Title: Forging a bank statement to reflect the current balance of an account

Question:
I know everyone says it's for a friend, but I really do have a friend that is trying to study abroad this coming fall in a country that requires a visa to study in. As part of the visa application process, they have to show the embassy a bank statement proving they have enough funds to live there.

My friend has funding for the entire semester through scholarships but won't receive any of the money until a month into the semester due to his US school's start date being later. So, his most recent bank statement shows that he has very little money in his bank account.

However, just today he convinced his mother to transfer a considerable amount of money into his account (which he will pay back after receiving his scholarship money) in order to have enough money the first month. This is great for him, but he won't get another bank statement reflecting the new balance until next month, at which point it will be too late to apply for his visa. So, he's thinking of altering his most recent bank statement to reflect the current balance in his account so that the embassy sees he has enough funding.

I'm perfectly aware that this is fraud and illegal. However, I've read online that normally in a case where an institution suspects they've been given an altered bank statement, they would contact the bank and check the balance to see if it is accurate. Even if the statement is altered and the embassy calls his bank, would they care/notice considering it reflects the current balance?

TL;DR A friend needs to prove he has enough money to study abroad using a bank statement. He now has enough money, but won't receive an updated bank statement in time to apply for a visa. Would it be foolish for him to alter his most recent bank statement to accurately reflect his current balance and give this bank statement to a foreign embassy?

EDIT: Forgot to include location. This is in the US if that isn't clear. If it needs to be more specific my friend lives in Florida but is sending the bank statement to the embassy in D.C.

Answer: Why can't he just print his account balance/statement online showing the current amount?


Title: How feasible would it be to get a mandate stating that advertisements cannot incorporate car honking, police sirens, or alarm clock buzzing in their ads?

Answer: Its already illegal to imitate the emergency broadcasting noise on the radio. As such, it would be feasible to ban police sirens and car horns. Clock buzzing is a but more ambiguous. Answer #2: You can add to that list "sending spam emails to my company account that have words/phrases like URGENT SYSTEM FAILURE MONITOR SENSORING ERROR CHEMICAL RELEASE EMERGENCY CONTAINMENT FAILURE RADIATION ALERT" which is the fastest way to get your company dropped from my vendor/supplier list.Answer #3: How about the beeping of a truck backing up? That made me remove a radio station.Answer #4: Also add to the list doorbells, microwave beeps, and my wife calling my name.Answer #5: One really angry, hardworking citizen willing to sacrifice their life to the cause could almost certainly do it within their community.


Title: Lawyer supposed to represent for a bad speeding ticket, now I’m stranded out of state on a suspended license for failure to appear

Question:
In December last year I got a pretty bad (IMO) speeding ticket, 77 in a 55. Being that it was my first ticket and I was kinda panicked, I chose to get a lawyer. My mom’s friend recommended this one guy. So I contact him and he gets all the details and says he’ll represent me, so I don’t need to go to court.

First court date comes and goes, says he asked for a continuance. Same thing for the next couple months. One day I get a letter from the DMV saying “starting on this date your license is suspended for failure to appear”. I called my lawyer and he confirmed he did show up and it was a clerical error. He said he took care of it and fixed it.

Every month I try to check back in. He briefly responds “still continuing it”. Eventually he just stops responding at all, but my mom was able to get in contact with him sometimes and confirm he’s still working on it. He doesn’t return any calls or texts anymore.

Fast forward all the way to now, I’m on vacation in Virginia and go through a military checkpoint to go to a museum on a base. My license comes back suspended. It’s for failure to appear.

So now I’m basically stranded here until my parents can come pick me and the car up (a friend was able to drive it from the checkpoint so it didn’t get towed).

My question is, do I have a case for malpractice against my lawyer?
I don’t have a formal contract written up with him because it was supposed to be a simple speeding ticket, he just emailed me receipts for the $200 he charged and that was that. Does this qualify as a commitment to represent?

Answer: Contact the state bar for whatever state the lawyer is in. They can advise you moving forward. It's not cool for your lawyer to get you a failure to appear, and not cool for him to ghost you.


Title: My packages get torn open by my neighbors, but the items aren't stolen.

Question: I live in a building with 3 apartments. I order from a variety of online retailers (Amazon, UPS, Fedex) so I have ruled out the delivery services being at fault. I can think of at least 7 instances where the package addressed to me was opened and the contents were viewed (but never stolen or damaged). I'm fairly certain I know who it is. My question is, if I get video evidence, is there actual legal foul play by them? I really just want it to stop, so I hope a letter to them with some photo evidence will do. But what law could I cite if I need to take it further?

Answer:
 Happened to my fiancée and I. She got a package and I found it ripped open in my apartment building lobby and half of the contents were missing. Complained to the Post Office who didn't care at all and refused to deliver packages to the individual apartments. Complained to the apartment complex and I guess it happened to somebody else in my building too because apparently they caught a juvenile doing it and he and his dad were evicted. I'd let whoever owns the property know.Answer #2: You can contact your local [USPIS](http://locator.uspis.gov/locator/) office and report them. Answer #3: It is possible they are shipping drugs to your apartment and then grabbing them when they are delivered.   Once opened, they discover it is not what they expected, so they put it back so as not to tip you off.  Are the packages retaped, or are they left open?

