Title: Lyft overcharged my account for rides I never took, won't answer emails, cancelled my account, then somehow got me banned from Uber BEFORE I used it.

Question:
This is a weird, weird situation. I'll be brief.

Basically I have never had problems with Lyft before this when I used it in my old city. Since moving to Minneapolis it has been one issue after another with them. Problems, problems, problems. Most drivers are good but some of them are pretty terrible. Multiple instances of cars not showing up and still getting charged $7.50 surcharges for rides, people showing up who did not speak English and were hard to direct, drivers asking inappropriate questions (I'm a young woman), etc. Lyft Minneapolis has a long ways to go. It's very bad service here for the most part, especially from corporate.

Before today, I reported the bad charges to my bank when Lyft charged me twice, at $7.50, for no-show pick ups. I also reported an unprofessional driver and some other billing shenanigans. I won't lie, Lyft in Minneapolis is pretty bad so I've been thinking of leaving it behind for a while. But being without a car, I put it off.

But Valentine's Day, things got very very strange for me. It was the last day I used Lyft and without warning, they wouldn't take my card, and charged me for a ride I never received. I checked with my bank and my card was good, so this was Lyft's deal.

I don't have a car and I use Lyft a ton in Minneapolis, so I tried to get this fixed with a new card since that seemed to be their issue. I updated my card via the Lyft app after I was issued a new card from my bank Monday morning, thinking that was the issue. I again requested a Lyft to get to Uptown. After Lyft told me my zip code was wrong again, according to Wells Fargo, they charged my card SEVENTEEN TIMES for rides I never took in an attempt to charge me for the Valentine's day ride and the ride on Monday. I called my bank back and they told me the charges wouldn't go through, since they flagged charges from Lyft. I tried to contact Lyft and I received an email which told me my account was terminated for having "multiple accounts under different zip codes." I don't even know what that means. I had LOTS of free ride credits built up over three years of using their service, so those are now gone. And now Lyft support won't answer my emails. Like, I've sent over seven and they won't answer anything.

It get's worse because of course it does.

After they didn't respond, I tried to sign up for Uber and Sidecar, since Lyft decided it didn't need my business. Fuck Lyft, right? Wrong. Somehow, some way, before I could even use Uber and Sidecar in any capacity, even though I've never used them, my accounts were banned there, too. As soon as I signed up. I mean, I guess it could be a coincidence, but the timing seems very, VERY fishy to me (especially since before this I have never been a Sidecar/Uber customer).

So my question is: what do I do? Am I just shit out of luck? Can I report Lyft to the City of Minneapolis for ripping me off multiple times and erroneously "blacklisting" me to their competitors? Is this retaliation for reporting the bad Lyft charges to my bank? Can they somehow get me blacklisted from using Minneapolis taxi apps too, if they can get me banned from their competitors? How would they even do that? Isn't any of this illegal? Has this happened to anyone else? Should I report Lyft to the city?

This is such an odd thing to happen; I know it sounds made up. It doesn't make any sense to me why they would go this far to inconvenience a (previously) good customer AND get them kicked from other services (I mean, I guess it could be a coincidence, but what are the chances of that). Luckily my bank, Wells Fargo, is on my side and seems to be looking into this matter. But it does smack of petty retaliation.

Like I said, Lyft isn't answering my emails and doesn't take any calls, so I can't send them any messages. Uber and Sidecar aren't answering my emails either (I don't even know if Sidecar operates in Minneapolis, but I thought I'd see if it did).

Thanks and I am open to any advice!

Answer:
 How were you ripped off if your bank denied the charges?

You can contact your city, but generally there is no right to use any of these services. Perhaps Minny has different, stricter rules.


Title: I am being legally evicted/ should I file a sexual harassment suit?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You want to find sexual harassment because he called you honey and made a joke about your boyfriend sexual abilities?

Not illegal. Answer #2: What are your damages of him calling you honey and saying your BF is good in bed?


Title: Credit card debt of deceased spouse in community property state (NV)

Question:
My dad is ill and likely has < 3 years to live.  He has roughly $20k in unsecured credit card debt.  He is the sole signer on all accounts. He has individual accounts (checking/savings) of approximately $5k. He receives social security and unemployment.

My mother has no debt and is in good health. She has a checking account with $15k and a money market account with $110k.

My parents have been married 30+ years so I'm confident all property is community property.

My questions:
Is my mom responsible for the credit card debt?

Are there agreements that can be written to remove the debt or assets from being community property?

Are there ways for my mom to protect the 100k account by moving it to a different type of account/trust/etc?

If my parents moved to any non-community property state would this change anything?

Answer:
 Nevada is a community property state.

All debts in the marriage belong to both parties.

Therefore, your mother is liable for the debt.

>Are there ways for my mom to protect the 100k account by moving it to a different type of account/trust/etc?

If sued, the CC company can garnish wages, put liens on property, etc.


Title: [GA] Custody case & mixed-gender bedroom

Question:
Throwaway account, and posting from my computer vs. husband's for reasons below.

\[TL;DR\] He needs to file for custody of his three kids, but we have a two bedroom place so there's a mixed-gender bedroom. Is that going to hurt us?

\[FULL\] My husband has 3 kids with the ex-wife, one of one gender, two of the other. Because he got taken to the cleaners during the divorce, he has an unreasonably-in-our-eyes high child support obligation/cost split/etc. In order to keep paying the child support, we've been forced to live in a two bedroom place and the kids share a bedroom (each with their own bed) on visitation weekends.

The ex-wife is emotionally abusing/alienating the kids and we're working on documenting it -- using my computer, not his -- because it's looking like the only way we can stop it is for him to sue for custody. We're definitely going to ask for a guardian ad litem as part of the process so that the best interests of the kids get represented; and we're not afraid of anything said GAL is going to find out about us and the situation we can offer the kids.

Except for that mixed-gender bedroom.

The problem is that we can't afford to look for a larger place as long as he's paying the child support; and unless/until the custody gets changed he has no basis to ask for a child support modification. If he could even just be relieved of his child support, it'd be enough for us to go ahead and get a place with separate bedrooms for the kids (although he'll ask for child support from the ex-wife during the custody case). But until that happens, he's going to keep paying because that is the law.

What are our options here? If we can show the GAL where we are already working on plans to get a larger place as soon as we can afford it (12-18 months if he keeps paying child support), will that be enough? We'd even be willing to agree to move into a larger place within, say, 90-120 days of the last child support payment as we do not like the mixed-gender bedroom any more than anyone else would. The only thing we can't do is make the move first. We've tried to stretch our budget every way we can and the money simply won't work.

Any support or advice is appreciated. We really do want the best interests of the kids represented; if the mother wasn't abusive this wouldn't even be coming up. But she is -- to a point where one therapist has flat-out told us that we need to go after custody as soon as we can prove a pattern of abuse vs. a handful of events -- so we're doing everything we can to get the kids out ASAP.

Thanks.

Answer:
 If he wants to flip primary custody he will need a lawyer who could give him a much better answer to that question.

The ages of the kids will matter but if you want to have three kids full time then having a second bedroom for them would be helpful.Answer #2: It may be worth the hassle to move you guys to the living room for the remaining time of the lease and in that way have two bedroom for the kids. My mother did this the entirety of my childhood and it really wasn't that bad.Answer #3: Often the main concern is privacy.  For children that young a room divider could be considered adequate accommodations given the situation.  You would have to speak to the GAL about minor modifications you could make in order to accomplish this.


Title: Suddenly fired and accused of theft over a misunderstanding. Please help me understand my rights as an employee?

Question:
 I am in the state of WA, USA
I have been employed in the same animal hospital for nearly 2 years. I have a had a decent standing with the owner of the hospital, but he is very well known to be a highly volatile and reactive person. He is known to scream at us on a regular basis, and is quite abusive.

There was an incident last night regarding a family pet of mine that was a medical emergency. I contacted one of the senior doctors who lived near the hospital for help. She instructed me to meet her at the facility to intervene on the pet. She let me in the building, deactivated the alarm, mind you this was nearly 10pm, and helped me get the pet on the road to recovery. Before we started, I specifically asked the veterinarian if we should call the owner of the hospital for permission to do so, she told me that no, it was late, and we can just call in the morning.

I woke up fairly late in the morning, as it is my day off today, and I was up helping with the pet. I called my place of employment to inquire about any fees owed to the doctor or hospital from last night, I was then instructed to call the owner of the hospital.

I call him, and am almost immediately berated, not able to get my story out about what had happened, the dire straits of this medical emergency, or why he wasn't called right away.
He is claiming that I broke into the hospital and stole from him.
He screamed some more, asked me where I was, I told him I was at home, he then screamed again 'GOOD, STAY THERE'. I'm thinking, "Did I just get fired..?"
About 30minutes later my manager calls and fires me over the phone. I then demanded a letter of termination, in writing, at the time that I turn in my key (tomorrow, saturday). She inquired with the owners, and they refused, stating that they did not have to provide anything in writing since the told me verbally.
I asked them to cut me my final check by tomorrow morning when I drop off my key, my manager was unable to tell me if she could do so or not until the owners informed her of what to do. I haven't heard since, and it's been about 2 hours since that call.

I have NEVER been fired before! I am totally awestruck at how quickly this all blew out of proportion. I was not given a chance to explain myself or the situation I was in whatsoever.  They are refusing to give me a letter of termination, and are likely delaying my final paycheck. They even said if I dont bring my building key in tomorrow, they are charging me $55!
I am worried that if I file for unemployment, he will claim that I stole from them and broke into his building.

