Title: Someone sold me a pirated copy of software. Is there anyway I can take legal action?

Question:
Hello, This is my first time posting here so hopefully I am doing this right. Just yesterday I purchased a piece of digital musical equipment on craigslist. The equipment was supposed to come with the compatible software, which was stated on the advertisement to have a clean serial code and would be legitimate.

I later went to install the software after I made the transaction and it doesn't seem to work. After looking into it, I find a file wight eh exact same name on The Pirate Bay and realize this person sold me a pirated copy of the software. Obviously selling a pirate copy of the software is very illegal and extremely punishable. I tried to be civil with the person. I texted him and told him i discovered he sold em a pirated version of the software and I informed him of the legality. I simply asked him for my money back, as I am a busy college kid and I'm not trying to start any trouble, I just want my money back. As expected, he has neglected to text me back yet.

My question is this: I have screen shots of his craigslist post, his phone number, his first name, and the stuff that he sold me. Is there any type of legal action I could take to get reimbursement seeing as how he was violating (i assume) some kind of copyright law? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advanced.

EDIT: Location is Las vegas
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer: You would sue him, presumably in small claims court.


Title: [California] Credit dispute w/ Citi and RentalCars.com/Alamo

Question:
Hey,

I'm posting this on behalf of my girlfriend (her first language isn't English). I'm not sure if this belongs here or /r/personalfinance.

My girlfriend and her mother run a study abroad company. A few months ago, my girlfriend reserved a car through RentalCars.com for $667 in California - her mother would be driving the car as students were visiting. Their car was booked through Alamo (contracted by RentalCars.com).

Upon arriving at the Alamo location, the service agents refused to continue with the rental. They claimed that because they were using international car insurance, they needed to have an international drivers license. According to RentalCars.com online, and their customer service, this isn't true. You only need to use an international drivers license if your original license is not in Roman/Latin Characters.

Her mother provided a valid State of California drivers license, but they still refused, even though California uses the Roman/Latin alphabet on their licenses (like the rest of the country). After calling RentalCars.com on the spot, they stated that Alamo should still continue with the rental with the California license. They refused. Alamo then stated that they would need to go through RentalCars.com for the refund.

After going through RentalCars.com for a refund, they said no. They stated that they were willing to provide the service and my girlfriend was considered a "no-show". They stated that she should have applied for a refund 24 hours prior to the rental, which was impossible considering the situation (how could she know that Alamo would not honor the purchase?).

After their refusal to honor a refund, my girlfriend went to CitiBank to start a dispute. CitiBank started the dispute process, but had a difficult time with their letters. My girlfriend got the letter asking for proof on October 27th, 7 days after the response was due on October 20th. After sending the response in the mail, CitiBank responded by saying the case was closed and there was nothing they could do as we did not respond on time.

Now, CitiBank has online versions of all the mail they send, but the online correspondence does **not include the actual letter stating the request for information and the deadline** - no idea why. There was no way for her to know what the bank needed or when it was due.

Do we have any recourse to get her money back? $667 isn't a small amount of money for them (or anybody).

Sorry it's long.

Tl;dr:

- Signed a rental car agreement for $667
- Rental Car company refused to honor rental car agreement over rule that doesn't exist in the agreement
- Rental Car company refused to give a refund, stating they were willing to honor the agreement but she refused
- Bank was not timely in their letters and refused to continue with the dispute
- Now owe the bank the money, plus interest.

Thank you for your help.

Answer:
 Your beef isn't with Alamo, since you didn't pay them. Your beef is with RentalCars.com. If you followed the terms of RentalCars' agreement, then whatever discrepancy exists between Alamo's terms and RentalCars' terms is between those two companies, and you're entitled to not be caught in the middle.

Your girlfriend can consider suing RentalCars.com. An easier route might be to reach out to the California Attorney General for assistance.


Title: [MA] Just turned 18. How do I take my name off a restraining order that my mom has under her name, mine, and my younger brother's against her sister?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 This isn't the sort of thing that happens every day. Do you know what courthouse issued the protective order? If so, I would simply call that courthouse and ask to speak to the clerk or administrative assistant for the court that issued it. He/she can tell you how to do this, and also be able to tell you if it is still in effect.Answer #2: Just be careful.  If your mom finds out she may try to get one to keep you from contacting your sibling.Answer #3: I would start [here](http://www.mass.gov/courts/forms/restrain-harass-forms-gen.html). There is a template motion to terminate an order as well as instructions.

Usually these things are pretty straightforward and just involve an appearance before a magistrate or judge.

You'll need to know the case information which you can obtain by calling or visiting the clerk's office for the court that issued it.


Title: Can you legally be charged a late fee for something months ahead of a due date?

Question:
My mother is having issues with her HOA management company in her new construction subdivision, and subsequently, the HOA board members who secretly elected for this company to be their "management company". We live in Michigan.

Basically, in a nut shell, everybody in the subdivision was charged a late fee at the beginning of the year for something that wasn't due until March 1st. When people attempted to complain, they could not reach anybody at the management company and if they got lucky and did, they were given a run around about why it happened and if they would even get a refund.

If you didn't pay the late fee or your dues, they continued to tack on fees every month - So, 3 total, for January, February, and March.

Is this even legal? How can you possible be charged a late fee in January for something due in March? I don't want something ridiculous to happen to my mother, like the home going into foreclosure because of their shady business dealings.

If there's something I can do about it, I'd love all suggestions (yes, I'm aware HOAs suck and all that).

Answer:
 If the payment isn't due until March 1st, then they cannot levy the fee onto you.  You have two options:

Pay the fee and then request a refund via certified mail detailing a 'due by' date, and sue if it doesn't get refunded.

Refuse to pay the bill, and hope the management company wises up, reverses the original and all subsequent late fees, and makes sure your account is as it should be.

The first option is probably less hassle, since you can take legal action.

You should also take action against the HOA board members who did this without letting people know.  Vote them out and cancel the contract, if necessary.


Title: [US] If a state passed a law criminalizing "deception" without any other context, what would the arguments be against its constitutionality?

Question: Void for vagueness is an obvious one. How about chilling protected speech? Anything else?

Answer: It would struck down as vague. Crimes have to be  defined. Answer #2: First amendment seems like it would cover any deceptive speech. Maybe that’s obvious.


Title: Put in my two weeks at my company, and now they're bullying me. I have unused vacation days, do I have any legal right to be compensated for them?

Question:
I work in Kentucky, and I gave 2 weeks notice.

This is the last paragraph of the Vacation portion of the Employee Handbook:

Upon termination of employment, employees will be paid for unused vacation time that has been earned through the last day of work. However, if COMPANY NAME, in its sole discretion, terminates employment for cause, or if insufficient notice of resignation is given, forfeiture of unused vacation time may result.

Answer:
 Vacation time is part of compensation. They have to pay you for it.

KRS 337.010(c)Answer #2: First you need to know if the vacation time you have, is actually earned already.

Some jobs will let employees have access to all of their annual vacation time under the presumption that you will work with them throughout the year.

For example, if you get 12 vacation days in a year, but actually accrue 1 vacation day a month. Lets say you believe you have 6 vacation days left, those 6 can actually be UN-accrued since there is 6 months left in the year. Now if this is their policy, and you decide to use those 6 remaining days anyway. Then your final paycheck may be docked to allocate those vacation days that you didn't accrue yet.

Just double check your employee handbook on how vacation days are accrued.


Title: I am trying to set up a club watching Avatar:The Last Airbender at my college, but I apparently need a public viewing license. How do I get one? I already own the full series, so is it really necessary?

Answer:
 Yes. You cannot show something publicly without a license to do so.

They are expensive

Does your school have a student union? You can ask if they have a license and can sponsor the showing


Title: Apartment noise

Question:
Hi all, I live in an apartment in Minnesota and I have a question that involves my upstairs neighbors.  When my upstairs neighbors walk (just regular walking, not running or walking fast), the roof squeaks.  It's loud and I am having a hard time focusing on my studies and sleeping.  I hear them walking and sometimes even the dishes.  It's a bit too much.  I could be wrong but I don't think that's normal.  When I went to the office to ask if that is normal, they told me there is nothing they can do.  They said it was normal and to move on.  I don't know but it just doesn't feel right.  I don't think people walking should make all that noise.

Are they right legally speaking?  Should I just move on or is there something I can do legally to force them to take action?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Yep, that's normal for most apartments and in no way infringing on any legal rights.


Title: man blocking my pay from companies because i wont pay his wife to send invoices

Question:
Hello everyone,

So I've been doing work for a company (cleaning all their restaurants monthly) and the way payment works is as follows:

Receive work order > open order > complete job > send invoice > they\* authorize invoice > they pay amount due

This is all done through a work order site that is used to simplify things. Some of the jobs i did weren't being paid and i was told to pay the state manager's wife to send my invoices for me for everything to go down smoothly. I used her for a bit but it was costing too much and just not worth it at all to me since i know how to send invoices myself.  I stopped using her about 2 months ago and out of 100 jobs 51 jobs haven't paid and are just left on the 'authorize invoice' stage.

I called the guy today to tell him and he said "yeah this is why you were paying my wife so none of this happens."

I don't know what to do. I've thought about going to HR but it's a small company and he has a high chair in the company so i think they're all potentially in on the whole ordeal.

Not sure what to do here.

Answer:
 This might be a different story if the person they suggested you pay to submit your invoices was not related to a high up in the company.

