

Question:
Hi, I have a sibling that I am medically concerned about. I need to talk to his/her doctor directly. Assuming I know his/her doctor, can said doctor legally accept and take action upon the concern that I have?

Thank you for the help.

Topic:
Medicine and Malpractice

Answer:
 The doctor can't give you any information, but you can volunteer as much information to the doctor as you like. A letter seems like a better format for this than a personal conversation, because the doctor will not want to talk to you.

The doctor can legally act on that information, sure. It's hard to predict whether he will--he might not consider it prudent, if it's different from his own impression.


Title: [UK] My father past away. We cannot find the will, if there is none my mother will be the default inheritor. This was not his wish, I'm afraid he died before completing a will.

Question:
Long story short, my mother is a paranoid schizophrenic, psychological abuser, liar, gold digger who cares about nothing but what she gets in life. She once kidnapped me and took me abroad as a toddler. She had a history of being locked away for schizophrenic behavior. She is on benefits, lives an easy paid for life and just spends her money on expensive "anything". My visits to her often reach conversions regarding how much money she will get and then her talking about her gold jewelry. They have been separated for over 15 years.

My father who I have had a wonderful life and relationship with, past away two days ago and I am so afraid that my mother is going to receive everything he has and just spend it on expensive clothes and jewelry in a week. He has always told me that she will not receive anything and that he will find a way to make sure I do, he told his friends and his brother this too. It came up in recent conversions as he had been feeling off. He was also quite slow and busy at the time, his death was sudden and unexpected.
The one lawyer we know he has a contact number on his phone with has no record of a will. We are not sure if he used a different agency but in the worst case scenario what can I do to challenge my mothers default under marriage inheritance?

Also just a few notes. I am 25 years old, I am not financially dependent on my father in any way. I live and work abroad and I'm currently looking for a home with an already authorized mortgage based on my own finances. This is simply a matter of my father rolling in his grave at the thought of her getting anything. This is the one thing he didn't want and it was a frequent topic in recent conversation.

Answer:
 If they are judicially separated she does not inherit.  Otherwise, she will get [almost everything](http://srb.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/04/SRBwmfdsp.pdf) unless you can find a will.

And this, boys & girls, is why you should ALL have a will.  Yes even if you don't expect to die for a long time.  Because tomorrow a ton of bricks could fall on your head.  Are you sure you want your separated spouse/parent to inherit everything, including all your personal things?  Including your porn collection?  No?  Then *write a will*.

This has been brought to you by the letters DO IT.Answer #2: I'm sorry for your loss. If your father were that serious about his wife not inheriting his property, he would have actually made a will during those 15 years, as well as actually divorce her. Talking about it does nothing. Were they legally separated? Answer #3: Obligatory, try /r/legaladviceUK as well.


Title: Car stolen by abusive ex-boyfriend recovered, police failed to notify me

Question:
Almost 3 weeks ago (August 2nd 2017) I left my abusive boyfriend. He had been driving my old car, an '03 Chevy, so I requested that he return my car and its keys but he refused. The next day I was granted a temporary restraining order against him.
He had forced me to take out a title loan on the car for $910. I've paid some of the loan, it's somewhere around $750 right now (not sure of the exact amount due to interest accrual). The car is titled and registered in my name so on August 5th (Saturday) I reported it stolen with West Allis Police Department. West Allis is a suburb of Milwaukee, WI and the last place I saw the car. They filed the report and said they'd let me know if there were any developments and that I would get a call if/when the car was found.

Two weeks went by, I was granted a permanent domestic violence restraining order against my ex on August 17th. I spoke to his friend and asked her to return the car and the other things he stole from me (ps4, laptop, modem, etc) and I would return the TV and clothes he left in my car. She claimed the car had been stolen from him and they no longer had it. He has (or had?) the only set of keys to the car, I don't have any keys.

On August 18th I called the West Allis PD officer who filed the initial report and gave him my ex's friend's address (the one who said it was stolen from them) as a possible location of the car. He returned my call Sunday morning (8/20) and left a message that the car had been recovered "about a week ago" by Milwaukee PD. They never called me, never left a voicemail, nothing. I'd even given my mom's cell number as a secondary number to reach me at when I filed the report, they didn't call her either.

So now I owe several hundred to the title loan place and I owe $630 to the towing company for impound storage for the time between when it was recovered and now, even though I was not aware of it. Can I surrender the car to the title loan company instead of paying it? Is it better to just leave it in impound and pay the loan instead? Is it possible to get the fees waived because I'm the victim of a crime?

Ideally I'd like to get the car out of impound, somehow get a key made for it (?), and sell it to my brother who is in need of a car. The plan was to have him pay off the title loan and that would suffice as him buying it. If that's not possible, I need to figure out what my other options are.

Answer: You need to pay off the impound lot ASAP and recover the car. You can sue exbf for the expense to take possession of it


Title: Use of iSpy images?

Question:
Hello there Reddit! I have sort of an odd question for everyone here on r/legaladvice. I want to use the iSpy books (if anyone remembers these bad boys) images and blow up the size and basically print them on different things for commercial resale. I was wondering if I should go ahead and email the publisher for permission or that a shot in the dark, or how does it work?

Thank you guys!
(P.S I'm here in the United States)

Answer:
 > I was wondering if I should go ahead and email the publisher for permission

Yup, that's how the process starts. The publisher will either:

- Own the copyright
- Do not own the copyright, but own sufficient rights to sub-license
- Do not own the copyright

With the former two options, you would be able to strike a deal directly with the publisher to license the works. However, if they do not own the copyright and do not have the rights to license the work to you, they will need to refer you to the copyright holder.