How do I protect myself? What are my rights here? What do I do?
I am pretty freaked out right now, please, anyone, HELP!
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer: You have the right to file for unemployment and find a new jobAnswer #2: Did you talk to the senior doctor who helped you?


Title: [IL] My building entrances are in serious disrepair and constantly trap people inside/outside of the building.

Question:
This is in Chicago, IL. I live in a building with approximately 65 units. There are some serious problems with building access.

For example, the building elevator - which is the primary entrance of the building - breaks down constantly, often for days at a time. We estimate it typically happens twice a month. There is no stairway in this entrance. This also prevents tenants who live in wheelchairs from being able to enter or leave the building.

There is only one other way to get into the building, and that's through a door to a stairwell in the alleyway. The lock on this door breaks constantly, to the point of being unusable most of the time. Other than this door, there are three other usable stairwells in the building, but their entrances are other bolted shut or are not able to be unlocked from the outside.

Last night both the elevator and the lock on the other door were broken and I could not access my building. I tried calling my landlord but her voicemail box was full. I wrote her an email instead. It was infuriating and scary. I had to book a hotel room for the night. This morning, my landlord wrote back and told me to call building maintenance but did not address my complaint of on-going accessibility problems in the building. Of course none of this information was useful to me last night when I was stranded outside of my own building.

Myself and other tenants have complained about these problems in the past. I am wondering if we have any legal rights in this situation so that we can hold them accountable and make our building more accessible. If there was outside access to another stairwell, or if the ones that exist were maintained more consistently, people would not be left stranded inside or out of the building.

Any advice is appreciated.

Answer:
 You and all the other tenants should document your troubles in detail and keep a record of all problems that arise.

You should also pay for a tenant attorney to take a look at this.

Of course this is not reasonable or justifiable. Of course you have a valid complaint. You even have damages.

Sue your landlord in small claims court for the hotel room on principle - regardless of anything else that happens.Answer #2: I wonder if this is something the fire marshal would be interested un


Title: Am I responsible for having the trees trimmed at the house I am renting?

Question:
Moved from the city to the country about a month ago. Renting presents a whole host of different issues here!

Here are the facts:

1) There are a number of large trees on the property we are renting. Some are dead/dying and we have had large dead branches fall in our yard.

2) Our landlord has agreed to remove one particularly troublesome dead tree that hangs over the house, as it presents a more urgent risk. However, it is two weeks past the date he had assured this would be done.

I mention this because I assume whoever he hires could also add trimming the other trees to the service.

Landlord has made it clear $ is an issue. He has been getting quotes for $1,000+ and has stated he doesn’t want to pay that much.

Also - it doesn’t seem like he is actively seeking out quotes anymore. Last response we got when we asked for an update today was “unsure”.

3) There is a tree hanging low over the driveway which we must drive through to enter the garage. I have tried trimming it as best I can with kitchen scissors (LOL).

Simply put, we do not have the necessary tools to properly address the issue. We are sick of our cars being slapped by branches every time we come and go.

Overall in my opinion, the trees are out of control and need to be trimmed by a professional who has he proper equipment.

The two relevant portions of the lease are as follows (by all means, you can ask me to provide further details, but I think this covers it):

1) The Tenant will, at its sole expense, keep and maintain the Property and appurtenances in good and sanitary condition and repair during the term of the Lease and any renewal of this lease.

2) Major maintenance and repair of the Property involving anticipated or actual costs in excess of $100 per incident not due to the Tenant’s misuse, waste, or neglect or that of the Tenant’s employee, family, agent or visitor, will be responsibility of the Landlord or the Landlord’s assigns.

3) Where the Property has its own sidewalk, entrance, driveway or parking space which is for the exclusive use of the Tenant and its guests, the Tenant will keep the sidewalk, entrance, driveway or parking space clean, tidy and free of objectionable material including dirt, debris, snow, and ice.

4) Where the Property has its own garden or grass area which is for the exclusive use of the Tenant and its guests, the Tenant will cut and maintain the grass area in a reasonable condition.

Here are my thoughts:

My landlord is trying to argue the tree trimming falls under the “maintenance of the grass area” mentioned in item #4.

I think it falls under #2. This is a job that needs to be done by a professional. While partially cosmetic, I think it’s reasonable to ask them to maintain the trees so that dead branches aren’t falling / our path into the garage isn’t blocked by hanging branches.

Also, item #3 slightly concerns me because it sounds like anything blocking the driveway is our responsibility (but this might be kind of a stretch).

Can anyone please help me make sense of this situation? I am happy to clarify in any way.

Thank you!

Answer:
 I’m. Property manager and also a renter of a house. It’s my understand that reoccurring maintenance of trees are resident responsibility but if it is a liability issue, it’s owner responsibility. So if a tree is dead and could damage the home/roof during a storm, the owner is responsible to take care of that. It is resident responsibility to keep the tree trimmed away from the roof though.

Be sure you maintain renters insurance too.


Question:
tldr: Got a lease car, it appears to be stolen, now I'm being intimidated and stalked

A lot of things happened in the the last week. I'll try to explain it as clearly as I can, but forgive me if some things are not clear. It's the first time I'm going through something like this.
First of all I live in the Netherlands. Last year I got a car leased (a used car) from a local company. Last week when I was coming back from family (an hour drive) it occured to me that an Italian plated car was following me. Normally I wouldn't really care but it followed me until I was in my street. They waited until I got inside and waited like half an hour or so and left. Now I know my neighbors and there is no one over there from Italy or family in Italy.  After a while I forgot about it.

Couple of days ago police came by and they told me the the car was stolen from Italy. I was startled at first but I'm insured for it and it's leased so I was not really worried. I asked if there was anything I should do, they told me to  just sit back and wait.

2 days ago I saw a guy filming or photographing my house. So I stepped outside and told him to stop. He didn't. I immediately called the police and went back out side and try to stall the guy. Meanwhile I heard him speak Italian while talking to me. Most probably he was broadcasting this? He claimed to be a PI from Italy. That my car was stolen from a dealer in Italy and they hired them to find it. He didn't seem to be scared or anything.

Police came and interrogated the guy and let him go. After that they tried to comfort me by telling me there is nothing he could do here and I shouldn't be worried.

Im not sure what to right now. I have children at home and I am scared something might happen.
And I am also veeery curious how a random guy can find a car - which is stolen (oh btw apparently the identification numbers of the car are changed or something?) get to my home and still walk free...
I would really appreciate any advise on the matter. Thanks beforehand for reading.

Answer: Is the vehicle stolen per police records?


Title: Transportation company is fining me for a DOT violation for which I received no citation. Is this legal? (Cross post from /r/trucking)

Question:
I haul RVs using a my own pickup from factories to dealers.  It's more of a self financing hobby than a job really.  I recently had an inspection at a roadside weigh station in Utah where it was discovered to my dismay that my brake, turn and hazard lights weren't working on the trailer.  The inspectors allowed me to trouble shoot the problem to a blown fuse which I replaced immediately and was allowed to proceed.  [Here is the inspection report.](http://i.imgur.com/H4dQNNL.jpg).  I received no fine or citation from the UT DOT.  They were fairly understanding and nice about the whole thing.

When I submitted the report to the company I contract for I explained I did a pre-trip check that morning and like I do every time before starting out and turned on the hazards verifying they were working all around.  After about a week I was told I was receiving a fine to be applied to an account the company keeps as a hold back from deliveries in my name using the following clause from the hand book for justification:

  •	All other warnings or citations listed on roadside DOT Inspections are subject to a $100 fine and deduction of 10k safety miles

Does anyone have an incite into the legality of a company's ability to summarily impose a monetary fine of this sort?  The specific line from the handbook is not in the actual contract I have with this company itself which only references fines in terms of in addition to any legally imposed DOT fines.  It also states typically my only recourse is arbitration in their jurisdiction?  Do I have any grounds to fight this or do I need to shut up and take my lumps?  My concern is mostly based on the principle that the problem was unavoidable in that it happened while driving and that even a small amount makes this whole process a cost as opposed to a profitable affair.

Answer:
 This form shows that in this roadside inspection that you did have 2 violations noted for "Inoperable Required Lamp" and were placed "Out of Service" until repairs were completed.  You may not have received a citation, but a violation like this will stick to CSA scores

Whether this was a 'warning' or an official citation, it sounds like it very well could trigger that final clause of your contract below.  You may want to call the folks at your company and explain the violation and potentially submit that day's Vehicle Inspection Report and point to a solid record.  Will they be understanding?  Hard to say.

You should also know that this will give you "CSA Points" on both your personal driver score and also the company's scorecard.  These scores prioritize which Transport companies to conduct more or less inspections on and remains with the company for 2 years whether you stay there or not and stays public (without a driver name).  There is a way for a driver to check his or her own score which lasts for 3 years. Another transportation company hiring you can also check the score (but only once, when they hire you) and see this inspection/violation.   You can do what is called a 'DataQ' challenge to appeal the violation/points - which is an administrative rather than a court challenge - which can reduce the points or violations.

This specific violation is in the category of 'Vehicle Maintenance' and are each worth 2 pts in that category.  They will be multiplied (x3) for being recent violations.  These points aren't on any intervention threshold.  From experience, this is typically a just barely notable violation, but it does show up.

NAL - but work for a major trucking company in Risk Management.


Title: (ID) Can I press trespassing charges?

