Title: [TN] I work in a franchised hotel. The general manager has told me not to let black people stay in the nice rooms.

Question:
The general manager also owns the franchise, I believe. We have rooms with nice furniture that's been updated, and shoddier rooms that haven't. He's told me on at least two occasions not to rent the newer rooms to black people. Other employees have been told the same thing, including one woman who worked at the front desk who he told not to rent to black people at all. I'm  sure this isn't legal, but I don't know who to report it to or how I'd prove it.
Topic:
Business Law

Answer:
 You may call or write to the Department of Justice Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, which handles violations of the Civil Rights Act, such as discrimination in public accommodation, including hotels.

U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, NWB
Washington, D.C. 20530
(202) 514-4713

Edit: You can also file a complaint with the Tenneessee Human Rights Commission using [this form](https://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/humanrights/attachments/FillableComplaintFormEnglishRevised2013NewAddress.pdf)Answer #2: Not legal advice but if you're in a position to find a another job in the same field, do so.Answer #3: Report it to the franchisor. Check their website. They'll have a way to report problems like that.Answer #4: If they are truly a large company, they more than likely have an anonymous hotline to report wrong doings. If you have an employee room, it might be posted near your state osha, wage, emergency posters are. Or email a HR person. You probably have a district HR rep that you could contact. (HR means human resources). If your company is up on their shit, they will and should take your concern seriously. If possible get them to acknowledge your concern in email. This way, if HR has loose lips and it gets back to your manager that possibly you reported this and he retaliates, you have proof of what was going on.
If you are Union, contact that person as well.


Title: Unstable neighbour keeps creating problems. Throws rocks at my hose, breaks window, lights bonfires and almost burns down his own house (UK)

Question:
Hi all.

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This is going to be long, so please bear with me.

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I have a neighbor, whose house is just behind mine. His back garden is separated from my back garden by a public footpath. Every few days he lits up a bonfire in his garden, big enouth to create a column of smoke and sometimes to even see the flames over my 6ft tall fence. As far as I can gather, he burns matresses and sofas... every few days.

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It all started about a year ago. I started finding small rocks (3-5 cms) in my back garden. I didn't think anything of it because I had heard kids playing up and down the footpath right behind my fenced garden, and nothing in my garden got damaged. This happened 3 times and then stopped, so I let it go.

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A few weeks later, my next door neighbor had 'PEDO' written in white spray paint on the side of her house in 50cm tall letters. She's a woman in her 40's, divorced and living alone. She is NOT a peadophile. She initially thought that it was just a tasteless joke from the kids, but reported it to the police anyway.

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A few days later I had my mom and my sister visiting and staying overnight (I'm Spanish, living in Kent, England), and we started hearing the sound of cracking fire. I looked over from my garden door, and could see the flames over my 6ft fence, big enough that I was worried that it could spread to my house by burning through the wooden fences. Some other neighbor called the police (obviously fed up with his fires), and they came to talk to him. For some reason, he assumed that it was me who called the police on him, probably because he saw me looking down from my first floor window, and started leaving handwritten notes through my letter box. The letters weren't threatening, but they were scary in the sense that most of it didn't make much sense and were obviously the work of a very unstable person -"Is that all you can do? All you can do is nothing! I win, you lose" and in one of the notes he signs 'Jesus'... his name is not Jesus. At this point, I called the police because me and my fiancee started feeling unsafe. I logged in the issue and they gave me a reference number (first of many). A few days later they sent a police officer to my home, they took a statement, I showed them the notes, and off they went. Nothing else came of it, and he stopped making bonfires for a while.

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After this incident, I spoke to our landlord and they agreed to set up CCTV at the front and the back of the house, but unluckly the CCTV at the back of the house doesn't reach over the fence, so I can't record the fires or anyone walking up or down the footpath.

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About 4 months after that, this summer, we had planned a BBQ with my fiancee's sister, brother-in-law and their newborn baby (3-4 weeks old at the time). I was with my fiancee in the living room, before our guests arrived, when we heard a crash followed up by a second, louder crash. I looked out the garden door and see my glass-top table smashed to bits, I get out and look up and see the bedroom window has a hole the size of my fist. So he had thrown a rock, smashed the window, and that same rock landed on my glass-top table on its way down. I was livid and am not proud to say that I shouted some obscenities directed at him. It suddenly occured to me that if he had thrown that rock 1 hour later, we would be sitting at that very table with a new-born baby. It just made my blood boil. We cancelled the BBQ and called 999. We were told that because he wasn't trespassing and nobody got hurt, it wasn't an emergency. Fair enough, but then we called the non-emergency number and were told exactly the same thing, that because he wasn't in my property and he didn't harm anyone, it wasn't a priority case. I didn't want it to be a priority case, I understand there's murders and rapes to investigate, but it was pure luck that he didn't hurt one of us or the baby. I just wanted a police officer to drop by and have a stern word with him. Does it really need to be blood for the police to take action? but I digress.

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We managed to get in touch with our local police officer responsible for our area. It took a few days of stress and anxiety to get him to send someone to talk to him. But he finally did and they came to us first and then went to him. They told us that they knew about him, that he is a troubled man with mental health issues (which did nothing but raise more questions in my mind). They said that when they went to talk to him, he was visibly affected and deeply apologetic. The police left and the neighbor popped his head out his window, saw me in my garden and asked if he could come round to talk to me. I said no, and if he wanted to talk, I'd meet him half way. So we did, he apolosied to me, he told me he has "episodes" and that he thought we were "tapping onto his phone", whatever that means. I accepted his apology, with the hope that by not escalating further, he'd see he has nothing to worry about from us and he'll leave us alone. Which he did.

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Fast forward to two weeks ago, he started lighting bonfires again. He lit a big fire and left to do some shopping. The fire spread to a nearby tree and next thing I know, the side of his two floor house is on fire, the gutter is melting and there's two fire engines outside.

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He doesn't own the house, it is a council house and he has been housed there. We spoke to the council about it (by this time, me and my nearest neighbors are together on this) and they sent someone from the council to check his living conditions. They are not happy by the way he's treating the property and very angry at the fact that he almost burnt the house down. We are still waiting for them to do something about it, but unfortunately the person supervising this area is on holiday, so nothing they can do... yes, really...

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Worth noting is that we have found out that Council, Fire department and Police department don't talk to each other. The police was not aware of the fire, the council was not aware of any of it until we called them last week.

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I know theres a lot to take in, and I might not have explained it extremely well, as English is my second language and I might have forgotten a couple of details, because it has been going on for so long. Please I need help, I need to know if there's anything I can do to get rid of a dangerous neighbor. My fiancee suffers from axiety, and you have no idea what this is doing to her, feeling unsafe in her own home. We are trying to have a baby, but we are starting to have doubts because we don't want to bring a baby to a place where we have to keep an eye out every time we go to the garden.

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Thank you for getting this far, and I will appreciate any comment and answer any questions.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Hello, Im sorry this is happening to you. If you haven't already, post over in r/legaladviceUK they know UK laws better and can help you.

I'm not a lawyer so have no advice but perhaps to persevere with the council and police. Also, if you're not, document everything. Get a notebook, write down everything that happens with the date and time so you have a written record.


Title: While working, for 2 years I was exposed to H2S gas.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: File a Workers Compensation claim for your medical bills. Other than that you have no damages.


Title: Is the director of a summer camp allowed to take our tips (New York)

Question:
I’m a volunteer counselor at a summer camp in New York. The camp employs two head counselors, five counselors, and then there are a few volunteers, we are called counselors in training. We are a weekly day camp; there are eight weeks of camp with a new set of kids each week.

At the end of each week, a lot of the parents like to tip us. We pool our tips, and at the end of the summer we all go out to a local amusement park or something. This year, we pretty much unanimously decided that we don’t want to do that, and that we would prefer to split our tips evenly among the head counselors, counselors, and counselors in training.

We told the director of the camp via the suggestion box, and she wasn’t happy. She decided to split the tips, but only between herself and the two head counselors. So they’ll each get a third.  She also told the two head counselors that the six counselors who have worked the most days this summer will each get ten dollars of their tips. So basically, if there are 300 dollars total of tips, the director gets 100, and each of the head counselors get 100, but then have to give 60 of those dollars to the other counselors, but only the ones who have been here for most of the summer. That means the five paid counselors, and one lucky volunteer. So each of the head counselors will each end up with only 70 dollars each, while the director gets 100, and six counselors have ten each.

Sorry that's so confusing. I’m not paid, so I don’t think I have any entitlement to the tips, but I don’t think what’s happening to my paid coworkers is okay. They do make above minimum wage by the way. Is this legal?
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer: Don't accept the money from the parents. Say "Oh thank you, but any tips won't go to me. Please talk to the director about the camps tipping policy." When the parents figure out that the money isn't going to the people who make the least and interact the most with the kids, the tips will stop.


Title: I might need two divorces...

Question: (GA)  Here is the tldr version. And I am on my fone, so please bear with me.  Back when I was young, I got married to an equally young lady. Turned out she wanted to leave me while I was in military training. Fast forward many years. Divorce papers I filled out for her were never filed. Found it out before I was to get married. Now me n wife #2 want to split. What do I do? Edit: the bot wanted a location...

Answer:
 > What do I do?

You find a competent divorce attorney you trust and follow his or her advice.Answer #2: >Found it out before I was to get married.

And subsequently did not get married to #2. Correct?


Title: (Ohio, US) My bike was stolen. I pay my roommate for renter's insurance, which my bike was covered under, but she hasn't been paying the insurance company. I HAD NO IDEA SHE WASN'T PAYING. :( Please help?