Hopefully others can advise the best way of protecting yourself if I am right about this.   You don't want to be charged for their drugs.


Title: [South-West Michigan] Help with Racist Employee

Question: I'm not sure where to turn but I want to ask about firing employees for racist remarks. In a nutshell, she made an offhand racist remark about the smell of a foreign countries citizens directly in front of 3 employees from that country. When I confronted the GM of the company, he said he can't fire someone for racist remarks and that the company would get sued. He went on to explain that if it was directly aimed at a particular employee he could. His decision was a proverbial slap on the wrist, and no other repercussions. Is this true? In this case, can an employee not be let go for blatantly racist remarks?

Answer:
 You can fire somebody for this but they would likely qualify for unemployment unless you could show a pattern and they had been warned. Answer #2: Did you pursue the usual disciplinary actions (whatever those are at your company)? Because it's good to have a paper trail of inappropriate or disruptive behaviors when those occur.

"I'm firing Jane because she's bigoted" clearly does not fly with your GM at the moment, but "I'm firing Jane after giving her three write-ups for disrespectful behavior toward colleagues" might.


Title: A friend overheard her boss say to owner of the company that she “has attention deficit disorder” although she never disclosed this. She complained about it and then was fired the following week for being late, although she only had one write up for being late, when allowed 3. Is this retaliation?

Question:
My friend (Kim) has been working as a receptionist for almost 3 months at an event venue. She walked by the office and heard her boss (also the head of the company, only person higher than her is the owner, I’ll call her Ann) tell the owner of the company that Kim had a “bit of attention deficit disorder” although Kim has never shared this info with Ann or anyone she works with. Kim then shared this info with an employee, who in turn shared with another until it got back to Ann. Ann called her in the office to have a meeting a few days later, explaining that she can say whatever she wants and is in charge. Kim basically felt like she was getting in trouble for having an issue with this. So the following week Kim is late on Monday and on Wednesday because of car trouble. Ann fires her, stating that it’s because Kim has been late too much. Kim wasn’t given a written warning on Monday, the one write up she had was from when she first started working there. She was late a few other times but they never wrote it down. Any way, basically she is trying to figure out what to do. She feels pretty dehumanized in the way she was treated by her old boss Ann, a woman that was once the mayor and has a ton of political connections in our town.

Kim feels like she was fired because of her being offended by the comment she overheard and not just because she was late.  She feels like Ann saw that maybe that comment would become a problem and she just wanted to get rid of Kim.

Does this sound like something that just happens sometimes and Kim should get over it, or did Ann really break the law and are there any legal repercussions that could come of it?

Thanks so much for any help!

Answer:
 She was late. And they can fire her for that (assuming she isnt in montana).

Nothing illegal happened because people gossiped about her


Title: Wife and I want to drop ship bras and panties, any legal issues we should worry about?

Question: My wife and I decided to start a drop shop business on Shopify for bras and panties and such. We are NOT selling any kind of sex toys but some of the underwear is pretty premiscuious. Is there anything we need to be aware of legally? We're not trying to get charged with soliciting sex!!! Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Answer:
 I think the 1982 Sears Catalog was way more promiscuous. Comparatively Speaking and adjusting for time and cultural shifts in underwear purchasing.

Just make sure your taxes are done right.  You should be ok.

And youre not doing sizing by having customers send in pics, right?  That could be a problem.


Title: I'm getting a dash cam for my car. Concerned about legalities of recording and consent. [WV]

Question: I'm getting a dash cam to record my travel so that I have evidence in the event of an accident, and also to record interactions with police. In my state the law is that one party must give consent; a good summary of different laws and situations can be seen [here.](https://www.rcfp.org/reporters-recording-guide/state-state-guide/west-virginia) I take that to mean that I can record an interaction as long as I, the recorder, consents to it being recorded, regardless of the other party's agreement. I'm wondering, though, if I need to at least notify the other party that they are being recorded. If a cop comes up to my car and starts talking to me, do I need to let them know I'm recording or can I just leave the camera rolling?

Answer:
 If you disable audio recording, you aren't recording a conversation.
Answer #2: > If a cop comes up to my car and starts talking to me, do I need to let them know I'm recording or can I just leave the camera rolling?

You don't have to inform cops or anyone else you're talking to that you're recording them. West Virginia is a one-party consent state. (Deleted link - you posted it)

And you're operating in public and presumably your dash cam is in plain view. So if you're next to some people talking and happen to pick up some of their conversation, you'll probably be covered there as well. Their expectation of privacy was diminished greatly.


Title: Landlord saying it is a non-smoking building after living here for a year. Nothing in my lease says non-smoking building.

Question:
I have been living in an apartment building in Denver, Colorado for a year and a few months. Last week, for the first time ever, my landlord sent a text message to all tenants saying there have been reports of smoke smell and reminding us that we signed a lease saying it is a non-smoking building. Today I just got another text saying the same thing. I want to be able to smoke recreational marijuana in my apartment so clearly this is going to be an issue. I do not smoke any form of tobacco.