Call HR and report it, record the conversation if possible (Florida is a two party consent state). Advise them that your pay is being unreasonable delayed. Also inform them of your conversations with the manager who you believe is holding your pay hostage in order for you to pay his wife to submit your invoices for you, having his wife preform this "service" is highly suspect and a conflict of interests. If this doesn't produce results, try contacting the owner of the company with the same info. If this also falls of deaf ears, its lawyer and lawsuit time. You are not obligated to pay the managers wife in order to get paid.


Title: Can my gf legally take my car from me?

Question: Im from Pennsylvania if that helps. My gf co signed my car for me. But they did the loan backwards, they put her as the owner and me as the co signer. Why? I have no idea. But I'm the one who makes every payment on it. If my gf ever got mad enough to try to take it from me. Can she legally take it? Im just curious how this would work in my favor. Could I prove that I've been the one that has been making the payments by showing bank statements? Sorry for my grammar in advanced. Thanks!

Answer: You might be fucked on this one because the responsibility of the cosigner is to make the payments on that car. You basically just put your good credit in her name, she owns it but you pay for it.


Title: Sellers Remorse

Question: Okay, I admit that I screwed up. I had a guy approach me about buying car I have. It wasn't advertised anywhere. At the time, I agreed to sale it for $1000. He gave me a $200 deposit, and I gave him a receipt for that. There was no signed contract for the sale, just a handshake. Immediately afterward, I started having second thoughts. The car has a lot of sentimental attachment to it. I have decided that I don't want to sell it. I called the guy and told him, and said I would give his deposit back immediately. He said that he wanted the car, and would take legal action to get it. I know I'm ethically in the wrong, and I'm a jerk for not holding up my end of the deal. But is there anything he can really legally do if I refuse the sale? He has no monetary losses. Is there anything he could sue me for? I'm in North Carolina.

Answer: No one that is in the market for a 1000 dollar cars is also in the market to be taking legal action for it.  As long as you give him the deposit back he has no case whatsoever Answer #2: Did you sign the receipt?  If not, under NC's [statute of frauds] (http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter_25/GS_25-2-201.pdf), because the "contract" was for a sale in excess of $500, it's not enforceable.  If the receipt was signed, you're in dicier territory.


Title: Pizzeria subcontractor got stubborn schmutz on my car [NY]

Question:
Before I left for a business conference the first week of May, I parked in a municipal lot next to a pizzeria. A business owner across the street saw this happen & told me about when I returned:

The proprietor hired someone to power-wash the kitchen exhaust hoods. The schmutz bounced off and sprayed my car--the bumper, in the grill, up to the hood and roof, on both sides.

I've had 2 car washes and it has rained a lot. The schmutz is still there.

I told the pizzeria owner and, as is the custom, he said he didn't know nothing about it and it was the spray washer, not him.

There are no cameras on the parking lot. The proprietor across the street would back me up, but did not get the powerwasher's name or license plates.

Should I ask my insurance company for help to restore the finish of the car? Are there other options?

Answer: Not legal advice but if it is grease, water is not going to be effective. You will need to use a degreaser.  Make sure it is one that won't damage the paint though.


Title: Neighbor Refinishing Floors in the Middle of the Winter. We live in a row house and the fumes are so strong my wife, dog and I cannot stay.

Question: I live in Pittsburgh and there is no HOA to my knowledge. I spoke to the owner who said she was unaware of the fumes and would try to resolve it. She said there is another coat to be done in two days. What recourse can I take if she is unable/unwilling to remedy this?

Answer: Ask if they could set up a negative pressure air mover/fan. If they can reduce the air pressure in the home and pull the bad air out the window instead it will greatly reduce the smell in your unit.


Title: Friend wants to be an escort, wants to know if saying this can be used as evidence against her

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Police can take an investigation a lot farther than you think. You really shouldn't help your stupid friend do this. Answer #2: Nobody here is going to assist your friend in their prostitution.

If she's in Nevada, she can meet with an attorney to help her set up her business properly. If not, she should realize that she has the intelligence of a bag of rocks.Answer #3: > Is saying something like "yeah its 150$ for 15 mins of my time".

> Or should she say something like "You can donate 150 for to me to hang out for 15 mins." or say "for us to be together for 15 mins".

Generally getting paid for your time to spend time with someone is not illegal.

> Would having the client show their genitals or having them touch my friends breast filter out cops? Because I would imagine cops wouldn't be allowed to touch someone sexually or show their privates while theyre on duty right?

No, no and no. I think there was a case in Hawaii where a Cops had sex with the escort, went back for seconds and then arrested her. It's perfectly legal and it's [not entrapment](http://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/19810672629/12-i-was-entrapped).
Answer #4: There is no magic language that makes prostitution safer.  And there is nothing your friend can do to "filter out" undercover cops.  Undercover officers are allowed to break the law while undercover.  Including buying drugs and having sex with prostitutes.  Your friend will definitely get arrested at some point.  And runs a pretty high risk of being assaulted, robbed, or getting an STD.  Answer #5: Despite popular belief, there's no wording or actions she can take to weed out undercover cops.


Title: If I kill myself, does my cosigner still have to pay my private student loan?

Question: I know if I stop making payments/default on my loans while I'm alive, the lenders go after the cosigner. But if I'm dead, is there some sort of mercy rule where they dissolve the debt? This is for private loans, I know federal loans discharge debt upon death

Answer:
 If someone cares about you enough to cosign for thousands of dollars in loans, that person would much rather help pay the loan and keep you in their life than have the loan discharged upon your death (which depends on terms of the loan anyhow).Answer #2: Suicide Hotline:
tel:1-800-273-8255


Title: What if you don't have enough money to cover a restaurant bill? Virginia

Question: What would happen if you don't have enough money or your card is declined after eating in a restaurant?

Answer:
 You would call someone to come provide you cash or a working form of payment to satisfy the bill.

The restaurant can't prevent you from leaving, but they can call the police and/or sue you (which probably isn't worth their time) if you leave.


Title: I don’t know what to do

Question: I rented a house with a friend she was also on the lease I moved out about 8 months into the lease because I discovered her husband was using drugs and they were fighting every night and I did not want my child around it. I was still on the lease when I moved out well the lease ended in February of 2018 and they said everything was good to go. Well here it is October and I receive a collections notice in the mail for almost 12,000$! Apparently they found needles and had to decontaminate the house. I don’t know what to do. I don’t do drugs how can I have this put on them and not me.

Answer:
 For $12,000 you need to retain yourself a lawyer ASAP.
I don’t know if you’ll be able to get out of this. It’s possible with a level head and good lawyer you’ll be able to prove you weren’t actually staying there. However, your name is on the lease. I’m guessing signed right on the dotted line.


Title: Fighting Traffic ticket (PA)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >would saying that I was going 85 and he wrote down 80 be enough to dismiss the case due to the evidence being wrong?

I've seen this unfold at the district justice. Multiple times. You'll be admitting guilt. I never understood why so many people think this is a viable defense, but it happens.

"Your honor, I did NOT steal that $1500 LED TV. I stole the $1800 LED TV."Answer #2: Yeah, confessing a worse crime to a judge to get out of a lesser one is a terrible idea. Don't do that.


Title: My wife and I are taking care of a 6 Month old boy that was signed over to us through a notorized letter by the mother who is her sister in laws niece. She wants us to have legal guardianship of him. What would be the easiest way to have it done? Her go to the court or us go and file for it?

Answer:
 You need an adoption attorney. We cannot advise you on this situation whatsoever based on the information you've presented.

Edit: forgive me, a family attorney would be best for a consult to see if adoption is what you need, but a notarized letter from someone distant sounds messy and like this is likely to be permanent and whatever happens legally, when taking guardianship of a child one should always plan long term.


Title: [UK] A family of travellers have moved in outside our house

Question:
Like it says in the title. A family in a caravan have in the past couple of days parked up and are living outside my house. There's quite a number of them and they're frequently running around and screaming.

At the moment it's not much of an issue, but I was wondering if they become an issue what a reasonable course of action would be?

Answer:
 Make sure they're not able to use your outside water spigots and possibly your electrical (if you have an outside electrical plug or hookup).

You should definitely contact the police and find out if they can legally be camping where they are.Answer #2: You likely should post this to /r/legaladviceuk/ but...
Is it on your property?


Title: [British Columbia, Canada] RCMP officer detaining you citing Miranda rights in canada

Question:
So I basically asked the question in the title. this is more of a question then a situation that i am in But ill ask away.

here in canada the "Miranda rights" is the " bill of rights" and if you're too be detained or seek console you're doing so under the The RCMP’s right-to-counsel caution and the The RCMP’s right-to-silence caution.

But what if they cite the Miranda rights inplace of the right of silence.  if taken too court would this count as a big " no no " or mistake on their part?

Answer: There is no Miranda warning in Canada, our courts have said that much less is required. So if they gave you the Miranda warning, it would actually be better than what you're required to receive. Miranda-like is sometimes used to indicate the type of warning police services ordinarily give.


Title: Beat large dog out of my backyard after it killed one of my rabbits

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > Is this completely legal?

Beating a dog with a baseball bat is very likely to be considered animal abuse/cruelty unless it's to protect a person.  Yes, even in TX.

> Did I have every right to kill the dog if I wanted to?

No.  You probably had a right to kill the dog to protect your property.  But not to abuse it, and not because you "wanted to".  Only if you *had to*.

> Last time this happened, the owner understood the situation and apologized profusely. We are worried that he will take other non-legal actions against us, even though I was just defending my property

You should be worried.  a) you weren't defending your property.  You said yourself the rabbit pen was locked and the dog couldn't get in.  So you could have used other means to get rid of the dog.  Like calling animal control.  Or spraying it with a hose, or a dozen other non-violent things.

> Would it be wise to maybe keep my mouth shut if he does ask about it?

Yep.