Question:
tl;dr : My bike was stolen off of my rented property. My roommate is responsible for our renter's insurance bill. I paid her for my half, and she didn't pay the bill, so the insurance company won't pay me for my stolen bike. She's refusing to help me pay for what the insurance would have paid me.

Hi, I made a throwaway account because I want to keep this private from my personal life/reddit/whatever.

Anyways. I have a roommate, who I'll call Lauren (not her real name). We're both 24F, if that matters. Lauren and I each have different bills in our names, and we pay each other for the bills. One of the bills she is responsible for paying is our renter's insurance. We split our bills evenly. We've lived together for over a year, and everything (so I thought) has worked out so far.

Last week, my bike was stolen from outside my apartment. I live in a nice complex with families with young kids, it's relatively safe, AND my bike was locked to a bike rack and not left alone for very long. It's a new bike, and is worth about $1,700. Ugh, I suppose I'm stupid for even leaving it outside, but I really thought it would be okay for a day with a lock on it. There were like 10 other bikes on the same bike rack. Nope. It was stolen. As soon as it happened, I filed a police report, scoured craigslist for my bike, and called my renter's insurance company to make a claim. This all happened last Friday.

Today, I received a call from our insurance company that my claim is invalid and I won't be receiving any money because our insurance was cancelled in MARCH due to nonpayment. I was completely surprised and had no idea why that would ever happen. It only costs ~$10 a month, and I paid Lauren months ago in advance for my half of the insurance. I called my complex, Lauren, and, long story short, Lauren's credit card had been replaced back in January, so the payments weren't being processed because they weren't linked to her credit card anymore. She had an automatic payment plan set up, so she never noticed. She said she hadn't been notified that they were canceling the insurance, but, when I spoke to her again (about an hour ago), she told me she's had problems with her emails going to spam for a while (so maybe she was notified?).

My complex says they are not responsible for any stolen property, and the renter's insurance company won't pay me if my roommate hasn't paid them. I asked Lauren to help pay for what the insurance would have paid me, but she's refusing. She says it's out of her control and not her fault. I completely understand that she didn't purposely not pay the bill, but I do know that I obsessively check my bank account and bills to make sure everything is processed and paid and up to date. I think she should pay me what the insurance would have paid me, since it is her fault that she did not pay the bill and since I paid her for my half of the insurance bill. She has been very firm in her refusal to pay me anything, though. I don't know where to go from here.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I *really* don't want to get nasty with her and threaten to sue her or something. I don't even know if I have the grounds to do that, anyways. The bike was a gift from my uncle when my Grandpa died recently, using my grandpa's money, so I REALLY need to replace the bike ASAP and I'm very broke and make very little money, definitely not enough to replace it on my own. I appreciate any advice or input, even if you think I'm in the wrong about asking her to pay!

I'm posting this in /r/legaladvice because it involves money owed and insurance, but if there's a better place to post, please let me know. Thanks so much!

Answer: If you've been paying for insurance and she didn't pay the insurance company, you can sue her for the amount you've been paying to be returned. Additionally, you can sue whoever stole your bike for the value of the bike.


Title: NJ -- Talk me off the ledge here, considering posting something negative on social media -- is this legal?

Question:
Long story short: I have a former tenant that skipped town on me in 2015; I have gone properly through the court system to file a complaint, obtain a judgment, file for a warrant (tenant has failed to appear for ANY of the court-ordered summonses or communicate at ALL). The process from a "legal" (court) process is now over.

Despite multiple attempts to contact this person and try to arrange payment, this tenant will NOT converse with me (blocked numbers, changed addresses multiple times, etc.)

The tenant has a public social media account in which they consistently use the same 3 or 4 hashtags to promote themselves and the business that they operate.

Can I legally (laying aside ethics for a moment) create an account and start posting details of the court proceedings and what they did to me using the same hashtags they use on their photos?

My goal in this would be to 1) embarrass them and 2) force them to contact me to get all the negative posts about them taken offline, as they are obsessed with their "image" and projecting wealth in their social circles. I understand that ethically, this is not a nice thing to do, but this person deserves no sympathy at this point, and I am at the end of my rope trying to figure out how to get some sense of closure to this situation, specifically collecting what is owed to me.

Answer:
 You _can_, yes. Facts are not defamatory and it takes a _lot_ to get a social media campaign against someone to the level of electronic harassment.

You'll probably incinerate your own reputation in the process, though. That's the pettiest, least-effective way I can think of to pursue a judgement, and I'd be embarrassed to be a part of it, personally.

Sell the debt to a debt collector, or wait for them to be arrested on their bench warrant and then start the process of garnishing their wages & accounts.


Title: Brother died, no will, mom grabbed atty

Question: Mom says she’s entitled to everything. I’m his only sibling. Mom and I aren’t talking and haven’t been for months. Just know this via daughter but she won’t say much else...I’m sure grandma is paying her to stay quiet. Should I get an attorney? I’m disabled and am very low income and this happened with my dad without a will 12 years ago and I received 250k. Shouldn’t I receive something from my brother? Help, please. She’s already offered daughter his Land Rover, daughter refused, cannot afford upkeep.

Answer:
 Colorado Intestacy succession laws take over when there is no will.

#1 Spouse
#2 Children

No Spouse or Children?

#3 Parents.
#4 Siblings.

2 parents would split the estate, a single surviving parent gets it all. So sorry, you don't get anything. For goodness sakes people, get a will!


Title: Can you sign a legally binding contract with yourself?

Question:
A quick Google seems to indicate that, yeah, your signature can be legally binding in an agreement with yourself— based on consent of all parties, etc. However, I haven’t been able to find something that says explicitly “you can make a legally binding agreement with yourself”.

Anyone know of any precedents or have any ideas on this topic?

Answer: A contract requires an exchange of value. You cannot exchange value without at least two people.Answer #2: How are you going to sue yourself for breech of contract if you fail to meet the conditions?


Title: Received citation for negligent driving a week later. Can fb be used against me?

Question: I waited for my now ex boyfriend to get back to his house because I knew he was out cheating. He doesn’t drive so I knew the other woman would be driving him. They drove by me and I followed them up the street, sped in front of them and ended up blocking her in a corner with my car so that I could confront them. I broke it off with him, but the woman ended up sending me a facebook message being cool about everything. I apologized for “driving like a nutcase” and thought that was the end of it. They are now together and she apparently filed a police report about the incident over this past weekend. Can the fb message I sent her be used as an admission of guilt in court?

Answer: Yes, your statements can be used as evidence.


Title: NonCompete as a 1099 Contractor

Question:
Georgia \(US State, not the former Soviet republic\), question about non\-compete agreement.

Freelancer, made a deal with one of my clients to do sales for them as well as the work I was already doing for them.

They are paying me 1099, broken into a fixed weekly amount plus sales commissions.  They never gave me an employment contract, we just had a series of emails laying out the commission structure, that I wasn't liable for any errors, and I wasn't maintaining insurance for their projects.  They did insist on a 2 year non\-compete, which I wish I had not signed, but I was in a tough spot and caught up in the excitement of a new deal.

Now:  3 months later, a ton of questionable business practices and feeling like it's not a good place to stay.

I would be happy to just move on and look for something else but part of what I've learned is the owner is vindictive to anyone who he feels has slighted him, and leaving would put me on the naughty list for sure.

Questions:

Is a non\-compete enforceable in the case of a 1099 contractor?

Is there a way to deal with the issue now?  I don't want to specifically go to a competitor, but I don't want the issue hanging over my head for 2 years.

Thanks LegalAdvice
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 I don't even know if that's enforceable. You aren't technically their employee. What were the terms of the non\-compete. Answer #2: > Is a non-compete enforceable in the case of a 1099 contractor?

It can be, though contractor status *can* make any claim they have weaker.

It's also quite possible you were an employee and not a contractor.

What are the terms of your NCA beyond the 2 year duration?


Title: [TX] My sister 12 yo, came to me telling me our step dad touched her. I couldn't control myself and ended up beating him up. He stayed overnight in the hospital but is out now. He is 35 and I am 21. I haven't been charged with anything yet and I told the police what happened. Am I in big trouble?

Question:
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 Contact a lawyer, asapAnswer #2: Have you called CPS? Has your mom taken measures to keep him away from your sister?Answer #3: Probably. Assault is illegal.Answer #4: You will want to get a lawyer (public defender likely) and you will also want to have your sister file a report with police on what step father did. Answer #5: Possibly.  The cops are likely going to tread carefully.  And, they might be more interested in your step dad then in you.  Nobody likes a child molester.Answer #6: Potentially.  Potentially not.  There’s no telling what decisions those involved will make.

The standard advice if the police want to speak with you is to refuse to do so without a lawyer present.  You have two good courses of action.  1) meet with a criminal defense attorney and listen to what they say.  2) memorize the number of a criminal defense attorney, and if the police want to speak with you refuse to do so unless that attorney is present.


Title: Threatened to continue teaching or else cops will be called

Question:
Hello All,
I am in between a rock and a hard place. I am moving in a month to attend college. I borrowed a silver tray from work ($3.97) to display my yoga cards and pamphlets during a Mala event. I returned it the next week and thought all was good. Until my boss calls me into a meeting to discuss how she has an SD card of me stealing it. I told her the item is back, but now she is trying to blame me for other various items that have gone missing in the center (massage oils/creams, cash money, etc). She made a list of these items and told me that I have to do a few things, or she will make one call and as she put it “you’ll be screwed”. 1. I have to stay at the center until the end of the month, I can’t cancel classes or else. 2. I can’t tell anybody about this or else 3. I must repay her these items she thinks I stole or else 4. I can’t say one bad word about the center or else. If I do not obey her, she threatened to show all my clients this video and call the cops on me.
Please help.