Question: May 8th we had a walk through as we were moving out of the rental home, and the lease was through May 9th. Owners are from California, so they have a local property manager who acts as the landlord as well. We didn't know the owners were going to be there, and they showed up 15 minutes before the scheduled walk through with the landlord and walked right in the front door and began to conduct their own walk through. They went into every room taking notes and not talking to us at all. Our landlord showed up for the walk through, and asked what the owners car was doing out front. I said they were in the house or backyard inspecting everything. Do we have a right to press trespassing charges against them for entering the house unannounced even though they own the house? Our lease agreement between the property management company and us tenants wasn't to be terminated until May 9th. Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 You had notice that your landlord was doing an inspection, which is a proper reason for entering a rental unit.  The owners (they are the "landlord" - the property manager is an agent of theirs) have right to be on their property.  You are basically mad that they showed up 15 minutes early.

Did you ask them to wait 15 minutes until you were ready?  That is about all you are entitled to.


Title: (NY) Landlord is trying to report my mother to workers comp

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Is this a single family dwelling that is being rented out? Is the garage listed as a common area or is it for the sole use of the tenants ( you and your father)?

If this is not listed as a common area and it's a part of your lease agreement with the landlord, then the audio/video recordings would be illegal to begin with.


Title: [CA] Does a police have the right to ask me to roll up the window?

Question:
In California, you can't have any tint in the front windows (both sides). I have confirmed that with my local police station. Here, officers usually cite people with tinted front windows when they cite you for something else.

For example, they cite you for speeding and found out you having a tinted window and they might give you another citation for tinted windows (sometimes they don't give a damn).

My question is: if I get pulled over for a traffic violation and I quickly rolled down both my front windows before the officer came up, can I refuse to roll up my windows if he asked me to?

Answer: They can require you to roll the window up and you can get in trouble if you don't. It's not much different than them asking you to step out of the vehicle or making you stay in it.Answer #2: Are you asking if nothing bad will happen to you if refuse? It will go very badly for you if you refuse.


Title: (USA vs UK) American in UK, want to get separated from Brit Spouse but what about kids?

Question:
My husband and I are at a point where civility is the best way to describe our relationship. He has cheated in the past and despite trying my best to work through it, things are not good. I'm very tired of feeling bad about myself and this relationship is toxic. We are living with his parents in the UK and we're separated for six months. I have spoken to him about how I feel and his response was "tough, but put up with it for the kids". I am suspicious he is cheating again. The trouble is he says I can leave, move out to my own place or whatever but he won't let the kids go.

I have always thought he is a great and loving dad but he talks to my daughter in the most unpleasant manner (she was with him when I left, it was a decision made by everyone). He curses at her ie STFU and yells - this is unacceptable to me regardless of how she behaves. He has always yelled and cursed and broken things and I've learned to let it go but I don't want my daughter to think that's how men are supported to be. Today he told me "what am I doing to you that's so bad? I don't beat you!" I couldn't articulate how that in itself is an insult to me, like I'm supposed to be glad I'm not beaten?

I want to return to the USA, both my kids have American passports - what can I do? Do I have any legal recourse to take them with me?

Please advise.

Answer: International child abduction is a VERY serious matter, and yes, that is what you are talking about if you take the kids to the US without his permission. You need to talk to an attorney (solicitor?) in the UK about working out a custody arrangement first. The folks at /r/legaladviceuk may be able to point you in the right direction.


Title: I directly threatened to hurt someone over text at a specific time, but that time and event passed and I have a fuck ton of witnesses that will say I didn't even say a word to that person at the event.

Question:
I have no criminal record. Cops don't know me. This person was unfortunately unavoidably stuck in my families lives and constantly is emotionally terrorizing all of them, but due to death of someone who linked them to us, we no longer need to interact at all ever again. Any time this person gets the chance, they will do literally anything, at their own economic and time to purposefully do it just to be a fucking asshole.

The texts are really bad, and they are on record. I was served a Abuse Protection Order to stay away from them a few days ago, and I am due for court soon. What should I do? I was for the record very intoxicated during these texts, would that make me look better to mention in court ("wasn't of stable mind")?

I am sure this person would love to see me go to jail, it's a thought "crime"..

Answer: Blowing off a criminal court date is a great way to get sent to jail and/or ruin future prospects, many of which you won't even realize until it is far too late.  I would get a lawyer and do what they say.


Title: Is this illegal?

Question:
I am *told* by my employer (family member) that I am to be making $65k/yr. They pay me $1000/month (12k yearly) in paychecks and pay themselves the remainder into an account in their name (only income into that account is the remainder pay), then give me the credit card (connected to their account, with their name on the card) for expenses. After we as family sell the business I receive the funds in the bank account as a 1 time gift.

EDIT for clarity: IRS/SS only sees that I make $12k year on paper because the remainder of the money is profit from business put into an account of family member (my name not on account). After a few years we sell business and I receive the $ from the account in one go.

Reason for this is so that government would only see $12k/year income for me.

This is in the United States.

Answer:
 >I receive the funds in the bank account as a 1 time gift.

So they are going to claim that the majority of your wages are actually a gift so they don't have to pay payroll taxes etc. on it.

And you think this might be legal?


Title: Friend got scammed in a Vegas Strip Club. What can he do?

Question:
We were spending the weekend in Las Vegas and tonight my friends thought it was a good idea to go to a strip club that some guy promoted to us while we were walking the strip. There were 5 of us and me and another friend decided to stay in the hotel room. Well it turned out, not even 20 minutes in, one of them was charged over $1100. He was taken to a booth and he payed $300 in cash for a lap dance. They then asked him that he had to pay a customary tip of "seven, nine, eleven". He said that he thought it was $70, $90, and $110 and he did not realize that until he asked the hostess for a bank inquiry. Once she came back, it turned out that she meant $700, $900, and $1100 and she charged him the max amount and took all the money he had left in his bank account. At this point, they gotten into an argument about refunding his money back, but they kept saying it was impossible to. He did not give them permission to charge the card or anything. He did not even sign the bill they gave him and left. Is there anything that can be done to get the money taken from him back?

UPDATE: Just a little update for anyone that goes back to this. On Monday, right when we left to go back home, the club tried to charge his card again for another $1080 and now his account has been flagged by the bank. We were told at first by a friend who used to work at his bank that he was not going to be able to get his money back, but since they have tried to charge it again makes it seems like there is a chance he can get all his money back considering what they did seems pretty illegal. Am I right about this?

Answer:
 This whole story seems odd. The strip club had a hotel built into it? You paid cash ($300?!) - that's not a lap dance. And then customary tip? why would someone think that eleven meant $110? So he charged the tip?

A lot doesn't make sense here.

Nevertheless - contest it with the bank/credit card company

Answer #2: So if he didn't approve it and he didn't sign the slip then report it to his bank as fraud?


Title: Can dentists stop someone from recording me?

Question:
Whenever me or one of my siblings goes to the dentist and has to do something that requires us to be given sleeping gas, my parents always thinks it's  funny to record us after waking up when we're still delusional from the drugs.

I hate this because they sometimes use these videos for blackmailing us. Can dentists ask them to not record or even be in the room with us until we're in a fit state of mind?

Answer:
 How often do you need sleeping gas?

How are they blackmailing you?


Title: Fighting with a Jehovah's Witness with regards to medical treatment.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 does he have a power of medical decisions living will? Answer #2: Talk to the hospitals ethics person. Start with a social worker on staff. Usually the spouse has the say in medical decisions unless the person has written advanced directives to the contrary. The social worker and ethics person will know whether the hospital can petition for guardianship of your father in law and take medical decision making away from his wife.Answer #3: Not legal advice, but based on what you have previously posted in a different forum, he would not currently even be a kidney transplant candidate at this time. Dialysis, yes; transplant, no.

Wish I could help on the whole Jehovah's Witness thing. Ask the nurses and physicians to use pediatric size lab tubes.


Title: My neighbor cut down two beautiful mature cherry trees.

Question:
My neighbor cut down two very large mature cherry trees that were on a common area in our town home, but right next to my townhouse. I have engaged the board in my HOA in the matter and they seem willing to help come up with a plan to have my neighbor (who is on the board) restore the damages.  I have a meeting coming up to see what they say. The trees  were about 30-40 ft tall and added tremendous value to my property.  I was told it might cost like $15,000 to replace a mature tree like that, but I wondered if anyone had an idea.  THere is no way to physically get a tree that big down the slope to the area it was cut from, but I am trying to get a financial figure for approximately what it would cost if I could. I am asking for damages because my landscape is completely changed for the worse in many ways. Privacy both inside and outside from my numerous decks and windows is greatly diminished.  My home used to feel like living in a tree house..(bought it one year ago for that very reason) but now I have a barren un manicured lot and I intend to ask for both the beauty and privacy to be restored.  I need to come up with a creative landscape plan and want them to pay for it.  Thanks. North Carolina.  Edit:  I want to apologize for my confusing post here and for not asking the right question.   I want to make clear that I understand that legally the trees were not my property. My asking the board and my neighbor who is on the board for damages as the result of what I believe , and other residents here believe, and the attorney I consulted with believe was  illegal behavior that damaged the property value of my home.  I do not wish to go to court, but have been advised by the attorney that I could sue.  He also advised me to resolve this privately with the board.  I thought it would be helpful to post here to see what people think would be reasonable to negotiate in damages.  I know the trees were worth much more than what I am seeking but I also know they were not directly my property even though they affected my property value to a great degree.  Another point I would like to make is that the land the trees were on is legally tied to our community and is treated as a common element.

Edit: I'm leaving the discussion for now. It's not helpful for me to stay any longer, it seems. Thanks to those who offered sincere well-meaning advice and kind wishes.

Answer:
 Whoever owns the property can sue for the cost of replacing the two trees. That's likely going to be a lot of money.