Title: [CA] Can companies legally rescind purchase orders if they have already been processed and confirmed?

Question:
Long story short there was a pricing mistake on a particular Samsung TV that got a major signal boost due to a deals aggregate website [listed here](http://slickdeals.net/f/8745947-40-samsung-un40ku7000-4k-uhd-smart-led-hdtv-100-free-shipping) and many people flocked to their website to attempt to purchase the TV with the pricing mistake.

Some people succeeded (especially if you were up early enough to see the deal and made the purchase almost immediatley), but many (if not most) were unable to secure an order.

Now there are some people saying that they were able to successfully receive a confirmation e-mail, but another follow up e-mail from Samsung saying they are cancelling all orders.

I actually did not participate in this as I already have too many TV's (though the pricing mistake was a killer deal), but I am curious to know the legality behind pricing mistakes and retroactively cancelling orders. I did participate in a pricing mistake several years back with a local shop on ball-point pens that were also retroactively rescinded, but I didn't care too much.

So, that's my question: Can companies legally retroactively rescind an order that had already been processed and confirmed? Thanks!

Answer: No.  While most companies will not try to recover after an object has shipped, an automated order confirmation is not an [enforceable contract](https://digital.law.washington.edu/dspace-law/bitstream/handle/1773.1/354/vol1_no1_art2.pdf?sequence=1).


Title: Car Repossessed from behind gate in backyard

Question:
I am new to this subreddit so I apologize if I don't meet the normal standards but came here for advice. I am located in Riverside, California.

Today my wifes car was repossessed due to late payment. We have had countless troubles with this credit union on giving them payments on time due to many things, the most recent of which is apparently them changing their PO box we mail checks to without informing us in any way. So we had multiple checks sent that apparently were never received and we did not notice that.

Now they repossessed my wifes car, which was parked in the car port on the side of our house behind a gate. Disregarding whatever fault the credit union has because of changing the address without notice, I was wondering if it is legal in California for them to go behind a closed gate on our property to obtain the vehicle?

I am stuck waiting till tomorrow to deal with the credit union because it is after hours so I am just trying to get my information together so I can combat them with whatever fees or BS they might try to throw at me for this. Thank you for your help.

Answer:
 https://www.bsis.ca.gov/consumers/faqs/repo.shtml

"Can a repossessor agency employee agent break my gate, unlock my garage, move other vehicles, or trample my landscape while trying to take my car?

No. repossessor agency employees are prohibited from entering any private building or secured area without the consent of the owner or the person in legal possession of the property. This includes any locked and fenced area. Any damage to buildings, fences, landscaping, or other vehicles should be reported to the police. In addition, a complaint should be filed with the Bureau. To get your money back for damaged personal property or real property, you will probably have to go to small claims court or hire an attorney. The Bureau has no jurisdiction to get your money back for damaged personal property."
Answer #2: "Who Can Repossess A Vehicle
Under California law, the car finance company as well as a registered repossession agency can repossess your automobile.

In order to have authority to repossess the vehicle, the company must be licensed or registered with the California Department of Consumer Affairs, Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. You should always ask to see the license before surrendering your car to a repo agent, and verify that license with the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services.

Place And Time Of Repossession (And The Shakedown)
A repossession agent in California can’t come into a private building such as a garage, nor can they enter a secured or locked area such as a gated driveway, without the permission of the owner of the premises.

Your car can, however, be repossessed from unsecured driveways, streets, parking lots, and other publicly accessible areas in California at any time of day or night."

https://www.consumerhelpcentral.com/california-repossession-options-process/


Title: Can a minor get emancipation in another state? Or petition to a federal court?

Question:
I'm writing a short story about a teen getting emancipated but can't find what I'm looking for in research. From what I've read online, most states require a minor to be at least 16 years of age. However in California, the minimum age requirement is 14, and Mississippi has no minimum age requirement.

If a child below the age of 16 wishes to become legally emancipated but does not live in California or Mississippi, can they file a petition out of state?

For example, if a 14-year-old born and living in New York wants to become emancipated, could she go to a California/Mississippi court? Or is it impossible because she's a minor of New York?

Or is it possible to file for emancipation to a federal court?

Answer:
 No, a New York resident could not apply for emancipation in another state; California or Mississippi would not have jurisdiction.

No, it would not be a federal case; the federal court would not have jurisdiction either.

>I’m writing a short story

If you're writing a realistic short story, then you should know that emancipating a child is not a common occurrence and almost never happens for the reasons that people on reddit want it to; it's almost exclusively done to protect a financially independent minor from their parents, or to allow a minor already living independently to be in charge of their own affairs. It's not done to prevent abuse or for a difference of opinion between the child and their parents. It's also not done for minors who are not self-sufficient. So, aiming for legal realism about the age but missing the reasons that emancipation is granted is not going to be "realistic".

If your plot requires your 14 year old to be living as an adult, just skip the legal side of things.


Title: Old Tree Cut Down Illegally?

Question:
My name is Dorothy, and I live in Harwich MA. Yesterday when I got home from work I was shocked and devastated to see that someone had cut down my beautiful oak tree from the house I purchased three months ago. This tree was over 70 years old, and a month prior we had Eversource trim it from the power lines. This beautiful tree was a huge selling point to us when buying the house, and I feel like my home has been vandalized and irreparably damaged. We were not given any notice, warning, or chance to petition. I didn't know who had even taken the tree down and left the massive trunk and branches in the yard. I filed a police report and frantically called the town and power company. When the police came, they told me it was taken down by the Harwich Highway Department.

  The Harwich Highway Department told us that the request had been put in by the previous owners of the house to help it sell. However, we found from the real estate agent that the seller was told that because the tree is on private property it would be the job of the property owners to take it down. The town says the sellers were told that the tree was half on the property, and that it was marked for removal. They told us that because of "ivy" and "the top was dead" that it was slated for removal, when the tree seemed fine to us and was very treasured. The stories of the town and the other real estate agent completely contradict, and I am just so devastated and don't know what to do. The town offered to have a surveyor come and find the exact distance it was from the road (we measured it as 10 feet from the edge of the road), and they offered to plant another tree, which will probably be a tiny sapling which is obviously not comparable to the loss.

  Can someone help me? I am so devastated and I feel that I have been so wronged. My partner and I have both missed hours of work and are completely drained from trying to figure out who did this and our relationship is strained from the stress. At this point I will need to completely redo my yard, I've been fighting tears the entire time I've been writing this, and I'm so scared that the town will just say whatever they want so they don't need to apologize or repay us for the loss. Any help or advice would be so, so appreciated.

Dorothy

Answer:
 Call an arborist to assess whether the tree was likely healthy or not, and call a lawyer to help you get started. The property value effect, alone, of an established tree can be quite high, and if it really was cut down at the previous owner's request, they may owe you part of the sale price back, or quite a bit in damages.

Call your title insurance, as well. They may be able to refer you to someone who handles this.


Title: What is my landlord going to have to do to evict me without getting himself evicted?

Question:
Quick points:

*we have no signed lease, I'm an at will tenant

*he is renting the property. In his lease, he is not allowed to have roommates living with him, it's grounds for eviction.

In California, to evict someone, you need to go to court and the actual people who own the house (my landlord's landlord) will have to be notified. Right now, my landlord has told me he wants me to leave, but hasn't given me any written papers.

Please keep in mind I'd rather just leave if I could, but I'm not going to live my life homeless in SF, but I also don't want him to hurt me. I have no family and only a few friends I kinda know, nobody that can just let me stay at their place for a while.

What are my options here?

Answer:
 If your landlord were writing us and asking for advice we would probably be telling him something like "file an eviction suit against your tenant; the property owner may never find out" or more likely "talk with the property owner and explain the situation; offer to bear all the costs of evicting this person and apologize and maybe the property owner will let you handle it".

So I wouldn't advise you to assume that you are "safe from eviction" because of your landlord's self interest. Instead, I would suggest you start looking hard for a new place (difficult, I know, but necessary) and tell your landlord everything, promising to move out as soon as you can. Legally, you do have some other options, but avoiding the eviction is likely better in the long run.


Title: Is the ADA any help to someone with severe animal allergies staying in a hotel?

Question: TX: It is getting increasing hard to find hotels that are not "pet friendly".  When they don't clean well as happened to me at a recent place I needed to book on short notice, my asthmatic allergies act up and I have trouble breathing.  I had recently stayed at another pet friendly hotel, also on short notice, where the room was clean and I had no trouble.  But this room was so unclean it smelled.  It was very late with an early start the next day and I decided to see if my two years of shots would make a difference and did not ask for a room change.  But I still had trouble.  And anti-histamine was no help.  All I want is to be able to get documentation from my allergist, identification as disabled, and ask for the reasonable accommodation of being able to book a pet-free room, one that has never had a pet in it.   What are my chances?  edit: typos.

Answer:
 I guess I'll just ask the obvious here: if you aren't going to request a different room or take the proper precautions with your allergies, especially in regards to time and finding a proper hotel - why would you try and lean on the ADA to help you out?  Answer #2: > of being able to book a pet-free room, one that has never had a pet in it.

Hotels can't do that. If there is a person with a service animal, and only 1 room left, they have to let them stay there.


Title: [MI] Employer taking back raise

Question:
Okay, so I am looking for advise. I have worked for a mid sized university as a salaried employee for just over a year. Earlier this year I received a pay increase that went into effect July 1st that summed to roughly $11,000/ year additional pay. This was not unusual as the university was taking steps to combat stagnant wages for positions on campus and all of my colleges received similar increases.