I've read over my lease and the only mention of smoking is under a rules and regulations section. It states, "Any and all damages resulting from smoking will be the liability of Resident (i.e. residues, stains, burns, odors, etc.). This includes but is not limited to cleaning, repairing and/or replacing the following items: carpet, flooring, paint, countertops, drapes, etc.. No smoking is allowed in common areas."

In my opinion, right then and there it would simply say, "No smoking permitted anywhere in the building", instead of just no smoking in common areas and a generic not liable for any damages caused from smoking statement.

My original lease only lasted a year. I signed a lease renewal for another year. The lease renewal states the new prices, dates and "All other covenants and conditions of the Lease shall remain in effect, and no covenant or condition of the Lease shall be deemed waived by any action or non-action in the past."

When I first looked at the apartment over a year ago, the whole building obviously smelled like weed. The same landlord who first showed me the apartment at that time is sending me these text messages. I chose to live in this apartment because there was no mention of "non-smoking building" and the landlord seemed totally okay with the building smelling like weed when showing it to me. The apartment listing on Zillow did not mention anything about it being a non-smoking building. I would say 75% of the apartment listings on Zillow in Denver clearly state that the apartment is non-smoking. It is a crucial detail lol.

I'm seeking advice on whether or not I should confront my landlord about this or wait to see if they approach me individually. The text messages are addressed to all tenants, its not a group message, but I'm assuming its a copy and pasted message sent to each tenant. In the one year that I have lived here, practically every apartment has a new person living in it. My guess is that my landlord has changed the policy, had the new tenants sign a new lease with a non-smoking building policy but I'm still on an older version of the lease. I want to continue smoking in the privacy of my apartment (in Colorado, public consumption of marijuana is illegal, so I can't go outside), but don't want to get in trouble with my landlord.

I haven't responded or contacted my landlord about this. How should I approach this situation? Any advice is appreciated

Answer:
 >No smoking is allowed in common areas.

Your apartment dwelling isn't considered a common area.  Common areas are shared areas accessible by all tenants, i.e. laundry facilities, elevators, hallways, etc.  Personally, I'd continue on or invest in a vaporizer.Answer #2: > It states, "Any and all damages resulting from smoking will be the liability of Resident (i.e. residues, stains, burns, odors, etc.). This includes but is not limited to cleaning, repairing and/or replacing the following items: carpet, flooring, paint, countertops, drapes, etc.. No smoking is allowed in common areas."

I mean, it sounds like technically there is nothing stopping you from smoking, but I feel like you are going to get hit with one hell of a cleaning bill when you leave. In theory, everything in your apartment that smells like weed, is "damaged" and he can probably hit you with fees to clean and replace.


Title: $2000 stolen

Question:
[TEXAS] My brother had $2000+ cash stolen from the safe in his house. He lives with his best friend who is his room mate and and room mate did not even know where my brother kept the key to the safe and wouldn't steal the money even if he did. My brother does have girls over from time to time and may have shown one of the girls in attempt to show off.

As of yesterday, my brother came home and noticed that certain locks on their doors that they never lock were locked, and that his door room was shut which he never shuts. Shortly after he noticed his money was missing and his back door was left completely unlocked, meaning the thief left through the back.

I feel extremely bad for my brother as he was saving that money up for a while. What can he do? Would insurance cover this? Is he out of luck?

Edit: his Xbox and PlayStation was stolen as well. He does not have renter's insurance.

Answer:
 Your brother should file a police report.  His homeowner's insurance or renter's insurance might cover this.  Doesn't hurt to contact them.

He should carefully look for any damaged locks, the point of entry, and if anything else is missing.

He also needs to not keep large quantities of cash in the house.  That's what banks are for.


Title: (Boise, ID) Moving out for the first time, what is defined as legally mine?

Question:
I'll try to tldr this as much as I can, I have lived with my mother since I got back from the military and obviously before then. I've had a desk and bed from her for the last maybe 4 years now. I was going to move out and of course, take them with me. We're not on the best of terms right now, since I've been sleeping on it/using it for the last 4 years does that make it mine or can she tell me to shove off and keep it?

If I were to hire movers and just clean my stuff out while she was at work (my days off are when she works) could she file a police report over the few things / how likely is it I'd actually have to deal with that as an issue?

Answer:
 >since I've been sleeping on it/using it for the last 4 years does that make it mine

No. If she is motivated, she can report you for theft if you remove that furniture from her home without her permission.
Answer #2: The stuff is probably going to be considered her property. Using something doesn't make it yours. If you move the stuff and she reports it as a theft, the cops will come looking for you and the receipts proving that you paid for them. If your mother has these, you'll be in for a world of trouble. She can simply say, "I paid for them and they were for my house and OP stole them".

Don't move your stuff when she's not there. Just a bad idea all around for the aforementioned reasons.

Consider moving on. There are definitely places that rent out fully furnished rooms or suites.


Title: Cousin shoplifted $400 worth of merchandise. I used my debit card at the store and drove my car there. Will I be in trouble?

Question:
Using a throwaway account.