Title: Follow up: Employer asked me to provide private financial documents and/or violate NDA from previous employer in order to get a promotion (Texas)

Question:
This is a follow up post to my previous post found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/8i67sa/my_employer_asked_me_to_turn_over_personal/?st=JHEWKOX6&sh=1ded9b88

QUICK RECAP: I was up for a promotion to a senior leadership role and my boss asked me to provide personal financial documents from my wife and mine’s private businesses or examples of work from previous employment (where I had signed an NDA) in order to prove I had a specific “business planning” skill set they were looking for - despite multiple years of employment with this company where I’ve displayed a variety of skills in this area. I gave them a handful of heavily redacted documents and was told it wasn’t enough, I pushed back and said that was all I’d be willing to provide without additional information regarding who would be seeing these and how they would be stored/disposed after being reviewed.

UPDATE: I did not get that promotion. In fact, I was told by my boss (the Senior Vice President who made the original request) to seek employment elsewhere in the company. He hasn’t come out and said it, but I get the sense that they are not happy that I pushed back the way I did and that I’ve essentially been fired from the company unless I can find another spot to land in the near future. He’s made it clear he will be looking to backfill my role in the next month or two. So it looks like I’ve been blacklisted from his division, and if I can’t find work elsewhere I’ll be released from the company altogether.

Luckily I’m in otherwise good standing in the company and don’t anticipate having an issue finding another role, however it’s not likely to be at a similar level (I am a Director but was up for a Vice President position - and there aren’t any open Director/VP roles at the moment). However the rumor mill has already started and I’m hearing that my boss has already started to go around badmouthing me to various departments already, which could also impact my ability to seek employment elsewhere in the company.

**My question is, does any of this behavior constitute retaliation and would open me up to any type of legal recourse if I’m unable to find another job in the company or am forced to accept a demotion in order to stay? What are my options here?**

I know most will say to just leave the company and forget about it, but this is a high paying senior level job and they don’t exactly grow on trees around my city (I don’t live in a major metropolitan area like Houston or Dallas where you can throw a rock and hit a dozen Fortune 500 companies).

Answer: No, it sounds unfortunate, but doesn’t sound like retaliation. At least not the illegal kind; most workplace retaliation is legal, even if unfair and/or petty.


Title: [California] I think my employer is doing something illegal with my wages.

Question:
I am a pool attendant, who is paid as a contractor for the pool I'm working for hourly.  My employer keeps saying that I am not doing the job that I am doing, and I should be paid less than the amount of time I was at work.

For example, last Friday was an event night at the pool, and I stayed until closing, which was more than 3 hours past my scheduled closing time. Because it was an event night, I basically set on the movie for the audience and went back into the office to do homework on my computer while the movie played out. During this time, I planned to put the pool cover on but when I went out to do it, it had already been done by my boss.

Later in an email from my boss' boss asking about why I had such long hours that night, my boss said that she did the work for me, and as such, I should only be paid till my scheduled closing time. She has also expressed her lament that I am not doing my job, and I should also receive a lower wage for that reason.

Because I am employed as a contractor, and this is my first job, I do not know what rights I have and can use, and whether I should bring this up with my boss. I still have not received my paycheck(but it is on the way), so I do not know if I was paid incorrectly or not. What actions can/should I take regarding this matter? I do not want to be short changed, nor do I want to damage my relationship with my boss(es).

Answer:
 > who is paid as a contractor

Well, first, you're obviously an employee rather than a contractor, so your boss is already cheating on your wages by treating you as a contractor.

> which was more than 3 hours past my scheduled closing time

You should work only your scheduled hours unless there's a direct and unambiguous order from your boss to stay later.  Even if it seems like there is still work to be done.

As for the rest, you will have to wait and check out your paystub and see what it says.  You should probably keep a logbook of your scheduled and worked hours, and reconcile it with your paystubs, which you should retain.


Title: do forgotten about mortgages expire? NY How screwed are we?

Question:
Hi everyone,

I think i am in deep trouble, my late father had a second mortgage against the house from 1993 ~50 k with 10 % interest. it was with his coowner and brother in law. no payments were made since then except two promissory payments, last of which was in 2009. He used the money to renovate our portion of the house and increase its value etc. He on top of this spent few hundred thousand dollars on the house since then but was not compensated for half of it yet. he built an additional floor, took care of maintenance and upkeep of the house (boiler tune ups plumbing leaks etc, ac repair etc septic tank etc) . Unfortunately he did not have time to negotiate a payment in kind and for go the interest peacefully with his family when he was alive.  I would like to just settle who paid what in a peaceful way,  without interest, and move on with life.the verbal agreement agreement was whatever was to be done on the house would be split 50 50. While he has textbooks of receipts and thousands of labor hours recorded none of them were agreed to paid with 10 % interest. And now that i think about it there is no written agreement of the 50-50.  So I need to be ready if they want to collect interest.

my question in short, what causes the 6 year statue of limitations in NY on mortgages? What I understand their needs to be a formal letter causing the debt to be 'accelerated', is this true?

are there any other methods for the clock to start besides this? it is written the agreement that he would start making payments after his first mortgage on the house with the bank was settled. that was back in 01-03. I hope to god, that means 30 days after that he is considered in default. but who determines that?

Surely a bank can't keep on to a house indefinitely and call the debt after 20-30 years once the interest rate has made it impossible to pay?  No invoices of any kind were ever sent.

Thank you so much

Answer: There's your deceased father, his BIL, and apparently another person.  Who is that person?  I can't really make heads or tails of what you're talking about.


Title: [US|AZ] Landlord who's an Attorney is try to evict me, only 20 and first time I've rented. IDK if I'm being taken advantage of.

Question:
My landlord, who is an attorney, put a court notice to appear in court to sue and evict me on my door this morning at 1am. I was in a year lease for 12 months and I never missed a payment. I was confused about the end date and thought It ended on December 31. The lease specified that it ended on the end of November.