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from HR saying that the pay increase I received was a mistake and they are decreasing my salary by the $11,000. To add insult to injury, they also stated that they are making me pay back the over payment I received over the last few months and it will be somehow deducted from my paycheck in future months. None of my colleges received a similar call that I am aware of.

The only thing that I think could potentially help me is that when I received the pay increase, I also received a letter stating the updated salary and the amount of the increase. This letter was addressed to me, and is signed by the university COO (chief operating officer, second only the university president).

I would like to know what my options are and if I have any recourse or action I can take. Ideally I would like to keep my increased salary. If that is not possible, I would at least rather not have to pay back what was already payed to me.

Answer:
 They can reduce pay at anytime, and if it was a mistake they can retroactively get that mistake back.  But you do have a signed letter stating the increase addressed to you.  I would tell them you will not take money out of my paycheck for this, I have a signed letter stating my raise and I refuse for you to deduct anything from my paycheck. Send it by certified mail.Answer #2: It would be an excellent idea to e-mail HR with the summary of the information you received over the phone, especially confirming your salary going forward and the fact that they plan to take out money from your paychecks going forward until the amount of the raise is paid back.Answer #3: They could also reduce your pay back to normal and then reduce it even more to recover their "error."

You have to decide at this point what the job is worth to you.


Title: Landlord ending 2 months lease early to sell house.

Question:
We recently received an email from the landlord saying that she wants to sell the house on the spring market and wants us out by the end of January. We haven't violated the lease agreement as far as we know and the agreement we singed was till the end of March and moving is going to be a huge hassle.

Am I entitled to any kind of compensation?

Will I need a lawyer if I want any kind of compensation?

I feel like a lawyer will cost more than it's worth. I've never had to get one before so I don't really know.

Thanks so much for your help.

**edit** sorry, I read the basic guidelines but not the posting notes.

I'm in New Mexico.

Answer:
 You are under no obligation to move out prior to the end of your lease.

If your landlord wants you out earlier, he or she must persuade you.  And yes, this generally involves paying for moving costs, or giving you a month rent free, or something like that.Answer #2: They have to honor your lease until the period specified in the lease is over. You should tell them that you will only move early if they compensate you nicely (the cost of moving, plus your security deposit, plus any other money you feel you are entitled to for inconveniencing you). You shouldn't need a lawyer for that. If your LL does anything to force you out before the agreed upon time (changes the locks, shuts off utilities, etc.), that is an illegal eviction and you should be able to sue them.


Title: IL. My one sister has filed a report against my other sister's husband for molesting her 4yo daughter

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Hopefully they will do a forensic interview with the niece. This type of interview is a skilled interviewer interviews the child alone, but there's a camera in the room and the feed goes to another room with the police, DA, child welfare (sometimes), or any other necessary party for legal purposes. The interviews are good because the child is just interviewed once, sometimes they break it up into a couple of interviews for young children. It's on film and the people watching the feed can talk to the interviewer if they need more clarification.

Young children very rarely make up sexual abuse, it's something like less than 1%, especially for a child as young as 4. What can happen is they will say someone else did it because the real perp threatened them or otherwise intimidated them. They can be coached, but the forensic interview is really good at picking up on that.

If they do a sexual abuse physical examination, make sure they do it at a facility that specializes in it. There is often not physical indications of sexual abuse because sometimes it leaves no marks, scars, etc, or the body has healed itself. The examination itself can be traumatizing.


Title: [FL] Apartment leasing agent which primarily deals with college kids sent my wife and I a list of things they will charge us for if we don't do before moving out

Question:
My wife and I live in North Florida in a college town. In our entire renting lives, we've had great luck with landlords. The company we are with now typically deals with naive college kids renting their first apartments, but they've rented us an old cabin on the edge of town for the last year. When they showed us the property, the guy from the company passed it twice before finding the driveway and confessed he'd never seen it before and didn't even know it was theirs. It was just what we wanted but the property was overgrown and it had been vacant for at least six months according to the neighbor in the other cabin. We planned to renew despite a number of verbal agreements not being met (they promised to mow the overgrown yard and clean trash from the property before we moved in, and never did, as well as to exterminate prior to moving in, but they didn't and we found out the house had a major ant problem). Four months before our lease was up, we received an "early bird special" saying we could renew within two weeks (3 1/2 months before end of lease) and they would *only* raise our rent $120/year. If we waited, it would go up $360/year extra. We decided we wanted nothing more to do with them and would vacate at the end of our lease.

Today I received an email of things we have to do by the end of July, stressing that the place must be "move in ready" by the time we are out. This includes hand washing all walls because any cause for painting (even typical wear and tear) will result in us being billed for the painting, and that if any touch-up paint was needed, it was our job to obtain the paint, and the color must match.

From what I've been able to find, normal wear and tear falls on the landlord to deal with and we should only be billed for damages or anything excessive. We've taken great care of the place, shown pride in it, et cetera, and have never had a problem leaving an apartment in the past, but based on their Facebook/Google reviews, this seems to be a big money making scheme for them.

When we moved in we were given two pages of forms to fill out of existing damage, and we filled out both pages front and back. The lady at the desk seemed annoyed by that and made a comment about how nobody was ever "that thorough." I also took photos, unfortunately it was on a phone I no longer have and I was not able to recover the photos through the cloud.

Should I be worried? I'm expecting the worst over the next three months and am not sure how to proceed.

EDIT: Just can't tell y'all how much I appreciate all the input. Glad I found this subreddit.

Answer:
 Something is off. OP, don't respond to that email. That's not a way to amend a lease. And that's exactly what they are attempting to do, but through a side door.

There's a thing called an estoppel.

>es·top·pel əˈstäpəl/ nounLAW
>the principle that precludes a person from asserting something contrary to what is implied by a previous action or statement of that person or by a previous pertinent judicial determination.

This means the  new 'agent' HAS to accept your lease as-is. They can only change it when renewing it, or get you to agree, even if you aren't required to. Your lease should address move-out conditions. Some say 'broom swept' and the like. Some say 'must hire a professional cleaning service'. Some say 'non refundable cleaning/damage deposit'.

If "hand washing all walls, buying touch up paint, reimbursement for professional painters" isn't in your current lease, they can't make those demands. That is, unless you say you will.  (They won't hire a professional painter, they'll get a teenager to do it. Paint fades and can never be matched, much less getting the correct finish. Gloss? Semi Gloss? Latex? Oil Based?)  In fact OP, you could cause MORE damage attempting to make these fixes!

Read this and see if it applies to you. Sounds like Florida leasing agents require a real estate license. Start there. They also have to use a specific approved lease.  https://www.floridarealtors.org/FLRealtorMagazine/2008/March/0308KnowTheLaw.cfm


Title: Suppose someone owes child support, makes 15k a year. Marries a millionaire but she keeps the accounts separate, buys everything for him. Could the mom ask for more child support?

Question: I'm in USA, Georgia

Answer: She could, but she won't get it. Your spouse isn't financially responsible for your child unless your spouse is your child's parent. Now, if parent of child is purposefully trying to reduce his income to minimize child support, the court will just impute it.


Title: I asked my bank to initiate a credit card dispute over certain charges on my credit card, but I seriously believe that my bank doesn't understand what I am asking them to do and want to know if I will be protected from their failures.

Question:
TLDR: Bank isn't processing requested dispute correctly, need to know what my rights are.

I'm in NJ. I have 3 transactions that I would like disputed in accordance with the fair credit billing act. I sent the bank an email for each transaction and could not have been more clear that I want a dispute opened for the mentioned transactions. Long story short I tried to sort out the situation with the merchant but it is getting close to the 60 day mark and no resolution has been reached. Here are some important issues:

1. The bank is recognizing the charges are debit card transactions and I am not sure if debit transactions are protected. This is definitely not fraud, I ordered the items from the merchant online using my debit/credit card. I instructed the transaction to be processed as credit and from what I understand, It should be processed as credit because I never gave my pin number.

2. I notified the bank via an individual email for each specific transaction. I received a phone call back and a letter from the bank acknowledging the receipt of my complaint. Again, I was very clear I wanted the transactions disputed via fair credit billing act, and that despite my bank showing them as debit charges, they should have been credit charges. The tone of the letter was not that the case would be passed on to Visa, it was more of a "ok we will call the merchants and try and help you out with this issue."

So I really feel like my bank is going to drop the ball on this and not process the dispute correctly. I called again today and made it clear I wanted a dispute filed and was told they would get back to me with more info on that. This bank is a local bank that does not issue credit cards so I feel like this is not something they are familiar with. I do not want to eat these charges without a fair dispute because my bank dropped the ball. What are my protections from the bank and what should I do? Thanks for the read I appreciate it considering how long it is.

Answer:
 Debit cards aren't protected under the FCBA.  Only [open end credit cards](http://www.in.gov/dfi/2541.htm) are protected.  You don't need a PIN or signature to trigger a debit card purchase online.

Just wondering, what is the problem with the merchant, exactly?  Have you gone through the merchant to try and resolve the problem?


Title: Girlfriend pregnant? We don't want kids.

Question:
Obvious throwaway account.
Location: Queensland,Australia

My girlfriend seems to be pregnant, but obviously neither of us are ready for kids, both in uni, no jobs at all, and unable to support children.

Our problem is that according to Australian law abortion is illegal in our state (Queensland) but however is legal in other states. Is anything stopping us from driving down there, having the procedure and returning?

Answer:
 Abortion appears to be legal in Queensland [as noted here] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_Australia#Queensland)

If that isn't the case there would be nothing stopping you from driving to another state to have the procedure done.

This is something you should take up with your local GP and maybe someone at a hospital? (unsure where you go with this)

i wish both you and your girlfriend all the best with everything.Answer #2: http://www.childrenbychoice.org.au/if-youre-pregnant/im-considering-an-abortion/clinics-queensland

Have a look here to see what is available near you.