Unfortunately, North Carolina does not recognize any neighbor's right to a particular view. The HOA might have a right to require that the trees be restored, depending on its rules and on whether the property was subject to them. But, that's not a right that you can enforce yourself.
Answer #2: its amazing how many people i run into in my daily life that think they have a right to tell other people what to do with their land

yes, living next to someone with a nice yard makes your yard look nicer. no, you dont have the right to their trees


Title: Non-bank gift cards considered as income?

Question:
Hi legal advice,

I work for a cafe in San Diego, CA that sells health products as well as cleanses. As an incentive, we are given 3-20 dollars on store gift cards to purchase food from the business. These cards are only usable solely at the cafe, nowhere else.

I was a top seller for the month of January as we had a promotion. I made about 1,000 dollars in "cafe bucks". Which is pretty great, until i got my pay check.

On my paycheck they listed my gift card money as income, so I was taxed as if I received an extra 1,000 dollars cash from work. Significantly reducing my paycheck by about 2-300 dollars. I only make about 750 a check maybe.

Is this legal for them? I've read about non-bank cards vs private retail cards but nothing specific.

My manager thinks it's fishy and is going to contact accounting since I told them if I'm going to get taxed for it as if it is income I want the 1,000 dollars instead. Anyone shed some light?

Answer:
 Yup this can be taxed.
But, usually, in my experience, the employer will round up your award to an amount that will also cover the taxes and deduct them from that.

So, instead of $1,000, they'd gift you $1300, and withhold $300 for taxes.Answer #2: Yes this is taxable and was done correctly. We receive gift cards at work as part of our wellness program and are taxed on our paycheck during the period we were given that gift card as if it were income.


Title: No "Good Time" after plea deal

Question:
I have a good friend (who is a genuinely good guy, I know, they all say that) who is in the Oregon State Peninteniary. He had a series of legitimately unfortunate events that led to him taking a plea deal for Assault 3. He is a permanent resident (non citizen but not illegal). He accepted the plea deal because the DA threatened him with deportation if he lost at trial. He has a fiancé and a 5 year old son.

He was sentenced for 4 years and 3 months with no possibility for "good time."

My question is this: is there some motion or post-conviction relief we can submit so that he would be eligible for "good time?"

He has been a model citizen inside and has never been disciplined in the entire first year he's been incarcerated.

Answer:
 Not if he accepted a plea deal, no.  Unless there's some evidence that he didn't receive a full disclosure of the terms of the deal or something similar, he agreed to these terms specifically.

Also, I'll be honest, getting nearly the maximum sentence as part of a plea deal (plus no reduction for good time) makes it sound like he did something much worse than Assault 3.


Title: (VA {of course})I got a ticket for honking at bike police...

Question: So tonight on my way home from Virginia Beach with my mother, daughter, and girlfriend, I make a left turn on to a 25 MPH street. Before I can even get up to speed, two bicycle police officers ride out from the side of the street where cars are parked along side of the road without signaling. I’m not even driving 25 MPH yet, sober, and still needed to hit my brakes with some force. I’m annoyed and can see the lack of care or worry from these “officers of the law”. After they pulled out and I am riding behind them for a few seconds while they stroll along at a comfortable 3-5 mph pace, I blipped my horn to let them know that I am there, they are in the way, and ultimately needed to move or at least be aware that they are impeding traffic and causing a hazard. After I did this, one of the officers began to ride even slower (At almost at a stop) while they sway back and forth across the driving lane.once we got up to a stop sign the officer pulled me over. I ended up getting a ticket for improper use of a horn... wtf am I in crazy town?

Answer:
 Police patrol units, almost by definition, cannot "impede traffic".    Zig-zagging across lanes in any patrol vehicle, with two or four wheels, is a standard way to indicate to traffic that they must slow and use caution.    They are not required to justify or explain that action;  being on patrol and in uniform is sufficient to give them authority to perform traffic calming or blocking actions.

You chose to honk at the patrol officers, not to warn them of an impending collision, but rather to signal your displeasure.    That sounds like a violation of [VA Code 46.2-1060](https://law.justia.com/codes/virginia/2006/toc4602000/46.2-1060.html).

You can argue that your horn was used as a "reasonable warning", but your narrative does not suggest that the police were unaware of your presence or that you were in danger of colliding with them.

>  wtf am I in crazy town?

No, you're in a beach town on Memorial Day Weekend.Answer #2: No. You aren’t. You are however potentially in the wrong.

What did you think would happen if you blipped your horn at a cop?

Anyway what were you charged with?Answer #3: You can go to court and fight the ticket. That's about it. Annoying cops isn't a wise decision.


Title: Stolen debit card used for XBOX & ITunes purchases

Question:
Posting on behalf of a parent, a teacher at a local private school.

He recently noticed that one of his debit cards had gone missing, upon checking the online statement, someone has been using this card for several weeks to purchase XBOX & ITunes things online.

He suspects one of the students, because another teacher about 2 weeks ago noticed their card went missing and a transaction was made. This is around the same time that unauthorized charges began appearing on my parent's card.

We contacted XBOX support, but they said that with only the card number, they could not give out information about the account. The bank that issued the card said their investigation would only cover if the charges were authorized or not. I would like to find a way to identify the thief.

Some places online recommend filing a police report, is this the only way to identify the user of the card? What steps would the police take to find out who is using the card? Is there anything I can do to investigate information about the card user based on the transactions that I see on the bank statement?

Thanks in advance.

Answer: When a crime is committed, usually the logical response is to call the police.


Title: In the middle of discovery phase answering interrogatories, demands, and requests, can the other lawyer ask the same questions in person that you already answered on paper?

Answer:
 They can, should, and will, if the lawyer has any sense. Written discovery responses are prepared and written by lawyers over the course of weeks or months. Depositions of the actual fact witnesses are critically useful to poke holes in those written responses and find out what is lawyer bullshit and what is "the truth."

> If so, it sounds like a waste of time and resources with the intention of wasting time and resources.

Wait until you ask the Person Most Knowledgeable what information was used to respond to an interrogatory, or where they looked for documents responsive to requests for production, and he says "I have no idea." :)


Title: [MI] court system is saying i went to jail, when i was 3 hours away working.

Question:
Hello r/LegalAdvice: I am not sure where to go from here and i’m scared to even try to get the situation taken care of by myself.

Back story: I have been arrested 3 times.

1st time -  05/24/2009 for possession of marijuana (it got expunged after my probation because i was 19 at the time and i got charged because the police raided my roommate and charged everyone who was on the lease. (6 months probation, fees)

2nd time -  8/3/2010 for driving while license suspended. (Lost my license due to too many speeding points, and was under the impression that it was restricted, instead of suspended. i learned the hard way) (license continues to be suspended, driver responsibility fees, probation)

3rd and final time-  11/28/10 for driving while license suspended again. I am not going to give my excuse, but at the time i felt like a sober unlicensed driver was better than a blackout drunk licensed driver. i learned my lesson.(license suspended for 3 years, driver responsibility fees for 4 years and probation)

BUT on 11/5/2010, i had police officers come to my house, saying i had an arrest warrant for the 8/3/10 incident. i went in front of the judge the next day and explained, that i was on probation, paid my fines, and have already completed my community service and the judge apologized and let me on my way).

 in 12/14/10 i moved out of the county and back home 3 hours away and only went back up there when i had court (which i had to have a driver, because i lost my license)

I got my license back december of 2014.

So today I  received an invoice from 08/2010. yes 2010. saying that i owe $80.00 for housing fees. I called them to figure out what this what about and they told me; that “i owe $416.50 for housing and booking fees for my five charges and after a year of them not being paid, an arrest warrant will go out for me.”

So while i'm on the phone with this lady at the court, she tells me that i have 5 charges against me and one is from 1/7/11, which i looked back and I was working 3 hours away that entire week and the other one is from 11/5/10. I explained that i was 3 hours away and the lady tells me my “options are A. go up there and speak to someone about it (which i do not want to do, since she told me i may or may not have an arrest warrant) or B. get a lawyer to fight it over the phone” I told her i would be more than happy to go up there and figure it out, if i knew i wasn’t going to be arrested again, and she would not tell me if i had any active warrants. I called three different “areas” of the court, and no one will tell me what i can do to get this figured out or even if i have a warrant.

I am not sure what to do from here. any advice would be appreciated because money is tight, and i can't just pay the 416.50 and forget about it. that's more than a full week's pay for me.

sorry for the long post.

tldr: court is saying i got arrested when i was three hours away working and that i may or may not have an arrest warrant.

Answer:
 Can you get a lawyer to appear in person? Because that's the best option.

Guessing here: charges can be brought at any time before the statute of limitations expire, meaning that they could have been filed while you were at work. Was she referencing the incident date specifically, or the day the charges were filed?Answer #2: I agree it's best to get a lawyer, but you might want to start by looking to see if you can find your warrant or arrest records in a city or county database.  Are you willing to post the specific county/city this was in?  If so I can try to direct you to the local database, if there is one available.


Title: NSFW Reddit question

Question:
Hi guys with the increased presence of sexting, especially on NSFW subreddits

i.e. redditor posts snapchat asking for D pics, How do you know the people asking for dirty snaps on NSFW subreddits are 18\+???

What if  people get catfished by younger people pretending to be 18\+. How are adults protected if they send nudes???

Answer:
 There isn't really any legal protection for that. When you send or solicit nudes, you're leaving yourself vulnerable to those types of issues. There's even a common scam going around where someone will solicit nudes or send them to someone that they meet online, then a few hours later, the scammer (posing as the underage person's father) will contact the other party, generally demanding money for medical bills or demanding hush money to avoid the nudes being leaked.