My landlord is terrible at communicating with me. During the time, I was in lease around he stopped responding to me On August 8th, 9 months into the lease. I had been texting him prior to that and receiving responses. I went the next five months without hearing from him despite quite a few complaints to him. The weeds in the back yard grew to a height of over 4 feet (landscaping was his responsibility in the lease) and I had to pay a friend to mow my back yard as I don't have a lawnmower or yard tools. Things were broken and I had to replace them myself, ei. (front door lock seized, light fixture fell out of the ceiling in the laundry room, both the water handles stripped and fell off in one of the bathroom showers, gutters had been filled with dirt since I moved in) and I had notified him of the gutters when I first moved in. He owes me $200 that I paid for a cleaning service to happen before I moved into the house which it never received (I cleaned it myself).

He finally calls me January 17th of the next year asking for rent money I hadn't paid for December or January because he wouldn't respond to my texts. When he called, I was at work and he left a brief, minute long message and at the end mentioned in he no longer pays for texting services on that phone like he knew I had been texting him. I'm not sure when he last had texting services, but the last text I got was august 6th and this was the first time he told me about this change. I was at work and couldn't answer, but I called him back within 20 minutes on a break. I left him a voicemail with a couple of questions and never heard back from him.

Around Jan 18th I had to pay a couple grand to register for my new semester classes in college and I didn't have a lot of money but I had a big paycheck coming from my new job. I called him a week later Jan 24th and finally got him in a live call. I was fully willing to pay him for the past and current months and go into a month to month. But he told me I had to write a check and send it to him and he had sent me a letter saying something about having 5 days to pay without fee's. I never saw this letter. I'm only 20 and I have never owned a check in my life and I went to my bank to get some and ordered some but It took a week for them to get to me.

At this point its February 2nd and I have the checks but my paycheck from my new job is stuck in a prepaid card that I can't access. I never received my first card for the account and had to drive to my local employer branch the day before on the 1st of Feb to get a temporary card. I activate the temporary card that night and try to use it and I'm declined from everything from online Amazon purchases to buying some chips at a store and gas at Costco, even running it as debit and using my pin. Two full paychecks, enough to pay for the two missing months and February’s rent is stuck on this card and I can't use it. I had to call in and get transferred 6 times over 2 hours to finally get a temporary username to use online and transfer all the funds to my main bank account. Now this was on Feb 2nd and it takes 3 business days to show up in my account. That will be tues the 7th (with the weekend).

I already found the eviction court appearance notice on my door this morning after spending the night at my girlfriends. My landlord never reached out to me and he won’t answer my calls to try agree on waiting or even pay him the amount with late fees and square up. One of my coworkers suggest I visit the judge and court I must attend on Feb 9th on Monday the 6th and ask him for advice, which I plan too. Should I get an attorney too or just try to represent myself and explain the situation to the judge?

Answer:
 Look, it's not rocket science that you need to pay your rent every month. Your excuses are not your landlord's problem. It sounds like the LL was fairly understanding at first.  But 3 months is WAY too long. There's really no excuse for not paying your rent for 3 months.  If you didn't know HOW to pay for a time, you should have set that money that you knew you owed aside.

Rather than an attorney, I suggest using that money to pay your backed rent IN FULL.  That's really the only way to stop this eviction.  A procedural error may give you more time, but it will only be in days.

If you cannot pay in full, try to work out a reduced amount for keys with your LL.  You do NOT want an eviction on your record.


Title: Is it illegal to packet sniff using the university Wi-Fi?

Question:
So basically packet sniffing is the act of intercepting data "packets" on a network and seeing what is happening on the network. A more detailed explanation can be found [here](http://www.iss.net/security_center/advice/Underground/Hacking/Methods/Technical/Packet_sniffing/default.htm).

I looked to try and find the legalities of packet sniffing and found that packet sniffing an open network is legal according to [this court case with Google](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/sniffing-open-wifi-networks-is-not-wiretapping-judge-says/). My university Wi-Fi is "password protected" so that only students can use it, but is that considered private enough to where if I was packet sniffing (not stealing information but just looking at the kind of information going through) I would get in trouble?

Answer:
 Look at your university's acceptable use policies. I know mine specifically outlined it as not allowed.Answer #2: You want to look at the AUP, not the law.

There was a guy in my dorm who wrote a little script to alert you when anybody else in the dorm was playing Starcraft, so you  could join in or whatever.

It was great; everybody loved it.  He got busted because packet sniffing was against the AUP.


Title: (Ohio, USA) Boyfriend is in the states illegally. We want to fix that.

Question:
Basically the gist is that when my boyfriend was young(14), he crossed into the US from Mexico. He began working and has been here since. He has been in legal trouble before, but "only" misdemeanors. Nothing that would bar him from the Dream Act.

He is now 30. He has never been back to Mexico. He and I (I am a natural born citizen) have been together for several years. We have a six month old baby. He has children with another woman who have moved back to Mexico. He is planning on going back to Mexico in January to visit his children. He then wants to come back after six months, and we are planning on getting married when he returns. We understand that our marriage will not grant him a green card as he has been in the states too long to make that work.

My question is what is the likelihood that he could, once back in Mexico, apply for and be granted a spousal visa based on our intent to marry. This isn't a green card marriage, it is legit. I would rather, since he plans on returning to Mexico to visit family, him come back legally. I feel it is the safest way, I just fear it may be impossible. Crossing is dangerous. I don't want my baby to grow up without her father.

Answer:
 Does he have DACA? Even with DACA and advance parole a trip for six months is not advisable since he will break residency in the U.S. and put his DACA at risk and possibility of his DACA being revoked at the border.

If he shortens his trip then he can travel and come back legally with advance parole if he has DACA and you can get married in the U.S. and you can do the greencard process entirely in the U.S.

If he does not have DACA he should under no circumstance leave the U.S. unless he plans to stay in Mexico for a long time (way longer than 6 months).


