Title: I bought a gaming laptop off OfferUp that I found out is still owned by a Rent to own company. What is my best course of action? [TX]

Question:
Obviously the guy has not responded to my messages. We met at a public place, all I have is the messages between us on the app. The company that owns the computer is No Compromise Gaming. They have the ability to lock the computer. I did make contact with the company, who want me to send it back but I don’t think that’s the best idea. Any help is appreciated.
Topic:
Small Claims Procedure

Answer:
 Once you found out the laptop belongs to the No Compromise Gaming Company, if you keep it, you are committing [theft](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PE/htm/PE.31.htm).

>Sec. 31.03.  THEFT.  \(a\)  A person commits an offense if he unlawfully appropriates property with intent to deprive the owner of property.
>
>\(b\)  Appropriation of property is unlawful if:
>
>\(1\)  it is without the owner's effective consent;

Return the laptop \(or face legal consequences including you being sued or a police report being filed against you\) and sue the person you bought it from.


Title: My niece (20) got caught shoplifting and was let go with a ban and a civil demand to pay. Can LP or the witness give out any of her information?[CONNECTICUT]

Question: My niece shoplifted and got caught with consequences (which I support-she was wrong) however she tells me the besides LP in the room the witness they brought in was an old friend of her mother's. She is very worried about this getting out, legally can she give out my nieces information or information about the event? I support her paying for her crime but her home situation is abusive and I'm worried about what will happen to her if this gets back to her mother.

Answer: The store has no particular duty of privacy to someone caught in a criminal act in their store.


Title: Looking to get US citizenship as the son of a US citizen

Question:
Hello my name is William and I am 25. I was born in Peru. My father is an US citizen and my mother is a Peruvian citizen. I don't have contact with my father since I was a child. I would like to get my US citizenship. I want to know if it is possible. If it is, what is the first step to get my citizenship?

Thanks in advance

Answer:
 You should talk to the embassy/consulate and possibly look for attorneys that might be familiar with this process in your area

There are slightly [different requirements](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Acquisition-US-Citizenship-Child-Born-Abroad.html) depending on whether or not your parents were married when you were born. For example, if they were not married your father has to acknowledge paternity by the time you turned 18.

It may also hinge on whether or not your father met the physical presence requirements in the US at the time of your birth (5 years total, at least 2 after the age of 14).Answer #2: Howdy William, how are you? Would it be easier for me to answer in Spanish or will this English do? You are a citizen, congrats, but it may not be yet recognized. What evidence do you have of this relationship? What you're looking to do is prove he was your father and thus you get derivative citizenship - a local attorney may specialize in this, and if not, the consulate may have a list of what they need.


Title: [British Columbia, Vancouver] I was scammed today at a cosmetic store known as Adore on Robson street as I was told one price, then charged another.

Question:
Today I was told one price and then charged another.
I was kind of stupid as to not double check the price at the credit card terminal because I thought I was being charged the price I was told.

This is my recollection of what happened.
Today on August 22nd 2016 between the hours of 8:30PM to 9:00 PM I visited the cosmetic shop Adore on 1190 Robson street in Vancouver due to being persuaded in by a friendly saleswoman. We went through the trial sampling as she showed me how to apply the cosmetics. After the interaction we move to the counter where the till is. I tell her I only have debit and she is insistent she will try and tells me she will give me a special price. There are two products at 192.00 each and she tells me it is 80 dollars so I clarify vocally by asking, "that's 80 dollars for both?" and she answered in the affirmative with a "yes". It was a really good deal so I couldn't resist.  Then she asks for my debit card and I give it to her.  Usually when you do a card transaction, you give the carding terminal to the customer to verify the amount before you insert the debit or credit card. This did not happen however. She took my debit card, inserts my debit card into the terminal and presses 'ok' On the terminal with it out of my sight without letting me verify the price. Being trusting, I didn't think much of it and inputted my debit password and the transaction went through. Then she covered the receipt with her hand but I still was able to see the total charged to my debit at $192. Flabbergasted, I asked "excuse me, you told me it was 80 dollars and now you charge me 192? That's not correct, could I have a refund please?" she tries to tell me that she told me 80 dollars each which was not what I asked.  She was certain she said 80 each and I am also certain that I asked the question, "80 dollars for both?". So realizing that debating whether I said this or she said that, is just he said, she said so I just told her I don't want the product at all anymore and that I just want a full refund. First she tells me she can issue a refund but it will take a while to issue the refund. After she tries to persuade me to not ask for a refund, I let her know that I am not going to be persuaded and I would just like a refund, simple as that. She then tells me that she herself cannot issue a refund because she requires her manager or boss to do it, although she claimed to be the manager early on. So I ask for her business card and the receipt which she gives to me reluctantly as I let her know I will be back in the morning. I do not take the product as I was afraid that they would have some "final sale" policy so I didn't even take the product out. I took the receipt and Lea's business card and told her I'd be back in the morning for my refund.
I hope they don't tell me that I took the product even if I didnt, in an attempt to scam me as I felt deceived today as well.  I just wanted a refund as there was a misunderstanding between the price I was acknowledged and the price that I was charged.

Do I have a case, and what I can do?
I am really scared because I am really tight on my finances and I cannot afford a deficit of nearly 200 dollars...
If there is any other information I can give, I would be happy to do so.

Answer:
 "80 for both" can be misinterpreted as 80/ea for both.

But I agree something is weird here. You left the product there, so if they don't offer a refund tomorrow you should dispute the charge with your bank.


Title: Need some legal advice for slander/defamation case

Question:
My brother and I are oyster farmers. We were accused by a fellow farmer that we are and have been stealing oysters from his farm to put onto ours. We have done nothing of the sort and would never dream of doing so. My brother and I are pretty by the book guys, never stole in our life, no criminal records, etc.

So our accuser has no evidence, but has been complaining for two years that someone is stealing from him. The town Police Department recently opens a case and somehow my brother is the main suspect...based on hearsay from the accuser. How is this possible? Are cases arbitrarily opened based on hearsay, not evidence, and one man's word against another?

So with no motive, no evidence, my brother is now the suspect because someone said he saw him stealing oysters? I am not sure why this accuser is targeting my brother and I, but I am not sure it is relevant. We have no relationship with this guy other than the fact that we are neighbors. He has been kind to us in the past and has shown no reason why he would accuse us of doing this.

To make matters worse, the accuser is spreading rumors around town that we admitted to the crime. He even went to our distributor (our business partner who we sell our oysters to - oyster farmers are legally required to sell to a distributor) and lied to him about us confessing to the crime in an attempt to ruin our relationship with our distributor. Meanwhile the town who governs the oyster grants say they can do nothing to stop him. The police department is also not interested in what he is doing to ruin our reputation.

My brother and I cannot afford a lawyer, otherwise we would slap this guy with defamation of character/slander. What else can we do? The Police Department is not interested in the behavior of the accuser, but can somehow hold my brother to be a suspect?

I understand this might not be much information to go on, but I am nervous about oversharing. Any help/tips will be massively appreciated.

Thanks

edit: Thanks everyone for your help and input. Sincerely appreciated.

Answer:
 >the accuser is spreading rumors around town that we admitted to the crime. He even went to our distributor (our business partner who we sell our oysters to - oyster farmers are legally required to sell to a distributor) and lied to him about us confessing to the crime in an attempt to ruin our relationship with our distributor.

That's not just defamation, that's tortuous interference. A lawyer may take this on contingency -- they may keep most of the winnings, but at least you can nip this in the bud.

And thanks for your hard work -- I fucking love oysters, man.


Title: [MD, USA] Help with a speeding ticket

Question:
Hi guys, so this is the situation.

I got a speeding ticket about 45 minutes ago for doing 62 in a 30. Now I was indeed going fast in the area and i admit to it. The fine is $420 with 3 points. Now this is what Im doing. I was not speeding intentionally. I had no intention to speed but the thing is that i am not familiar with the area. I was following my GPS and i have only even come near this part of town maybe once before. It was a PERFECT, and i mean PERFECT straightaway on a back road. The road was reasonably wide so i automatically assumed the limit was around 50 and did not think i was doing anything wrong. Also i am a fairly new driver. I am 19 and have gotten my full license so im no longer on a provisional, as of a few months. I have never had any traffic related incident ever. No speeding, parking, or light signal ticket at all. I am generally a safe driver which makes me even more upset that this happened.

I have 3 options: 1) Pay the $420 and accept 3 points. 2) Admit to it and go to court for a chance to waive it. 3) A full blown trial. Now there is no reason this deserves a full blown trial. Also, being a college student, $420 is alot of money. That is something....huh. 4.2.0.......... Now my question is, what are the odds that they will accept my story and waive everything. I am going to say that i always drive safely. Have never had any sort of violation and explain the circumstances like i did above. If you guys need any details, dont hesitate to ask.

Thanks in advance. : )
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: You assumed that the speed limit was around 50 and you went 62? That won't fly well.


Title: Has the Supreme Court ever weighed in on the constitutionality of hate crime legislation?

Question:
I'm trying to understand how hate crime legislation can legally exist. It is literally giving people different sentences based on the religion, race, etc of the victim.

While I can see maybe a loophole existing because of the fact that the heavier sentence is technically due to the criminal's intent instead of the race/etc of the victim, but that's pretty much getting into semantics and courts don't always look kindly on wordplay when it comes to the law.

So when the law is de facto discriminatory (even if it is discriminating in an arguably good way), how can that be legal?