The law hasn't really caught up to handling these types of things yet, so when you send or solicit nudes from people you've never met, you're leaving yourself more or less wide open to anything bad that you can think of -- from scams to actual underage people to possible embarrassment to criminal charges. It's up to you if it makes sense to roll the dice on that.

Personally, I wouldn't do it; the risk/reward just isn't there, and there are enough horror stories on this sub and on /r/scams of people screwing themselves over unnecessarily.Answer #2: They aren't protected. That is the risk you assume by sending nudes to people you don't know.


Title: Cab driver left me stranded without a phone while intoxicated in -35c weather - Saskatchewan, Canada

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 A) the cab driver didn't have "a legal obligation to get [you] home."

B) He dropped you off once you told him that you weren't going to pay him.

C) You were drunk and couldn't tell him where to go.

D) there was no damages.


Title: I just vaped inside the grounds of my school.

Question: some construction dude came and said that we cant smoke here and raged at me. asked my name and which field im in. I said im in vehicle tech field when im actually security management. I said one guys name from vehicle and he took a pic of me. any marks in my register means I get kicked off security. Am I in any danger? im 16 btw

Answer: Probably. Also, stop vaping underage, you are ruining it for the rest of us.


Title: My finished, existing, published and public project was stolen by a giant corporation two years after release

Question:
In the US. Back in 2014, I had the opportunity to go overseas and direct a film project as part of a collaboration between a certain well known video streaming site and one of that country's largest film studios. We were given the freedom to do what we wanted as long as we utilized the resources available to us so we wrote our own script and produced our original idea. We were provided with gear, wardrobe, and access to the studio lot but our actual production budget was beyond minuscule in comparison to a standard studio film budget. The film was released in 2015 and is on numerous streaming sites in that country as well as being on a few here in America, including Amazon. In spite of the limitations, we still managed to produce a film that I thought was good.

Apparently, so did someone else because a few weeks ago, a film showed up online that was a promotional piece for a large multinational corporation. It is a complete ripoff of our film and I don't say that lightly. Before you roll your eyes, I understand that humans share a creative consciousness and that there are similar ideas and executions out there that don't constitute theft but this film rips off the concept, shots, stunts, and the style of our film. In many points, it's shot for shot. Granted, being made by this large company, they have far greater resources than we did so I will freely admit that their production value is higher than ours but it doesn't change the fact that it's a blatant copy. I'm not the only one that has said so.

But imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Yeah, sure. If an artist like Scorsese or Tarantino or somebody wants to imitate my work, yeah, I'd be flattered but when it's a giant faceless corporation using it to line their overflowing pockets, it turns my stomach.

So I say all this to ask, what would be the legal recourse for something like this? Would it be worth pursuing? What should I even pursue? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Answer:
 The legal recourse would be a copyright infringement lawsuit.  It's very time consuming, expensive, hard to prove, and you will need to find a lawyer willing to take the case on a contingent fee basis if you can't afford to pay out of pocket.  Even so you may need to front some money for costs.

If you win, you will get any actual damages, statutory damages if your copyright is registered, and possibly injunctive relief.  More likely you will settle for some relatively small amount, and maybe get some kind of credit (probably not as writer) on the second work.


Title: Can an Adult with a Guardian Perform in Erotica? (West Virginia)

Question:
(Asking for a friend...)

Can an adult on SSI with an official guardian **legally** perform in fetish erotica?

For background, this individual appears to be perfectly good at first blush. There is nothing that suggests her SSI or Guardian-appointed status just by looking at her, and as far as commercial fetish pornography goes, she is "perfectly viable."

On the other hand, this individual has--as mentioned above--a state-appointed guardian, receives SSI, and has in the past taken part in MR/DD workshops. In conversation, she is AAOx3 and appears on the low end of the intellectual spectrum and fund of knowledge--but not remarkably so, especially for the region.

So, can my friend involve this young lady in fetish erotica, and will her signature on a model release be considered legally binding... and *most importantly*, will my friend end up in jail?

Thank you.

Answer: Not a West Virginian lawyer, but if she has a GAL and is intellectually disabled, she likely lacks capacity to consent or to contract. Your friend may become guilty of rape.


Title: Husband has cut me off financially (NYC)

Question:
My husband and I have been married for nine years.  In the past year and a half, I had an emotional affair with a man over the internet.  I never met him and have never been physical with anyone.  I make no excuse for my actions.  I am the worst kind of person and I will never forgive myself for destroying my family.

I have been a stay-at-home mom to our now six-year-old since he was born.  My grandfather and I together bought us a co-op (all of the money came from an account with my name) and there is no mortgage, but my husband pays all the maintenance fees and other bills.

Over the past year, my husband has cut me off from everything.  I cannot buy clothes, cannot get my nails done, he canceled all television and anything else I might enjoy.  I was understanding of this as I hurt him deeply.

Recently he has begun to cut me off from essentials.  He closed our joint bank account and opened two in his name, only one of which I have access to.  When I go grocery shopping, he transfers the exact amount I need and no more.  I cannot buy soap, shampoo, tampons, any food I might like in particular (I still do all the cooking, cleaning, and errands for the family).  If I am out and need a bottle of water, he tells me too bad.  My biggest issue however is that he will no longer give me money to cover doctor copays.  I see a medical doctor once a month for an injection, and more importantly I go to therapy multiple times a week since I have attempted to take my life a few times over the last several months.

Some possibly important info:

* He is extremely emotionally abusive.  I get called a whore, told I must be selling myself on the street, I'm a bad mother, etc.
* He tells me that if I'm  going to choose to kill myself, just do it already but do it somewhere out of the house so he doesn't have to deal with it.
* When I explain to him that I need to go to these therapy appointments to stay alive, he tells me that is not his problem.
* He throws away my things sometimes.
* He says that he is going to move out and not have to give me much money because he doesn't make that much.
* He will not help me put our son in after school so that I can work.

I know I need to get a job.  I know I need to take care of myself.  I know I did a terrible thing and I hurt him badly.  But I also know that I need to go to therapy to stay alive and he won't give me the $15.

Divorce will happen but right now it is difficult for either of us to live apart financially and due to our son.  I was a teacher but my certification lapsed when we chose for me to be a stay at home mom.

Sorry, I know this was so long.  Is he legally allowed to do this?  Is he legally allowed to restrict me from any access to money, especially for things like doctors and therapy?

Thanks so much!

Answer:
 Even without a divorce, in NY you can go to family court and file for spousal support if he's cutting you off financially, even if you're still married and living together. He has an obligation to support you; check out [lawhelp.org](https://lawhelp.org) to see what free resources and advice you can get. There are also agencies in the family court in your borough who can explain and help you with this.

If you go the divorce route, because of the property involved you absolutely need an attorney, and you are unlikely to get free help if there are assets involved (sorry to say; but definitely ask any of the resources you contact). The laws in NY changed a few years ago and it's much easier for the non-monied spouse in a divorce to get both interim spousal support while the divorce is pending AND have the monied spouse pay the non-monied spouse's attorney's fees.Answer #2: It sounds as though you're still living together, and that he might be trying to force you to sell the co-op. You absolutely need to consult a divorce attorney to get information about your legal rights under these circumstances. Reach out to friends and relatives to see if anyone knows anyone who will provide you with a free consultation.


Title: (NY, USA) Sister Feels Trapped and Hopeless in Marriage

Question:
Hello all, thanks for taking your time to read this, I'll try to keep it as short as I can.

My sister lives in New York state (nowhere near NYC or the capital) and has been married about 10 years now to her husband. They have 3 children together, a 12 year old boy, a 10 year old girl and a 2 year old boy.

My sister's husband will regularly mentally (sometimes physically) abuse her and the children. The children have seen the husband physically hit my sister out of malice. The children also regularly hear their father tell their mother that she's "worthless", "stupid" and "lazy" almost daily. He accuses her of cheating on him anytime she leaves the house. The other day, he saw a small dent on the hood of her car and accused her of having sex with someone on the hood of her car.

A few years ago when she was at her mothers with the kids visiting for the weekend, he was so sure she was using the trip as an excuse to cheat on him, he shot the family dog, took a picture of him and sent it to her, telling her that if she left him, he'd kill her and the kids as well and then shoot himself. Upon their return, he told his children the dog was given to an old couple who were lonely.

The father will constantly belittle the children. He regularly calls his son "fat" and "a pussy". The kid is neither. He ignores the daughter and threatens to slap her in the face if she doesn't "shut up" when the 10 year old daughter tries to defend her mother, while she's being yelled at. He seems to be affectionate towards the 2 year old.

Everyone has told her to take the kids and leave, however, she has no job because he does not allow her to work, so she has no money. Our mother cannot take her in, so if she does leave she has nowhere to go. She is also afraid if she leaves him that he will try to find her and harm her or the children. She has also been told (not by a lawyer iirc) that because her husband put her name on the title to the house that she is seen by the courts as "having a place to live" and they won't help her (I obviously cannot speak for the legitimacy of this).

Since her husband's family is very wealthy (they own a large business), she feels if she tried to divorce him, that she would be crushed by better lawyers and end up with nothing. She was also told her children wouldn't be able to testify in court against their father because they aren't old enough.

I didn't want to draw attention to the fact in the beginning, but I should mention the husband is an alcoholic. I didn't want to set up the cliche "drunken father abuses family" scenario. I do really want to emphasize that he is NOT ALWAYS drunk when these situations occur.

My question to you is what should my sister do? She feels trapped and hopeless. Is there any program or something that can help her get out and on her feet alone? Will the courts not listen to her? Could she lose to expensive lawyers? Should she just stay and deal with it?