Title: [AL] Divorced disabled veteran paying $1k+ a month in alimony. Can't afford own bills

Question:
Some quick backstory:
I'm a disabled veteran, earning 80% disability through the VA. My ex-wife and I officially divorced last year around November (finalized). I've been paying her $1k+ a month in alimony (spousal support) since April 2017, and signed for 4.5 years of it. I occasionally give her more when I have it to try and keep things amicable. I make about $40k+ at my job, and around $22k from my military disability.

Tonight, I hit bottom. My vehicle was repo'd, I'm nearly 3 months behind on my mortgage, and I could barely pay any bills last month due to a poor series of months at work (I work a commission based job).

To put it bluntly, alimony is preventing me from being able to maintain my home, vehicle, and other bills. I have been budgeting, and cutting costs where I can. My roommate pays $500 a month to assist, but most of that goes to maintaining my vehicle as they do not have one of their own and borrow mine for work.

Technically, from what I've read on the laws, I never technically owed my ex alimony, but agreed to it to expedite the divorce. Is there anything I can do to get it lessened or terminated? If so, what is the process, and what will I need?

I'm about at the end of my rope. I'm a grown man on the verge of tears hoping my parents can help, but they're not in the best financial situation either. What are my options? Are there any veteran resources?

Answer:
 You're making roughly $62k a year.  After alimony, that's $50k a year, not counting the $6k you make from your roommate.  That's above a lot of family's combined salaries.

If you have medical bills, make sure you're going through the VA to get them handled.  If you have credit card debts, consider contacting a finance planner to consolidate your debts and get on an affordable payment plan.  If you're in a high-value house, consider selling it and down sizing.  If you have an expensive car, you might want to consider selling it (after getting it back) and getting something much cheaper without a loan.

Where is all your money going?  We need more information before we can suggest any legal options like bankruptcy.  Head over to /r/personalfinance to evaluate your budget and see if you're being effective.Answer #2: Not legal advice, but napkin math tells me that even after $1k/mo in alimony you're making around $50k/yr.  Unless you're drowning in debt, that should be more than enough to live on with a roommate in Alabama.

If you're comfortable disclosing details, you might try posting your financials over at /r/personalfinance.  The community is generally very helpful in situations like this and is pretty good at identifying places to trim fat from a budget and rein in excess spending.


Title: [Arizona] The benefits webpage through work is telling me I have court ordered dependents. So does that mean i have a kid I don't know about?

Question:
I went to log on to check how much is in my retirement, and where there is normally a box that lists all my health and vision etc benefits, there is now a thing that says "[There are currently no entries. Awaiting approval. Court ordered dependents](http://i.imgur.com/q2aBKU0.png)."

Does that mean that I have a child I don't know about, and was ruled the father without my knowing? Is there a way to find that information online?

Am I freaking out over a misunderstand or is it time to hit the gym and lawyer up?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 It's probably just some schmuck in HR clicking the wrong checkbox or confusing you with Mike in Shipping.

Call them tomorrow and ask what's up.


Title: Do we now own a rental wheelchair? (MN/IN)

Question:
We live in Minnesota.  Back in June, my family was on vacation in Indiana when they got into a car accident.  (Sidenote: No serious damage, mostly healed up, may need some minor surgery but nothing life-altering.)  Flying them to a hospital closer to home wasn't an option with their injuries at the time, so they stayed in Indiana and were discharged early July, and my brother had a wheelchair rented from a medical supply company.  Then things got... interesting.  He was able to get his cast off in August, and no longer needed the wheelchair.  Since then, we've been trying to get in touch with a Minnesota branch of the medical supply company we rented the wheelchair from.  Apparently, they have no record at all of us renting a wheelchair from them, and despite asking for them to send someone out to pick up the wheelchair, we still have it sitting around, and no one has ever come to ask for it.  Our most recent call told us to call their Indiana branch to have someone come pick up the wheelchair.

Now, I'm pretty sure that they're not going to send someone from Indiana to come pick up the wheelchair in Minnesota, and quite frankly we're thinking if the company isn't even going to ask their other locations to find out who's missing a wheelchair, we're not going to do their legwork for them.  But, I really don't want to get a bill for a wheelchair in a few years, after we've gotten rid of it somewhere, or have to take care of their wheelchair for them if they won't pick it up.  So, what kind of concerns should I have?  At what point can we consider it abandoned by the medical supply company?

Also, I've included a diagram of the issue with getting the original location to come get the wheelchair: https://i.imgur.com/OMvReaF.png

Answer:
 I love your map!
Answer #2: Uh. You definitely need to contact the Indiana office. Unless your rental agreement explicitly allows you to return it at any of their offices, you may need to ship the chair back to Indiana or risk being on the hook for the whole thing.Answer #3: If you rented it in Indiana than call that location. Does your rental agreement even allow you to return the chair in a different state?


Title: [TN] I was refunded to delete a bad review for a daycare. Situation isn’t sitting right with me. Can I put another one up?

Question:
My 3.5 year old son started at an in-home licensed “preschool” a few weeks ago. There were a few red flags along the way but my son was enjoying it so I was trying to make it work. He attended less than 2 weeks before shit hit the fan.

On Wednesday of his second week the teacher texted me to say my son didn’t want to nap(normal 3 year old behavior) so I had to come get him. I’ve worked in childcare, and have friends who currently still work for preschools so I know this isn’t how non-napping children are usually handled. The next morning we talked and I felt better about the situation, but I was wary. At 12pm I started watching the camera setup she has in the “classroom.” I witnessed her yelling at my child and pushing him down repeatedly to try to force him to lay down. I flew out the door and was on the way over there before she even had a chance to text me to come get him again. Obviously he wasn’t going back there, so I asked her to refund me for that day as well as Friday, which she did. I put up a review on Facebook and Google. Mine was the only review on both sites as she’s relatively new. The next morning she texted me and offered to refund me the rest of the money I’d paid her for the week, as well as the previous week if I’d remove the review. After consulting my husband we decided to take the money as we’re not well off and it could assist us in finding a new school for our son. She has new kids starting soon and I feel terribly that they could be getting mistreated as well. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about. If I put the review back up or even a different one so parents know what they’re getting into with her could I get in trouble?