Answer:
 Hate crime laws do not discriminate based on the religion or race of the victim. They do, in fact, punish criminals based on their intent, which is an extremely common aspect of criminal law.

Note that hate crime laws do not protect certain religious groups and not others, but look at the relevance of religion (or whichever other characteristic) no matter what it is.


Title: Doctor dies, bill goes into collection.

Question:
So, me and my girlfriend live in southern California. She had some  medical problems, and went to an ob gyn. She got sonogram, and they said the result would be available in the next few days. We wait a week, call back, and we are told the doctor went on emergency medical leave, and would be gone for 5 months. We were not able to receive the result of the sonogram, and ended up having to redo the whole ordeal through another doctor. We couldn't wait for them, the medical problem, while not life threatening, did need to be treated in a timely manner. the primary care doctor could not get ahold of their offices at this time, nor could we. Later on, we find out that first doctor had actually died (they never told us, we found this out a couple months later). They said we owed them money (which we did, from the first visit and sonogram), but we were told very weird direction on how to pay them. We got a letter stating that we needed to send check or money out to a specific person, and not a company. they wanted checkor money order. We felt like the whole situation seemed like the receptionist (or whoever was calling) was simply trying to take the money for herself. later on, we received a phone call that the bill is now in collections.
My main reason for not wanted to pay this bill is A) we never got any of the results back, so they pretty much didn't do their job, and B) when they wanted us to pay it back, the way they wanted to pay them back seemed fishy, to put it lightly. The original amount owed was around $90, and we now owe collections $240.

Answer: IANAL: Your first step is to demand they verify the debt.  Check or money order sounds fishy. Shouldn't they bill your insurance directly?Answer #2: Why did they say you could not receive the results of the sonogram (either faxed to a new clinic or offer to see a different OB there)?


Title: A court summons was left on my apartment door meant for someone else. I contacted the plaintiff's lawyer (only number on the summons), left a message, but have not heard back. Should I be doing anything else?

Question:
Basically, I came home last week to find two copies of a court summons on my door meant for a prior tenant.  It stated that the defendant had to appear in court in (I think) 20 days for a case revolving around a car accident.

I immediately called the plaintiff's lawyer, which was the only number on the summons and had their cover letter on it so assuming the summons was from them. Left a message explaining the situation with an answering machine. After not hearing back for two days, tried calling again and nothing.

I have no idea if this person is in the know about the case and am afraid she'll get in trouble for not appearing because she didn't receive the summons. Am I supposed to be doing something more / else? Anything else I should try?

Thanks Reddit :)

Answer:
 >Am I supposed to be doing something more / else?

Nope.  You've already done more than most people, frankly.

If you have a forwarding address for the prior tenant, it might be nice to call them and let them know about the summons, but it's certainly not necessary.


Title: I got a speeding ticket and never paid it. My court date was today and I didn't show up. What is going to happen now?

Question: I'm from Virginia and I got my first speeding ticket. I never paid the fine and didn't show up to the court date today. What is going to happen and how can I fix it?

Answer: Warrant for failure to appear.


Title: [NV] Just helped my friend move out of a craigslist room rental gone bad and she had gifted him an iphone 7. Now reporting it stolen.

Question:
My friend rented a room from a woman on craigslist. After a couple months of just being weird she gifted him an iphone 7 and somehow got his contacts and everything went downhill.

We grabbed his stuff while she was at work yesterday and he's out, but he didn't block her number yet (hasn't replied to her barrages of texts) and she told him she reported the phone stolen. It was just deactivated so it seems she actually did it.

He has texts of her telling him to keep it as it's a gift, but she has receipts showing she bought it.

He is also out of state (pilot) and can't just give it back for about a week. He wants to keep it since she said earlier it was a gift. I tell him he should cut his losses and return it to cover his ass. Looks like $250-$2500 in NV is a cat C felony, and it's a brand new iphone 7.

What would be the best way to get it back, or would texts saying it's a gift cover him?

Answer: The texts should be sufficient to show it's a gift. In situations like this, the burden is usually on the gift giver to show that it was a loan of some sort.


Title: Is this job illegal?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 I'd contact the operator of the university website and ask that they have someone remove scam postings like this.
Answer #2: Very common scam. The check will bounce, and you'll be liable for $1520. I'd do my best to try and reverse the MoneyGram if you can. Answer #3: It is a scam.Answer #4: Congratulations on your $12 life lesson.

I was involved in one of these once from an odd angle.  The person sending the checks put my company's information on them (I suppose so they'd look legit).  I got several calls over the course of a month from various people who had fallen for it and were trying to track down their 'employer'.  One lady said this was the third time it had happened to her - she still hadn't figured out she was being scammed. She thought she'd just had a string of unlucky employers who kept suffering financial problems and disappearing.


Title: Manager making us pay for mistake pizzas, not sure what to do (TX)

Question:
Throwaway acc. because my main has posts on the chain's subreddit

I work at a corporate pizza chain \(not a driver\). This apparently started only about a month ago, and I didn't notice it until I got hit by it twice in the last couple of weeks. It used to be that if something was screwed up, we'd just give it to the customer who's order it was originally for along with a corrected one, and if they didn't want the screwup it would either be thrown away or the manager would set it out on a table in the back for everyone to pick at if we happened to be hungry. Then we'd be done with it.  No money out of anyone's pocket.

As I title says, that's changed. Now, if food has to be given away free to the customer or thrown away, the employee at fault has to pay for the screwup, no exceptions unless you're the manager, then the blame gets shifted to whoever else is making pizzas. It's not being taken out of our paychecks either. They make an order for the screwup and bring us over to the register like "Here, this is what you owe for your mistake, pay up."

I've thankfully gotten off easy so far. I've only been charged $12 total thanks to the other person at fault on my first covering that one. The person from my first has only had to pay $10, all for that one order \(pretty big screwup seeing as we somehow lost track of one, and it probably got piled in with someone else's order somehow\). Then there's the manager in training, who our manager is unreasonably hard on. They have had to pay over $100 so far in only 3 weeks, all for very minor and fixable mistakes, and that amount is probably still climbing and I just haven't heard about it. I'm not sure about everyone else, but we're getting fed up, and I'm now in a brand new store with the same manager overseeing it until we have our own.

Is any of this legal at all, and if not, what should we do? We have no corporate contacts and it seems to be unreasonably difficult for us to get in touch with anyone above them. We haven't spoken to our manager about it because we already know they always go the my\-way\-or\-the\-highway route when people question them even when you prove that they are wrong.

Answer:
 Completely illegal unless you agree to it.

You can absolutely be fired for making mistakes.


Title: 99.9% sure this isn't illegal but please help. California. Neighbor installed disco balls in her backyard and my apartment is a rave hell during the day and my cat is literally climbing the walls.

Question:
I live in an apartment on the 2nd floor. Neighbor lives in a house (one story)  facing all my windows. No HOA.

She installed 40+ disco balls on ropes in her courtyard/backyard. I thought it was just for a party but they've been up 2 weeks today and I went over to talk to her and she said that's her new "decorative strategy."

Problem is they reflect the sun into my apartment. If there's any breeze the balls swing on the ropes and the little reflection lights bounce all over the apartment which is distracting and my cat leaps after them (the reflections) all day which has damaged some walls. I have regular curtains so I put up cloth curtains but the cat just shredded those as the reflections would stop at the white cloth. So I can put up blackout curtains but then I have no light.

I have always tried my hardest to stay away from HOAs but in this particular instance I think one would be useful. I guess mostly I am venting at the loss of (or addition of extra, random) natural light (even without my cat going crazy it's like a rave in the house) but if anyone knows anything legal I can do please let me know.

If she was shining spotlights or lasers into my windows that wouldn't be legal, would it?

Answer:
 Disco Ball Hell... you couldn't have picked a more fitting user name.

I have no idea but - yes - you are in hell. Have you said anything to your apartment manager? I'm sure you aren't the only person within a city block having this problem.

There may be a city ordinance (if there isn't there may soon be one) that covers this.

You can call city hall and let them know your neighbor has absolutely no clue of what happens outside her own bubble. Explain what is going on and ask if they have some ideas.

I am going to say that I have never heard of a "no disco balls in your yard" law anywhere but that's probably because no one has been this specifically weird.

There may be a more general ordinance that captures something like this in your area.

As a practical suggestion? (Black out curtains are expensive) taping some tinfoil to the window will reflect all of the light back and will keep your kitty from having a fit while you try to find another answer.

Answer #2: WTF is a "decorative strategy"???Answer #3: Hm, I think your best bet would be to look at something like light pollution/nuisance laws.  These will be on a city by city basis.  "Light trespass" seems to be a term that might be worth doing some searches on.

On the other hand, if it turns out that your area has no laws regarding shining or reflecting light into people's windows, you could buy a whole bunch of something like [this](https://www.google.com/shopping/product/8526330714384600664?sclient=psy-ab&es_sm=122&biw=1600&bih=731&q=strobe+light&oq=strob&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.&bvm=bv.88528373,d.cWc&pf=p&sugexp=msedr&gs_rn=62&gs_ri=psy-ab&tok=wESekn8quLbcJXsjz0O35w&ds=sh&pq=halogen+strobe+light&cp=5&gs_id=z&xhr=t&tch=1&ech=6&psi=-OINVdF20N2wBJKAgqgH.1426973446481.5&prds=hsec:online,paur:ClkAsKraX80WcvvJxpnM48A4KElqxlTAvDBYKjHsfTJzp0xezGbH6eESsLOvd9QHlVIOcrX5e3DA6nJV9wB4iUATFb2JOuaqbVmXYEYGePRjKvP0Wp8Y_CcR4RIZAFPVH72S8Ue1tTyy7yhmASlC6DFBCSJfHg&ei=EuMNVZT2LezLsAT60oHYAQ&ved=0CI0BENkrMAA), and bounce it off a mirror into her windows.  Tell her you will stop when she takes her disco balls down.