Good luck to you both. This can be rough to deal with, but you can get through it by supporting each otherAnswer #3: It's legal for reasons of mental health, which includes the possible issues from being forced to carry a child. Children by choice or family planning Australia can help you, if she's under 9w you can get a medical abortion on the PBS, over 9w and she will need a surgical, in this case it's likely going private (Marie Stopes) is your best bet. You can also chat to your GP but it's typically easier to just find a clinic and self refer.

Source: used to provide terminations in vic.


Title: New roommate causing threat to my own safety

Question:
So i got this new roommate (lets call him Tim) at a college apartment downtown. Two days later when i'm not home, three random guys come into the apartment when Tim was home and trashed the place because Tim apparently owed them money that he stole (over $300). Fast forward one day (today),Tim hasn't been home all day and I just got back from class. Three random guys come pounding on my front door demanding to see Tim. I start recording through the eye hole in the door and explain to them that he wasn't here and that I just met him a couple days ago. They don't believe me and get very hostile. One of the men tries to reason with me but I am keeping the door shut under all circumstances. I eventually get his number in an agreement that I will help them set Tim up for the money he stole, but I wasn't opening the door. I was ready to say just about anything to get these three hostile guys away from my front door.

Now I have this video and don't know what to do. I'm going to the rental office in the morning and telling them everything but what can that do? I NEED this kid out of my apartment but I can't force him out can I?

Should I go to the Police?

HELP!!!

Answer: Someone broke into your apartment.  Call the police.


Title: Mother has a lawsuit on a restaurant, can I eat there?

Question: I am in Florida USA. My mom has a lawsuit on a restaurant, I ate there this morning and she yelled at me saying her attorney said I wasn't allowed to eat there.. I can understand her not being allowed to eat there because she is in the lawsuit.. but I'm not. Am I really allowed not to eat there?

Answer:
 You're not a party to the suit, right? If not, the only thing I can think of might be that the owners have told your mom that she and her family are no longer welcome. It'd be up to the owners to tell you (and to kick you out), though, not your mother.Answer #2: You are legally allowed to eat there unless the management asks you to leave for a good reason (like your mom suing them).

Your mom can legally take lots of different actions against you if you do so against her wishes, though.


Title: Met a real asshole and hope I have some legal ground; can I walk around pond behind my home?

Question:
Nebraska, US

I moved into my home 7 years ago and pay association dues of around $500 monthly.  A small pond sits between my neighborhood and another.  The gate in my back yard opens up to the pond as does a common sidewalk and gate in my neighborhood.  Photos here:

http://i59.tinypic.com/dw73tt.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/s5wnc8.jpg

http://i60.tinypic.com/aaw66e.jpg

The other neighborhood maintains the pond.  Each year a representative from the other association requests "contributions" directly from each homeowner in my neighborhood.  Very few people in my neighborhood contribute, almost no one.  I've paid every year as I enjoy walking around the pond.  I did skip paying a single time, two years ago.  The amount is $500 and is equal to my association dues.

Last week, I received note in my door last week requesting our "contributions".

Over the weekend I was walking around the the pond with my girlfriend and her four year old son.  Another couple and their older teenage son were walking the opposite direction.  As they passed, the guy looked me in the eye and waved his finger in my face saying "You better make your contribution this year."  He wasn't friendly and didn't introduce himself.  It was terrible and pissed me off.  I asked him who the hell he thought he was. Then his son tried to change at me. Email string below.  All I wanted was an apology.  And yes I could have handled things differently, but this guys was the worst kind of asshole.

Question:  Can I walk around this pond without paying an arbitrary contribution/tax this year?

Thanks!
__________________________________________________
From: Douglas
To: Kevin
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2015 5:31 AM
To: Kevin
Subject: RE: Lake contributions

That is unfortunate.  You should also withhold use of the lake area.  The allegation that the stolen bike is related is offensive.
__________________________________________________
From: Kevin
Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2015 3:04 PM
To: Douglas
Subject: RE: Lake contributions
Doug,
It was great seeing you today.  As discussed, the individual is not a current board member and will likely decline writing an apology.

As an ex-board member he has some responsibility to be prepared with facts and act professionally.  He is clearly frustrated with neighborhood across the pond.  I do hope his personality is not representative of your board's culture.  I recently had a bicycle stolen from my backyard and wonder if there is a connection.

Since one of your previous board members tried to bully me, I will withhold my contribution for 2015 and encourage my neighbors to do the same.  My support will begin again in 2016 if there is no further incident.

I'll change my position with a written apology.

Kevin
__________________________________________________
From: Kevin
Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2015 11:37 AM
To: Douglas
Subject: Re: Lake contributions

Doug,
I don't see getting past this while your group has such hostile representation.  His son tried to charge at me.

The guy clearly knew me and specifically which home I live in.  Why is that?  I'd like to know his name, where he lives, and what he does for a living.  I'd like to communicate the details to my security and a detective.

If you want rapid progress, he should resign from the board and write a letter of apology.  At that point, I would continue my contributions.

Kevin
__________________________________________________
On Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 8:42 AM -0700, Douglas wrote:
Sorry that happened. We did receive your contribution last year and have appreciate your support. Hopefully we can get past this

Sent from my iPhone

__________________________________________________
On Apr 24, 2015, at 8:37 PM, Kevin wrote:

Doug,

Your prick board member just accosted me, my girlfriend, and her four-year-old child while walking Wiebe Reservoir.  He accused me of not supporting your “lake contributions.”  I’m one of the few that have and believe you cashed my check in April of 2014.  I no longer intend to support your efforts.
There is no contractual obligation to any Legacy Villa homeowner.  Tell Tony Soprano he can kiss my ass.
I’m done being the nice guy.

Kevin
 __________________________________________________
From: Douglas
To: Kevin

The Legacy homeowners association increased its dues this year to $1300 from each lot owner to maintain the common areas regardless whether a homeowner lives by the lake.  We are not however asking for any increase in contributions from Villa homeowners.

Historically we have received contributions of $500 annually from Legacy Villa homeowners that wished to use the Legacy common areas.  We still believe this is fair but understand that is not an insignificant amount.  We have previously discussed reducing the contribution if all Rock Villa lot owners contribute (either individually or as an association).  Since we do know whether you have formed an association, we would suggest individual contributions of $500 until such time as we reach a different agreement with the Villa owners, at which time we would refund any excess. As you may recall, last year we were unable to reach an alternative agreement. We would appreciate your contributions by March 31 as we are finalizing our budgeting.
Thanks and enjoy the neighborhood.

Douglas

Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 Honestly dude, you are the one that looks like the asshole here.  So what, some prick said something to you and caused such an affront to your pride.  Big friggin' woop.

What is your end game here?  Are you asking if you can use a private lake on private property that is not your property, nor do you pay maintenance fees for?  No, you can't.  That's trespassing.  If you want to keep using the lake, then pay the fees so they don't call the police on you. Answer #2: > Question: Can I walk around this pond without paying an arbitrary contribution/tax this year?

Is this pond on private property or public property?  It sounds as if it's private property - the other HOA owns it.  If that's the case, they can certainly charge you whatever they want for your access to it, and they can certainly bar you from the property if you don't pay.


Title: Lumbar Puncture gone wrong

Question:
Hello,

In Aug-Nov 2014, my wife was diagnosed with MS. During this time, she was hospitalized, and part of the tests to diagnose it was a lumbar puncture.

The attending doctor had a trainee do it, and he scratched up the disc/surrounding tissue in my wife's spine when he was performing the procedure, and my wife's back has been in chronic pain since.

Is this grounds for compensation due to medical error? Eventually, this will worsen, and she will begin to fatigue faster. We haven't followed up with a chiropractor because we've been tight for money, but we're going to see one soon. I just want to know if it's worth/possible to make a claim to the hospital that damaged her back.

Edit: My apologies. Location is El Paso, TX

Answer:
 MC lawyer time.

From the wiki:

Do I have a malpractice case?

Malpractice is more than just the fact that a procedure did not work or a diagnosis was missed. The medical professional had to do something against medical standards and that no other professional would have done.

Malpractice is very fact specific. If you feel you have a case you should take your medical records to a local malpractice attorney for a consult.

Most malpractice consults are free.Answer #2: Medical malpractice is *extremely* fact dependent. You may have a claim, but you'll need an attorney to review all of the relevant documents and facts to give you an answer.


Title: [Michigan] I think my ex may be working under his brother’s name to dodge child support

Question:
My ex Paul is behind in child support payments for our son. He has had his license suspended and now the Friend of Court cannot find him. I think he’s hiding in plain sight and using his twin brother Matt’s identity to work.

Paul and Matt have a history of switching places when it’s convenient of them. For example, they told me Paul allowed Matt to drive with his license when Matt failed his driving test and had to wait to retake it. They bragged that Paul took the SAT for both of them, and that they’d frequently take tests for each other in college.

If they are identical twins is there any way to prove that Paul is pretending to be Matt? Don’t they have the same DNA? Matt travels extensively in South America. I suspect that Matt is out of the country and has given Paul his documents to use. Is there a record of when people leave the country?

Will anyone take me seriously if I try to expose this fraud?

Answer:
 IANAL but to me this sounds like something you will want to hire a private investigator for?
Answer #2: I'd suggest hiring a PI to confirm overseas travel corresponding with "Matt" working in the US, then take that back to Court.

From the stories about your husband's use of his twin for deception and avoidance of responsibility throughout his life (school/college/adulthood) you'll probably have a long challenge on your hands.