Answer: That sounds like blackmail to me.  While you taking the tray isn’t the right thing to do, it shouldn’t land you in jail over $3.97.  Let her call the cops and prove that the tray is stolen (make sure you film that it is in fact at the facility because you returned it).


Title: Teacher hurt my 2 yo at daycare

Question:
My 2 yo old daughter has been going to daycare for the past year and I've never had a problem bigger than a lost blanket until last Thursday. I picked my daughter up from daycare playing in the outside play area. When I opened up the door she came running up to me crying holding her arm saying her teacher hurt her and her teacher immediately came up to me and let me know Avi had been saying she did this tiny pink scratch on her arm (it was an old scratch). Her teacher also told me my kid was crying because she wanted to take her backpack outside but the teacher wouldnt let her. So I took my daughter and left. On the car ride home she told me her teacher "squished" her arm because she didnt want to go outside. I asked how she squished it, with a door or a hand or what? And my daughter said with her hand. Fast forward to the evening my daughter acted like her arm was okay so I thought maybe it wasnt as big a deal as I initially thought. The next morning she woke up happy and was moving her arms around but we started playing around and grabbed onto her hands to help pull her up from laying down and she instantly let go and screamed her arm hurt while holding her elbow. The rest of the morning she refused to kove her arm because it hurt so much. When I took her back to daycare friday she was in a different teachers classroom so i told that teacher how my kid has still been crying about her arm hurting saying her teacher did it and the teacher mention questioning the first teacher about why Avi was saying she did it. The second teacher let me know when the office ladies came into work they could checkout the video for me to see what happened to her arm. When my husband picked her up from daycare friday afternoon the second teacher let him know they did find on video that the first teacher "yanked her arm." The office lady had just left when he got there so he left with our Daughter and I called back a little while after. In the phone call I was told they did see the teacher yank on my daughter and she was let go immediately that day. I was told they self reported it to the state (Texas) and someone will be out monday to inspect the situation. As of friday afternoon my daughter doesnt act as if her arm is in any pain at all. As of sunday I see no bruising and I never saw any real red marks on her the day of besides the old scratch. There are no signs of injury and she is not acting hurt anymore so I didnt take her to see the doctor.
My question is what do I do in a situation like this? Legally what can be done about my daughter having her arm yanked in daycare? I'm not looking to sue the daycare or whatever I just am confused and hurt and still in shock my kid would be hurt by a teacher.

Answer:
 It sounds like everything that needs to be done is done.  Teacher was fired and report has been made. It doesn't seem like you went to the doctors so there is nothing for you to  be reimbursed for.

Frankly, it sounds like they handled it well.


Title: Bought a house with my girlfriend, took out small personal loan for her to start a small business. I need to get out of the relationship. Where do I start? PA

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You're about to get a very expensive lesson in why you shouldn't buy property with someone you're not married to.

Get a lawyer to start this process because it's going to be an absolute shit storm even with a good lawyer.

>I have no idea how to come out of this not financially wrecked.

Invent a time machine. Answer #2: Your best bet is going to be selling the house and splitting it based on what share of the house you agreed on. This will be expensive.


Title: NE: Ex-Husband's Girlfriend Broke Into My House and Robbed Me

Question:
Location is NE

I'm posting for a coworker who said that last night, her ex-husband's girlfriend broke in to her house and stole a safe containing an iPad, designer purse, social security cards, birth certificates, tax information going back 5 years, and $400.

Said girlfriend is a convicted felon and the husband is sitting in prison on drug charges for the next 15 years minimum. There is no direct evidence of the girlfriend being the one to have robbed the house however a neighbor has her and two other men on camera walking around their front yard. There is a recording of the woman walking towards my co-workers house and passing back the other way 8 minutes later. My coworker and this woman do not live anywhere near each other.

The police were called but said they couldn't do anything. The insurance deductible alone would be $1000 and now my coworker is talking about wanting to move to get away.

I'm wondering for their sake what the next steps should be. Thanks all.

Answer: Call the police again.  You either spoke to an apathetic officer or didn't communicate the seriousness of this situation clearly enough.    Put a freeze on your credit and inform the IRS that your identification and tax information has been stolen.


Title: School reporting false absence

Question:
Hi, I'am currently in my second year of high school in Sweden. For a few months our schools webpage containing all of our classes information, grades, contacts etc has been reporting false absence on me. I started to see a pattern and immediately started to print screen this. They count in like 80 minutes absence from a full class equals around 1-3% which is a lot really, once you reach 7% you will get a personal warning from the mentoring teacher, once it is over 20% you will get a letter home saying you will not be getting any social funding for going to school which is around $130 per month. In addition I have been going to school for everyday without missing any classes for a couple of months now since October 2014(when this started to happen). I talked to my administrator of school about this and she just shrugged her shoulders and said I'm sorry, I'm not really sure if you are telling the truth I can't help you. So I went and showed these pictures to my mentoring teacher and he at least helped me remove some of those false reports. But this did not terminate the issue, I'am currently going to talk to the principal of the school but she's never present at school even though it is a small one (300-400 students). If the principal decides not to help me is there anyway for me to take legal actions against the school since this has affected my trust with my parents and they are beginning to revoke my social funding. This has left me stressful and really helpless. What actions to I take?
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer:
 Can you talk to the government body that oversees your social funding and tell them your school is making false reports about you? You have the evidence of your screenshots to say what the school is reporting: can you get some of your teachers to sign something affirming you were in their classes on days you've been reported not present? (Even if they can't do it for every day, getting a couple of data points may help in proving a pattern.) If you can, then you have proof that the school is misreporting your absences, which is just as much lying to the government as they would if they said you were present when you weren't.

I'd think a government agency would be very interested in this. Try contacting the Child and School Student Representative -  details at http://www.government.se/sb/d/11479/a/118752

Edit for direct contact details: http://www.skolinspektionen.se/en/BEO/English-Engelska/Contact-BEO-/

If they can't help you (though they should be able to), they will definitely advise you on what to do.


Title: What happens when a guy gets out of jail, but owes $ millions in restitution?

Question:
Take Billy McFarland who was just sentenced to 6 years for the Fyre Festival fraud.

He owes $20+ millions in restitution.

When he comes out of jail, does a percentage of any income get taken for restitution? What percentage? Because he will never put much of a dent in the total.

Answer: Yes that's exactly what happens.  Repayment plans can be negotiated, as well as lump sums to settle immediately . Wage garnishment can be part of the plan and is capped to a certain percentage depending on state law. Answer #2: Chapter 13 bankruptcy and get set up on a payment plan he can afford. He'll probably have to pay on that the rest of his life and if he skips a payment they can come in and start seizing assets.


Title: I hit a guy's car while driving uninsured

Question:
The title is very self explanatory. I hit a guy's car about a month ago. I am 23yrs old and It all took place here where I live, in Miami, FL.

The accident was my fault; I was trying to merge into the left lane, I look over at the left side mirror but I didn't count on the fact that a 2012 Jeep was in my blind spot. Put 2 and 2 together and next thing you know I'm unintentionally slamming the side of my car (a 2015 VW Passat) into his.

The guy I hit seemed pretty chill about it, of course he sorta panicked when I told him I had been driving uninsured for the past 2 months. Not that I'm proud of it or anything like that, I was only trying to "cheap out" on insurance un order to save up for my upcoming Spring classes.

Anyhow, a couple minutes pass by after I called 911 and the officer arrives at the scene. He gives us copies of the report he just made and further instructions. One of them was to take his 2012 Jeep to a trusted body shop of my like and get a quote of the damages.

I'm going to call "the guy I hit" Matthew from now on... The right side of Matthew's Jeep seemed to be in pretty bad shape and I could not believe my sedan could technically scrape both of his SUV doors whilst my car only got its front bumper knocked out of place. (I apologize for the lack of pictures). Matthew insisted he had an accident before what just took place and that not all of the damages where my fault.

We exchanged contact info and left the scene. I left with the report and 2 tickets I have to go to court for.

Couple days pass and Matthew texted me saying he was taking his car to the shop as he needs his vehicle for the kind of work he does. The estimate comes down to $7300, he puts $3000 down and says we need to sit down and talk about money because "this is bad."

I personally feel played and I don't know what to do. I never had the chance to take him with me to another body shop and try to compromise with a different quote or something like that...

Now, I'm not looking for prejudice here, I know I am the driver at fault and I have very slim to no odds of winning the case in court and I'll most likely end up owing this man a ton if money. but I need help knowing if there is anything that I can do right now, anything that might be at my disposal. I'm no car expert but I am almost sure a left axle and a door can't ring up to be $7K.

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TL;DR: I hit a guy's car as I was driving uninsured. He claims damages of his vehicle costed him $7K whilst my car barely didn't even get the paint ruined.

Answer: 7k you got off cheap my friend. Ask to see the quote to double check that it is in fact legit. And figure out a payment plan. And get insurance.


Title: If police are called to a domestic disturbance, do they have to make sure everything is alright before leaving?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: State matters. I am required to make that arrest in California.


Title: Can you legally dig up bones in an old cemetery for historical research in CT?

Question:
My godfather is the caretaker of his family cemetery in a small town in Connecticut.  The family founded this town way back in 1600s. Some burials may be to that period. There's some very old stones no longer legible.

He thinks part of the cemetery was for slaves and another part for those in servitude such as cooks and maids based on the layout. Yes, slaves were used in timber trade in CT even though Eventually they were part of underground railroad.