Answer:
 OP- I would say that if you agreed to pull-down your original review in exchange for a refund, that posting a new review probably wouldn't be in violation of your agreement with the preschool, but it wouldn't be very ethical as it would be against the spirit of what you agreed to.

You should report this person/pre-school to the TN state-level entity that regulates them. That's the best way to protect the other children.


Title: [MD/PA, USA] Adopted as a child by step-father after my bio father passed away. Do I still have the ability to inherit from my bio father?

Question:
I recently got paperwork in the mail to fill out to claim part of my deceased biological father’s portion of my deceased grandfather’s life insurance policy. My grandfather had three children total, my father and my two aunts, and the policy was split equally among them.  He lived, died, and was insured through his employer in Maryland. One of my aunts gave the life insurance company the contact info for me and my four half-siblings.

My biological father passed away in Maryland in 1996, when I was 4 years old. In 1999, I was adopted in Pennsylvania by my stepfather. My question is: do I have any legal right to claim a portion of my grandfather’s life insurance policy that was left to my deceased biological father, or did I lose the ability to inherit from him after I was adopted? It’s only unclear to me since the adoption happened after my father died, but I guess that may not matter.

Side note: the life insurance policy is only $15,000, and after being split between my aunts and then my 4 siblings, we’re only talking $1,000 here. I don’t have any intention of hiring a lawyer for that, or any desire to fight my aunts or siblings over it. I’m just curious about what the law says. Thanks!
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer:
 You would have inherited your share of your father's estate when he died.

Your grandfather's insurance would pay out to your father's estate, therefore to you.

The adoption occurred after your inheritance, and so should have no bearing on it.


Title: [FL] Separated 1yr, in that time I got a better job- will I owe alimony when I divorce him soon? Please help

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 IANAL. Child support is determined based on income levels and time spent caring for the child so that is possible.

Alimony would be based off your income during the time you lived together typically. So alimony is unlikely.


Title: X-Posted ... Ex just found out I changed the locks legally. I'm afraid he's going to attempt to break in. What should I do?

Question:
[NJ] Been divorced for about five months. Two weeks after finalization, my house burned down. I have possession of the house for three years, and we've already agreed in writing that I'm buying him out of the home with insurance proceeds. I learned he was entering the home and removing items that he did not own and had no claim to (even as per divorce decree). He's also "given away" (I believe he sold it) the vinyl fencing that is part of the insurance claim (meaning, when the insurance company comes back out shortly to verify some additional damage and they notice the fencing has been removed, that amount for the fence will be taken off my claim ... I own the fence, as its part of the property). I was advised by a local cop (he's off duty right now and I don't want to disturb his family life with my problems) who is a childhood friend to change the locks immediately and file trespassing and theft charges. I changed the locks, but I'm leery of putting my child's father in jail (and it could affect his job, ergo my alimony and child support). He just found out at custody exchange that the locks have indeed been changed and he flipped out. My attorney is on vacation until Monday.

I just called the locksmith (it's a long story, but he's kind of been looking out for me) and he's calling his contacts to not allow the locks to be changed by my ex. My fear is that any locksmith only requires a driver's license for proof of address and my ex has kept our former marital home on his DL, so he could just say that he's locked himself out and pay to have the locks changed again. He moved out months before the divorce finalization and you have, I believe, six months in Jersey to change your address and he's well beyond that. My attorney has confirmed that changing the locks was necessary to protect my property. I'm in temporary housing in another town so it's not as if I can stake my house out. It looks mostly undamaged from the front, but if you walk around the house, it's clear the outer house is just a shell of charred out remains ... this might be misleading in the dark though. Also, my ex has removed the condemned sticker from the front door, which makes it look like it's a normal house from the front. Should I contact my local police? Ask them to do drive bys and be aware of the situation? The town is small and has no after hours non-emergency line, it goes directly to the county's 911 dispatch.

Edit: My sister's husband is a cop in another town and has apparently been acting as my ex's "lawyer". I'm afraid he'll try to use his influence to gain entry into the home. There are numerous things that have "slight" damage that could be worth a lot of money. He's already removed ~$2,000 of items that don't belong to him. My family was fractured by the divorce and my brother-in-law has taken my ex's side. Given his ego (no offense to other LE), it wouldn't surprise me if they're already at the house.

Answer: Uhh yes, call the police.


Title: Someone made my roommate break the law, can i sue the person/company who did?

Question: So i was out of the house, and two Direct Energy employees showed up. My roommate was the only one home and answered the door for them. He was reluctant to go along with them but succumbed to their high pressure sales tactics. The issue is the account with my electric company is in my name, they told him to do it anyway, but misrepresent himself as me, saying it was fine. The transaction was cancelled later, to the best of my knowledge. I contacted the rep who signed him up, heard his story and asked to talk with his boss. His boss never called. The rep claimed that he was trying to teach the other rep how to convince people and how to make it to the phone call. He also said that the sign up would not have gone through anyway because we owe the electric company money. My roommate didn't know anything about that process and was pushed along by the reps, anything that can be done, I've had similar issues with this company in the past.

Answer:
 How did they "make" him do it?

Did they break his thumbs?

Did they kidnap his wife and child?

Did they threaten to release nude pictures of him on social media?