Title: Working in CA with no rest breaks. HR is ignorant to the law. Advice on how to proceed with a claim.

Question:
Hello,

So currently I'm working in the tech industry in the middle of silicon valley. However, ever since I started, I was curious as to why we never got rest periods (the paid ten minute breaks every two hours). Thankfully, we do get bathroom breaks and lunch. I didn't want to bring this up when I started because I knew this would cause some animosity with my manager and higher ups, but I caved in a couple of weeks ago.

A little side note, my company's headquarters is located in Texas, so this could be part of the ignorance of California labor laws. However, that gives them no excuse for being ignorant of very important laws.

First thing that happened, my manager straight up told me that it seems as though "I was attacking them (the company." I made it clear to him that I just wanted to make sure the company was abiding by state law. He told me the company was following the law with the one hour lunch break we get. He explained it as, "We combine breaks and lunch together, and that's why you get a 1 hour lunch and no breaks." I told him I know that's not right, and so he offered to call HR with me present. We called HR, and HR told him they would get back at me after investigating the law. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I've been emailing the person in charge of my case back in forth. They are ignorant of the state law. Either they're ignorant, or they are trying hard to give me the run-around. That, or maybe they think I'm a coward employee who's going to back down and assume they're correct. On top of that, my manager whom I used to be really cool with, now obviously dislikes me for calling out on his ignorance. Anyways, they keep telling me the way they run things is ok, and fully lawful. I ended up calling the California department of labor and they asked me to give their phone number to my HR (the state department doesn't place calls, they have to be contacted). I did so a couple of days ago, but I haven't gotten a reply back from HR, even after asking for an update.

So here's where I need advice. I have coworkers who want in on the claim (those who I've been talking about this whole situation) for the days not given rest periods. Some have been working there 2 years plus. Can we all file anything more than a simple claim? Is there more we can do, or anything else we can file on top of that? Anything I should know that could help us maximize our take?

I want to add that it makes me feel a little greedy asking these questions, but I feel like this is my time to make a point. This company is known internally for extremely egotistical and stuck-up higher-ups. Mostly though, I don't cower down to the heavy hand of a large corporation and let them do as they please. I like to fight for the rights of the people, whether I end up blacklisted or not.

Thanks for the advice!
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer:
 >However, ever since I started, I was curious as to why we never got rest periods (the paid ten minute breaks every two hours).

It's because California law requires no such thing. You're entitled to a ten minute break every *four* hours, and an additional ten minute break if you work two or more hours past the end of the previous four hour interval.


Title: Getting a divorce, need to break a lease

Question: My STXH and I own a property in CA that is currently leased out to great tenants, they have about 4 months left on their lease according to our property management company. I am the one moving out and I would like to live in that property.  Is it possible for me to break the lease? What do you recommend I do?

Answer:
 "I'm getting divorced" is not, on its own, grounds to terminate the lease. Assuming you end up with sole authority over the property, you could give notice that you will not be renewing their lease, but that's about all you can do unilaterally.

However, it's legal for you to ask your tenants if they'd be willing to leave, and, if so, what it would take. One common choice is a cash-for-keys arrangement where they vacate, and in return you pay them.


Title: charged 2x maximum room rates at hotel, is there anything I can do

Question: We have been road tripping across the USA for the past 2 months and we happen to end up in Nashville at the time of the Solar eclipse, of course being such a big event everything had been booked out, we booked 2 hotels through booking websites only to find when we got to the hotel that they were fully book 2 days prior, we found 1 room left at a Quality Inn for $500 getting late and desperate we took the hotel, after checking in I noticed on back of the door a plaque stating the maximum rates per night at $250, I did a quick google search and found that this is meant to stop hotels from price gouging at big events/discrimination, I mentioned this to the concierge and she told me that during big events they can increase the price, I told her that I though the maximum rate was to prevent such a thing, she took my email and told me she would get back to me, I am still waiting for a response, is there anything I can do?

Answer:
 In Tennessee, charging a rate higher than the posted maximum rate is a Class C misdemeanor ([source](http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-62/chapter-7/62-7-102)).

You can report them to local law enforcement.  You might wait to see if they're willing to correct the error.  But obviously don't use your reporting or not reporting the event as leverage to get them to issue your refund.  Answer #2: [Tennessee code penalizes hotels that charge rates in excess of those posted](http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2016/title-62/chapter-7/section-62-7-102/).

You can report them to the police, since there are actual criminal penalties associated with this, but getting your money back (involuntarily) would require taking them to court. So you have to judge whether $250 is worth your time and money to go back to TN and get it from them.


Title: (OR) was given an MIP for marijuana, and I'm in the DEP for the army.

Question:
So I was getting driven home by a friend around 10pm, who had recently smoked. He was speeding and got pulled over. He ends up getting driving while impaired. Arrested.

 So the cop then comes to me and his girlfriend, who doesn't smoke at all. Then proceeded to ask me what to do about his car. I said I can park it at my house however I don't feel comfortable driving considering I smoked at 10 am. He ends searching me, finding nothing,  making her drive, and gave me an MIP.

I don't really know where to go with this but I know it will effect my enlistment into the army.
Topic:
Drug Possession

Answer: Shouldn't have admitted anything. You need to let your recruiter know what happened cause it's gonna take a lot of work on his part to try and get you a waiver. Now your shipping date is gonna get pushed back if they don't drop you out of DEP for being too much work. They have too many people vying for the spots so i hope you die can be selective. He is gonna call you a dumbass which you are. You knew that you're not supposed to take any illegal substances or abuse any legal substances. If you can't do that in the time from DEP in to when you are discharged then you're not mature enough to hack it in the military. Quickest way to get kicked out is by doing what you did. You need to let your recruiter know. If you want any hope of getting out of the charge you need a lawyer.


Title: [Hypothetical] Could you sue a religious organization for alienation of affection?

Question: If a religious organization, like Jehovahs Witnesses, forbid a person from associating with their non-JW family member, could that be considered alienation of affection?

Answer: alienation of affection is basically nonexistent today, only seven states recognize it.  and it only applies between spouses.


Title: Do I have intellectual property rights over software I created as an intern in Oregon?

Question:
Hi r/legaladvice,

Can you tell me about intellectual property rights and part time interns?

These events took place in the United States, in Oregon.

My situation is this:

I was hired as an intern at a large company where software is not their primary concern, for a specific job: design and build a web-based tool for them.

I was hired by a department that did not usually hire software/computer science interns, but needed one to do this specific job.

My supervisor has now left that company for a similar one.
We still communicate, and she has let me know that she wants to buy the tool from her previous company (although there is no love lost between her and the company).

I retain the source code for the tool, and would like to sell it to her new company (in a license-type agreement, retaining intellectual property rights).

My current software job has a long contract that discussed intellectual property, do not compete, and other things.
I do not have any memory of anything similar in my intern paperwork, but I also don't have a copy of it.
I was a part-time intern, and did not receive benefits.

Do I own this piece of software, to sell or redistribute?

Thank you for any guidance you can provide on this matter.
Please let me know if I can provide any additional details.

Edit: Thank you all for your responses.
I have requested a copy of the contract for my records, so that I can see what, exactly, it says, and can go from there.

Answer:
 >Do I own this piece of software, to sell or redistribute?

Almost certainly not. You created it for your employer as a work for hire and your employer will retain the copyright absent an agreement to the contrary.


Title: I'm a freelancer but my person who hired me keeps piling on work.

Question:
I live in North Carolina and I work online and I signed up to Upwork. I heard so many bad things about it, but I still needed work. I was eventually hired on by a lady who started out by giving me small tasks. Well as of a few days ago she assigned me a task of editing books. She promised it would only take 3 to 4 hours.

I get the work and it takes me all day and all night. She asked for two books to be turned in Saturday!

I now know that these books are plagiarized books. I found out through a plagiarized scanner that they copied most of the work from the internet and pasted it.

I can't do this. I need sleep. I've been working 48 hours straight. What do I do?

Edit: Wow thanks for the advice!! I probably posted in the wrong thread but you guys are amazing!

Answer:
 this isn't a legal issue. this is an issue to resolve through upwork. presumably you were hired to do something specific. were you paid for the work you have done?

you don't need to take on more jobs from this person.


Title: Nearly sideswiped today and now in excruciating pain

Question:
Driving home from work a roofing company van nearly sideswiped me. He was driving very negligent doing well above the posted speed limit of 55 mph. Despite my lights being on and blaring on my horn he continued to come into my lane forcing me to slam my brakes extremely hard and swerve off the road. Given the situation if I had let him hit me as it would have stood as I couldn't brake fast enough he would have pushed me into oncoming traffic causing me to hit someone head on. I opted for swerving rapidly into the turn lane which was clear to avoid the collision.  Now I'm in excruciating pain in my right hip and lower back area. I literally cannot stand on my right leg at all. I barely could finish my drive home from the pain and it's getting worse as the night continues.

I have the name and phone number for his company as well as a physical description of the driver, the location where it happened and the time. I don't have a license plate # so I didn't call police. In hindsight I should have at least to document his reckless behavior. He cut off the car next to me in the right lane and then cut off the car in front of me too.  I'm concerned he's going to kill someone if he keeps driving the way he is.