The town and family history is most likely whitewashed and the real history is of great interest to him.

Money not being an issue he's interested in perhaps disinterring a few to get DNA, isotope analysis and other data which will help in understanding this early European settlement even better.

Learning more about the slaves and servants and giving them a historical record is a goal here as well. He will be working with researchers and archeologists throughout this process if it is carried out.

How feasible is this project and what would be the roadblocks one may encounter? There are currently no objections from family.

Personally I think its fascinating as so much information could be learned here.

Answer: > Anyone, other than the chief medical examiner investigating suspicious death or deaths resulting from crime, who opens the tomb or grave where a corpse has been deposited or removes any corpse without consent may be fined up to $2,000 and imprisoned for up to five years (CGS §53-334).


Title: Confusion over custody? [UT] [WV]

Question:
(Throwaway because my friends and I follow each other's reddit accounts and I kinda don't want them to know about this.)

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Here's what I know about my background: I was born in Utah, and then I was abandoned at a hospital under the safe haven law. I was put into the foster care system, and permanently placed with my current family when I was eight, and we moved to West Virginia when I was thirteen, and I am now sixteen.

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About six weeks ago, I was contacted by my birth mother, who claimed that I was kidnapped by my biological father, who then abandoned me at the hospital, and my mother couldn't  track me down. She poured her heart out in the letter about how she just wanted to see me again.

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Then, about four weeks back, my folks told m e that they got a letter from an attorney from Utah, claiming that my birth mother was suing my parents for custody. I'm convinced that all of this is legitimate, since my folks have been chatting with lawyers in town. They've not been telling me anything that they've been discussing, so I have no idea what they're thinking in this case.

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**TL;DR: My birth mother claims that I was kidnapped from her by my birth father, and has (I assume) sued my adoptive parents for custody. Does she have a leg to stand on? Can my parents get charged with anything?**
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 It isn't super common for babies to be left at Safe Haven locations. If a baby was reported kidnapped, one of the obvious.first things to check out is the similar-looking baby who was recently left at the Safe Haven. I'm very skeptical of this story. Answer #2: If your parents were complicit they could be charged and this fact will play into any decisions regarding custody.

If they weren't (which seems more likely if you were abandoned in a hospital by your father and then adopted) and, especially at this stage in your life, any judge is going to consider your opinion and what you want heavily.Answer #3: The first likely step will be a DNA test. It’s important you and your parents get counselling also, about this whole process.

While it’s possible a judge could order some time with this woman, if she turns out to be your birth parent, it would likely be gradual. I also think it’s possible a judge could order no contact other than in writing or calls, until you turn 18 and can decide for yourself.

Regardless of any of this, counselling is probably a really important step for you. Best wishes.


Title: [New York] Landlord says we're behind three months rent but we have transaction records proving payment was sent?

Question:
A few months ago I moved into an apartment with my roommate. He gives me his share of the utility bills, I pay them. I give him my share of the rent, he pays the rent. Everything works fine.

Just yesterday (Wednesday) my landlord contacts me saying we're three months behind on the rent and says if she doesn't get it by Friday she's going to hire a lawyer to start the eviction process.

However, a few weeks earlier my roommate informed me that there was a glitch in the website where he paid rent, so at first it hadn't processed one of our payments, but he gave me the impression that the matter had been resolved.

Initially I was worried that he'd been taking my money and not paying the rent, but he has shown me valid, authentic transaction histories showing that the rent was always paid in full on the first of the month.

I also have transaction records showing I always provided him with my share of the rent.

Now, seeing those transaction records, it's obvious that there is something wrong with the landlord's website, and it's not processing the payment. They insist they need the full three months rent by Friday, or they'll start the eviction proceedings, but we can't afford to pay that because, well, we already did. Again, we have the transaction histories to prove it. We've forwarded pictures of them to the landlord, and their response has basically been, "Well, we didn't get any payment, so it doesn't matter."

Granted, the landlord did inform me that they'd been trying to contact my roommate for some time now. However, they never contacted me about it until yesterday, have provided no written notice to evict (unless you consider a text written notice), and have not given my roommate a chance to meet with them in person and show them, in person, that we have proof the rent was paid.

Should I be worried, or will having those kinds of records help us keep the apartment and not have to cover any of her legal fees? I do need to stress that I've seen the transaction histories and the rent was paid.

Answer:
 >"Well, we didn't get any payment, so it doesn't matter."

Well, it does matter. Keep all records. If you're evicted, go and show that it's been paid. The LL's website isn't your problem.Answer #2: What are these transaction histories he has shown you? If these are printouts from his bank's web page, those can be easily manipulated.


Title: My apartment building (6 stories) hosted an event where people payed to rappel down the building, right past my bedroom windows. Has my privacy as a renter been violated?

Question: [US] No notice was given, or consent solicited from residents.

Answer: What happened when you used the curtain to block the window?


Title: Tennessee... Cut and dry: What acts are illegal between myself and my 17 year old girlfriend?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: No sex, no over the pants, no sexting, no pictures, and nothing mom or dad wouldn't approve of should they be in the room with you.


Title: Ambulance service is demanding collection on service fee from June of this year. I explicitly asked not to be taken in the ambulance at the time as I knew I had no way to pay it off.

Question:
So back in June I had a mental breakdown at my home and an ambulance came by to pick me up at the request of a family member. When they came, I remember asking them multiple times if I could go in my brother’s car as he was coming with me anyways to the hospital and I wasn’t going to be able to pay off the ambulance fee as I had ridden in an ambulance before. They insisted on me taking the ambulance instead and so I did.

Fast forward to now, they’ve been asking for payment and I’ve been telling them that I asked not to be taken in the ambulance and I have no way whatsoever to pay it off. They have now taken it to a collection service and they are threatening put it on my credit report or have it affect my credit in some way.

Do I have any legal recourse for this? Or do I just have to pay the money?

Side note: I have tried to do a fee assistance program but I never heard back and I think it’s too late now as it’s now with a collections service.

Answer: At this point I would just send them whatever you can every month even if it is only 10$.Answer #2: You took the ride... you owe the money.


Title: Mother died almost a decade ago at a church sponsored activity (negligence involved). Question on statute of limitation and tolling. Missouri.

Question:
A little less than 10 years ago my mother fell from a horse and struck her head on a pickup truck, she died shortly after from brain damage. She almost certainly would have survived if she was wearing a helmet.

Looking up the wrongful death SOL it looks like it's 5 years in MO. However, my little brother was 11 at the time (he's 21 now). I heard there's something called tolling, where if the "discovery of harm" was by a minor, you can wait until he's at legal age (18 I would think) to file a suit.

So he would have turned 18 a little over three years ago. Is there still a chance for a successful law suit in this case? Or would the SOL make this a lost cause?

Is it like the tolling age 18 plus the SOL? Or would we have had to file at the latest when he was 18?

Answer:
 Where's the negligence? People fall from horses sometimes.  It's not a risk free activity.

> She almost certainly would have survived if she was wearing a helmet.

Did a doctor tell you that?Answer #2: Lawsuit against whom? Your mother was presumably an adult when she passed. It's her negligence for not wearing a helmet.


Title: Mandatory Donation

Question:
So I am in the process of purchasing some property and the seller has said that I can buy the property at a specified dollar amount, but they are also requiring me to donate a specific amount to a charity, in their name.

Is this legal to require me to donate to a charity in order to fulfill the sale of the property?

Some background: This is through an individual. They purchased some property and broke some HOA bylaws, therefore; per the bylaws, they are required to offer the property to me at the amount that they paid. They agreed to sell me the property at that cost as long as I donate an additional amount to a charity they named. This is in Missouri.

Edit:

Thanks for the fast replies. I own land right next to this property.

This is what my HOA document states:
12. No sale of said lot shall be consummated without giving at least fifteen days written notice to Grantor, and the owners of the two lots adjoining said lot on the sides, of the terms thereof; and any one of them shall have the right to buy said lot on such terms. Failure of any seller to disclose the true identity of any prospective purchaser shall be cause for the setting aside of such fraudulent sale. Such service shall be personal service on all three parties thereto entitled.

My interpretation of this rule is that the original seller and purchaser's sale agreement would become null and void. The property would then be returned to the original seller (original owner) and they could offer it to me for a price. They are not tied to any cost in particular, just that it could be offered to me. If I were to not purchase the property, then the other buyer could purchase the property at whatever cost the original owner will accept. Is my interpretation correct?

Answer:
 If they're not bound by any restrictions on the sale they can put any conditions on it they see fit, including you making a donation if you want to get a (presumably good) price.

This:

> They purchased some property and broke some HOA bylaws, therefore; per the bylaws, they are required to offer the property to me at the amount that they paid.

Is something you should have a real estate attorney look at, as it sounds like they ARE bound by a specific agreement to offer the property at that price.


Title: (PA) Chase accidentally gave me too much money, they won't take it back, how long before I can withdraw funds and close the account?

Question:
On Feb 24 I transferred money from my Chase account to my Wells Fargo account. For some reason Wells Fargo got the money, but Chase never took it out of my account.

I called Chase immediately to inform them of the issue, they of course blamed WF, who in turn blamed chase. I made about 10 calls in the next 2 weeks to get someone to help me from either bank but they kept blaming each other. Eventually WF, after an internal investigation, gave me a hard answer. There was absolutely nothing wrong on their end.

I called Chase and refused to get off the phone until someone helped me. I relayed the information from WF and they finally opened a case with with their online research department. That was 4-5 weeks ago. I've left 3 voicemails with my Chase research analyst, who has never contacted me with updates regarding my file. I've spoken with 2 senior managers who called the analyst to try and get an update. They also had to leave voicemails...