Title: False Positive Drug Test

Question:
My mother is a chronic pain patient. She has been on morphine for 15 years. Her doctor require her to be drug tested and to sign a contract to abide by their rules, such as no illegal drug use, and for 15 years this has worked. Massachusetts has become stricter with opiates, to the point many doctors refuse to give them to any patients because it's such a hassle. So my mom has had to switch doctors many times.

My mother was trying to become a patient for a pain specialist. She failed the first drug test, they said it came back positive for heroin. They called her PCP so they won't give her morphine anymore either because they believe she broke the contract.

My family can't explain the drug test, when my mom told me I thought someone swapped her urine sample.

Because no one is giving my mom her medication, her pain is worse and she's detoxing. I've called asking for a copy of the test results but the Medical Records office doesn't have the drug test she failed from May 23rd. The last record they have is a drug test from May 11th, which came back normal so I requested a copy of that.

After much insistence, they drug tested my mom again. This one a saliva test. This was a week ago and they still haven't called back with the results and no one answers the phone in that office.

How can we fight a false positive drug test?

Answer:
 >I thought someone swapped her urine sample.

Unlikely.

There's more to this story, I think. But the short of it is, your mom doesn't have a legal "right" to morphine. If she's detoxing, she needs to go to a detox facility under the supervision of a medical professional.Answer #2: What kind of test? I am assuming a urine immunoassay.

The test for Heroin is pretty specific for heroin. You can ask for them to do a confirmatory test, if the lab still has any of the sample still left. They are really not under any obligation to do this, even if you offer to pay for it. The lab should double check the result, to insure that their result is accurate and not misreported. Heroin is very difficult to detect, due to its very short elimination time, so don't be surprised if no one cares if she later has negative tests.

You may want to consider the possibility that your mother supplemented her medication with something that she got from a friend or "unregulated pharmacy." Heroin is fairly inexpensive and can be package in different forms.

If she is having significant withdrawal, she should seek out someone who can treat her it. Usually these are going to be listed under addiction management (yes, I realize you don't think she is addicted, however these are types of physicians that would treat withdrawal.)


Title: Is it illegal for coworkers to wax each other as part of an office-facilitated competition?

Question: One of my friends sends me Snapchat videos of his workplace sometimes, and every once and a while they do these “challenges”. I’m not sure exactly what the particulars are, but the losers get some sort of punishment at the end. Sometimes the winners pelt them with eggs and it supposedly it hurts and leaves bruises. The latest one I just saw had them putting wax strips on each other and trying to rip them off, and disregarding the instructions while they were at it. Can the employer get in trouble for this? I’m not sure how voluntary these challenges are, but at the very least I get the impression that there’s a lot of peer pressure around them.

Answer:
  The activities you mention are inappropriate and  they type of  shenanigans that get a company into every sort of ligated possibility, both criminal and civil. If you pay attention the news, companies get into trouble for them frequently.  The whole peer pressure thing, is the same line that been quoted in multiple cases on toxic and harassing work places suits.  The former workers who have brought the suits, were paid large amounts of money by the companies that allowed the activities.

It may not be illegal, but it is unwise.


Title: Virginia - Roommate received subpoena to testify in a criminal case in circuit court. Court date is in July, roommate is moving to Florida at the end of the month. Options?

Question: My roommate was a witness to a violent crime last year, and has recently received a subpoena ordering him to appear in court to provide testimony in July. He's moving to Florida at the end of the month. He's attempted to contact the prosecutor to see if there is any option to provide testimony in writing, or by video feed or phone. The clerk of the court doesn't think that's an option, and the prosecutor has not returned any of his calls. Does he have any options other than to show up in court in July? And if so, is there a process to be reimbursed for travel expenses and loss of income? This is in the Fairfax Circuit Court.

Answer:
 The court clerk doesn't know the answer because the prosecutor likely has to ask the judge for permission to have a witness appear by telephone/video chat. He should call the prosecutor's office and leave a message with the office admin or whomever that he is moving out of state before July and he wants to know what to do. He doesn't need to be obsessive about this, but he should definitely keep trying to get this taken care of - in other words don't call once and consider that to be sufficient.

If it gets to be within the 2 weeks before trial and he still hasn't heard from the prosecutor, then he should contact the judge's chambers (not just the court clerk) and tell the judge's staff he moved out of state and the prosecutor wouldn't call him back. Hopefully that will keep the judge from issuing a bench warrant for failure to appear on a subpoena.


Title: Is it legal to formally write someone up at work for going to lunch late?

Question:
First off, I'll start out by giving some background info on the situation...I live in New York and have worked at Amazon Customer Service from home for well over 2 years. I have 10 hour shifts from 12 PM to 11:30 PM. My first lunch break has always been at 4PM.
In March, I got an email from my manager informing me that my lunch time was changed to 1PM due to "new break laws in my state". I told her that I didn't understand how it sounded logical to have a lunch break only 1 hour after my shift started but she insisted this was necessary to be in compliance with New York's requirements.
Maybe it's just me but I think any reasonable person would find it bizarre to stop working for a full break after only 1 hour of your shift start. Your brain kicks into a certain work mode with the mindset to be productive and get your tasks done so it was extremely odd to be told I have to stop when I've barely even made it through a portion of the day.
Anyways.... There were a few times here and there that I completely forgot to go to lunch on time and ended up going about an hour or so late, which was closer to the lunch time I've had for years. I didn't think it was a major issue since I've had many times in the past where I went to lunch late.. and I know many co-workers who do the same.
Last week, my manager contacted me about it and I told her that I was not doing it intentionally and explained that the schedule change was very unnatural to me. I told her I would set an alarm every day to make sure I went to lunch on time and she said okay.
I thought the issue was settled but then yesterday, she contacted me again claiming that HR did an investigation on me because of it and they've decided I must be formally written up to it. I asked why that was necessary if I did not do it again after I was informed that it wasn't allowed. She claimed it's not her decision.
I spoke to another manager who is a friend of mine and they told me that HR had to have been alerted to it by her so I know she is lying. He also told me that it is protocol to have what is called a "Seek To Understand" meeting to inform the employee they've done something wrong and give them a chance to explain the behavior and correct it. She did not follow this. We discussed it but I was still written up for it without repeating the behavior.
This is the 6th time she has written me up for total nonsense. I know she does not like me and she has a reputation for picking her favorites and then targeting the rest. I've put up with it but this one just seems completely fabricated. It takes me out of good standing so I can not apply for a higher position. I feel that this is deliberate.
Anyone have any insight on this? Thank you.

Answer: Yes it is legal to write you up for not following company rules and I would focus on following them very closely as six write ups is a lot. It's honestly surprising you've been written up that often and still have a job.


Title: Found a Macbook on a bench at night, took it home. Owner located it and wants to charge me with a FELONY ??

Question:
I'm kind of freaking out. The other night I was on campus late and I noticed a rectangular case sitting on a bench. Nobody was around so I decided to check out what it was. It was a Macbook Air and it looked brand new. The area is filled with hobos and I had just got my bike stolen a few weeks prior, so I decided I'd hold on to it and find the owner over Facebook or something. I brought it home and it was password protected, so I looked up a way to log in to find the owner. I'm a PC guy so I have no knowledge of Macs. I pressed some combination of keys during startup and followed the instructions online, and as I was doing so, a notification popped up saying "Find your Mac has been notified," I looked up what this meant and found out that Macs have GPS systems in them. I decided to not fiddle with the laptop anymore and let the owner find their way to me. A group of college students - two guys and two girls - arrived at my house and I explained the situation. One of the girls was the owner of the laptop and she was crying. The two guys were these angry fraternity guys that took the job of "detectives." I told them I had found the laptop, and they continuously argued that I didn't "find" it and that it was theft. They started up the laptop and it took them to the system settings (BIOS?) so they said I "clearly" broke it. When I told them how to start it correctly and that I could do it, they said they didn't want me "anywhere near her laptop."

&#x200B;

Anyways, they were extremely angry (I was kind of acting like a douchebag bc I've done nothing wrong) but I looked up some things online and it says I can be charged with a **felony** for this! Because of the situation, I have ZERO evidence for my case! I texted the owner's friend and he says if I pay her $600, that she wont press charges (the owner herself doesn't want to talk to me, go figure). To me, paying $600 sounds way better than getting a felony... so I agreed. This seems almost like extortion...

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If they pressed charges, is there a chance that I could be convicted for a felony ??

TLDR - Found a laptop, took it home, fiddled with it to find owner, owner located it thru GPS, owner says I stole it, owner says if I don't pay her $600 then she'll press charges.

Answer:
 >he says if I pay her $600, that she wont press charges

Ah, so the crime of extortion.  You may want to let the police know about this.

*They* can't charge you with anything.  They can file a police report, then the police/DA can decide whether or not to pursue criminal charges.  If the police/DA do, refuse to speak with them without the guidance of an attorney.Answer #2: The mistake was booting it. You could have taken it to a police station the next day and been done with it.Answer #3: First they are trying to extort you which is a crime in its own right try and document that in writing via text or email or however. Next your not going to get charged with anything she got the laptop back and nothing was done to it, you found it and technically returned it, not like they found you at a pawn shop trying to hauck it. If anything I would go to the police or campus security and explain your situation. If not that then ignore them till they do press charges. I would not pay them at all paying them would be admitting to their accusations


Title: Is a company allowed to make you work 20 hours without compensation before they even officially hire you??

Question: I'm a student in high school in Tennessee and I applied at a cafe in my town. They told me that I have to work 20 hours without getting paid before they even officially hire me, and that it's company policy. Are they allowed to do that?? It's a nonprofit so maybe that has something to do with it? My main problem is what if I work those 20 hours and they dont even hire me, I would've wasted my time for nothing. Can someone help me out and tell me if they're allowed to do this?