My cousin is a kleptomaniac and cannot help herself stealing whenever we enter stores. Today she stole around $400 worth of merchandise by taking a ton of clothing into the dressing room and then stuffing half of the clothes into her other shopping bags. I did not take anything but I went into the dressing room with her when she was hiding the clothes in her bags to try to convince her not to steal. But she didn’t listen to me and there was nothing I could do without causing a huge scene so I just sat there in the dressing room watching her hide all the clothing (I feel like an idiot for not doing more to stop her).

I decided to purchase a shirt at the store because I felt bad and used my debit card to do so. On our way out, the alarm towers went off so the clerks wanted to run our bags over their sensors to make sure there was nothing in our bags. I handed over all of my bags and the sensors did not go off. My cousins bags also did not go off (miraculously). Neither of our bags were searched or opened. However, when we tried to walk through the towers, the alarm went off again but the clerks let us go but looked very suspicious. Also, according to my cousin, there were definitely security cameras in the store.

My cousin got extremely scared and demanded that we leave. We came in my car, so I now I am worried that the store will use my license plate or debit card information to penalize me for her thefts. I am absolutely furious at my deadbeat cousin for putting me in that situation. What are the odds that the store or police will target me if I did not steal anything? If we were allowed to walk out of the store, does that mean she did not get caught? Would I be penalized for technically being an accomplice?

Any information about what type of legal consequences I can expect for using my debit card and car to drive there would be greatly appreciated. I also understand that my involvement in my cousins shoplifting was definitely wrong and I know I should have done more to stop her or known better than to go into a clothing store with her. Thank you all in advance.

Answer:
 You certainly could be. You were present when she hid the merchandise, you made a small purchase to help conceal the theft, then you physically helped her get the stolen merchandise outside.

I probably wouldn’t go back to that store again if I were you. I’d probably stop hanging out with your cousin, too.Answer #2: >What are the odds that the store or police will target me if I did not steal anything?

We can't tell you the specific odds. It's not impossible if that's what your asking.

> If we were allowed to walk out of the store, does that mean she did not get caught?

No. It's not uncommon for police to show up the next day after management calls.

>Would I be penalized for technically being an accomplice?

If caught, yes you would be. You weren't "technically" an accomplice you *were* an accomplice.


Title: Got a call from post office saying to call back and that I am under investigation

Question:
Not sure this is the best place but my mother in law received a call today from a number that doesn't link to any post office. He claimed that he is from the post office by our old apartment where we used to go and that packages that my wife tried to return probably around 8 months ago had insufficient postage with no return address and they are now under investigation. He said to call back at a local number that doesn't show up on any of the post offices websites and doesn't provide any information when looking it up on Google

I have never heard of anything like this and it seems like fraud to me.

Answer: Definitely ignore. They'll probably ask for payment in iTunes giftcards in exchange for avoiding criminal charges or something.


Title: Is it legal to kill and eat a lizard [Victoria, Australia]

Question: I left the front door open this morning so I could air out the house and a lizard must have snuck in at some point. I caught him and put him in a box but I'm wondering if it's legal to eat him. I can kill him quickly and everything like that, I don't want to hurt him or anything. I can't find anything online relating to the legality.

Answer: The economy that bad in Australia at the moment?


Title: Could I be in trouble if I gave weed away to a undercover cop for free?

Question:
Had a smoke sesh with someone Im not too familiar with, we were just chilling and when we were finished I gave him a little bit of free weed. Couldnt shake the feeling that he's an undercover afterwards? Could I be in trouble? really paranoid right now :/ Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
edit: location is in hawaii

Answer:
 >really paranoid right now :/

Yeah, marijuana does tend to cause that.

I mean, it's certainly not *legal* to give weed away. And it would be silly for me to suggest that you can't get in trouble for doing illegal things. But the chances that an undercover cop is wasting their time busting random smoke sessions is small. (Now, if you're associated with a dealer they're investigating, that's a different story.)


Title: Is road head legal in Wisconsin?

Question:
I'm thinking yes because nobody has any business peeping in the windows of your car while you are driving down the road. They would be guilty of window peeping.

If it is illegal, is it a crime for the driver, passenger, or both?

Answer: That's not window peeping, it's in plain view. It would be a crime for all parties involved in the distribution or receipt of said road head.


Title: Alabama Hot tub laws

Question:
Hello legal advise, hopefully this is the right place for this. We are staying at an rv park with a hot tub and are being told the kids can not go in according to state law. A google search has reviewed
no such thing and the park manager cannot provide a reference. The only thing I found was for Alabama foster parents limiting kids in foster care to 15 minutes in hot tubs but no age limits on kids in hot tubs. This was department of Human Resources Alabama.gov website. Am I safe to assume they are talking out there ass and challenge it. I don't want to be kicked out or the park for breaking state law and I don't want to make waves but this just sounds ridiculous to me. I know hot tubs can be dangerous for small children and I would never put them in harms way but they are only out when supervised by me and the wife and they like to go from the pool to the hot tub. Any one ever heard of such laws or a better place to post this?

Answer:
 A lot of time "It's state law" is code for "It's a park / company / store policy, but I don't want to take the time to argue why the policy shouldn't apply to YOU, so saying state law is a way to get you off my back for now".