Thanks again for reading and for any advice you may have.

Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 She needs to leave. The first place she should go is to a domestic violence shelter. [These folks](http://www.opdv.ny.gov/help/dvhotlines.html) can likely recommend one in her area.

She should not take legal advice from her abuser, or (honestly) from internet randos. Or you. She needs a lawyer to manage her upcoming divorce, including ensuring she receives adequate support and a fair division of the marital assets. She also needs a lawyer to manage custody and child support proceedings. A domestic violence shelter should be able to put her in contact with legal aid (both of the "law" variety and the "financial assistance" variety).Answer #2: Your sister needs to contact an abused women's shelter yesterday. They will take help her with any legal issues.


Title: [us-in] is there seriously NO built-in function of government that can answer "is X illegal" for me?

Question:
It's not anyone's job at a courthouse or police department or anything? I've asked cops about bicycling laws specifically before because my municipality is confusing, and the cop just said "I'm not sure; that's why I don't ride downtown actually"

damn son apparently you niqqas downvote the lowly pleb who's asking stupid questions now, eh? Toxic fuckin sub.

Answer: Yes, there is seriously no such function.


Title: Can Muslim employees of the trump corporation sue Trump for creating a hostile work environment?

Question: If it matters, let's assume the employees are in NY

Answer: What has he done to create a hostile work environment?


Title: I got a ticket I'm not guilty for!

Question: (virginia) I was in the clear and 100% in the right and the officer is lying, yes I'm being serious and I had 2 passengers that can back me up with me! Should I fight this 90-150$ ticket in court and say that the officer was lying or what do I do?

Answer: Based on the facts you have given here, your chances are anywhere between 0 - 100%.


Title: [Ohio] Downstairs neighbor is filing with Housing Opportunities Made Equal against me for filing a complaint against her w/ Landlord

Question:
So some backstory,
About two months ago, my downstairs neighbor of a few years moved out to live with her boyfriend. A month later, a new neighbor moves in downstairs, and there is almost immediately problems.
I'm a full time student, and my classes are online. My routine through the day is pretty straight forward, Sit, work, Get up, bathroom, water, sit, work, sleep. With food thrown in there at random intervals. My downstairs neighbor is an older African American lady, and immediately started yelling at me through the floor to stop walking because she can hear me. I've always walked quiet in consideration to my fellow apartment dwellers, and I don't stomp. Getting yelled at went on for a couple days, until two nights ago when I was taking out the garbage, and heard her talking on the phone. She was talking about me, and threatened me, saying how he "would teach (my) fat ass a lesson in respect if I (she) was ghetto." I walked into my apartment, which again was apparently too much for her, because I soon after got "Fat ass ugly bitch". I wrote an email to my landlord saying that I would not put up with harassment, and that my next call will be the police.
Long story short, He went and talked to her, she denied everything, he asked if I had proof (I had a mumbled recording I tried to make from my phone that didn't really get much), and said he would get back to me.
This morning I got an email from him, saying that he was going to send a noise violation letter to her with very strong wording about the goings on of the last week, and that because of some equality thing, he was sending me a letter of the complaints she made against me. OK, he also said that she told him she filed a complaint against ME, not the apartment complex, with Housing opportunities Made Equal.
What does this mean? What will they do? how do I respond to this? I've never had a single complaint in 10 years I've lived here, and now this happens.

What are my options?

Answer:
 HOME is, apparently, a legal aid agency/advocacy group in Cincinnati that focuses on housing discrimination.  they're essentially a law firm/community organizer. they do not process complaints. they have no power to sanction people based on a complaint.

your neighbor is nuts. and she is using her nutty energy to create drama.

even if there was some kind of discriminatory situation in your apartment building, it would be between your neighbor and the landlord to get it corrected. not your neighbor and you.


Title: Took car to auto shop for diagnostics to identify problem. Quoted 125 for diagnostics. Billed 125 for diagnostics and 443 for diagnostics labor. WTF?

Question: (DENVER) As title states. Car broke down. Had it towed to a shop to get it checked out. They called me and said they would run a diagnostics to figure out whats wrong with it and that would be 125 bucks to determine the issue. They wouldnt do any work on it tho without prior approval/figuring out what we want to do. Decided to total the car, its a piece of junk worth like 1500. 20yr old car. They're billing us 125 for the diagnostics and 443.37 for the diagnostics labor even tho they did nothing to the car except tell us this is broken. Do i have to pay this? Help!

Answer: Let them know you agreed only to the $125 diagnostics charge nothing more.  And will pay the $125 that was agreed upon but you did not agree to the $443 labor charge since it was not mentioned at all to you.Answer #2: http://www.colorado.aaa.com/auto/auto-repair-maintenance/motor-vehicle-repair-act/


Title: Is there any kind of law that exists to protect sibling relationships?

Question:
I am moving to terminate the parental rights of my child's other parent. My fear is that since the other parent is petty that they will no longer allow my child to see their half sibling, who will soon reside with their other parent.

Is there anything that law that exists to ensure that my child gets visitation with their sibling? We are in the U.S.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: There is no law stating siblings have a right to see each other.


Title: Former boss solicited me to be a 'kept woman' and I don't know what to do.

Question:
Throwaway account. In Colorado.
I used to work briefly for a multi-company and charity firm that helped the blind.
I was the administrative assistant for the founder and owner, a blind man in his early 60's (very active guy).

I looked up to him, respected his work and the kind of person I thought he was.
Unfortunately, the company needed someone who could travel and I wasn't able to do that. I was let go, fairly mutually, in March.
Then I got text messages from my former boss.
I am going to copy and paste some the messages:

FB (former boss): Hello, still in [private location] visiting daughter and grandbaby. I was in the hospital all of last week. Feeling much better. Thank you. Thank you so very very much for staying in touch. Considering, that is very kind gracious and generous of you. Are you currently working? I do have a little something for you we could discuss. It is a matter of some delicacy. Some confidentiality would be required. But it is a way to pick up a little income? Thoughts?

Me: That sounds wonderful. If you would like, we can schedule a meeting to discuss this.

FB: Hello hello, as I said to you what I need is something with some measure of delicacy and great confidentiality. So coming by house to discuss would not be prudent. Walk in the park? Restaurant? Room somewhere? Legitimate and above board work which would be extraordinarily helpful to me at this point in my life!

FB: Happy and good Sunday morning to you! I've been thinking of all kinds of things I could hire you to do. I don't know how many hours. I know that you can read, run errands, drive to research and more! Are we still meeting at 10? Starbucks? Let me know please. Confirm confirm.

So, we met at the coffee shop and we spoke about family (I'm married with children), what had been going on in our lives, general stuff...And then he asked me to become his paid mistress. That he and his wife are distant (I knew this) and he has needs. That he would compensate me and I seem like I'd be *'lots of fun'*.

I'm very traumatized by this and don't know what to do. This is a very influential man (been to Presidential Inaugural Ball and knows lots of famous people). Isn't asking for someone to prostitute illegal, in and of itself?

TL;DR: Former boss solicited me for sex.
Topic:
Douche

Answer:
 Let it go. The cops probably aren't going to put investigative resources into setting up a sting operation to bust this guy for solicitation. It's just not worth it.

Block him and move on with your life. Answer #2: > I'm very traumatized by this

Have you gotten therapy, or do you need it?

> Isn't asking for someone to prostitute illegal, in and of itself?

Well, yes.

But you might find the police reluctant to bust a blind, elderly philanthropist for asking you to be his mistress, regardless of whether there was compensation involved.

Just a thought.Answer #3: Your former boss solicited you, which is [a misdemeanor](http://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-18-criminal-code/co-rev-st-sect-18-7-202.html). You can definitely file a report with the police.


Title: California - Eviction for PDA

Question:
[SOLVED]
We were framed. Want to see the story still? Continue the read!

Sweet, simple, to the chase.

Person A lives in an apartment, and threw a party for Going back to School. Fun party, I was invited.

Person B, a girl. Myself and B made out a bit, neato.

A week after the party, Person A is getting evicted because, according to the apartment complex managers, I fingered Person B outside of the park. Apparently they have it on footage as well, I haven't seen it, but I know for a straight fact I hadn't fingered her the entire time I was there. I kissed her a fair bit, and grabbed her butt a lot.

How are they able to evict Person A for this? Say I did finger B (didn't, but let's theorize here). Why would Person A get evicted for that? It was between two people completely unrelated to them, outside of their apartment as well. Is there anything Person A can do about this?

Thanks in advance!

Answer:
 Is this really an eviction or a month to month lease termination?  A landlord can't just evict you, they have to file suit and Person A will have an opportunity to present their defense in court.  Person A should brush up on their rights and be ready to smack down on any possible illegal eviction.

Person A is responsible for their guests, so if their lease mandated no PDA outside of the park, they are in violation.  They could argue you were being a serious nuisance I suppose.

You are also a third party and don't have access to the whole story between Person A and their landlord.Answer #2: Figured it out; We were framed. As I said, I did not recall doing this, and I was right. We didn't. Thanks guys!


Title: An utter horrendously terrible day.

Question: Alright so I was recently stopped by an officer and given a ticket because I had a sharpie in my backpocket on the way home from school, I am only 15 and don't have a job and I'm clueless on what to do here.