Title: [VIRGINIA] crazy home owners association

Question:
Hello,
I just bought a condo that is governed by, what I am slowly learning is a completely insane home owners association. I really like the place, I really like the amenities, but I am very concerned about what to do about this home owners association. Everything was going smoothly until I tried to have a guest over when I was not home. I was running late from work, I know that there are rules about letting someone in so I called in advance to let the front desk know to let my friend in. I spoke with the office manager. She said no problem, they would let her in. Later I get calls saying they haven’t let her in for 45 minutes because they need some paperwork or a binder or something. So I call the office manager to straighten this out on her cell phone (she had given me the number and told me to call anytime) things went downhill from there. She has been since then reporting every little thing I do to the board. They wrote me a “Hearing notice” for next week in which we will discuss the following violations:

* **Threw away a bag of trash from my house in the wrong trash can.** Apparently the trash cans in the garage cannot have trash from your home in them they are only for convince- whatever that means. I did this one time when the normal trash shoot was out of order. They open the trash, found something with my name on it, and took pictures of it. There is no rule in the HOA guide that backs this up.
* **Left my hockey bag in my parking space in the garage.** I own the parking spot but apparently there is a rule that nothing but a motor vehicle can be in this spot. So I moved the stuff, but I am not really OK with that. The hockey stuff is really smelly and needs to be in the garage. Every other person in the building has stuff in their spots- strollers, gym bags, motor oil, sporting equipment, ect. But somehow mine is the only thing that needs to move.
* **My motorcycle was parked in the wrong spot apparently cannot be parked with the bikes.** When they told me to move it I did.
* **My guest’s car was towed from the Visitor’s lot after I followed the instructions** and filled out the correct form and the correct pass was on his car- when I went to ask them about it, they reported that I screamed and cried at the front desk- that is just completely not true. I had a constructive talk with the front desk, they said the car was correctly registered, however they don’t have anything to do with the tow company and can’t help me, though they were sorry. I said OK thanks. Conversation was over. There was absolutely no screaming or crying.

Thanks for reading& letting me vent about this. Any thoughts appreciated.

Answer:
 The only thoughts I have are

1. get a copy of the bylaws and go through them, and
2. if you find the bylaws are not what you'd like, start lobbying to change them or run for election to the HOA board.


Title: [CA]Moving out of rental unit, landlord didn't require a deposit, but rather a "nonrefundable cleaning/pet fee". Questions:

Question:
Californian here. I'm currently moving out of my rental unit and have some questions regarding the lease and nonrefundable fees. I should have looked into this stuff before signing the lease but didn't.

Our landlord did not require a security deposit. They did, however, require a $700 nonrefundable cleaning and pet fee ($350 each). Now that I am in the process of moving out, I am reading that "nonrefundable" deposits/fees are not legal in California (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(m)) Can someone please provide more insight on this?

Additionally, the lease says that I must have the carpets professionally cleaned (and provide a receipt). I'm somewhat under the impression this isn't fully legal either, unless the carpets are very worn/dirtier than "normal wear and tear" or much worse than when we moved in. They are in very nice condition, definitely nothing beyond "normal wear and tear".

So I guess my questions are:

1. Are those nonrefundable fees valid? Or should I treat them as a deposit and try and get them back (assuming we do a good job cleaning, fix any issues, etc.)?
2. Is the required professional carpet cleaning valid? Wouldn't you think that would be part of the "nonrefundable cleaning fee"? The lease is a bit vague.

Any help/advise is much appreciated.

Answer:
 There are no such things as "non-refundable fees" in California.  Any money taken by a landlord at move-in is either rent or deposit.  The statute is clear that it doesn't matter what the non-rent is *called*, it's a refundable security deposit if it's not rent.

If you leave without cleaning the carpets, and the landlord has to pay for cleaning, he can bill you/deduct from the deposit.   If he shows up to a hypothetical court hearing with only the lease in hand, claiming that you have to pay whether the carpets were clean or not, and can't substantiate the necessity of cleaing, he'll most likely lose.

The California legislature has made it clear that they do not tolerate the practice of landlords treating deposits as a secondary revenue source.

Bottom line:  He owes you $700 minus whatever he can prove needed to be done.  If you don't receive an itemized list of deductions by the 21st day after you surrender the keys (regardless of lease end date), then you have the potential to claim treble damages ($2100).

Even if he does follow the law regarding the itemized list, if it looks like he's acting in bad faith (and that non-refundable pet deposit comes close), you might want to sue for treble damages anyway.

Many people would consider the $700 worth going to small claims for.  If you do, be frank and honest about damage you believe you were responsible for, if any.


Title: URGENT.. I'm Contracted to earn $3k a month, but haven't worked this month.. am I entitled to this money?

Question:
long story short.

**I'm a contractor for a start up clothing brand who now have money issues.**

They haven't paid one invoice dating back to May.

Haven't paid the monthly agreed wage since Early October.

All I've received is around $750 that was staggered increments of $200 over the past 6 weeks.

In total, I'm owed $7000 so far (not including December wage)

One of the owners has been delaying the big investment to sort the entire company out but I have faith that I'll get paid this soon.

That's a separate issue however.

Due to money issues and extreme lack of Organization on all fronts I have only done one shoot this month. I am not contracted to shoot a set number of times per month.

**All that it says in the contract is 'the contractor will provide the client with services according to the needs of client'.**

**'The client will provide compensation to the contractor of a fixed amount of $3,000 USD per month.'**

So essentially I could work every day of the month or 0 and still abide by the contract.

**My position is that it's their problem / fault if they haven't assigned me to work. The contract states what the contract states.**

My contract ends DEC 31ST and so far haven't received full payment for 4 months work. Will be 5 if I include December.

I've worked probably 2 hours this month, should I feel entitled to get money for this month?

Answer: Without knowing *everything* in the contract, it is impossible to say. You will need to find an attorney to review the contract.