If the park manager is telling you the kids cannot go in the hot tub, the kids cannot go in the hot tub unless you have documentation from them that contradicts that.


Title: (ME) I was denied housing after being told "I thought you were a college student"

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Unfortunately for you, Maine nor the FHA offers you protection for discrimination due to you not being a college student.


Title: I [24] knocked up a woman [20] who doesn't have insurance or qualify for medicaid. Now what?

Question:
I'm living in the US now but I haven't for that long, so I have no idea how all of this works. I had a fling with a woman who said she was on birth control. Apparently she forgot to take it a few times, so she's pregnant. She has a job but no benefits and I don't want to marry her. We just found out, she's only 8 weeks. She has no money to pay for anything and refuses to get an abortion saying it will all work out. The only way it will work out is if I take care of the finances almost 100% because I don't want her to just refuse to go to the doctor, for the sake of my kid. She's assuming that I am going to pay for everything she needs and the appointments and delivery all out of pocket and continue to do so after the baby is born. She can't take care of it and I want to just get custody but I don't think America works that way so i'll be paying for her too beyond child support so my child will have a stable home. This is a huge mess and I don't deny my responsibility, but expecting me to be taking all of it on by myself is not right. The things that I won't budge on are that I don't marry her and that her pregnancy is healthy and monitored by a good doctor and i'd rather not go broke and lose everything to do that but I will do what I have to. Do have any decent options here or am I just screwed?

edit: she lives in California

Answer: She may qualify for Medicaid now that she's pregnant, even if she didn't qualify in the past. The program provides some exceptions including pregnancy. Answer #2: Before paying a penny, get a paternity test. Get her to the local planned Parenthood for medical help and figure out how to get her onto benefits because a non complicated birth can cost $20k+. If there are any problems you're looking at many times that.  Answer #3: When the child is born you get a paternity test to verify the child is yours.  You can ignore her up until that point.  Let her know to keep the receipts, and if you're actually the father, you'll pay for your half of her pregnancy-related medical bills.


Title: Advice on steps to reporting a rape.

Question:
I'm looking for advice or resources that i can look for to report a rape in Kentucky. I found out from a female friend last night she was raped years ago by someone very close to her and has never told anyone else for various reasons. She wants to take steps to ensure he will not do it again but doesn't know where to start so I'm trying to help. Originally a concern was that statute of limitations would be up soon but after some looking (http://www.lrc.ky.gov/Statutes/statute.aspx?id=19639)  my understanding is Kentucky does not have a statue of limitations for felonies. She was under 18 at the time and he was over 21. Another possible issue that may arise is both parties live in different states then each other and where the rape occurred but I'm not sure if that really matters. Any help would be very appreciated. if their is a better subreddit to post to it would be helpful if you could direct me. Thank You

EDIT: Sorry I should've been more clear in the full scope of information i was looking for, i was looking to put together information for her and essentially an outline of what she would expect to happen if she files a report and what the whole process will evolve and who she needs to be in contact with to help her case before and during, (ex. lawyers or possible related evidence)

Answer: She should file a police report wherever it occurred.


Title: [Australia] Can a 17 year old legally have sex with an 18 year old in Australia?

Question:
I've been trying to research it but I'm having a hard time finding a clear cut answer regarding how the close-in-age exemption applies here. Would it classify as paedophilia considering one party is technically underage? The regions I'm interested in have an age of consent of 16 years.

Any help is really appreciated!

Answer:
 There is no need for a close in age exemption because both people are over the age of consent.

Assuming you both consent to the activity it is perfectly legal. Unless there's something else you're leaving out.

Don't exchange nudes though - that's still a grey area and could land you in hot water.


Title: Is my school really following NCAA policies?

Question:
I’m a student athlete on a varsity team, and we’re currently in-season. My school regularly posts photos of our competitions (of athletes), captioned with our names and other information. No one on my team knows where they get the photos, or how they archive them. They use the images all the time for promotional material as well.

I recently reached out to the athletics department to ask if they could give us access to photos of ourselves, and got this response:

“We are not able to provide active student-athletes with photos. That would be considered an "extra benefit" by the NCAA and would make you ineligible to compete.”

Other schools have photo galleries on their athletics websites. Who is out of line? Is my school just lazy? Please redirect me if there’s a better sub

Answer:
 calling it an extra benefit would definitely be erring on the side of caution. Quite a stretch imo. but anyway: they aren't your pictures. The photographer shot them for the school, the school owns them. They don't have to provide you with access just because your the subject of them.

People have an inflated sense of ownership with pictures they are in. If your competing in an athletic competition, that's considered a public space. As such, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy from photographs.


Title: Cited for speeding in a school zone. Don't believe I was because of signage. If ticket goes through, I'll lose my job [Wapato, WA, USA]

Question:
Was pulled over in a work vehicle today for supposedly going 30 in a 20mph school zone. I did not accelerate past 20 until after I had passed the "entering school zone" flashing lights for the opposite side of the road. There is no "end school zone" sign on my side of the road. Officer told me that the school zone extends for 300 yards past the edge of school property, sign or no, and that because of that, the sign for the end school zone would be in the middle of the freeway, and that's why there's not one. I don't understand why - if that's the case - the entering school zone flashing lights wouldn't be right off the freeway instead of two blocks down.