No one can reach my research analyst, not even their senior representatives. At this point I'm at my wits end. It's coming up on 2 months that I've had all this extra money sitting in my account that shouldn't be there.

I've called Chase 15-20 times and no one can give me definitive answers. At what point can I just collect the funds and close my Chase account? Or is that super illegal and I just have to wait it out until Chase feels like dealing with it?

Answer: You can't do anything because at some point chase will come after you. Go into a chase bank if you can and talk to a manager in person.


Title: Abortion legality and "viability" question

Question:
I posted this in /r/Ask_Lawyers but nobody gave me any useful info. They just talked about "maybe this" and "maybe that" without responding to my question directly. I thought my question was clear and narrow but maybe not. I modified it below. Or maybe people here will just understand it better.

Roe v. Wade set "viability" of the baby as the point during gestation when abortion could be prohibited. The case also defined "viability" as "potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid."

[Artificial wombs now exist.](https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/25/15421734/artificial-womb-fetus-biobag-uterus-lamb-sheep-birth-premie-preterm-infant) In a couple of years human babies will be gestating in them. They can probably do it now, but it just hasn't been tested on humans yet. Anyway, when that happens it will mean a baby can **potentially** live outside **the mother's** womb. Will that mean abortion can be made illegal again, all the way back to the date of conception?

Answer:
 I mean, I hate to admit it, but the hemming and hawing they did over in ask_lawyers is the only real answer. Besides that's what Lawyers do IRL anyway. No way to know because Abortion is and always has been a political question.

In any event that rationale was [dicta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictum) - the relevant holding related to trimesters and whatnot - but the basis for the holding isn't actually legally enforceable. EDIT: This means the law won't change because the viability thing isn't really part of the law.


Title: “I did not have sex with that woman...” (RI and MA)

Question:
Hi all - 23 y/o guy in RI here. In March i Iost a bet with my buddy & bc of it had to take this really skanky chick from our HS on a date.  (I know; we were dicks. I won’t defend myself on that)

Drinks and a concert, not bad but she brought a freaking flask & was doing shots in the bathroom. She got hammered & I drove her home after. Left her with her mom.

We hugged and that. Was. It.

FFwd to this week, I get a message on FB from another HS friend that she’s pregnant and she AND her mom are telling people it’s mine.

I didn’t f*ck her but I have no way to prove it. I think she just “chose” me since I’m probably the only dude  that’s been near her that has a real job.

Her dad just messaged me to “ask if we could talk about how  (I’m) going to step up to the plate here”.

It’s NOT my kid and I’m not paying for it and I want them to stop saying this shit.

What should I do?

She’s in MA (20 min away) if it makes a difference.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 Let her dad know you'll be more than happy to hear from her lawyer when the time comes and that you'll participate in a DNA test, and not to contact you until then.

Taking someone out on a pity date because you lost a bet is a shitty and disrespectful thing to do, but it doesn't make you a dad even if she turns out to actually be pregnant. If she files for child support, respond with a petition for paternity and a lawyer. If she files for paternity, cooperate with the process - the DNA test should conclusively close the issue. None of that will happen until and unless her kid is born, so there's nothing further for you to do right now.


Title: Got a parking ticket in the mail, can I send back to the post office and say I never got anything ?

Question: So I parked next to a fire hydrant for literally like 2 min and the parking authority was writing up my ticket as I was coming out and I apologized to him and drove off, he didn't even look at me or say anything he just looked out in front like he was spaced out or some shit, then a few days later I got the ticket (small little white receipt looking thing) attached to a letter saying that the guy didn't have a chance to give it me which is bullshit because he had a whole 2 minutes to hand it to me, so can I fight this ?or just send the letter and ticket back to the post office and say that I never got anything since the envelope was only taped close with a small little piece of tape so you can't tell at all that it was opened? Btw this happened in jersey city, NJ

Answer: lol, no. They have your license plate on record...your address, name...pay it and move onAnswer #2: Both stupid plans that wouldn't work, and one results in extra fines. Don't park in front of fire hydrants for any seconds, that was very entitled, selfish, and unsafe not to mention rightfully illegal.


Title: NY - brother's ex is trying to kidnap his kid, what can we do?

Question:
My brother has weekends with his 3 year old daughter. His ex has her most of the time.
We just got wind that his ex might be moving down south- we know legally she can't take the baby out of state without his consent, but she's a sneaky lady and might try to just pack her up one night and take her.

What can we do, legally to prevent this?

We don't have concrete proof as of right now, and we might never, until she (god forbid) pulls something awful and takes the baby away.

Answer:
 Assuming there's a valid custody order, if she takes the kid out of state, he goes into court the next business day and gets an emergency order for the kid's return.

If there is no custody order, he needs to obtain one, very soon.


Title: Retaliation from reporting VP for sexual harassment. What can I do?

Question:
BAY AREA: A VP at my company has been sending me inappropriate emails and asking that I spend personal time with him.  When out at company events he hovers around me and puts his arms on me.  I (23F) am engaged and he (50's M) is married with children.  The guy absolutely disgusts me, but I work for a small company where there is little recourse for such behavior unless its formally reported.

Last week I finally turned in the creep and sent the messages to HR.  HR showed him the forwarded messages and VP actually said that I was making moves on him.  In fact, he said I went on and on about how attractive he is and tried to kiss him.  I think this qualifies as retaliation or at least defamation.  Several other people have come forward due to his inappropriate groping and they still haven't fired the guy.  Anything I can do?

Answer:
 What did HR do upon hearing his response? Have you been penalized somehow? Has the harassment continued?Answer #2: > he said I went on and on about how attractive he is and tried to kiss him. I think this qualifies as retaliation

What state are you in? Assuming somewhere in US:

Retaliation is firing you, demoting you, cutting your pay, etc. Read [this](http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/workplace-retaliation-employee-rights-30217.html) for more information on the subject.

HR (and/or the company in general) gets an opportunity to fix the problem once it is brought to their attention. They do not have to fire him necessarily. They just need to investigate and then (if the behavior is established to exist) prevent the behavior from continuing. What are they doing specifically?


Title: [TN] so I literally had a job ripped away from me so someone could hire a family member that is not qualified at all for the job

Question: so some background, the business I work at has multiple locations.  The location I work at is an hour away from where I live. So a similar job opened up at the location closest to where I live, so I applied for the job.  So I have been with the company for 6 years, doing actually more than the job I applied for.  And I have been the top performer in every metric that applies to my department for about 3 years straight.  Corporate policy states that internal jobs have to be posted at least a week, and must not be advertised  once the interviews have started.  So go in for an interview, nailed it (literally the words from the person interviewing me).  A week later get called in for the final interview, again nailed it (their words not mine), and they drew up the paperwork to get the transfer rolling, it is to the point of working out the last day/first day details.   And then it went quite. My managers were even in the dark, they were unsure when my last day with them would be, because the new location wouldn't even discuss it with them. weeks pass, not  a word.  And finally "my" new manager calls me  and says: " I am sorry they decided to go with another candidate".  This is odd, because there were me and another person that applied for this position, and the other person withdrew, because he actually got another job.  Felt it was very odd, oh well.  So kept doing what I was doing, and get another call from "my" new manager turns out a much higher up had a nephew that was given the position, who is not even with the company (meaning he did not have access to the internal job opening board) and the new manager thought it was quite crappy, and talked the higher manager to hear me out in a second final interview, again go in, nail the interview (their words) showed how I was near the top of the company in most metrics, and the reason I wish to transfer is to be closer to home.  Again, none of that mattered because the previous ruling stood.  So what legal recourse do I have? the person they hired  does not meet any of the job requirements, like they will literally have to train him to do everything.  Personally, I am looking outside the company, because if the rules and procedures can be so easily broken, I don't want to work there.

Answer:
 >So what legal recourse do I have? the person they hired does not meet any of the job requirements, like they will literally have to train him to do everything.

None. They have no legal obligation to give you that job.

> Personally, I am looking outside the company, because if the rules and procedures can be so easily broken, I don't want to work there.

Good ideaAnswer #2: > So what legal recourse do I have?

Nepotism is not illegal. Sorry, that sucks if you're more qualified but they could hire me and it wouldn't be illegal (and I have no idea what the job is and am probably not qualified at all).Answer #3: No legal recourse.  The idea to look for work elsewhere is a fine one.


Title: Hostile Work Environment? Sexual Harassment?

Question:
Hi guys, I’m a 21 year old male who works for a small retail company that employs about 15 people and has stores in Florida and Illinois(I only mention these two since these are the only relevant states to the story.

I live in Florida and usually work the stores based there but my boss asked me to work the Illinois store for a little bit, We have a company apartment that I stay in while i’m up which is where this incident occurred. Now the First couple nights I had shared the apartment with my boss and his girlfriend who is also employed by him.

The first night I arrived my boss had to drive another one of my coworkers to another store in a neighboring state so i was left alone with his girlfriend/coworker. She had made several verbal attempts to try and initiate a sexual encounter saying things like “You look like a real man to me” and how she wants to “pounce” on me. This made me extremely uncomfortable and i made it clear that I wasn’t interested. Then she started to get really touchy and demanding me to get close to her, I again made it clear i wasn’t interested since i didn’t know what else to do. And said something along the lines of “If you plan to attempt to burn me, give me warning so I can burn you first” and that “she wasn’t someone to be messed with.”

This had made me extremely uncomfortable and has put added stress on myself because now I feel like if I tell my boss I would get fired. I’m not sure if i have any grounds for any case here but i’m not sure what all my options are. Thank you for reading, I hope someone can give me more information on the legality of this situation.