I'm not sure how to proceed. I left a voicemail for the company on their office phone and plan on following up with them tomorrow. I'm not sure what can be done but I know I'm going to have some medical bills and lost time from work. I feel like since their driver was a douche they need to be held accountable and I shouldn't take the financial loss for driving responsibly as I was driving the posted 55 mph in a small town in rural TN. Any advice would be great. Thanks
Topic:
Douche

Answer: I'm sorry, can you explain a bit more why you're in pain?


Title: Is it worth the trouble to seek damages for a work place injury of large second degree burns?

Question: I am a shift manager at a starbucks in nyc and a barista spilled a tea all over my chest that require emergency hospital care. I am thinking of pursuing damages greater than workers comp because the burns are so big and severe that skin graft treatment is recommended. I am mostly worried about the scarring all over my breasts. I mainly want to sue because I don't deserve to be hurt like this because starbucks hires unsafe workers.

Answer: Workers' compensation is your [exclusive remedy](http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/nycode/WKC/2/29) for work related injuries.  Workers' comp. will pay for your medical treatment, your lost wages, and you should even be paid out for scarring.


Title: [Oklahoma] Is it legal for a company to ask its employees to clock out early on the last day of a pay period to prevent overtime?

Question:
Say I have a job that’s Monday - Friday, 8 hours a day that pays by the minute.  Often times it gets busy enough to where my boss asks me to stay for an extra 15-30 minutes past my shift. However, when the pay period gets around, they start cutting everyone so that no one gets overtime. If that’s not possible, on the last day, employees are asked to clock out at a certain time to prevent overtime from being paid out.

Am I under obligation to clock out early, or am legally allowed to work the rest of my shift and have them pay me overtime for it?

Answer: It's legal. Unless you're being asked to continue working after clocking out.


Title: (TN, USA) Recently moved, old apartment is saying they have no record of our security deposity

Question:
Hey everyone,

First time poster so I hope I am correctly following all the rules. First the backstory:

My fiance and I changed cities due to me starting school 2 months ago. The apartment in our old city (still in TN) has yet to return our security deposit and we moved out on June 24th. We called after it had been slightly >30 days (around July 26th?) and asked them when we should be expecting the check in the mail. The lady who answered the phone looked us up in the system and told us that she was only able to see $100 on their system when our deposit total should have been ~ $1200. She then told us that she would contact their accounting department and call us back tomorrow.

The next day comes and we don't get a call, so we called back. We were told that accounting hadn't gotten back and she would call as soon as they did, which would be Friday at the latest. Next day, nothing again. Then its Friday and we don't get a call so we call back and she says that Accounting wasn't able to find it either. She then asks me if we have any sort of record or receipt of paying the deposit (red flag?). I hate it admit it, but we first moved there 2 years ago and we don't have very good record. They required has to pay with a money order, and that receipt is long gone I'm sure. We might be able to dig up some sort of proof, but it would take some work. Is the lease itself some sort of proof? Another note that may be important: every single point of contact has been initiated by us. They never attempted to contact us about the "issue" and not attempt was ever made by them to return the "$100 they have on file" to us.

She then says they have several boxes of paper records that she was going to go through "that weekend" and see if there was anything in there. The complex was bought and sold twice in the two years we lived there, and she said that not all of the older files had been digitized. We then hear nothing from her all next week, so we call back again on Friday. She says she didn't get a chance to do it, but would "definitely do it this weekend." At this point, it has been ~6 weeks since we moved out. We, of course, never heard anything from her. This was nearly 3/4 weeks ago at this point and we haven't had anymore contact with them because I started school, fiance started new job, life happens, etc.

Questions/next steps:

I was wanting to call them again today. Should I strong arm them and threaten a lawyer as a last-ditch attempt to get them to pay? We are worried that the legal cost of actually getting a lawyer will wipe out a lot of the money that we would actually get back.

Is there anything else I need to do/should do before actually getting a lawyer? What is said lawyer likely going to do/recommend? Do I need a specific kind of lawyer?

What is the likelihood of this needing to go to court to be resolved? We live several hours away and time off from work or school would be very difficult for us right now

Is the burden of proof upon us to prove that we paid the security deposit? The fact that we had a signed lease and they let us live there seems like "common sense" proof that we paid, but maybe I'm being naive.

Thanks everyone. If I didn't follow one of the rules properly, please let me know and I'll fix the issue.

Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 Find your lease if you can. Also look for any bank statements from the month you moved in showing that you took out $1200 to get the money order. If you can prove you paid it you can sue in small claims court.  No lawyer needed.Answer #2: > Is the lease itself some sort of proof?

Does the lease specify the deposit amount **and** that it was paid?  Or something along those lines?

> Is the burden of proof upon us to prove that we paid the security deposit?

If you file suit insisting that they owe you something, it's on you to prove that you paid the deposit.  You can offer the lease as evidence - it'll be up to the judge or jury to determine if it's sufficient.


Title: [NYC] Landlord is illegally renovating above us. Put a hole through our ceiling and showers our apartment with dust and debris. Help!

Question:
Hello! I'll try to keep this short.

I live with 3 roommates in an apartment in Brooklyn, on the bottom floor of a 2-apartment building. 2 months ago, the tenants above us all moved out.

A week later, we started waking up every morning to our apartment shaking, with all manner of pounding above us. We received no notice of construction of renovation. (EDIT: It is a gut renovation.)

We tried to get in touch with our landlords for an entire month with ZERO response. The dust in the building's hallway and foyer was insane. My roommate had to get an inhaler. The old floorboards from upstairs were temporarily stored right next to our apartment in a garage, and vermin from their floorboards entered our apartment.

After a month, our landlords (a husband and wife team who own many properties in NYC) finally got back to us with no apologies, explaining that the apartment is being renovated for the owner of a local design firm that moved into our neighborhood recently. They explained their absence with their daughter being in the hospital and tried to guilt-trip us.

They had their workers patch up gaps around our steam pipes (where most of the debris was falling in) and promise to keep things cleaner. (It is cleaner, but there is still quite a bit of dust and debris.)

Since then, we've had a massive hole punctured into my roommate's ceiling, a water pipe break above us and leak all over our apartment, a power outage, and debris falling in almost everyday -- even after the repairs. The workers upstairs have responded fairly quickly to these issues, but there is a new issue constantly. Debris is still falling in spite of their fixes.

[Here are some photos.](http://imgur.com/a/CGIp3)

We have not been offered any apologies or compensation. In fact, our landlords are rude and dismissive and act like they're only causing minor inconvenience for us that we're blowing out of proportion. After the ceiling puncture, our landlord verbally offered us the option of ending our lease 1 month early (August 30th), which we accepted. This has not been confirmed on paper.

I checked the Department of Buildings records, and they do NOT have a permit to be doing these renovations.

I currently have a complaint with 311 that has been open for 3 weeks.

Do we have any legal recourse? We would like to get back the rent we've been paying since construction started at the beginning of June. We are planning to look for a pro bono lawyer, but would like to have a better idea of what our legal options are.

Thanks in advance for any help/guidance!

EDIT: An hour after posting this, my landlord called me to say that they will halt construction until after we move out. This is definitely good news for us, but we're still concerned about asbestos and would like to get our rent back for the last 2 months. Any thoughts on legal recourse for that? (Will file an asbestos complaint per advice in these comments. Thank you!)

Answer:
 Not legal advice, but those ceiling tiles and cinder blocks look like they were installed in an era when Asbestos was prevalent.  How old is the apartment building? Answer #2: I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the obvious property damage issue here. The landlord is responsible for the cleanup inside your apartment, period. Your mattress and bed linen got soaked? New ones. I had a basement flood in a rental about a year ago and the minute the insurance company got involved anything that was wet was gone.

If they're obviously being difficult I'd go to your renters insurance company (hopefully you have one, it's super cheap) because it's intended for exactly this type of thing. It's one thing if a water pipe broke - renters insurance will replace your personal property, homeowners insurance will get the landlords property, but if your landlord broke the pipe, literally making the water damage to your personal property his fault, your insurance company will pay you almost immediately (think days) and they will send their lawyers after your landlord to get their money back. Meanwhile you don't have to deal with the BS or small claims at all.Answer #3: UPDATE: Aaaaand my landlord literally JUST called me to say that they will halt construction until after we move out. This is definitely good news for us, but we're still concerned about asbestos and would like to get our rent back for the last 2 months. Any thoughts on legal recourse for that?    (Will file an asbestos complaint per advice in these comments. Thank you!)


Title: I defaulted on a sales agreement to pay $1,200.00 in two days. It has now been almost two weeks and I've paid a total of $220.00

Question:
Hollywood, Ca.