Answer: Need more detail


Title: How screwed am I? - USA (Iowa)

Question:
So. Hello reddit. It's been a very emotional few weeks for me. Loss of employment, financial trouble, and a pretty rough road in general. Allow me to get to the topic at hand. I live in the state of Iowa. About three or four weeks ago, I took out a payday loan. I was hurting for money, and had no other choice. I know the dangers and horror stories of exorbitant interest rates, but I had to make rent. Well, I take out a $450 loan (the maximum amount allowed in my state), intending of course to pay it back, because I was employed at the time. However, shortly thereafter, I got terminated at work. I was terminated due to my position being eliminated within the company. So, I'll still get my last paycheck, right? No big deal. I'll still pay off the loan.

However, as it happens, I had misplaced some of their high dollar radio equipment. I didn't even realize I had the equipment signed out in my name, until I received my final paycheck. Turns out, my former employer deducted upwards of $500 for the missing equipment. Which is fair, and I get it, but do you see where this is going?

I am now stuck with no job, and no means to repay the payday loan. Well, a few more days pass, and granted I didn't talk to the loan people (I was honestly scared), but I was working on selling of some of my assets to repay the loan. However, in the meantime, I discover they cashed the personal check I wrote and dropped my account to -$456.83.

So this brings me to the legal side of things. Can my bank come after me and claim fraud? Am I facing criminal prosecution, or just civil liability? I certainly had no intention of writing a bad check, but it inadvertently turned out to be a bad check. What's the worst that could happen?

Thank you so much for your time.

Answer: You should also know that your employer may not legally be allowed to deduct anything from your paycheck. Others more well-versed on this subject in this sub may comment on that.


Title: [TX] Let go from company for “inability to repair relationship with superior,” but company provided a different, more severe, and UNTRUE reason of termination to unemployment office and I was denied. Now affecting my ability to find new job.

Question:
The founder/owner of the company (therapy clinic) let me go because she believed my relationship with my direct supervisor could not be repaired. When I filed for unemployment, they told me that my previous employer claimed I endangered the lives of children with autism. This is not true in anyway.

What can I do if the company provides a false reason for termination to the unemployment office? They are also claiming that they cannot produce any evidence of the claim due to HIPAA laws.

Answer: Parties lie in unemployment matters all the time. That's why there are appeals. Appeal the denial and art the hearing challenge their accusation.


Title: Is this impersonating a police officer? Please help

Question:
There’s this guy who’s not a cop in my town who drives a all black crown Vic dark windows and has a PA system. He often tells people to pull over. Is this impersonating a cop? I’m in California. He doesn’t use lights or anything that I know of but still tries to tell people to pull over while making his car obviously look like a undercover.
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 The CA police impersonation law seems to require that the offender fraudulently present a badge or uniform.  However, the actions you describe would be likely to draw attention from the police, and would likely land that person in some sort of legal trouble.

Report his actions to the real police, and let them sort out which exact laws he's breaking.Answer #2: What happens after he tells them to pull over?  Does he also stop and confront the driver?  Does he drive off?

At the very least, he is violating CA's vehicle equipment code:

>No driver of a vehicle shall operate, or permit the operation of, any sound amplification system which can be heard outside the vehicle from 50 or more feet when the vehicle is being operated upon a highway, unless thatsystem is being operated to request assistance or warn of a hazardous situation.

If he's just shouting "pull over" and driving off (no lights, sirens, badges, etc...) he's not impersonating an officer.

That being said, you should let the police know.  People like that tend to escalate their behaviors over time.  If nothing else, the real cops will read him the riot act and tell him to knock it off.Answer #3: Could you call his towns non-emergency police line and make them aware of him ?


Title: Only three days of work

Question: Im a recent college graduate that started a job with a construction company. I worked for three days but knew it was absolutely not what I wanted to do after the first, so I quit. Everything I read online says I should still be payed for those hours. I received a copy of a check in the mail and the payment is supposed to be made through direct deposit. I believe they pay their employees every two weeks. It's now been six weeks. I left them a voicemail about the issue four days ago but still no call back. Should I do something about this or just let the $400 I'm due go?

Answer: Wage claim with your state's dept of labor.


Title: Caught shoplifting from Walmart, spent most of my night in jail. Looking for any advice

Question: Yesterday I (22m) was caught shoplifting from Walmart. I had tried to take some food, and a couple small electronics. My total was 120 and they made the decision and cops were called. I was handcuffed and sent downtown where i spent 9 hours before being released with a bond of $1000 and a court date on August 27th. This is my first ever offense and I’m freaking out and have no idea where to go. I called a few lawyers this morning but they say they charge upwards of 1500 for their fee. I really don’t have the money for that kind of thing and that really defeats the purpose to me since my bond is cheaper. If anyone has any ideas or advice, i would greatly appreciate it

Answer: Don't talk to the cops, go to your first court date, plead not guilty and ask for a public defender.


Title: Dad trying to remove me from life insurance? Being pressured by lawyers to sign

Question:
My parents got divorced a while back, and my mom signed a new life insurance policy. Back in 2017 I signed part of the transfer of ownership from my mom to my dad. However, I was just starting college and was so sick of my parents divorce that I just wanted to get free of it. Recently lawyers have been pressuring me to sign an ammendment to the trust that they apparently forgot to get in 2017. I read the document and realized some thing.

&#x200B;

The original reads:

&#x200B;

 *"The parties hereto agree that: (a) MOM shall collect on the Policy at DAD death only to the extent of a deficiency in Settlor's alimony payments at the time of Settlor's death in accordance with Article X of the Property Settlement Agreement; and (b) the balance shall be distributed to and among Sister and her descendants and OP and his descendants as Dad designates on a beneficiary form filled with Life Insurance Company."*

&#x200B;

Where my mom is the Settlor. While reading the same section in the new document, I noticed (b) has been removed. So now it only reads:

&#x200B;

 *"The parties hereto agree that MOM shall collect on the Policy at DAD's death only to the extent of a deficiency in Settlor's alimony payments at the time of Settlor's death in accordance with Article 14 of the Property Settlement Agreement."*

&#x200B;

Is my Dad trying to remove me from the policy? My current understanding of the original is that my sister and I would be paid the remaining balance of the policy if he dies.
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer:
 > "The parties hereto agree that MOM shall collect on the Policy at DAD's death only to the extent of a deficiency in Settlor's alimony payments at the time of Settlor's death **in accordance with Article 14 of the Property Settlement Agreement."**

You need to read Article 14. That said, it's his policy so he could remove you for any reason.Answer #2: This is normal and perfectly acceptable. It just removes your mom from your dad's life insurance policy unless your dad still owes child support when he dies.

It also removes any contractual requirement for your dad to include you or your sister on his life insurance. This is reasonable - there's no real reason to have a contractual agreement to make any specific person a beneficiary of anything, especially not twice in the same divorce agreement.


Title: Are programs starting up automatically without my consent a breakage of the GDPR?

Question:
I have a few programs on my computer that I use every now and then, but I'm being annoyed by them starting up when windows starts. I've attempted to turn this off in the program itself, but there is no option for it. I've also tried using the "Startup" setting in windows, but that only fixes it until I start the program manually again, because after that it will automatically start at every boot.

Is it against the GDPR to do this, and not even have the option to turn it off?

Answer:
 > Is it against the GDPR to do this

I'm confused.  Why do you think this *would* be against GDPR?


Title: I work at a Jim Henson Exhibit and wanna make homemade stuff but Disney might not like it

Question:
Hi! First time on this subreddit asking. I just got a job working at a Jim Henson Museum thats very small and doesn't get much traffic, really.  I thought a nice way to bring in some more people might be to make some more homemade stuff instead of the general merchandise that we get from Disney or other registered places. I was thinking of making string art of characters, glass pebble magnets, felt badge clips, etc with plans to give that money to the museum. But i was discussing it with a coworker during my sorta training day and she says that we would not be able to sell that kind of stuff most likely. There was a point when they wanted to do something similar but they weren't allowed to I reckon.
 I guess what I'm looking for is either a loophole or an in-depth look at why i can't make these things for the museum or what would be allowed for me to do.
Thanks for the advice in advance!
Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer:
 Most likely you will run into licensing issues too.  You need permission to use disney/muppets characters.Answer #2: You cant sell merchandise on company property during work hours.

Either talk to your manager about your idea, or sell these items off-site.


Title: Withholding rent for repairs, NY.

Question:
I'm waiting on the code guy to show up and finalize the validity of the repairs, but I have a series of questions:

Front and center, what should I expect from this point forward and at what point should I get legal representation?

Everything else is ancillary below, but contains a lot of detail on the situation:

Does the code guy need to come through BEFORE I can withhold rent? Even though I've put in requests to repair the leaking roof since two months ago?

What protection do I have against my landlord trying to evict me for non-payment of rent?

There are some building code items (not repairs per se) such as my uninsulated attic has uninsulated ductwork (Our utility bills go from 100 dollars in the summer to over 400 dollars a month!!), am I going to have any ground to demand they be updated?

Can my landlord pull a weasel move and deem that they can't make the repairs and manage to get me evicted that way?

If things get crazy and I need a secret weapon... is there a way I can find out who insures this apartment building and report the many issues (leaking foundation under the panel box, deteriorated lead paint,  no hand rails, etc)?
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 Withholding rent is tough. I'm 99% sure you'll get an eviction notice upon withholding rent, which probably means that you'll end up in court. You may well win, though. Make sure you document your repair requests - dates & times of phone calls, plus follow every single contact up with an email or a certified letter. The biggest, biggest thing you can do - SET ASIDE THE MONEY YOU SHOULD BE PAYING IN RENT. Put it in a special dedicated savings account, and bring the account statement to court with you.