Answer:
 It's neither.  You weren't at work, the environment at work isn't persistently a sexually hostile one, and nobody at work harassed you.

You were propositioned by a third party, once.  It's not a legal issue at this point.Answer #2: This was a one time incident?


Title: How fucked am I?

Question: I was on a camgirl site (chaturbate) and accidently used my moms card instead of mine to make a purchase there. i know i know im stupid. Now mom is thinking someone hacked her and is gonna call the credit company later today to dispute. can credit companies track the ip address from where the purchase was made online? if so im screwed. Any advice is helpful, thanks.

Answer:
 Just tell your mom.Answer #2: Come clean to your mother. If the CC company does an investigation she / you will be charged with fraud, which is a serious crime.Answer #3: Tell your mom you made the charge, and offer to pay her back.

Or don't, and take the risk that a prosecutor believes you did this intentionally and pursues charges against you for fraud. Yes, the credit card company can ask Chaturbate where the charge was made from, and they may even answer without a court order.Answer #4: I did this accidentally when I was 12 or so (back in the early internet, and I'm a girl, so my parents were surprised) and it was mortifying but I got past it; you and your mom will be embarrassed, that is better than your mom being charged with a crime (fraud) by the CC company.

It will be really simple for the CC company to figure out that a charge was made to your house computer or one registered to you and then your mom has broken the law. Trust me that's WAY more "not an option" than her knowing you jack off.
EDIT: typoAnswer #5: Well, the right thing to do would be to 'fess up.
It would save your mother lots of time and worry.
Just say you accidentally used the wrong card.

As far as her knowing what you used it for- most mom's already know their sons do these things.
You'll be embarrassed but do the right thing.


Title: I have Power of Attorney for my husband. Do I sign my name or his name? (Houston, TX)

Question: Working on some insurance paperwork and want to ensure I don't delay the process.

Answer: Yours.  Signing his would be fraud.


Title: What can I do about a business that's been abusing a customer's phone number to harass them about a negative review on Yelp?

Question:
I left a negative review for a venue on Sept 15, around 10am. 5 minutes later, the owner (wife of the person I left a negative review of) called my friend, who had left her phone number with an employee a few days earlier when she called to ask a question.

The owner was upset with my friend, who had no idea I had even written the review. My friend tried to calm her down but  the owner kept speaking over her, so she could barely get a word in.

She continued to text my friend and found her IG and Facebook info. My friend never left her last name and has no idea how the owner found her personal social media handles.

The owner messaged me once on Yelp the evening of Sept 15 and has not responded on the page publicly.

This is upsetting as it targets someone who is completely innocent. Everyone is entitled to their feelings, but I'd rather the owner reach out to me on Yelp instead of repeatedly calling, texting, and messaging the friend, whose an innocent bystander who made the mistake of leaving her phone number with the venue days before.
The owner's misuse of a customer's phone number is a breach of privacy. When a customer leaves a phone number with the business, its under the assumption that the business will use it for business purposes alone. Not to repeatedly harass and find a customer's Instagram and Facebook information - not sure if she used the phone number to search, but don't know how else she would have found it.
On Sept 17, she continues to call my friend under a "no caller ID number".

&#x200B;

Is there any consumer protection law that safeguards the information and phone numbers we give to businesses? We just want her to stop.

Answer: Contact yelp and let them know the business owner is harassing and cyber stalking you because of an honest review you left. Send any accompanying proof. They may tell you to kick rocks but they also may not take kindly to users being harassed for using their site as it was intended.


Title: My brother died, after being bullied, harassed, assaulted at school while school administrators did nothing.

Question:
My brother died in November of last year, he had severe ADHD and anxiety and was being medicated for it, and he had an IEP.

\--- Graphic explanation of cause of death --

One night he used a compressed air canister, for reasons unknown, put a bag over his head and spayed the canister inside. a chemical compound rendered him unconscious and than proceeded to kill him. His death was ruled an accident by the judge after my mother urged him not to rule it a suicide.

\-- What occurred while in school -- the following is what i know about from my parents telling me

While my disability, he was the target of other students, he died after 6 weeks in high school. under his IEP he was allowed to leave a classroom at anytime, without saying why. One day with in AV class, a student left a video playing when he got up and left the computer, my brother paused it. The student then proceeded to pushing him down and kick him in the head, called him a "white nigger", my brother stood up and said "don't call me a nigger" and left the classroom, the student followed him into the hall, from what i know a teacher than saw what was happening. The teacher who was supposed to be in the classroom was a sub who was not in the classroom at the time. My brother and the other student both received 3 days of in school suspension, my brother for using the n word the other student for assault, the other student was a football player who had 50 pounds on him, my brother rarely ate due to his meds.
\-- incident 2 --

My brother was pressed against the wall being held by neck by a student for reasons unknown, my brother was able to bite his wrist him in an effort to defend himself. the student let go and then popped him in the jaw giving him a bloody lip. the School did not call my parents after the event occurred. My father went to him pick up and was met by a resource officer and an assistant principal, where they 'explained' what happened, when the officer explained he bite the other student he said "he bite the kid, that's assault", my father said, "he was being assaulted".

My brother had a history of acting out in middle school and was labeled the problem child by his teachers, the officer said, along the lines, he has a history of this. My brother received 3 days ISS.

\-- minor incidents --

\- My father said he found him crying outside after school

\- he was bullied by students during class to various extents

\- when he went to get help for a class, the teacher was coaching football during the time he designated in the syllabus to class

\-- After my brothers death --

Two school officials came to my house talk to my parents, where my mother than gave them a piece of her mind.

The week before my brother died my grandfather died, and he went to the funeral which was held during school hours on a Monday, but the 2nd incident happened on the previous Friday and he was going to start the ISS stint after he got back, but the school records we received stated he started on that Monday despite not being in school that day. In addition to other clerical inarticulate my mom alluded to.

Further, I found numerous articles stating Texas, where this occurred, violated Federal Law  by reducing students with special need's benefits

[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/us/texas-special-education.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/us/texas-special-education.html)

[https://www.texastribune.org/2018/02/01/federal-assessment-cap-texas/](https://www.texastribune.org/2018/02/01/federal-assessment-cap-texas/)

[https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/01/11/577400134/texas-violates-federal-law-education-department-finds](https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/01/11/577400134/texas-violates-federal-law-education-department-finds)

My mom has given my aunt, who is an alcoholic vital papers that are needed to proceed in any kind of lawsuit, I don't know what these papers are. My mom claims to be looking for a lawyer but i see no evidence of that.

\-- my question --

I went to the same school that killed my brother, I am a college senior. What can be done, who should my family contact and how should my family move forward legally?

&#x200B;
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer:
 I'm sorry about your brother.

If anyone is going to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit it would need to be your parents, and they will need a lawyer. They'll have a number of significant hurdles to overcome starting with the fact that your brother's death was ruled an accident.


Title: Defamation of character and libel help

Question:
I made a post implying murder (I have bipolar, and it was a manic impulse) on reddit about 2 years ago. It was a meme that was not meant to hold any truth, and it was posted from a pseudonym. I had used the same pseudonym online with other sites and services.

From there, my real identity was discovered and a massive mediastorm came down on me and my family. NBC showed my name and face on the 7 o clock news in my home town. Websites like gawker and nbc also put up articles showing my face and name, and these articles are all that come up when my name is searched on google.

I emailed the webmaster at gawker and asked them to remove the article. Instead they attached the email to the article for all to see.

This has prevented me gaining employment in a huge way. I wanted to sue the shirt off them, but the situation shifted my focus more towards keeping a roof over my head and not starving to death. Im 6'3 and I used to weigh 185lbs, now I weigh a little under 140.

Any lawyer Ive talked to said its "past the statute of limitations", but what I dont get is how I cant sue someone that's actively hosting defamatory articles that have been and currently are having a huge effect on my life.

If someone was punching you in the face for 2 years, and you finally managed to break free and tell the law, why can they say "we cant help you" just because of when they STARTED attacking me, regardless of the fact that they're STILL attacking me.

I can go into more detail with an actual lawyer, need help in the southern california area.

Thank you!

Answer: I'm not sure how exactly these articles are defamatory. You posted a "meme that was not meant to hold any truth", but it was taken at face value. These media organizations can post about it and disclose your identity all they want without defaming you, so long as it's the truth.


Title: [IA] Playing with blood on the court

Question:
I play in an outdoor men's basketball league, and last night in the game before mine, someone took a ball to the face and lost a lot of blood on the court. Its not on concrete, but on this plastic grating type stuff.

There wasn't any cleaning materials on hand, so some water from a water bottle was sprayed on it, but after there was still a considerable amount of blood on the court after the attempted cleaning.

We have to pay a private company to play in the league even though its in a public park, and the ref wasn't going to cancel the game.

Is there any sort of laws that could have been violated here? Is there any civil recourse? Kids play out on the court all the time as well, and if they're not cleaning up this blood it seems like a pretty major hazard.

Answer: You can contact the [Center for Disease Control](http://www.cdc.gov) and ask them. I'm not able to find anything specifically.


Title: Rent to own questions

Question:
I have a rental property and my tenants are wanting to buy and I'm wanting to sell. But they aren't able to afford to buy now.  They asked if we'd look at a rent to own scenario. I don't know too much about it. I'm looking for any advice. Should I do it? What should I look out for? Any specific things I should build into the contract or look out for in the wording? Anything you can add will help

Edit: my location is canada

Answer:
 > Should I do it?

No.

If they can't get a loan it means they are a bad credit risk. No reason you should take a chance on them when the bank won't.