I helped this girl out by letting her stay with me a week just prior to the handwritten agreement I signed, (which she drew up).  For this week she contributed $100.00 which I had to ask her for the second day she stayed.  During her stay, (which was only supposed to be temporary, maybe a week, week and a half before a family member I'd had a prior committment was slated to come),  she "moved in" ALL of her belongings to my horror.  I sat wondering what the hell was happening.  I soon found myself in drama up to my ears with her ex-boyfriend who'd moved her stuff out of his place into mine, bullying me or trying to, into giving her two months rent for furniture that had also been delivered.  There was drama like this for the week she was here.  She also has a beautiful pit bull and a tiny chiuaua(sp?) she brought with her, who i found myself babysitting as well.  Towards the end of the week she was here, I told her it wasn't working out and she had to leave.  She refused initially, then refused again the next morning, stating that the whopping $100.00 she gave me for all the grief i was unsuspectedly given was more than enough to grant her the right to stay and not leave, despite our prior verbal agreement.  The NEXT day after she'd apparently thought it over, she came and packed all her clothes but told me she could not store her furniture anywhere and asked me if I would consider buying it.  I said yes, it's actually really pretty stuff and I wanted to help her.  I also unfortunately and unrealistically stated i could pay what she was asking, $1,200.00, in two days, (thinking i'd be able to secure a loan for this amount).  I was not able to secure said loan and she has been very adamant about my having not adhered to the signed agreeement of paying this off in two days.  Prior to this, her recent visit, and for a month at least, i'd stored several bags of clothes of hers at my place, never asking for a dime, a LV bag, a large dog bed and had babysat both her dogs several times as well during that time before this recent visit.  I am hurt and disappointed and perhaps i am too close to see the forest for it's trees so i'm reaching out for unbiased opinion.  I currently have no roomates, one small, well behaved canine and I don't plan on taking in anyone else.

Answer: If she doesn't mind waiting until you can afford to pay, then I guess there's no problem. If she DOES mind, tell her you were unable to pay and that she can return your $220 and you'll return her stuff. If she doesn't like that offer she CAN choose to sue you for the rest of the $1,200 since you *did* enter into a contract to pay it. The fact that she stayed with you previously and the fact that "there was drama" are irrelevant.


Title: I just got let go from a security position in Missouri that I've held for almost 10 years because I was not recommended by the psychologist after taking a psychiatric evaluation. Does anyone know anything about the legitimacy of these tests from a legal standpoint or what recourse I can take?

Question:
My former employer is also refusing to share the results of the exam with me. So everyone gets to know what's allegedly wrong with me mentally except for me.

The hospital was moving to arm it's security with batons and possibly firearms in the future so this test was a new requirement for my position. (I had already carried a baton there for years before they got taken away in 2010). I took a long written test and had maybe a 30 min interview with a psychologist and I was "not recommended" to keep my position.

I remember disclosing on the test that I was hospitalized for depression in 1995 for a few weeks when I was 15. I also disclosed that I was in the Marines for 4 years and served in the Iraq war but I don't have PTSD from the experience or anything like that.

Any information would be welcome.

Answer:
 Unfortunately you don't have a right to a job, so even if psych evaluations of this sort are suspect (and they are) you're SOL on the job front.

That said, [Missouri has some laws about testing](https://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/8csr/8c60-3.pdf) and they must prove that the test was properly validated & there wasn't another way of identifying the issue.  So ask them to provide that data.

Plus, you have a right to your employment & heath records, and this is one of those things. You should be able to request that data in writing.Answer #2: You may be entitled to rhe results but you probably have to go through either occupational health or the psychiatrist's office. It'll be just the summary they provided and not his personal notes so I don't know how much info it will actually have. Your work may not be able to directly provide you with it.

I don't personally support written tests. Those with lower levels of reading skills have a trend of scoring worse on them. Not to mention I am great at test taking and pull out a lot of the trends on the test.


Title: Can a visitations parent take a child outside of the state they reside without telling custodial?

Question: My son's father has his visits in WA state (for the month of July), I reside in FL. I found out through my son they were planning on taking a plane flight to CA without telling me. I can't pinpoint my question but I feel there's something not right about leaving me "out of the loop".

Answer: Depends on your custody agreement.  There usually are travel notification provisions in there.  Which state is your parenting plan in?


Title: What crime would this have been? (totally past event)

Question:
This happened in Georgia when I was 15. I just had this memory resurface in my therapy and I'm just curious had I gone to the police what might have happened. I know it doesn't technically matter, but emotionally I want to play it through in hypotheticals.

When I was 15 I played MTG at a local card shop. This guy who played there (probably in his late 30's) befriended me over the course of several weeks. Even buying me some cards here and there. Petty amounts of money, but when you're 15 a $2 card seems like a big gift.

One day he offered me a ride home (I walked 8 miles each Saturday to play) and I took it. During the trip he started saying that it was unfair that he buys me cards and I give him nothing back. Then he said the ride wasn't free and pulled out his penis. He said he wasn't going to stop the car or let me out until I paid for the ride. (although it was clearly implied, he never directly told me to do anything)

I rolled down the window and told him I didn't care if the car was moving I was going go jump out. After a bit of yelling he did stop the car and I got out and ran home.

At the time I was living in an extremely abusive home environment and so I never said anything or reported anything to the police. I just stopped going go the card store.

I heavily regret not reporting him, and I feel like because I didn't I hold some responsibility for any future victims he may have abused.

Had I reported him what are the odds he would actually have gotten in trouble and what would he have been charged with?

Thank you very much and sorry for taking up your time with a hypothetical. I feel deeply guilty for this a I think knowing may help me.

Answer:
 >I just had this memory resurface in my therapy and I'm just curious had I gone to the police what might have happened.

Not legal advice, but what kind of therapy were you undergoing when you "recovered" this memory?

Asking because recovered memory therapy is highly controversial, and our best evidence suggests that many techniques which putatively recover memories actually implant false ones.


Title: I was told I should post here. I was fired and now I need some advice.

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 Paragraphs. They are your friend.

So you had sex with a coworker's boyfriend. That got around and went badly for you.

Appeal your unemployment. It's virtually always denied the first time. "blacklisting" is generally not a thing at a retail store.

If people are defaming you you can talk to an attorney about a defamation suit. Interestingly truth is NOT a defense to malicious defamation in RI, and RI does have defamation per se.

Whether it's worth expensive litigation or not? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Malice can be difficult to prove.


Title: Wife was sexually assaulted at work by a co worker. He was fired but she is being treated like shit and blamed by other employees. Chicago, IL

Question:
My wife came home in tears because her co workers are refusing to speak with her and others are confronting her on what happened. They said she is ruining his life because she is pressing charges.

Isn’t she supposed to be protected from this by management?

Answer:
 If local HR/Management won't step in then go above their heads if possible to a district/regional/corporate level.

The people doing this should be held accountable. "Has was friends with a lot of employees" doesn't exeomt him from repercussions for his actions.Answer #2: Has she actually told management this is happening?Answer #3: Yes she is. She should talk to HR. That's a load of bull.


Title: OHIO: My friend wants to move back in with his mom from his dad who has full custody of him. He is 15 turning 16 in April, does he need his dad's approval or is their another way?

Question:
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 Absent a court-ordered change in the custody agreement the mother could be charged with [Interference with Custody](http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2919.23)

This is punishable with the guidelines laid out [here](http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2929.28) for fianacial penalties (up to $1,000) and [here](http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/2929) for jail time (up to 180 days).


Title: (OH/CA) out of state student, had license suspended for a parephnalia charge, judge said he'd give it back if I got a job and provided proof of employment.

Question:
As the title says, im an out of state student, and got a parephnalia/weed charge as college students tend to do. the judge said hed reinstate my license if i provided proof of employment. my flight home is in 9 days so there isnt enough time to just get a job here for the next 9 days and back home i work on a fsmily farm and need to be able to drive to pick up chicken feed and dog food etc.
       my question being, does my farm work count as employment and can i request my license back in my home state or should i stay here until i get a job, go to court with proof of employment, quit, then go back home?
Edit:I go to college in ohio, and my home state is California.

Answer:
 > got a parephnalia/weed charge as college students tend to do

No. The vast majority of college students do not get drug charges.

> does my farm work count as employment and can i request my license back in my home state or should i stay here until i get a job, go to court with proof of employment, quit, then go back home?

Maybe. Ask the judge (or to be more accurate, his clerk). Answer #2: You think most people graduate with a criminal record?Answer #3: Another thing to note is that a drug charge could have an effect on your ability to get financial aid. You may want to consider a lawyer to help you navigate the situation as this could affect you for a while.


Title: Do I have enough of a reason to break my lease without penalty

Question:
 I live in an apartment building in Florida. I have had problems with the management since I moved in.

First, my downstairs neighbor had a dog that barked all day and night. When I say all day and night, I'm not exaggerating. I work from home during the day, so it interfered with my work. And at night, I would be woken up five to ten times. I complained to management several times and nothing was done. After months of this, I told him that they would have to move me to another apartment at no cost, and they then told me that my downstairs neighbor was moving out the next month because they weren't renewing their lease and I just had to suck it up until then.

Then the gate stopped working and was open for months on end. Management would say there were fixing it and give false dates it would be fixed by. They finally fixed it after four months. There was nothing I could do because the lease said they made no guarantees about the gate working.

Next I received a package slip from the post office that they had delivered my package to the front office because it was too big to fit in my mail frame. When I went into the office to pick it up, they claimed it had it had never been delivered there and they didn't know where it was. I had no tracking code for it and the post office couldnt investigate without a tracking code. The office refused to let me see the security cameras and the logbook hadn't been used in over year. I'm pretty sure it was stolen, but I have nothing I can do about it because the lease says they're not responsible for any packages that are delivered to them.