Answer:
 No, this is not legal. It is legal in some states to pay minors less than the normal minimum wage for the first 90 days of work, but it's not legal anywhere to just not pay people for work. There is an exception for pre-employment training, but there are pretty strict rules regarding what that concerns. See: https://www.dol.gov/whd/opinion/FLSA/2004/2004_10_19_16_FLSA_PreemploymentTraining.htm
>The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school.
>
>The training is for the benefit of the trainees.
>
>The trainees do not displace regular employees, but work under their close observation.
>
>The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees; and on occasion operations may actually be impeded.
>
>The trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period.
>
>The employer and the trainees understand that the trainees are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.

Honestly, it doesn't sound like that's the case. It may be that they consider you working 20 hours first to be "volunteering", but I don't think that flies legally since they're suggesting, if not outright offering, that you'll get a job at the end of it.

In short, this doesn't seem like the type of place you'd really want to work if you can at all avoid it.


Title: Do you think this rapist would ever get convicted?

Question:
(Since I have to provide a location, let's say New York.)

I was reading about sexual consent and the site as saying even if you consented at first, if they do something you're uncomfortable with (like if you consented to vaginal sex but they go for anal even though you said no) they have to stop, or it's rape. AKA you can withdraw consent.

This got me thinking: If someone did that, what are the chances they'll get convicted of rape? I think it would be he-said she-said, but all my legal info comes from Law & Order: SVU. What would you do if this rapist was your client?

Apparently more detail is needed: Let's call the victim Emily and the rapist Tyrone. Emily and Tyrone are in college and dating. Tyrone comes to Emily's house for Netflix & chill. Emily consents at first but then Tyrone wants to have anal sex and Emily says no. So Tyrone holds Emily down and rapes her anally. Emily freezes and doesn't scream so neighbors don't hear anything. Emily goes to the police 2 days later with a friend and does a rape kit. Tyrone's DNA isn't found because he wore a condom. Tyrone insists they had sex but it was consensual.

Answer:
 > I was reading about sexual consent...you can withdraw consent

This is a pretty basic and well-known concept, like "don't murder people" and "you cannot rob banks."

> what are the chances they'll get convicted of rape?

Anywhere from 0% to 100% but not automatically 0% or automatically 100%.

> What would you do if this rape victim was your client?

If the victim needed an attorney it would be for a civil suit, which would be filed (if it was filed at all) after a criminal case. The victim wouldn't need an attorney for the criminal case.


Title: (MN) Is it illegal to leave a minor home alone, who you previously agreed to look out for?

Question:
I'm a dad away on vacation. My niece (22/F) agreed to house sit for my wife and me and look out for our 15 year old son while we are gone.

Yesterday, she never came home from work, and our son was worried sick. He tried to call her and got no answer. He called me and went to school this morning, and she still wasn't back.

I look on her Facebook and she was visiting a boyfriend. I'm like really?  She's 22, not 16.

She's not answering her phone at all, completely irresponsible. She agreed to be there when she was off work every day beforehand. What if something happens to my minor son?

Can she be charged with a felony for child endangerment, breach of contract, or some other crime?

Answer:
 No. The child is old enough to be home alone. Not in danger. Answer #2: Your own words kind of explain why she's doing what she is:

>My niece (22/F) agreed to house sit for my wife and me and look out for our 15 year old son

So she's dropping in now and again to check on both. Sounds like what you've asked her to do (maybe not what you *intended* to ask her to do, but that's what you're telling us she should be doing).Answer #3: Does your child have some kind of physical/mental/developmental disability?Answer #4: Why can't you leave the 15 year old alone? You asked her to housesit your house, not babysit your son. House sitting usually involves coming by every day or every other day to get the mail, water the plants, maybe walk the dog, make sure the place is locked up. You know, things your 15 year old can do on his own, barring any physical/mental disability that you failed to mention.

Also, cell phones die. 22 isn't some holy grail of a responsibie age. It's possible that the boyfriend called and they made plans, and her phone wasn't charged enough to last spending the night at his place. It's not scandalous. Yes she should have called, but she's 22 and boys are exciting at that age. Lord knows I did some uncharacteristicly irresponsible things in my late teens and early 20s because there was a boyfriend or a boy I liked involved.

Asking what crimes she can be charged with is going a bit too far.


Title: Can landlord stop me from smoking weed inside?

Question:
Ontario Canada.

A tenant above me keeps complaining to the landlord about a "strong weed smell" in his bathroom, living room, and bedrooms. The landlord had told me stop but I just ignore her. Weed is legal now Ontario.

Answer:
 Doesn’t matter it’s not your property

You’re arguement is a path to eviction - be respectfulAnswer #2: You rent the property, you do not own it.

As such, you are bound by your landlord's rules.Answer #3: Your landlord can certainly stipulate a ban in the lease for smoking weed. They can also enforce your obligation to not interfere with others quiet enjoyment of their homes.

I can't speak to Ontario in particular, but I'm curious why you think something being broadly legal means you can do it wherever you want. It's also legal to smoke cigarettes, but you usually can't smoke them in a car with children.


Title: Account hacked by facebook, posted nude photos.

Question:
UPDATE: AFTER SO MUCH SKEPTICISM REGARDING MY CLAIM THAT THE INTRUSION CAME FROM A FACEBOOK STAFF MEMBER I DECIDED TO DETAIL THE EVIDENCE IN FULL, RIGHT HERE: http://imgur.com/a/76uyZ

My Australian (melbourne) facebook account was hacked and the hacker posted nude photos of myself (which i sent to my girlfriend) on my wall and many people saw it before it was reported and deleted. This happened twice in one day. I couldn't figure out how the hacker got into my account again straight after i changed the password and implemented new security measures.

After investigating I discovered the ip address: 2401:db00:2130:4021:face:0:3b:0 came from the facebook headquarters. (hence the **face** in the ip address). and the ip address was located in singapore where there is a major facebook office which recently opened.

I sent an email to the facebook grievance officer about 1hr ago.

what else do you think i should do?

Thanks!

Answer:
 >what else do you think i should do?

Stop sending nudes through FB messenger. I also thing it's unlikely that a FB employee is searching messenger for nudes to post on people's walls (and then posting them from work), but you could avoid this by not posting nudes on a service that is public facing like that.Answer #2: OP!

Posting again to flood you with messages like a dick.

Dude. I just googled and found how to see where you are logged in.

Do this for me and hopefully you stop getting "hacked"

    To log out of Facebook on another computer, phone or tablet:
    Click in the top right of your Facebook homepage and select Settings.
    Click Security from the left column.
    Click Where You're Logged In.
    Find the session you want to end and click End Activity.
Anyone else logged in? from somewhere crazy? Answer #3: You weren't hacked by Facebook, it's obviously someone using their IP address Answer #4: Like I said in the /r/learnprogramming thread: where **exactly** did you find this IP?

Because it is completely impossible for you to get the IP of someone logging into Facebook under your account.

If you tell me, here or in the other topic, exactly where you got this IP address I can explain you what it means.


Title: (CA) Sex discrimination during interview process.

Question:
A little about me, I am a male Massage Therapist with 6 years of experience under my belt and I have never been treated this way. There was a listing for a hiring event for a large hotel. The hotel is hiring servants, front desk, concierge etc.. They are also hiring part time and on-call massage therapist as its listed. The listing states , to fill out online application and come down to a hiring hall to interview for positions.

    I get down to the hiring hall and go through a pre-employment screening where they ask a bunch of written and oral questions. One of which is your sexual orientation which I declined to answer.

  After the screening, I sit for a hour waiting to be interviewed by someone. A gentleman finally walks over to the front desk . The front desk lady points me out and the gentleman says my name. He walks over to me and informs me, he has just spoken to the spa manager and they are looking for female therapist only. He knows that wasn't specified in the listing but they are not hiring males.

 So I traveled, then sat for hours not to be interviewed. Should I file a complaint with the EEOC for sex discrimination? It clearly states on their listing they are an equal opportunity employer.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: You can file a complaint if you wish to.  Keep in mind that it may be very difficult to find a lawyer to take the case on contingency beyond the EEOC phase, because your damages are arguably limited and/or speculative.Answer #2: Huh. Maybe. I assumed that for a massage therapist sex would be a bona fide occupational qualification that would exempt them from the anti discrimination provisions. I have not done extensive research but I've found enough cases that have said it is not a BFOQ for massage therapists so it may be worth talking to an attorney. However, don't expect a giant payday off of this.


Title: Sister's ex-husband's wife placed a PSA against him and now thinks she has full custody of sister's child

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 "He’s been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but these messages sound like maybe he’s also schizophrenic."

Most people are not aware that people with Bipolar Disorder can also have psychosis.  I wasn't aware until my friend was diagnosed with Bipolar Psychosis many years ago.

The only truly delusional and psychotic person I have ever met was a hotel guest (when I worked at a hotel front desk) who was Diagnosed as Bipolar and wasn't taking his medication properly.  After causing quite a disturbance he was taken to jail and then to the local VA hospital.  Your sister's ex-husband's behavior sounds a bit like this guy.  Hopefully your sister's husband will end up getting the proper treatment, but often it takes the court system to force that to happen.Answer #2: Whatever happens, do not let him access the children! Your sister should file her own protection order against him and also try to get him held for observation (it's called a 5150 where I live). This type of delusion is often seen before infanticide.