Title: Online shopping / shipping dilemma...

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 So you never actually cancelled the order and just thought it would work itself out?

You can ask the retailer to send you a shipping label, but depending on their return policy, you will likely be responsible for the costs of shipping one of the items back.  The item that you ordered was not mistakenly sent because you never cancelled. You are responsible, regardless of whether the cards were changed by you or your credit card company.

You should not have to pay to return the second item (the one that was a mistake).


Title: 3 weeks recovering from second hand surgery, fell and hurt right hand on College campus property due to very slick concrete in the rain

Question: I had recently had surgery on my right wrist meant to clean out some severe synovitus from an old injury. I was on my way to recovery when I was crossing the street in the rain, and slipped on a slanted piece of concrete and hurt my wrist. My friend saw it, I revisited my surgeon, reported it to my therapist, and even went to the campus doctor to document it. Here I am a year later, and it's starting to look like I'll need surgery again for falling on it while crossing the street. What can I do? (This occured in the US, Arkansas)

Answer: Concrete gets slippery in the rain. Was something about this particularly unsafe or not to code?


Title: [MI] I think I may have dined and dashed.

Question: So last night I meet a few friends at a bar for some drinks. When it came time to leave I didn't get a check and my friend said sometimes bars give out pop and stuff for free. That didn't really seem true but I went with it and didn't ask for a check. No I feel like a stole and I don't want to go back and get arrested or something. How should I go about fixing this without getting in trouble.

Answer: Just go back and tell them there was a misunderstanding—you thought your friend paid, but it turns out he didn’t, so you’ve come back to pay. Answer #2: The bartender either a) never rang it in or b) put it on somebody else in your party’s tab. Answer #3: If you didn't get alcohol or food your friend is probably right. Every time I DD in the USA and get diet Coke or something bars never charge me for my drink.


Title: Someone stole my meme

Question:
So 50d ago I posted a meme (it was a pic of a show with some original text above it) do I have any trademark/copyright ownership?
Topic:
Canada

Answer: You're kidding right?


Title: Was threatened termination at my work for taking medical leave which doctors and my work required.

Question:
Hello! I suffered a concussion through a private business and am in the process of reaching a settlement with them. I have been out of work for 2 weeks now and I returned back to work today! I was excited to finally get my life back in order.

I get a call to meet my boss in her office. I go in and see HR sitting down. I say hello and she ask me if I know why she’s there. I assume it’s because of the head injury. She then tells me that she finds it ridiculous that I don’t understand why she’s there and giving me an attitude. I then get a good stern talk. Sort of like a drill Sargent. Just escalating the situation. At the end of the meeting she tells me that I am on the verge of being fired due to the time I lost from work being out with a head injury. I told her I have paperwork to show her I wasn’t just calling out and that I had a serious injury. Proudly she exclaims that the paperwork won’t cover anything.

That meeting really put me over the edge. I felt defeated. Humiliated, and angry. (I’m usually the quiet, calm type.)

So what I really need advice on is should I put in my two week notice? I plan on leaving during the fall anyway because I have another job lined up. Or do I stick it out and risk the chance of HR firing me. They have done this sort of stuff to people in the past. They fire on if they like you or not. Not based on work. Thank you all for your time.

Answer: Location is not optional. How long have you worked there any how many employees do they have?


Title: [US (TX/FL)] A child support nightmare -- Recently retired from the military and a child support mix-up between two states. Two states are taking more than I'm ordered to pay and neither are crediting me for payments. In desperate need of help.

Question:
Hi /r/legaladvice ,

This is such a mess that I don't even know where to begin in explaining it to try to keep it brief, so I'll just do the ole "wall o' text"..

I was divorced while I was active duty in 2013 while living in Florida.  Under my mediated settlement agreement, I was ordered to pay $932.42 a month in child support for one child, and wasordered to provide health and dental insurance for my son and that was fine because it was free (yay TRICARE).  Part of the settlement agreement was that my ex-wife and son were allowed to move to Texas.

Last year, I was medically retired from the military at 30%, which comes out to $848/month pension (from my branch, not the VA), and I'm eligible for TRICARE Standard.  I also got a job making 14.53 an hour as a 911 dispatcher in Texas (which is where my son and ex-wife live), so I applied for child support services through Texas and also applied for a modification through Texas because I simply could not afford the 932 a month in child support anymore.

Now this is where it gets interesting.  Texas sent me a letter saying that I was **~$46,000** in arrears, which I knew was wrong (I've never missed a payment in my life...the military simply doesn't allow that).  I provide them with my payment history from 2013 - present from Florida, and it still doesn't go away and I also get a lawyer on retainer.  A few weeks later, I get an Income Withholding Order in the mail for my new dispatcher job.  They're going to be garnishing my wages to the tune of $1300 a month (I gross $2000 before taxes).

A week later I get my first paystub in the mail for my pension and the court has garnished $460 from it.   So for the month of December, I paid $1760 in child support.

My ex wife called me and asks why she has not been receiving her child support checks.  I told her what happened to me and that I've been paying, but nobody is giving me any help.  If anyone has ever tried to call the Florida Child Support hotline, you know exactly what I'm talking about....I've never been able to get through to them.

My ex-wife finally went to the local TX Attorney General's office last week and they told her that they have been applying my credits to the wrong account for the past five months.  They also told her that she will not be receiving ANY money until that money is recovered, and that I will not be receiving credit toward those payments and that my account will still be considered in arrearage.

All the while, Florida is *still* garnishing my military pension even though I have been to court to have child support modified to $525 a month, have jurisdiction of the case moved to Texas, and the Income Withholding Order on my dispatcher job is showing accordingly.

My question is....what can I do about all this?  Can I sue the AG's office for damages due to them taking entirely too much money?  Can I demand that they pay my court costs?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 Contact your representative, they sometimes can get the ball rolling on something like this.

Start at the state level.

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/find-your-representative/


Title: Selling Stubhub sales data...legal?

Question:
I'm located in Illinois where I've been running a python script every 15 minutes for the past year which collects the data of every ticket sold on stubhub. I, therefore, have a database of every ticket sold on stubhub in the past year.

I use this data to buy and sell tickets for a profit. It's been going great so far, but it recently occurred to me that there may be other people interested in this data. I would like to offer to sell this data to other people as well as offer a subscription service whereby I would send them new sales data every month.

To be clear, I am not "hacking" stubhub in any way. Stubhub publicly displays the last 100 tickets sold for every event. My script just keeps checking every event for new sales and records them all.

Is selling this data legal? If stubhub theoretically asks me to cease and desist, do I have to?

Thanks!

EDIT 12/12/2014: If you came here straight from a Google search, you should know that Stubhub no longer provides ticket sales data, so I am no longer scraping anything. If you're insterested in seeing the data that I did collect, please PM me.

Answer:
 There is no law prohibiting you from doing this.

BUT, you should look at Stubhub's user agreement, which you must agree to, to see this data.  Because I would take bets that their user agreement addresses this issue, and likely prohibits resale of their data.

TL;DR: Check the EULA.Answer #2: What you are doing is often referred to as *scraping* Stubhub's site. Website owners have successfully sued scrapers for damages under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA"), 18 U.S.C. § 1030. [Here](http://www.skadden.com/sites/default/files/publications/070071319%20Skadden.pdf) is an article from one of America's top law firms on the legal implications of scraping, including liability under the CFAA.Answer #3: Wow. I have no idea but for some reason I'm curious as hell.


Title: [Ontario] Employer Disclosed Personal Informational to Other Employees Regarding My Past Addiction in Negative Manner

Question:
In December I was falling into depression and my substance use turned to daily abuse. After some time, I opened up to my family and those close to me to seek help. Obviously my job performance was slipping during this time. I acknowledged it as a problem and sought help.

I pulled my boss aside shortly after and, nearly in tears, told him what I've been dealing with and that I was getting help. I figured this was a good idea to both secure my job (I've heard you can't fire an employee if they're suffering with addiction problems) and ensure him that I would excel again.

I went to my doctor for a few sessions of counselling, and with the support of my family and girlfriend, cleaned myself up and became a better version of the person I was before.

A few months down the road I was transferred back to the sister restaurant of where I worked as it was too slow at the first to provide the hours I need. A few weeks have passed and tonight I received a text message from one of the servers informing me that my old boss was essentially talking negatively of myself and my past substance abuse.

Apparently, he was saying (to a number of employees) that I had/have drinking and drug problems, how I was not a good worker because of those problems and that's why I'm no longer working there, and that I was going to counselling.

I was shocked and disgusted to hear this. I told him this in a very weak and broken state in confidence that it was a private matter to be kept between us, but now that I'm not around he seems to think it's okay to tell everyone and speak of my poor performance due to it.

What can I do about this? Do I go to the Human Rights Tribunal or speak to an employment lawyer? The two staff members who he said this to can verify the comments and my doctor has records of my addiction problems to prove this as true.

Answer:
 In the US, your boss has no restrictions on revealing your health information that you disclosed to him. You could sue him for defamation, but truth would be his defense.

Not sure if it's different in Canada.


Title: [WA] I am a supervisor at a department store. My job is trying to terminate or relocate me for being in violation of a rule about dating co-workers.

Question:
I work for a small department store chain that is popular across America. In December, we were short staffed on our stock team. Our stock team is a team of people who strictly work 12:00am - 8:30am and report directly to the logistics supervisor. Because the stock team is its own team, the logistics supervisor is almost like a assistant manager for stock. The day team does not meet the night team and even day supervisors never interact with the night team. I worked here at this particular store for five months before I met the night crew. For clarification, I have worked with the company for five and a half years.