Because I was in a work vehicle, if the ticket appears on my record, I'll be out my job. I've sent an inquiry to a local DUI/Traffic lawyer, and will be calling them on the phone tomorrow. But right now I'm freaking out.

What are the odds, or possible ways, I could use to get the ticket off the record? Traffic school, community service, anything that makes the ticket not go on my record keeps me my job. A job I love, and have made a career out of. Obviously the ideal is to get the whole thing thrown out, but I'm so out of my comfort zone on this. I've never sped anywhere, my friends hate me for how much I follow traffic laws. I just don't know even how to approach this. Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you.
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer:
 RCW §461.61.440(2)
> A county or incorporated city or town may create a school or playground speed zone on a highway bordering a marked school or playground, in which zone it is unlawful for a person to operate a vehicle at a speed in excess of twenty miles per hour. The school or playground speed zone may extend three hundred feet from the border of the school or playground property; however, the speed zone may only include area consistent with active school or playground use.

That's where you get the 300 feet

RCW §461.61.440(3)
>A person found to have committed any infraction relating to speed restrictions within a school or playground speed zone shall be assessed a monetary penalty equal to twice the penalty assessed under RCW
46.63.110
>***This penalty may not be waived, reduced, or suspended***.

Unfortunately, you can't defer a school zone ticket. As a result, your lawyer is going to have to fight and get you a not guilty verdict. That will depend on the facts of the case, but it's never an easy slam dunk like traffic school.


Title: Neighbor's agressive dogs

Question: A little background, we have lived in our neighborhood for about 6 years now. After our next door neighbor's dog had died, the husband decided he wanted 3 big Bordeaux dogs. From the beginning, these dogs were straight up nasty. All the neighbors had a close bond and would often gather at the home of those dogs to hang out together. We all got greeted with massive dogs barking at us and giving us warning bites. No one came over ever again. I unfortunately live next to them. I can't walk to my front door without them trying to get over the fence to attack me

Answer: You call the police and report the dog attacks.


Title: I hate my apartments

Question: Ok so I live in this shitty apartment called The Ivy. When payment for rent was due I checked bank account for funds and had like $40 more than needed. Payed on app for them 1st of month. It said payment completed and accepted. Continued checking until the 4th when I dropped below amount. They fucking in 5th (all previous months was on 1st) and at that point charge me NSF fees and late fees. Isn't this illegal? If they are uncooperative what can I do? Definitely not releasing but in short run...

Answer:
 OP- You authorized a payment you didn't have the money for. It's the same as writing a bad check. You're taking zero ownership of an issue that's completely your fault.Answer #2: You are responsible for not spending money you already spent. They are not responsible for you not being able to balance your accountAnswer #3: The apartment complex is not legally obligated to have the money taken out of your account the same day you post payment on the app.

It's your responsibility to keep enough money in your account to cover rent *until that money is taken out*.  The fact that you went and spent money on other things such that your rent payment didn't clear is 100% on you, not the apartment complex.  The fact that they were 4 days later than normal on having the money taken out of your account is irrelevant.Answer #4: No, it's not illegal.  They don't have to cash your rent check at any set date or time.  It's your responsibility is to make sure you make a valid payment as a tenant.  If your check bounced, get them a new check ASAP


Title: Utah - ticket for carrying a concealed while intoxicated ticket. PLEASE HELP!

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If they did not take your BAC then they have to prove you were intoxicated via your actions and their observations. Same as driving.

You have no glimmer from that. Hire an attorney.


Title: Hypothetical: Can someone be sued, or otherwise be made financially responsible for traffic delays that they caused? Massachusetts

Question:
This is a hypothetical question, and is most likely very impractical.  In major metropolitan areas, it seems that there is a catastrophic traffic incident almost weekly.  For instance, I-495 is currently shut down about an hour outside of Boston because of a truck fire.

In situations where a driver is found outright responsible, could they be held accountable for monetary damages related to the amount of time they delayed traffic behind them?  Just to throw out some numbers,  if an accident delayed 500 people 1 hour, causing them to be late for their $15/hr job that would be about $7,500 in lost wages total.

If we take it from another angle, if a gridlock stopped a dying person from getting to the hospital in time for treatment, could the person responsible for the accident be charged criminally, or held civilly accountable?

Answer:
 Offhand I don't see why such a law couldn't be passed, but there's nothing on the books that I'm aware of today that stipulates such things.

As a counterpoint, when you wind up in a car wreck and helicoptered out, you're already having a pretty crappy day. Why would you want to pour salt in the wound by sending them a giant check?Answer #2: Would you like to see car insurance rates go up?

Because that's how you get car insurance rates to go up.

Put yourself in this position. Your tire gets blown out and you pull over on the side of the highway. Well, you're not in the way of anybody, but the rubberneckers all slow down to look at you.

Are you really slowing down traffic? No. It's the rubber neckers. "OH LOOK AN ACCIDENT LETS LOOK AT THE CARNAGE SLOW DOWN".

Nothing better than finally coming up at the accident to find out everything that was involved in the accident is way out of everyones way.