Title: (MD) HOA wants to force me to paint my house

Question: I bought a brand-new townhouse in 1999. The builder did not allow me to select the colors of the outside of the house, because they were predetermined by the developer. Now, almost 17 years later, my homeowners association says my house is in violation of the "architectural guidelines", because the color of the shutters does not match the door, and they want me to paint one or the other. But those were the colors I was forced to buy! Can they do that??

Answer:
 Probably.  Read all your HOA rules, you likely agreed to give them the authority to tell you what colors you're allowed to have your house be painted.

Just because it hasn't been enforced for the last 17 years doesn't mean they can't start now. Answer #2: $20 for paint and a couple hours of time to paint the door is probably less of a hassle than legal proceedings.


Title: [NY] Got summoned for Jury Duty a week before I leave for freshman year of college.

Question:
Throwaway because it's too much personal information for my usual account. But, basically what the title says. I'm 18, about to leave for college in a week, and got summoned for Jury Duty.

Here's the rub: I'm going to college in the same county I live in (and have been summoned), but I'm going to be living on campus, as well as not having access to a car (first years aren't allowed to have a car on campus). Would simply stating the fact that I'm going to be in college enough to get me out of Jury Duty, or would I still have to go? If not, do any aspects of my situation preclude me from serving? I'm happy to do it if necessary, it's just a colossal pain in the ass right now.

Answer:
 This varies on a county by county basis, but you should call the number on the summons and ask for a deferment until you're on a school break. They're used to this kind of situation, it shouldn't be too difficult.

&#x200B;


Title: Friend got into an accident - a semi backed into him. Determined 95% friend's fault by other insurance company.

Question:
The following has already been posted here: http://www.reddit.com/r/needadvice/comments/1xk70g/friend_got_into_an_accident_a_semi_backed_into/ and I'm posting here again to see if it would get more coverage.

Hi Reddit!

I'll get right to the story.

My friend was driving behind a semi trailer truck in a parking lot. The truck took a left right before they reached the parking lot exit, thereby clearing my friend's way, so my friend just kept driving straight. At this point, the truck was perpendicular to my friend's car.

While my friend was passing the truck, it suddenly backed up and clipped the front driver's side of my friend's car. My friend did everything he could to avoid the accident (stopped to honk and backed up). There was no way for my friend to speed up or veer away from the truck instead of backing up, because he almost reached the narrow exit of the parking lot and it would have been too dangerous to speed up at that point.

My friend only has collision coverage, so his insurance company is not able to help him. The out-of-pocket cost of repair was $2,500. He doesn't have parents and is supporting himself by working at a restaurant, so this is a huge sum of money for him.

The other insurance company (let's call it H-insurance) determined that it was 95% my friend's fault because "my friend did not hear the truck's beeping sound and he should have given the truck more space to back up." Hmm..

The police officer that responded to the scene agreed with us that it was 100% the truck driver's fault. The officer did not file a police report, but said that the police notes should be sufficient to officially show his assessment of the accident. The H-insurance company said that a police note or the police officer's opinion has ABSOLUTELY NO bearing on the determination of fault. Is this true?

Also, we left voicemails for the adjuster and her manager every 2 days for 2 weeks since the determination, but they have not returned our calls. The manager finally called me 3 days ago and left a voicemail saying that she's leaving the office early due to inclined weather. I called her back 2 min after she left the voicemail, but she didn't pick up.

We're about to file a report to the New Hampshire insurance department, and call the DMV to suspend the truck driver's commercial license (as we were told to try by the officer). The license suspension seems kind of personal...so before we do that, we'd like to come to a resolution with H-insurance. In order to do this, I think I might need more leverage than just telling them again about the accident and asking for their reconsideration. What are your thoughts?

Answer:
 >and call the DMV to suspend the truck driver's commercial license.

Wait, you think a phone call from two random citizens is enough to suspend someone's license?Answer #2: > While my friend was passing the truck, it suddenly backed up

Semi trucks don't stop and reverse 'suddenly'.  They also don't do so silently.  This is likely a big part of the reason they're placing blame on your friend.

If your friend isn't happy with the insurance company's settlement, he'll need to sue the trucker or trucking company, or both.

> The H-insurance company said that a police note or the police officer's opinion has ABSOLUTELY NO bearing on the determination of fault. Is this true?

Sure.  The company doesn't necessarily have to take anything in particular into account.

>  I think I might need more leverage than just telling them about the accident and asking for their reconsideration.

Your only other leverage is to sue the trucker/trucking company.  The insurance company will likely defend them, as they'd have to pay out if they lost.  You have no other way to force them to pay you anything.

> call the DMV to suspend the truck driver's commercial license.

The DMV is not going to suspend his license for one accident, especially one for which he was not cited.  As is, your issue is with his company, not the trucker.


Title: [TX] I had bought a car on loan.I wasn't able to pay installments of two months. Yesterday, I came home to find that someone had entered into my garage and took my car away. There was a not at my door from loan agent claiming he took it due to failure of payment. Is it legal to repo like this?

Question:
He entered into my garage without my permission ( My garage door was locked with a padlock, it was found broken with maybe a hammer ) My garage is attached to my home, their connecting door is not locked. So, he could have also robbed my house. God knows. I'm paranoid about someone entering my property without my permission.
He took my car away ( Maybe with master key?) and left a note claiming that I'll get my car back only if i pay amount within 10 days.
Is it legal to repo like this? Isn't he supposed to give me notice before taking my things away? Any advice.

Answer:
 Taking the car was likely legal. But the breaking and entering probably isn't. You should call the police non emergency number and at least file a report for the broken lock. That won't help you with the car, but it will punish the person who repossessed it

Edit: I just noticed I can't spell.Answer #2: Can you give some more clarification about your garage?  Also, the padlock?

If the lock was indeed broken, then it might [very well constitute a breach of the peace](http://www.prgassetrecovery.com/texas_repo_facts)

> Isn't he supposed to give me notice before taking my things away?