I (as a landlord )had a tenant try and tell a judge once that they were withholding the rent until I fixed X, Y, and Z (which of course were not broken). Before the judge even asked me about the condition of X, Y, and Z, he asked the tenant if they had the funds to pay me IF I fixed the items they claimed were defective. When the tenants said, well, no, we don't have the funds right now, we had to spend them on daycare/car repairs/gas bill/whatever, he did not allow them to claim withholding as a defense.

Bottom line, if you withhold rent, make sure you have a documented chain of requests prior to withholding. Then, make sure you have the money ready to pay out as soon as the repairs are done. Then, realize that you might get an unsympathetic judge and get evicted anyway.


Title: Does SMS count as written notice?

Question:
Hello, I am moving out of a rental house in Michigan. I provided my new forwarding mail address to my landlord, but it just occurred to me that I did it over text message. We've always communicated over text message and I have documented the conversation. I don't 100% trust the person to be fair with the deposit. Is the text message acceptable written notice in the eyes of the law in Michigan? The law is written as follows (Act 348 of 1972 Section 554.611):

"The tenant shall notify the landlord in writing at the address given under section 4 within 4 days after termination of his occupancy of an address at which communications pursuant to this act may be received. Failure to comply with this requirement relieves the landlord of the requirement of notice of damages but does not prejudice a tenant's subsequent claim for the security deposit."

Thank you in advanced.

Answer:
 I think that you would have a straight faced argument that notice exists under some contracts, but...

> notify the landlord in writing at the address given under section 4

That pretty much makes it clear how you were supposed to notify him, right?Answer #2: Most judges would hold that the SMS constituted substantial compliance with the statute. But if you're still within the 4-day window, you should give your landlord *paper* notice to avoid the risk.


Title: [LA] Landlord refuses to let me move utilities over to my name

Question:
My lease started on March 1, and a couple of weeks before I moved in, I asked my landlord for my meter number so I could set up my Entergy account (power and gas). He kept telling me "We'll sort it out later." Okay, fine.

Over the past couple of months, I've asked him about this a few times and he has repeatedly ignored my request. Yesterday, we had multiple disconnect notices posted (it's a multi-unit property) so I decided to call Entergy and figure things out. They were able to confirm that I was Unit D (different than my mailing address), so I paid the past due balance and set up the account.

I immediately notified my landlord that I got my account set up and paid off the past due balance to avoid a disconnect, and I passed on the message that all the units' accounts were set for disconnection at 7 PM today (May 3) if the other accounts weren't paid off by 5 PM yesterday (May 2).

Instead of being grateful for the messaging, he told me I was actually Unit A and he was going to basically reassume control of my account. Apparently none of the other units are billed to the tenants, they're all billed to him, which is in direct violation of the lease. Earlier today, I received a call from Entergy stating that someone was trying to create a new account at my address. I texted my landlord to ask him about it and he simply said "I'll address." Okay...

But, I have other concerns. For one, we have regular power outages in New Orleans and without an account of my own I am unable to report those or receive updates on repairs. I'm also unable to set up budget billing or make sure the account is kept current which is now my biggest concern of all. I'm also worried about bills getting to me way late after tons of charges rack up and suddenly I have a bill for $500 that's due yesterday.

My landlord is clearly frustrated with me over this and I cannot for the life of me understand why. What do I do in this situation to ensure I don't get into any trouble later on (New Orleans landlords love eviction court) apart from documenting our discussions?

Answer: You can report an outage without an account. Anybody can call and report an outage. You just may not be able to use the automated system.  If the bill is in his name he is responsible for paying it. Why isn't he paying it? What does your lease say about this? He should be paying the bill then getting the money from you. If he doesn't pay it and the power is shut off you can break your lease. And you certainly don't owe any late fees as it's not your fault it was paid late.


Title: [CA, USA] Repair shop bricked my son's iPad Mini 2 and tried to give it back to me along with initial repair cost as recompense.

Question:
Over 2 weeks ago I brought my son's device into the repair shop to have the battery swapped out because it was only holding about 25% of the charge it used to. The guys quoted me $65 which was much lower than other repair shops so I went and dropped it off around 11 AM. They called me before they closed shop about 4 PM and when I picked it up an app I used to track the battery showed it was the same battery. The guys there told me I needed to cycle the battery 3-4 times before it would show a new battery and to come back if I still had any issues.

I went home and cycled the iPad by running it empty, charging it back to full, running it empty and charging it back to full effectively cycling the iPad twice by the next morning. When I woke up and the app still showed the same battery life as before I brought it in the shop I decided to go back in and address my concerns. When I got there they gave me the same story, come back on Wednesday, initial drop off was Saturday, and if by then it wasn't charging to full capacity they would swap out another battery for me.

Fast forward to Wednesday and the battery is still no good. I call to let them know I'd be back on Saturday to drop it off, they told me they had another battery they could try and to bring it by. When I get there Saturday the acted like it was no big deal and they took in the iPad and I figured they would now get it done. My wife gets a call a couple hours later telling us that they didn't have the right battery and they would need to hold on to the iPad until a new battery got in on Tuesday. We weren't happy about this but we went along since we just wanted the battery swapped out.

Fast forward to the following Wednesday and when my wife calls to check in they say the battery is swapped and ready for pickup. We couldn't pick up the iPad until Friday so we let them know we'll be by then. I end up having appointments to attend so my wife picks up the iPad herself. When we both get home I take a look at the battery app, finally the battery is new but now there are fingerprints on the underside of the display along with dust and debris. I call them back and let them know I'll be back tomorrow to drop it off to be cleaned.

I walk in there Saturday morning with my son and ask one of the gentlemen to take a look, he mentions that he sees what I see and puts it on his coworker who was not present that the job was done sloppily. I ask him politely to take his time with the clean up as I didn't want to come back more than once and please not to rush in order to get it back to me. This was yesterday.

My wife calls them this morning to see if we can pick up the iPad and then we get a story about how they tried to change the battery again and now it's not charging at all. My wife explains to them we just wanted the screen cleaned up from the debris left under it and he proceeds to tell her that there must have been something wrong with the iPad before we brought it in and so now they are going to refund us our $65 and give us our iPad back that now doesn't charge.

Obviously that wasn't a plausible solution for us so I politely tell the gentlemen that returning an iPad that was no longer functioning properly along with my refund was not going to be okay. He kept trying to explain additional details to me but it just sounded like he was trying to feed me a line of BS so I reminded him that when he spoke with the owner of the business that when he called once he got into the office, if he thought he was going to give me back an iPad in worst shape than it was when I brought it in that was going to be a problem we needed to talk about. (iPad was fully functional, but only held enough charge to play for 90 minutes. They are trying to give it back to me with 9% battery but when it dies it will not charge anymore.)

The guy calls back 10 minutes later and says now they are going to fix whatever is wrong with the iPad by next weekend and they will give us our refund back on top of that. I reiterate to him that what we are expecting after that call is that we will receive a 100% fully functioning iPad Mini 2 (presumably ours completely refurbished), our $65 payment for the battery swap and they will still maintain their 30 day warranty. I tell him this sounds like a fair deal and I can wait until next weekend as this is much more reasonable than giving me back a broken product. He proceeds to downplay our frustration mentioning it's just an iPad and he doesn't know why my wife was so upset and so on. He just really didn't understand that 10 trips in 14 days totaling over 2 hours of transit time was undue stress for something they said would be finished in one day. Anyhow, I told him I hoped we could laugh about this when I came to pick up the device this weekend but I'm a bit skeptical of what to expect as although out this ordeal it feels like they've been dishonest.

I personally feel they never swapped the battery on the first visit, instead taking my money up front to order a new battery while feeding me the line about cycling the battery to buy time to receive the battery in the mail. Then when I dropped it off the second time they realized they bought the wrong one and required more time to get another battery in. Then on the third and most recent drop off, someone went in and broke something while taking it apart thereby ruining it's ability to charge at all. Then they have the nerve to try and return it to us along with our up front cost and call it even.

Can anyone here give me some advice on how to protect myself when I pick up the iPad next Saturday. These guys got good reviews on Yelp but so far the way they've talked to us and treated us it really feels like these guys are sleaze balls trying to rip us off because they made a mistake.

I just want my son's iPad back in working condition without looking like someone smeared their finger on the underside of the display and dropped sand in there for good measure. If they give me back the iPad in good working shape I'd be happy to just leave this in my past but I'm afraid when I get there it's just going to be more stories about why something didn't happen a certain way or the iPad is going to look like it's been through the ringer.

I'd really appreciate any advice I can get on how to handle this without escalating or getting ripped off. Thanks in advance!

TL:DR - Repair shop broke my son's iPad and is trying to give it back to me with a refund as a clean exit. How can I protect myself from being ripped off?
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer: Store as much evidence as you possibly can. If they don't give you the iPad in working condition, take them to a small claims court and sue them for the price of that iPad.


Title: Was recorded and taken pictures of without consent. Do I have a case?

Question: Recently I found out while working as a lifeguard, a patron had been videotaping and taking pictures me and my other friends who are minors in an attempt to get me fired (I was not doing anything wrong). The videos and pictures were taken without our consent and most likely we were in just our bathing suits. Is there any possible way I could have the videos deleted and get him in trouble?

Answer: While the pool is “private” it’s still a public location where you have no reasonable expectation of privacy.  They can take all the pictures of you they want from a legal standpoint.  This might violate some pool policy, but it’s not illegal at all.


Title: Can I walk around as kkk

Question: Me and some buddies think it would be funny to walk around in Klan robes around town, it's a pretty white neighbor Hood and my buddies are Mexican so I think we'll be safe, I just want to make sure we won't be arrested

Answer: Not arrested, but probs get your ass beat. Good luck with that.