Now, do you want to pay $7,500 in damages because people were ooh ahhing you, instead of minding their own business and going on their way?


Title: Is it legal for an adult to have sex with a teenager who is above the age of consent?

Answer: In most cases, yes. That is literally what "age of consent" means.Answer #2: Note, however, that while the age of consent is fine for sexual relations, it'll almost certainly still be illegal for the teenager produce sexual images of themselves if they're under 18, and for you to possess them, so don't do that, and if the teenager sends one to you, delete it immediately.


Title: If I film something happening in my own home, do I require the consent of all parties being filmed? [Texas]

Question: [deleted]

Answer: If you're videotaping sexual activities (read as in things associated with sex, not the physical act itself) you need to make damn sure she's on board with that *before* you film it. That's a high level of expectation of privacy that I think would trump any consent laws. Answer #2: You would absolutely need to get the consent of *all* parties involved in order to film activities of a sexual nature.


Title: Is it legal to build and live in a home without windows or other obvious structural vulnerabilities?

Question: The exception being a entrance to the home, like a door.

Answer:
 Probably not. Your local code inspector would probably deny your certificate of occupancy. Most residential codes require multiple points of egress from each bedroom, so you'd either need exterior doors or windows.Answer #2: Also, many many communities have anti fortification bylaws in place.  They were created to prevent those of a criminal mind creating anti-police type fortresses.

Not interested in debate about policing thanks... just saying.Answer #3: What are you trying to resist?

* Harsh language?
* Thrown fruit and rocks?
* Arrows and slingshot?
* Small arms fire?
* Anti-materiel rifles?
* Cannon fire?
* Explosives?
* Tunneling and sapping?
* Recoilless rifles and other antiemplacement weapons?
* Fuel-air bombs?
* Nuclear airbursts?
* Direct penetrating nuclear strikes?
* Rods from god?

The answers for defensibility depend _very_ much on what you're expecting to defend the property from, and in a lot of cases, the best answer is actually "be somewhere else."

Furthermore, even if you've worked out defence, you also need to talk about logistics. One person with a sign can't really starve you out, but a 200-person mob willing to wait around for you to come outside probably can.


Title: Police requesting polygraph tests in Homicide case?

Question:
Location: Michigan.
Long story short, two of my friends roomate disappeared months ago. Turns out he apparently killed. The police came and questioned them and took their phones. They've just informed me that the police also requested polygraph tests. First question, are polygraphs even admissible in court? I told them to NOT take the tests. Is that the correct advice?
They told me they already agreed to take the poly tests; if they renig now, could that be used against them in court?

They are both uneducated and poor and cant afford a lawyer. Is there anything free legal advice available to them?
They have not been charged, but Im afraid they may have already spoken to much to the police.
Any advice that I can give them other than to not speak to the police further without counsel?

Thank you
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 “You’re suspected of murder” is about as far past Reddit’s pay grade as it’s possible to get.

Your friends need lawyers (not the same one), and to absolutely not speak to the police without one.


Title: [MN]Does employer have to give time off for bereavement?

Question: My step-dad passed away Friday. I have three days off paid from work. My sister-in-law has been told she needs to work. Do they legally have to give her time off? I know they don't have to give her paid time off, but do they have to give her time off?

Answer:
 Nope. My husband worked for a company a few years back. They had a super shitty policy for bereavement. Basically everyone in the entire company got the same amount of "personal days." No slated bereavement schedule. All the time you took off came out of the same pool. Sick days. Vacation days. Bereavement.

The company had adopted this policy when an employee had two close relatives die in the same year. The previous policy had allowed for two days of bereavement for certain relatives (that were outlined specifically.) A co-worker of this guy COMPLAINED because, by virtue of having more family members DIE... The guy had gotten more time off... and it wasn't "FAIR."

People are assholes.Answer #2: Legally, no.


Title: New parents - what legal arrangements to make? (MN)

Question:
My husband and I are expecting our first baby in 2 months. We are also buying our first house in 2 weeks.  What legal and/or financial arrangements should we make?  We are buying homeowner's insurance and have small life insurance policies with each other listed as the beneficiary, but we do not yet have a will or anything like that.

What should we have at a minimum, and what is good to have just in case?

Answer:
 Congratulations! Children are assholes, but they're the most adorable little shits ever.

You're off to a solid start, but you should both meet with an estate attorney. He or she will likely advise each of you to have:

* A will
* A "living will"
* A durable power of attorney giving a trusted friend or relative the legal right to see that your wishes under the living will are implemented
* A document naming a trusted friend or relative to be your child or children's guardian(s)

P.S. Tell your husband not to order roast beef and gravy from the hospital cafeteria for dinner while you're in labor.


Title: Court ordered counseling was unavailable. Am I going to jail?

Question:
So over the summer I received a ticket for trespassing, I was to pay a fine and receive court ordered counselling, however when I tried to set an appointment with the places the court designated, they both asked if domestic or sexual abuse was involved. Since it wasn't they both told me that they didn't offer counseling for just trespassing. I repeatedly called the court office over the next couple of months and explained my problem and each time they told me they would call me back and never did. With my return court appointment coming up, am I going to be in trouble?