I offered my roommate the position on stock team. We clarified with my general manager that we were roommates, but there is no specific rule in the handbook that states roommates can't work together. It only mentions "romantic" relationships specifically.

There is a note in the handbook that employees can work with family members under three general rules: a) the employee is qualified for the position, b) it does not effect the flow of the work place, and c) he or she does not directly report to their family member.

Since there were no rules about roommates, my general manager applied the rules of family. My roommate works stock team, where she works a completely different set of hours and only reports to the logistics manager. I work 2pm - 10pm as a supervisor who oversees the numbers report for our rewards program and trying to raise those numbers, which does not relate to stock teams. My physical departments are also unrelated to the stock team because they are items I have to stock myself since shipments of these items only arrive during the day and the stock on these items is done by hand (beer and wine).

Today, my general manager informed me that after six months of me and my room mate working with the company (both girls. I do openly identify as bisexual, but have a committed and loving husband), I have been given an ultimatum. I can relocate to another store, quit, or be terminated for refusing either. The rule cited by my DM was the clause that specifically states employees can not date if they assume a supervisor / subordinate role in the store. I am a supervisor, but as I said, my room mate works completely separate shifts, reports to a completely separate manager, and I do not ever see or interact with her at work. I have covered for the logistics manager on a few occasions, but when I do, I always keep my relationship with her strictly professional. She does the same. We will only talk on our scheduled breaks or lunches.

There is slightly more information to this, but for legal reasons, I can't disclose all the information. All I will say is that my GM has been facing harassment and threatened termination by my DM. He opened an HR investigation against her. I am currently only one of two supervisors, in a store that should have five. I feel my DM may be trying to use my termination as proof that my GM is incompetent and unable to run a store.

I have opened an HR investigation against my DM, as I'm definitely not dating my coworker and feel that six months is too late to address the issue after we've proven we can work together with no issue. My GM is panicking at the thought of losing a supervisor.

If I am terminated, does the company have the right to refuse unemployment? Is this wrongful termination?

Answer:
 You can still qualify for unemployment if you were fired through no fault of your own.

If they do, it is NOT wrongful termination. They can terminate you for living with your coworker. They can terminate you for any reason short of a protected class. Employment is at-will.

It's not unreasonable to think there may be a "conflict of interest" due to the fact that you two live together. Just kinda stinks they decided after 6 months it was an issue.

If you like your job, I'd take the offer.


Title: Wrongfully booted car in Atlanta, Georgia

Question:
Throwaway account.

My car was wrongfully booted. The company doing this said I was mistook for (someone else) having left the premises (a strip mall).

However, I did not leave the premises, and they undid the boots as soon as I called.

This is where things get weird. I asked the guy who booted my car for his name. He said, "Operator 142" and refused to give me his name: "I am not required to give you that information".

What's even weirder is that after I asked how this happened, he told me that the security at this particular strip mall called him, saying "two old people were leaving" and he thought my car was theirs. I am a single young male, so I do not know how connecting my car to two old people came about.

Determined to see who was responsible for this, I went back to the coffee shop I was at, and figure out how to get in touch with the security to discuss the matter further. The employees of the coffee shop told me that there is no centralized security team; that the booting company is the one to make these types of determinations.

Is there any action I can take?

Answer: What is your goal here? Your car was booted by mistake, you reported it, they removed the boot promptly (without charge I'm assuming). Just move on...


Title: My son wants to travel abroad...

Question:
While my son/daughter/ward is in residence at (Insert name of campus), I wish and authorize (campus) to act as Guardian in my place for decisions involving his/her personal care and welfare.

This is a part of the contract I have  to sign before allowing him to travel.
What does this statement mean, and how much power does it grant the institution to act on behalf of my child?
Topic:
Contracts

Answer:
 If your kid gets hurt in Germany and needs to go to a hospital, this authorizes the school agent to act in your place at the hospital. Or bailing them out of jail. Or anything else that happens. It is purposefully vague so that they don’t need to track you down for any little thing that might happen.

I suggest asking some questions of the school, and talking with your kid about some things too.
* If something happens to him while in Germany, what steps will they take to contact you before making decisions?
* Are there specific examples that have happened on previous trips?
* If there are multiple adults on the trip and they disagree on what to do for your son, how will they decide?
* What is their plan regarding drinking alcohol, since in Germany minors age 14 can drink w a guardian present, and age 16 without a guardian? Tell your son what you want/don’t regarding him drinking so he knows your expectations.


Title: Public Basketball Hoop

Question:
I have a quick property law question. My neighbors have erected a basketball hoop on the public street. I have no problem with this, but my little brothers want to use the hoop. The neighbors won’t let anyone but their own kids use it. Are they allowed to use a public sidewalk for the hoop and then deny access to it?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: They cannot have it in that location, so denying access to it is a moot point. Contact code enforcement to abate the danger before a kid gets killed.


Title: [Maryland] Apartment Complex wants to charge me for carpet replacement after move-out inspection noted carpet as being in good condition

Question: I recently moved out of an apartment complex (Rockville, MD) and was surprised this week to receive a bill for a full carpet replacement. During final move-out inspection there were no notes made on the carpet, and I even took the proactive step of paying for their clean sweep program which included carpet shampooing. What sort of recourse do I have?

Answer:
 You should ask them what changed between then and now.

The inspection at the time of departure isn't automatically the final word on the matter.  As one example, it's not uncommon for someone to do pet damage to the pad/subfloor, and to cover it up with a quick shampoo or air freshener.

If their response convinces you that this is your problem, then pay them.  If it doesn't, refuse and take the chance that you'll be sued.  Answer #2: As I understand it in most places, you cannot be required to pay for the replacement of a line item that accrues wear and tear in such an obvious manner as carpet.  They may ask for the depreciated value of the carpet, but I would personally not pay for the replacement cost, even if you were convinced it was your fault for damaging the carpet, unless MD is different.

NAL, but perhaps another avenue to research.


Title: My coworker accidentally backed over her toddler and killed him. She is emotionally ruined, but is she going to be legally ruined too? NY

Question:
This is the most tragic thing I've ever heard of.

I'm not clear on the details of it or how the toddler got outside (I was first told about it by the aunt my coworker lives with), she was apparently backing up her car out of the driveway to go to work when she drove over the chest of her child who wasn't visible in the mirrors. Paramedics were called and he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

This doesn't effect me directly but I've been friends with this woman for several years and she is in utter complete despair and I'm afraid the state might choose to charge her with manslaughter or murder. I don't believe she would ever murder her kid and she has security cameras that I think would provide evidence it was accidental.

Is my friend in any danger of being arrested? She's already having more suffering than I can imagine.
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 There will be an investigation. It won't be fun for your friend. A therapist and possibly a lawyer are in order. Poor lady, as the parent of a 3 year old I can't even begin to imagine...Answer #2: Not legal advice:

If that happened to my wife or me I would worry about suicide more than an arrest.

You are posting about this so obviously you care.  Please make sure she gets some help.


Title: Landlord provides floor mat for front entrance but not back entrance. Is he liable in the event of a slip and fall?

Question:
Hasn't happened yet but I wanted to know my rights before there's an issue. The front and back entryways of my apartment building are both tile, as are the stairs. For some reason, there is a floor mat at the front entrance for wiping feet but not at the back entrance. When it snows, the building manager just puts down some newspaper at the back door, which is minimally helpful at best, and I'm often concerned that I'm going to slip on the wet floors.

My assigned parking spot is in the back of the building so I always enter through the back door. There's no walkway connecting the back parking lot to the front of the building, so entering through the front is not an option.

If I were to slip and injury myself, is the landlord liable or is he under no obligation to provide floor mats? I live in Massachusetts.

Answer: No. Buy your own floor mat.


Title: [US] Is it illegal to simply demand someone's money without actually threatening them?

Question:
For example, you walk up to a stranger and say in a non-threatening way, "Give me your money", then walk away if they don't immediately comply.

Not a serious question, but I couldn't think of a better place to ask.

Answer:
 Welcome to mugging 101.Answer #2: So, actual argument from an actual defendant. He was a homeless guy who was panhandling near a DMV.

Comes up to a parked car with the driver inside, asks for money. Driver says "No." So this guy walks away, pulls out a knife, comes back to the car, and "asks" for money again. Driver rolls up the window and calls the cops. Guy meanders off, and is picked up by the cops somewhere nearby.

This guy says "I didn't know that was an attempted robbery, I was just aggressively panhandling." He was convicted of attempted robbery.


Title: [NJ] Just renewed my apartment lease. The company that owns the property is now requiring every apartment to have renter's insurance and pay it out of our own pockets. Can they do that?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If it's in the lease, or they're refusing to sign until you do, they can make you.

Not only is this common, but you should **already have a renter's insurance policy** so this is a moot question.  If you don't, get on the phone to an agent right now and get one.Answer #2: Renters insurance is incredibly cheap and a common requirement for leases. Search this sub for how many problems would have been avoided it the poster simply had it. Answer #3: Get renters insurance. If your apartment burns down, unless you have it, you're out of luck getting your stuff replaced. Your property manager's insurance doesn't cover your stuff. It's not that expensive. Mine is $13 a month and it'd be less if I paid in full yearly.

Edit: commas are goodAnswer #4: I've actually tried to figure this out on my own because I wanted to make my tenants get it but was told by my property manager that I could not (this was in a different state, I don't think my PM was correct). Is it in the new lease? If you get no answer here, call your prospective future agency and ask if your LL can legally force you to get it.

 You **want** to pay $4 to maybe $15 a month for renter's insurance, btw. You will never hear anyone suggest otherwise.