The next issue was hurricane Irma. They refused to let us board the windows and sliding glass doors, and the only email they sent to us about it was that we had to take everything off our patio. When I went into the office to ask them about the safety of the building, like what material the buildings are made out of  or if they are up to code or if the windows and sliding glass doors are hurricane proof, they refused to tell me. I ended up leaving because I was too scared to stay in the building of which I had no information to make a decision if I should stay. After the hurricane, there was major structural damage that they refused to fix for four months. Some residents had Sharp edges of window frames in their bedrooms that had broken off and were pointing towards the glass of the window. Whenever there was wind, it would tap very loudly against the window and if there would've been another storm, All the glass would've broken on whoever was sleeping in the bedroom. Other residents had bedroom window frames that had broken apart and we're hanging down into the air. Whenever there was wind would bang against the wall keeping them up and if another storm here come the window frame would've fallen down and could've hit whoever was standing on the ground. Despite the fact that residence couldn't sleep in their bedrooms due to the noise and danger of glass breaking, And it was a fall hazard, management refused to fix it until a code enforcement officer made them.

Now for the last straw. For some reason lately, they're just not enough parking space for all residents. I've been told that some residents are selling cars for the parking lot and parking in there which is what's causing this saturation. There are also cars that have been sitting there for years on end with flat tires, and despite the fact that the lease says that those disabled cars will be towed, The management refuses to tow them. Despite the fact that the lease says you have to have a decal to park there, there are many people without decals who don't even live there that are parking there.  This is creating an untenable and unsafe situation where there are not enough parking spaces from 10 PM till 6 AM. So instead residents have started parking in the middle the street and on curbs. Residents who do not want to park on the curb have to wait up to three hours to find a parking space. Management does not care about this inconvenience. I get home from work at 3 AM and I have to wait two hours every night for a parking space. I feel that my quiet enjoyment of my apartment is being violated because I cannot go home or to bed when I want to. Management has admitted that it is a fire hazard and code violation but still refuses to do anything about it. I have asked him several times to tow the cars that are violating the parking codes that are in the lease, and they refuse. I have already called the fire Marshall and Code department, But they are acting very slowly on this.

So my question is, do I have enough of a reason to violate my lease without penalty? I have emails for all of these things.

Thanks

Answer: I’m not sure you’ve alleged a single violation of most leases. So no. Probably not.


Title: (MA, USA) Can a local public access television station (private, non-profit) film and broadcast a high school play of a copyrighted performance without violating any copyright laws?

Answer:
 Did you know that schools aren't supposed to perform copyrighted plays w/o getting permission from the copyright holder? Take that and extrapolate it for the answer.

 Edit: [a link](https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/copyright-laws-and-school-performances)


Title: If someone found a church that isn't being used and hasn't been for a long time can they claim it and open it ?

Question: So churches apparently belong to the public. And if one isn't being used. Can someone basically just take over the church. Like if you got your license to be a preacher and there was a unused church can they somehow legally claim it and open it ?

Answer:
 > So churches apparently belong to the public

*source required.

That's not true- they belong to private organizations.


Title: (Nj) A friend's mom is recieving child support from the father in Switzerland. The child who it is and has been meant for is now 18 and lives in the US.

Question: She has not recieved any of the money and it has been building up in an account that only the mother has access to (untouched).  Is there is any recourse here?  What should he do, contact Switzerland, get a lawyer, etc.  Any advice is appreciated

Answer: Child support doesn’t belong to the child; it belongs to the custodial parent. If the mother doesn’t want to hand it over, there’s no legal mechanism to force them to do so.


Title: Is walmart security allowed to harass me?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 While he can politely ask to see you receipt, with about a reasonable suspicion, they cannot stop you.

If this was Sam's Club or Costco, they do have the right to stop you, since you signed a contract before entering the store.


Title: [US] I am scared and risking deportation, don't know what to do.

Question:
Okay, I am going to make this as short as I can.

I am an immigrant in the USA from England, I came out here on an F-1 visa which is the student visa, i am currently on post completion OPT which allows me to work full-time. My post completion OPT runs out in 21 days and I am married so I was going to file for my permanent residency in one week when i got hold of the ~$1500 required. I was under the impression that I would be okay to remain in "pending status" until the application was cleared which is why I hadn't marshaled the money faster. I found out today that this is not the case and that in order to remain in the country I have to extend my F-1 status, which isn't difficult to do.

The problem comes because in order to extend my status I have to become a full-time student which is ~$3000/semester for classes at a community college not including books which is likely to be another ~$1000/semester. This also means that i will go from a full-time job at ~$15/hour to a part-time job at $8.25. I cannot really afford for this to happen as me and my wife own a house and have mortgage and utility payments to make as well.

I do not know what to do and I do not want to be deported because I also cannot afford to just fly back to England until i can get paperwork cleared and if I do not fly myself home I will be deported and can never return which leaves my wife with a house she cannot afford on her own and her husband in a different country.

TL;DR: I might get deported because I am poor and leave my wife bankrupt.

Answer:
 IF you saw my previous response, forget it. I deleted it because I was wrong.

File your petition now. Now now now. If you are married, the immigration people are not going to care about a small overstay. And read this, because it's awesome and tells you what you need to know.

http://www.usimmigrationlawyers.com/resources/immigration-law/family-marriage-visa/adjustment-status-f1-visa-after-marriage-a-us


Title: I am taking a hippie ride across California next month. That means I’ll have to drive VERY high. Any advice?

Question: I am taking a hippie ride across California next month. I will be VERY high. I will be taking 100+ mg of THC edibles and smoking my vape every day. I will also have to DRIVE every day. Any advice?

Answer: Don't.


Title: Took 6 Month contract job - Only pays 1/2 of actual position.

Question: Los Angels, CA - So back in April 2017 I was contacted by a temp agency (Robert Half) for a possible position. The job would last up til October 2017 for a pay of $13/hr. I wasn't thrilled on the pay but took the position because I needed the work. The job was presented a data entry type position with a few other related roles . At the very least not too different from what I was accustom to. After about a couple weeks I realized that the position was more demanding then anticipated. After speaking with a fellow coworker, I found out that the company was hiring for the very position I'm temping for. Not only this but the pay rate is at least twice as much as I currently make through the temp agency. What are my options? I am currently in good standing with my boss and fellow coworkers and they have praised my hard work and dedication. Thanks

Answer: You just figured out how temp agencies get paid. Apply to get hired on as an employee, make sure there is no clause in your temp agreement or contract stating time limits or paying anything for quitting or getting fired.


Title: (IL) My university charged me $75 for expired tags. How is this legal?

Answer: Because you agree to follow school policy and didn't


Title: [NJ] Accounting department finally paid me - Do you think I can invoice employer for bounced check and other late fees?

Question:
Last week I received some great legal advice here and I am happy to say that some of the advice here helped resolve the issue in my favor.

To be brief, my former co-worker had earlier this month directed the accounting department of my employer to send him my commission check of $7,000, and they did. After getting the run-around for a week-and-a-half from my employer and their lawyers, I went with the nuclear option.

I wrote up a ten page narrative describing why I thought the-co-worker had my money and why my employer was covering for him. I sent the narrative on Friday to the Industry Regulator (FINRA) and they took my allegations very seriously. Seriously enough, apparently, to call my employer and tell them to pay me.

Even better, my employer sent  me another $13,000 that they had tried to hide from me for commissions earned in December. (I suspected I was owed $20k in all, but only had proof of the first $7k on my commission statement.)

I believe FINRA will now conduct a formal investigation and knowing that FINRA does not play games, will likely fine my company. There is also a good chance that my co-worker has his licenses suspended or possibly even gets banned from the business.

Since I have the company on the ropes, does anyone think I can invoice them for the bounced check and late fees (about $500) I incurred because they didn't pay me on the day they were supposed to?

Answer:
 You're out $500, but have been given $13,000 that you didn't know you had coming to you.

I would call that a win and walk away at that point.  Going for that extra $500 is going to seem as petty (regardless of how legitimate it may be)Answer #2: You *can*, but it's not your best first option.

Talk to the bank first, show them the documentation you have, and explain that the bounces were due to illegal activity. Ask them to reverse the charges. The bank may take care of the charges themselves.  If they don't, I suggest leaving the bank, frankly, and finding one with better customer service.

If the bank refuses to take care of the charges (or only takes care of some of them), then yeah, you are certainly within your rights to invoice them and talk to your company. Make it clear your only goal is to be made whole.

If they try to discipline you for either going to the regulator **or** being made whole on your fees, go back to the regulator so they can be beaten with more sticks.


Title: We are wondering on charges.

Question:
CA. USA,
A friend of mine, 17 years old, posted on Instagram a video about a fellow student who was masterbating in the school restroom. The video showed the feet of the student and the aftermath of their action which was spattered on the stall walls and floor. The student's parents are sueing for Child Pornography, and I came here advice for my friend.
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer:
 If there is an actual lawsuit, your friend needs to talk to their parents and hire an attorney.

If it a threat, tell your friend to ignore it until served with papers.Answer #2: Not a lawyer by any means but if the only "identifying features" were a pair of shoes?

Who's to say it wasn't a random adult in that stall? I don't see how they possibly could sue.


Title: [Serious] I found a video camera directly above my toilet at work, I believe I know who did it. What do I do?

Question:
I own a small business where we rent a production space and produce and sell out of the facility.

At work today one of my employees was going to the bathroom and  looked directly up and saw a small hole in the ceiling tile.  They brought it to my attention right away, I stood on the only toilet in the bathroom and pushed up the tile and found a camera in the ceiling looking directly down.

First, this is disgusting.  I am a male, but the bathroom is unisex bathroom so I am more offended for my female employees who use that bathroom.

I removed the camera, but I have no idea what to do.  I believe it was our landlord who put the camera there.  I have security footage of him going in and out of the bathroom and a few other small incidents that are very strange to me.