No, not necessarily.  You defaulted and failed to meet your obligations.  Creditors are allowed to use self help, in some situations, to reclaim their property.  However, they cannot breach the peace to do so.  Answer #3: If your garage door was closed, it was illegal. Answer #4: breach of the peace can be fact specific, and many jurisdictions have a qualified privilege to tresspass.  your loan agreement likely stipulates that you absolve them of any tresspass taken to repo your car.

however if they broke and entered or destroyed any of your property it could be breach of the peace which would not allow the tresspass, furthermore you could bring other claims for breaking and entering or destruction of property.  if the repo guy had priors on his record this could get him in a heap of trouble


Title: Can I, as an individual, buy and sell products?

Question: NY, USA. If I were to buy a large quantity of an item from a manufacturer in China, and then sell it on Ebay, can I do that as an individual? Assuming of course I stay under the maximum personal eBay value.

Answer:
 yes, but it's far smarter and safer to talk to an attrorney and set up a business to do it instead. Plus, then your accountant can keep the books and taxes and fees straight. Answer #2: >  If I were to buy a large quantity of an item from a manufacturer in China, and then sell it on Ebay, can I do that as an individual?

Sure. You have to keep track of the profit you make on each sale, and report that to the IRS as income. Part of the reason that people set up LLC's and such to do business under is that the business can set up it's own accounts at banks, with credit cards, etc. and then there's a natural separation between business activity and your personal spending (and any wage income you may have from employment) which makes the bookkeeping a little easier.


Title: Kid claimed he was a Salesperson for a Spa and Sold me fake services

Question:
Hi reddit lawyers and legal advisors,

So Last month (December 9th) to be exact, a young gentlemen came in my Real Estate office and posed himself as a Salesperson for a Spa. He offered a package deal of 2 massage and 2 facials for 40 $. He seemed really genuine and gave me the rundown of how his mom was opening up a new spa in the area and this was only a limited time offer to get people into the door. The Spa in question was supposed to be open the 1st of January. I bought 2 packages, one my Fiance and one for me. We've been driving by the location that he said it was going to be open and this place is nowhere to be found.

We then called the number on the certificate he gave us and it leads to some lady up in La Jolla, California who has absolutely no idea what I am talking about. I am from San Diego, California by the way.

So we decided to look up the credit card charge to see if any information about the individual could be found. This douche charged me on an Iphone and it linked straight to his account with his name. We googled his name and low and behold here he was. We have found his facebook, his twitter, his moms facebook, his dads facebook. The kid lives in the immediate area where he was trying to scam people. My fiancé has sent him a message via facebook requesting that he give the money back before we take legal action.

So my question is. What exactly can be done to someone who has sold fake services to someone. Is this considered some form of Fraud? Or am I just the naïve idiot that believed in something too good to be true. Please any advice is welcome.

Thanks

Answer: Call the police and your credit card company. They may issue a chargeback (and hit him with some fees). Answer #2: You can report him to the police.  Separately, you can sue him for your money back.


Title: Is it legal for a company to disallow customers to post anything negative on social media?

Question:
The company I'm talking about is basically a horse racing syndicate, where you can buy shares in racehorses. It is located in Michigan but they own horses all over the country and customers are also located all over the country. Here is the text from an email sent this morning from said company: "Please do not contact other Members and/or post on social media anything negative regarding the company or affiliates. This will violate the Terms and Conditions that were agreed to when purchasing a share on the website.  We will also be forced to close a Member’s account and ban that person from company social media sites resulting in a forfeiture of balance owed to them."

Currently the Terms and Conditions are no longer listed on their website. This company also agreed to pay members their share of the money if the horse wins a race or is otherwise sold. The company social media site they are referring to is a private Facebook group. I'm mostly concerned with them claiming that they don't have to pay people what they are owed if they say anything negative about the company (and there are a LOT of negative things to say).

I previously owned shares with this company, but that is no longer the case. They still owe me (and hundreds of other people) money from this. This seems like an easy way for them to just never pay out, because if people speak up about it, they supposedly forfeit their rights to it.

Any thoughts? Is this actually enforceable?

Answer:
 The solution is simple: never interact or put money into a company that has such stupid terms.

They have to pay employees. Answer #2: A similar situation: [Roca labs used a "customers can't criticize us" clause](https://popehat.com/2014/10/23/the-impossible-censorious-buffoonery-of-roca-labs-am-i-being-punked-here/).  The [FTC sued Roca Labs over the gag clause](https://popehat.com/2015/09/24/roca-labs-weight-loss-company-that-sues-its-critics-sued-by-ftc-over-deceptive-advertising-and-dont-criticize-us-gag-clause/) and eventually [got an injuction against the gag clause](http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/273915/ftc-and-roca-labs-reach-substantial-agreement-in.html).

So, if you *do* end up criticizing that company online, you can point out to them that the FTC might come down on them.  If that doesn't disuade them, you can then point out that [Popehat has in the past acted to get pro-bono (free) representation for defendants in a don't-criticize-us gag clause](https://popehat.com/2014/11/10/popehat-signal-help-fight-the-censorious-villainy-of-roca-labs/), and would likely do so again.


Title: Overstay because of the corona

Question:
I’m on a j1 visa and I was set to leave on Friday but due to the corona virus my country (South Africa) has declared a national down. Any flights been canceled and there’s no other flights going into South Africa.

I don’t want to get in trouble for over staying- for future visa reasons.

What can I do? Any advice?
Topic:
Immigration

Answer: As of now, the US has not granted any waivers for overstaying visas for this reason.  My guess is that they will eventually do so.  If not, then when you apply for a visa in the future, you will need to explain the situation and hope they understand, which common sense suggests they will.  So I wouldn't be too concerned right now.  My advice is to leave as soon as flights become available and worry about the fallout later.Answer #2: What country are you in currently? You could try to contact the South African embassy and see what they advise in this situation.