Title: Friends of mine have been sending people links which actually collect their Facebook credentials, and they've been covering this up by claiming it's a project their working on

Question:
Friend A left his Facebook account logged into my Messenger app. My girlfriend then snooped around his messages, until something in their convo with Friend B caught my eye. It was a screenshot of a .txt file that contained my gf's Facebook username and password. B sent this to A because the latter asked for it. The screenshot was sent in July of last year. So we (me and my gf) opened her convo with B on July 2015 and apparently he sent him a bit.ly link which he claimed was a survey for a project for university. He instructed my gf to click on the link and send a screenshot of the linked website so he can "observe any differences". Right there and then we realized that they tricked my gf into revealing her Facebook credentials. We scrolled more through A and B's convo and saw that they were doing this to other people too, mostly to girls. And they did this with no intention to fulfill a project for school but rather to collect or just simply look at nudes sent over Facebook.

We also find out that  it was B doing the "hacking" work and he just distributes this to A and C, who was another guy we eventually find to be knowledgeable of this scheme. There was no concrete proof of them exchanging photos; maybe they deleted them because there are the remains of their opinions on the girls they tricked (something like "have you seen x's nude?", "hers is ugly tho she was still fat", and "her boobs are actually small"). They also probably sent the nude photos through some other form of media than Facebook.

We're asking for help because me and my gf don't know how to proceed with this whether to tell our parents or consult a lawyer or tell it to the others they have victimized. And are we in any fault by snooping into our friend A's messages?

TL;DR some guys I know have been sending this link which they covered up as a school project. These guys ask for a screenshot of the linked website and by some program they are able to collect the Facebook credentials of the people who fall victim to their scheme. Their intentions were never academic but rather that of collecting or just simply looking at these people's nudes they've sent over the Internet. Me and my gf are the only one who know and we don't know how to proceed whether we call our parents or a lawyer or the others they've victimized.

Location: Philippines

Answer:
 This is "call the police" time.  Hugely illegal.Answer #2: When you say "school", if you mean school as in you guys are under 18 then that becomes child pornography and you 100% need to involve the police.Answer #3: On top of calling the police, you may want to submit this to the US FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (https://ic3.gov) and also report the link to some antivirus companies so whatever exploit they're using gets patched.

I know you list that you're in the Philippines but exploits like this can affect people all over the world.


Title: Bro is breaking up with his SO and they have a child. Advice please?

Question:
My brother (m 26) is losing his girlfriend (f 25). They live in Atlanta, GA. She's leaving him. They have an apartment  (lease is up in January) and an infant child. I need to know what he needs to do to cover his ass and make sure he doesn't lose his kid, or get fucked on child support, or have to pay a bunch for their apartment. Anything that helps in break ups. It seems like it should be a very easy break up. They are both very reasonable and responsible people. Reddit has taught me this does not mean their break up will be easy. Please help.

Tl;Dr My brothers baby mama is leaving him. What should he do to protect himself and his child? Also an apartment is involved.

edit : location

Answer: All of this will go much better for everyone, especially the child, if friends and family use terms like "the child's mother" rather than baby mama.


Title: Can asking for legal advice on an Internet forum negatively affect an ongoing court case?

Question:
Have a long and complicated ongoing case dealing with my fathers brain injury from a car accident, and the ensuing financial woes, and I want to ask for advice, but don't want it to have a negative backlash.

Should I be worried?

Western Canada

Answer: Yes, definitely -- anything you say can be used against you, even in civil matters.


Title: Dog fight

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Why was your dog on the other side of the dog park without you?


Title: Hit a stationary drunk driver

Question: So about 4-5 hours ago I was in a collision with an already stationary vehicle who had also been in a crash.  I was northbound on the highway and I saw only one bright light in my direction, and I thought it was an oncoming vehicle with its brights on, being that it was about 2am.  As I came up to it my passenger said that there was something in the road, so I swerved and hit a car that had previously been in an accident. I totalled my own vehicle and I'm sure his as well.  As evidence became clear he was drunk and had hit the vehicle in the previous accident.  So the question is:  will my insurance (full coverage) take care of this or will his?  He has progressive and from what people are telling me it will be hard to get much money out of them.  My vehicle only cost me $6000, will that be replaced for me to get a new vehicle or will only part of it?  Maybe more?  Just ask for further details if necessary.  Thank you!

Answer:
 Whether the other driver was drunk or not does not matter  - you hit a stationary object and are likely to be found at fault in the accident.

If you have the proper coverage, the insurance company will reimburse you for the market value of your car minus your deductible.

Please be more careful when driving, and WAY more careful when you are driving at 2am. Funny how a lot of bad things happen to people who are driving late at night...Answer #2: You are responsible. You hit a stationary object. Your insurance will cover it since you are fully insured


Title: Is it legal to purchase second-hand drives with the intent to perform digital forensics them?

Question:
[US/MD] I recently completed a certification in systems security and have pivoted my learning path into digital forensics and it would be nice to get some real-world hands-on training in. I figure the easiest way to do that is to grab second-hand PCs from craigslist / local sellers and start digging through them.

As long as I don't do anything malicious with the information I recover, this is perfectly legal, right?
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer:
 Yes, that is legal.

But you need to make a decision before you start about what you'll do with those drives if you encounter illegal material on them.

Your options there are essentially:

1.) Immediately stop and call the police- prepare to surrender both the drive and the forensic machine you used for the exam.

2.) Immediately stop, physically destroy the drive beyond recovery, completely wipe and overwrite all data on the forensic machine's drive, re-install the OS, and continue like nothing happened.


Title: The Girlfriend of my Grandfather (who has mid-late stage dementia) wants to bring him out west on a road trip even though he’s physically and mentally incapable of doing so (asking on my moms behalf)

Question:
My Grandfather has pretty severe dementia and his Girlfriend (who is living off of him at this point) wants to bring him out west on a road trip  after going to my cousins out of state graduation even though he is physically and mentally incapable despite our warnings. My Grandfathers current state is pretty bad as he’s constantly confused and refuses to leave his home unless he knows he’s going back there that night. He can not leave his home for more than a day, he will get paranoid at night and demand to go home, we once tried to put him in an assisted living facility and he escaped at 1:00 am, and when we brought him to our house he would keep his bags packed the entire time and whenever he needed something from his bag, he would put it right back in when he was done with it so he’d be ready to leave the second he could go home. To make matters worse he’s not good on his feet and with all the rest stops they’d have to make for him he’s destined to have a fall, or get lost in the bathroom. He may also attempt to escape their hotel room as well seeing as he escaped the assisted living facility. While we want to move him into a facility we don’t have the paperwork yet and his girlfriend has told us she doesn’t give a damn if we have the paperwork to stop them because my grandfather deserves to “get away” which brings me to my next problem, since they would be leaving from out of state is there anyway to stop her from taking him if we had the paperwork as it would only be valid in our state and how do we enforce this since he is beyond incompetent (declared incompetent by a doctor)
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: Call Adult Protective Services in whichever state Grandfather is living and explain the situation. I'm not clear what "paperwork" you are waiting on; is he currently the subject of a guardianship/conservatorship action?


Title: Landlord is trying to charge extra for rent for tenant that joined marines.

Question: College student here so no experience in the matter. Me and five of my friends signed a house last spring for college housing. However one of these friends decided to join the marines.  Now i understand that he can be removed from the lease legally from the law. However is it legal for him to try and collect rent more than the lease originally suggested? Our landlord claims since we no longer have a sixth person paying that he can charge us extra. Any help would be awesome. Thank you

Answer: Okay so you rented a place (all 6 of you) for X amount. One if the 6 went to the marines and now the landlord wants to redo the lease for the same amount of money only split between 5 people instead of 6 increasing each persons monthly rent. Correct? You can either replace the 6th person and keep your current rent or split it 5 ways instead of 6.


Title: "re-marrying" the same person? [Vermont]

Question:
hello,

my husband and I eloped in Vermont a year and a half ago for visa reasons. We had only been dating for about 6 months, and did not tell anyone about the wedding.

Fast-forward to now - we just got "engaged" and our families are super excited! that being said, it would really hurt their feelings to know we were already married, and would like to plan a wedding day and not run into any awkward conversations about the paperwork.

So! I know when you go get the marriage licence they ask you to state if you have ever been married before. We would be in a different town, and I am wondering if we lied and said no, got the marriage certificate and then just asked the officiant to never actually file it (he'd be in on our secret I guess) if anything really bad could come of it.

I know it seems like kind of a silly thing to go through, but I was just wondering what you thought.

Thanks!

Answer:
 You don't need a marriage license. You are married. Just tell everyone you did the paperwork already. Not even a lie. Then explain to the officiant what is up.

Don't lie on government forms.


Title: Both on the house deed, only one on the mortgage...can this person kick me out?

Question:
Trying for absolute anonymity here. Excluding pronouns.

The person I live with may try to kick me out and I want to make sure this person cannot immediately do that.

When we bought this house, I was put on the house deed, which I do have a copy of.

This person is on the mortgage and deed. I am on the deed. I was signed to the deed shortly after the mortgage was signed. I am not on the mortgage. We are not married.

What’s the absolute worst case scenario here?

Answer:
 No they can't kick you out. You are an owner of the house. The mortgage has nothing to do with the ownership it just says who owes the bank money.

Obviously living with someone who you have this sort of relationship with is not viable in the long term, so ideally you would want to figure something out. If not this ends in one of you going to court to force a judicial partition sale, and the court sells the place, subtracts a bunch of fees, pays the mortgage off, then splits the rest (if there is any) between the two of you.Answer #2: The other party could stop paying the mortgage and the bank  could try to foreclose on the house. They may also be in trouble with mortgage company if adding you to the deed was not properly disclosed.

If you're married, you may still be liable for mortgage even if your name isn't on it.