I am a bit nervous that if we bring this to the authorities attention and it turns out it as our landlord, he may hold a grudge and end our lease ASAP and that is obviously not optimal for us.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

tl;dr I found a camera aimed at the toilet, I believe I know who did it, what do I do?

EDIT : we brought it to the cops , they believe it was landlord too.  You should have seen them question him, he backed himself into lies multiple times.  Now we wait and pray he doesn't kick us out.  The cops seemed very motivated to get to the bottom of it.  Anyone know the penalty for something like this ?

Answer: Contact the police, give them the camera and the security footage of your landlord.  Let them investigate.


Title: My Girlfriends Work Won't Give Her Hours After Surgery

Question:
(CA,USA) My girlfriend had to have surgery out of the blue a few months back, she notified her work instantly and was told after 3 weeks she would be able to continue work with no restrictions. After the 3 weeks had passed she notified her work and was told that they had just made the schedule and she would be on the next one. Once the next schedule came out, she still had 0 hours. She's contacted them repeatedly, the managers just keep telling her its up to corporate and she is getting no answer from them. She has picked up another job for the time being but it's not cutting it. If anyone has any advise we would appreciate it.
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer: was she on FMLA leave?


Title: [UK] Seattle Airbnb host cancelled my 30 day accommodation, 12 days before I fly out and now I have nowhere to stay.

Question:
Hope this is the right place to post this as I could really use some advice at the moment. Pretty much as stated in the title but I'll run through the full story and try not to turn it into a rant:

So I'm heading over to Seattle from the UK this summer for a pretty full-on conference that runs for a month - I might do a tiny bit of travelling around but I'm pretty much only going for the conference to be honest. I booked it back in February and have been really looking forward to it ever since. At the same time I sorted out all the other necessary stuff: flights booked, visa sorted, Airbnb accommodation locked in. I'm not super fussy about comfort/how nice the place I would stay might be. Cheaper was desirable, but more than anything else I wanted somewhere close to the conference that I could get to/from easily and just collapse.

As (bad) luck would have it I managed to find a decent looking and reasonably-priced place that was a 20 minute walk from where I would need to be almost every day. Success! I was keen to get it sorted as soon as so as to avoid any last-minute stresses and you can see where this is going. I heard back from the host fairly promptly confirming the 30 day reservation; I thanked her and asked if there was any information she needed from me? No reply - I took that as a no and assumed that it was all sorted then.

Fast forward 5 months to 1 AM last Saturday (and twelve days before my flight leaves for Seattle) when I receive the following message from my supposed host through AirBnb:

> "Hi Dan34756 - I am apologize for the confusion; I have deactivated the listing a while back only hosting until June 30th since I am moving out. Anyway,s I am not sure how airbnb allowed you to book past June 30th. Please let me know how I can be of further assistance."

Now, I'm pretty sure there was no mention of not being able to book past June 30th when I originally booked this, and even though I would've been disappointed by not being able to book it back in February at least I would've had time to find other options. Not now. I replied to the host and asked when the listing had been deactivated but have yet to receive any answer on that.

So I've since had the joy of trying to find out what the next steps are from Airbnb's phone support. I've been speaking to a rep there who couldn't tell me why, if this listing had been "deactivated" a while back, I was only getting informed about it 12 days before. She also was unable to tell me when the host deactivated the listing, apparently out of confidentiality rather than ignorance.

Now the sum of these 4 phone calls, 3 different reps, and multiple emails is currently this:

* AirBnb isn't responsible for hosts cancelling listings.

* They can offer a refund for the amount of that listing.
* They can offer a credit for that amount plus 10% (now 50%)
* They've linked some alternate listings and suggested I ask these other hosts if there's any leeway on the price from their end.

Now, I'm sure they're just following policy here but a refund for what I agreed to pay 5 months ago isn't worth quite the same now. The alternate listings are very limited, either significantly more expensive or several hours away from where I need to be. A refund would be £846 and the cheapest other listing is £1721 so even with the additional 50% credit there's £452 that I guess I would have to make up? This other listing isn't even available for the whole time I'm going to be over there and plus on top of that there would be whatever travel costs that I just haven't budgeted for, leaving me severely out of pocket.

My main issue here is the time; I can understand this process if you have a month or two to find other options but I've got a little over a week until I leave and would rather not just cave from exhaustion and pay quite a lot more money for something that will be far less convenient than I had planned around. As far as I've seen there's a fair few [similar horror stories out there](https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/apr/30/airbnb-cancelled-booking-hour-before-arrived), and it seems like I could just have easily had that message from the original host saying I had nowhere to stay as I stepped off the plane in Seattle.

So I guess what I wanted (apart from ranting a little/lot) is to ask:

* Should this whole matter not be between Airbnb and the original host?
* Are there any legal actions I can/should be taking here?
* I appreciate that Airbnb aren't the ones who cancelled but surely there are safeguards in place in which the host is more responsible for providing alternative arrangements?
* Does the concept of a refund purely constitute the monetary value at the time or should it factor in time/convenience etc.?

I'm really afraid that the answer is going to be that that's just the way it is and I have to suck it up and leave my planned budget on the runway. Any advice would be much appreciated and apologies for the long post!

Answer: You're only entitled to a refund, so they are being extremely nice by offering you so much more than that.


Title: [DE] Considering asking my GF to marry me. Can I be held responsible for her student loan debt?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Is she planning on not paying them off?


Title: Got my sister in Law's letter from the IRS and it was completely open from the side (Ohio)

Question:
So, I just got home about ten minutes ago and checked the mail to find a letter from the IRS in my mail box completely open and it was obvious that the letter was taken out and put back in as it was haphazardly shoved into the envelope. Upon further inspection I realized it was intended for my sister in law who does not live with us. The address on the letter is her correct address yet the letter ends up in my mail. Just to note we have never received her mail before.

Now I could just hand it to her because she lives only about 10 miles away, but I feel I should report this to someone because her social security number is in full view on the letter.

Who should i report this to and should I give it back to the post office and have them deliver it, or am I okay to give it to my sister?

Answer:
 > The address on the letter is her correct address yet the letter ends up in my mail.

That's an extremely unusual happenstance that it has the wrong address on it, ends up in your mailbox and is for a relative.

> Who should i report this to

Either you or your sister in law can contact the [US Postal Inspection Service](https://www.uspis.gov/report/).

> should I give it back to the post office and have them deliver it, or am I okay to give it to my sister?

You can give it to her.


Title: [CA] no lease, worked for free, no oral agreement. He wants back rent 6 months after I moved out.

Question:
Last year I lived with a family from my old church for 6 months. The dad was a contractor. We built be a small standalone bedroom in the back yard together. I tried 3 times that I can remember to bring up rent and asked for a price. I also asked if that cost can be supplemented by me working for him. He never gave me a clear answer or price. 6 months later, I moved out and then he sent me a text saying I owed him $2,500. I said I didn't think it was fair because I worked many many free hours and was never paid, and we never made so much as an oral agreement.
Now 6 more months after I moved out and no contact, he wants me to pay a total of $3,800 for that 6 month period. I am in absolutely no position to pay anything, as I can barely afford by expenses as it is.

Some things to consider:

the building we built is not permitted by the county. He made intentional decisions to hide the addition from neighbors and county officials who came and approved an additional building for his business.

My cell phone payment is under his name and family plan and this month is the first payment in 12 months I have not been able to pay on time.

The time I worked for him was under the table and unreported. He made a point after I moved out to say that this work I did only covered 1 month of rent. Which means he is counting the work, which I figure is about 30 full days of work, usually at 10 hours at least. My thought is that if he is counting any of the work as payment, he must report it  to the IRS for tax reasons. And he has not. By my math he would owe me about $4,300 including overtime pay at $13/hr.

I want to protect myself, not ruin his life in anyway financially. I just want to call it even and move on. Any advice would be awesome.

Tldr: no lease, no oral agreement, I worked for free, now he wants $3800.

Answer: Without a lease or any paperwork for employment, it'll be hard to prove in a court of law that either of you owe each other any money. Your best bet may be just to cut contact with him. If he sues you, find an attorney in your area who is familiar with landlord-tenant law. Also, get off his cell phone plan.


Title: Help! My mom is American but I must wait 7 years to get my green card via the i130?

Question:
My mom is an American living in Canada. She wishes to retire in America, and I (Canadian, over 21, unmarried) want to join her in America to take care of her.

In order for me to be eligible to work in the US, I was told that I must submit the I130 (in Chicago's lock box since we're outside the US), and then once it is approved (by one of the service centers), it will be sent to the Department of State. Once the Dept of State receives this, they will arrange an interview. Only after this interview is completed will I receive my green card/immigrant visa.

The visa bulletin board says they are still processing 2011 cases (7 year delay). Does this mean that if I submit my I130, I will not be eligible to work in America for 7 years?

I have some ancillary questions: 1. There are 4-5 service centers, all of which are 2-3 years wait time with the exception of Vermont, which is a 7 year wait time. How do I ensure that I am not stuck with the Vermont service center? / 2. Is there a way I can work legally in America if I have the I130 approved, but have not had the interview with the Dept of State? / 3. Can I hire lawyers to make any of this go faster?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Answer:
 >My mom is an American living in Canada

Was she an American citizen when you were born?


Title: (Update 2 - DOL Investigation prompted NEW SHADY Practices) Restaurant takes 10% of servers tips for credit-card processing fees when the fee is 3-4% & other shady practices. Is this normal? (RI)

Question:
Link to 1st Post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3bte46/restaurant_takes_10_of_servers_tips_for/

Link to update 1:
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/3hwuh5/update_restaurant_takes_10_of_servers_tips_for/

I updated last time thinking that the DOL investigation would change things for the better, wanting to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt... However after conversation with the DOL investigator I've found out their new routines are just new ways to make up for the money they're losing due to the investigation.

Now that they're being investigated they keep track of everything and document anything related to our pay and hours. They made this seem like this was for our benefit so we all thought it was a good thing. While I don't mind the documentation it's the lying and the new ways they've schemed up to make money that's really pissing me off..

Since they're being investigated they had to hire a few new workers with legal working status so they would look good on paper. Etc etc. The investigation was focusing mostly on the line cooks and back kitchen workers who were worked to the bone making less than min wage, no overtime, no sick days, docked pay if they needed to take a day off or were late etc etc.

So now they devised a plan to screw over the servers to gain whatever money they can.
They changed the server format to 1st server, 2nd Server. 1st servers do everything servers do at most restaurant and more. 2nd servers technically are bussers. They are not allowed to take orders, they can't use the POS system, they can't process payments, they basically clean, bring the water, and sometimes help with bringing out food when it's busy. 1st servers do everything the 2nd servers do as well.

Although they told us they were changing the system to help us and make work easier for us, it's made it so much harder because as a 1st server we have to do EVERYTHING when it's busy especially since the 2nd servers aren't even trained to do certain things that involve payment, etc. 1st servers end up having to bring out water, clean the tables, essentially all of the 2nd server's duties while we do everything else as well.

The bad part is that because they call the 2nd servers "servers" and they don't want to pay minimum wage for a busser, 1st servers have to share all our tips EQUALLY w/ the 2nd server aka busser. This is incredibly frustrating when 1st servers do so much more and then half of what we earn goes to the busser because the restaurant doesn't want to spend their own money on paying their employees. It's just not fair. They think just by calling a busser a server it's legal and figured that we wouldn't know the difference.

Of course the 2nd servers don't complain bc they usually make much more than min wage through taking 50% of our tips while only doing 60% of the work 1st servers do.

We were told that each group of servers would have SPECIFICALLY designated duties that would not cross boundaries. However, when it's busy it doesn't work this way. You can't just ignore a customer and their request to bring them some water, etc because it's the 2nd servers job, however the 2nd server always passes the tasks they haven't been trained to do onto the 1st server.

It makes me angry and I feel like it's so unfair that I have to give away half of my hard earned money just so the restaurant can look like they're doing everything by the book on paper. They think we're idiots that won't mind or bother looking up the laws.

Also, they charge a ~20% service fee for larger groups. However, they make it seem like it is an automatic TIP that goes to the server and call it a gratuity instead of a service fee. The federal law is that service fees do not count as tips and the restaurant does not have to give the fee to the servers. Most groups never tip more than the "automatic gratuity" since they think it's a tip. Therefore when huge groups come in and order hundreds of dollars worth of food, WE SEE NONE OF THAT 20% FEE THEY PAY.

Thankfully I mentioned this to the investigator and he told me it was illegal and that the restaurant is required to pay at least minimum wage for the time worked serving groups w/ a service fee if they insist on requiring a service fee.  At the same time he said that the investigation was already wrapping up and they are running out of time.

I don't know what to do. I know, I know, I should quit, but I really need the job right now, the pay is better than minimum wage, and until I can find somewhere else, and even if i do find somewhere else I don't think it would be fair to anyone new that works there to be treated this way. What should/can I do? Please help.
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer: Is there not another restaurant in town you can go work at?


Title: [FL] Sister bought a used car from a shady dealership.

Question:
My sister bought a 2012 Kia from a but here pay here dealership. She put down 5k and financed 1.5k and had an agreement to pay them the taxes in installments. The car had some issues with it including not having an airbag. The car broke down a week later because the engine exploded, but luckily there was a recall and the dealer it's replacing the engine for free.  Yesterday she said then 220 on the taxes but today they called her up and asked for another payment of 700 then pushed down to 170 or they will repo the car. I have no problem paying the amount for her, but I need a assurance they won't just accelerate the loan, how do I go about this?

Secondly the car still does not have a working airbag and I've discovered it is illegal to sell a car without safety equipment. When I told my sister she told them and the owners response was to"not play that game". Should I just get a lawyer to get her down payment back and get rid of this issue?

Answer:
 I think it's time to play hard ball...it's actually a [felony](https://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/selling-used-cars-without-airbags---illegal-in-florida) to sell a vehicle without a working airbag.

What does the contract about the payment say? What's written down matters. I'd say she should keep the car out of sight for the time being...


Title: My roommate wrote some awful, untrue things about me online and I want her out of our shared living spaces but we’re both signed to the lease.

Question:
Ontario, Canada.

So my current roommate and I moved in together on March 1st after leaving a terrible living situation with other nightmare roommates. I found out when we moved in that she told our last roommate that I use the “cancer card” as an excuse to be lazy. Since then, I kept my distance.

I got out of an abusive relationship last year and I found out my ex is seeing someone else and I was talking to a friend about it on the phone and she was listening in, and proceeded to go on a Facebook group of over 20k people and wrote about how I “pretend to be over it when I’m not”, how I get up early every morning to wear makeup to show him that I’m better off without him, and about me performing oral sex on him. I went to her room and told her I could see what she posts on Facebook and she texted me about wanting to explain herself but I’ve ignored her. Since then she’s gotten to aggressively slamming doors and storming around our place as well as slamming dishes really loudly, even when I’m asleep.

I don’t know what to do, I’m really sick of living with shitty people but it’s the only financial viable option for me. My health is not good and living with her is making it worse because stress causes flare ups. We are both signed on the lease, so I can’t kick her out but I don’t know if there’s some other loophole.

Edit: I don’t want to leave the apartment, most of the stuff in it is mine and I can’t afford to move again.
Topic:
Canada

Answer:
 I’m in NS, here we’d just look for someone to take over the lease or sublet.

In any event you’ll have to speak with your landlord and roommate to figure out what happens next. It sounds like you’re in desperate need of healthier living arrangements.


Title: My 17-year-old son got behind the wheel of a car drunk and killed a pedestrian. He is facing up to 20 years in prison. What should we do?

Question:
State is Florida.

My 17-year-old son went to a party last night and had 12 beers. He then got behind the wheel of a car. He ran a stop sign and plowed into a pedestrian, who died of her injuries later that night in the hospital. He blew a .24. He is now in jail on a $250,000 bail. He is being tried as an adult and is facing up to 20 years in prison.

My son can't stop crying. He feels very sorry for what he did. Is there any way to reduce the sentence to, perhaps, 3-5 years? What should we do???

Answer: Get off the internet and hire a criminal defense attorney?Answer #2: He killed someone. End of story.Answer #3: You already got the only correct reply: Hire a competent criminal defense attorney. The end. Answer #4: Can you afford an attorney?


Title: No Notice of Tornado Warning By Employer

Question:
At work today, tornado sirens were going off, with multiple local tornado warnings out for almost 3 hours. I work in a call center where cell phones are against company policy. We were not notified of any tornado warning with the excuse “we weren’t going to die”. Management are allowed to have phones and were aware of the tornado warning, nothing was done through the entire building.

Is this legal at all?

Answer: I would drop a line to HR and whoever handles emergency/safety at your worksite, and ask them. It's clearly time for a policy and a drill.Answer #2: I highly doubt there is a law saying your employer must inform you of a tornado warning.


Title: Locked in public park by city. Can I sure?

Question:
2 weeks ago I was locked inside a public park. The park has opening and closing time written out on it's front gate. Park closes at 10 pm. At 8 pm I tried to get out but the gate was locked. Padlocked. It was on a weekend, so city did not answer when I called.
I had my car parked right IN FRONT of the gate so, whoever locked the gate, did see my car. They just didn't care someone could be trapped in.
I called the cops, it took the cops 2 hours to get the code from city and free me. I had a friend with me as well. I have pictures and videos for proof.
Once I got out, I asked the cops and local Residents that city locks the gate, no one else. Since it was a padlock, the gate was not computerized or anything.

Do I have a case to sue the city and make some $$ as it seems city has a lot of money, they're buying military vehicles for local police.

Answer: Suing is to recover things you've lost.  You have nothing to sue for.  File a complaint.


Title: Can someone list you to pay their medical bill?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 It isn't legal. I'd call them back again and make some points clear. She is your ex-wife, you two no longer have a relationship with each other. You are not legally responsible to pay or provide for her medical care, and you do not. If your ex-wife told them you agreed to pay half, she lied. You will not be paying for any of your ex-wife's medical care.

Basically you are stuck at the point where you have billing department drones just trying to collect money. If this actually became a legal situation they would get laughed out of court for trying to charge you for this.Answer #2: You need to file a police report for identity theft. Because that's what it is. If you want to keep things civil, contact her and tell her she needs to fix it. Do not threaten to go to the cops, just tell her she needs to resolve it. If she won't, then go to the cops.


Title: Money laundering

Question: Is money laundering a crime? I live in Canada and I have been contacted by someone who wants to buy itunes gift cards and convert to bit coin and I suspect wants to run money through my bank account.  Is that something can report or is it a waste of time and they will never be caught? Like i can call RCMP/OPP right now but I don’t want to bug the feds if there is not something they can do about it.

Answer: It's a scam and you'll be left holding the bag.