Alabama btw

Answer:
 Do you have anything in writing from the court office that they would call you back?Answer #2: Whose property were you trespassing on?  My guess would be that this would fall under domestic abuse counseling.

You need to get this sorted out ASAP.  When is your court date?Answer #3: I'm not good at using a throwaway.


Title: [PA] Neighbor's Dog On My Lawn

Question:
We've been having issues with our next door neighbors for a while now, almost since we moved in. Nothing huge, the wife is a drunk and likes to throw her husband's things out on the lawn and scream every once in a while (she was committed a while back after my mother called the cops on them because it was near midnight.)  I moved out of my parents house for a while and before I moved out, they didn't have a dog.

When I moved back in 3 years ago (long story), they had a dog, no big deal.  Our town, though, has a leash law and this dog is never on a leash. Ever.  To make matters worse, they don't clean up after their dog. (It's a 10-15lb mixed mutt). It shits everywhere, on the sidewalk, in our grass by where we park our cars, in our front yard... and now it's shitting in our backyard and ON OUR DECK.  In the past, we just cleaned it up, or... if you're my dad, you pick it up and throw it back into their lawn.

In January, I adopted a dog from the local shelter. She's a 60lb cattle dog and not the most dog friendly. Our backyard is partially fenced, so I go out there with her and she does her business. She chases the animals in our yard, she never strays outside of it.  But, the neighbors just let their dog out and then she comes into our yard when I have my dog out... and I'm scared one day, my dog is going to snap at her.  I've explained to them before (after I unknowingly "walked" their dog around the block with mine) that my dog isn't the most friendly and they need to watch their dog.  The wife opened their door up just enough to let the dog in and told me "I don't know how she got out" and closed the door in my face.

I honestly don't want to cause problems with the neighbors. I've warned them about my dog, they know their dog comes into our yard to shit and they don't care. During the winter, they don't shovel a place for her to go, so it's littered all down the sidewalks. They just don't clean up after their dog.  I've contacted the town borough, brought it to their attention.  I have forms to fill out and I need to get picture evidence for them, which I'm in the process of doing.

Are we responsible if their dog gets hurt on our property?

Answer:
 A 10-15 lb mixed mutt is worth pretty much zero, so your liability isn't exactly huge in that regard.

But yeah, if you have a dog, build a fence. Your liability will be increased significantly if your dog causes damage to something more expensive or injures a human being. Also get homeowners insurance that covers this if you haven't already.Answer #2: Why don't you just have the dog picked up? I hate to suggest that but if they won't be responsible for the dog, someone else is willing I'm sure.


Title: Medical Malpractice. Why can't I find any lawyer to take my case? (Names of those involved have been changed)

Question:
04/02/2014

First appointment at OBGYN. (I chose this practice after weeks of research because they are one of the few that have midwives, and offer water birth. The midwifery model views pregnancy and birth as a natural process, and are concerned with physical care as well as emotional and spiritual care. I wanted a natural  water birth, with as little medical intervention as possible (Pitocin, pain relieving drugs, forceps/vacuum extraction) I was told that by choosing this practice, I would be supported in all those areas plus midwife led care is associated with reduction in epidurals, fewer instrumental births, decreased preterm birth, etc.. I was told to watch the documentary, Business of Being Born as a great model of what to expect from a midwife.)

Saw midwife Betty. She ordered a anatomy scan ultra sound (US) to be done on 04/23/2014.

04/23/2014

Had appt. for US. Did not see a midwife during this appt. Sonographer completed the procedure. I was told a midwife (Betty) would review it, and follow up with results in a few days.

04/23/2014 - 05/20/2014

Never received a call from anyone at OBGYN regarding my US results.

05/21/2014

Had another appt. Saw a new midwife, Lois. I explained to her that I had not received a call about my US results, nor did I receive a call back regarding an extreme migraine that lasted for 9 days. Lois left the exam room to check results. When she returned, she was visibly shaken, big scared eyes, looking down, stuttering. She informed me that my anatomy US showed 2 markers for Down Syndrome, a thickened nuchal fold and renal enlargement. She explained that with the time that passed between my US and now, it was too late to measure nuchal fold from an US, and that to get a clear yes or no answer, I would need to get amniocentesis. She then looked at me and said, "God makes special children for special people." At this point, I burst into tears. She ordered a STAT US as well as the amniocentesis at a new facility, Fetal Specialist.

05/22/2014

Had advanced US as well as amniocentesis procedure completed at my and my insurance company's expense. I was told the results should come back in 10-12 days. During this time, because of my midwife's words and actions, my husband, my family, and myself were terrified and filled with despair. I spent this time trying to figure out how I was going to be a mother of a special needs child....

06/06/2014

I was called with results. Normal.

Unknown date- month of June 2014

I requested a sit down conference with Sheila, the office manager of Isis. I explained everything to her thus far and let her know I was extremely dissatisfied about the fact that my US results were obviously forgotten. She was very apologetic and embarrassed.  She said she would research why this happened, and explained that this is not how Isis treats their patients and said, "Heads will roll."

Month of June 2014

Sheila did her investigation, and told me that unfortunately their practice is growing too big, too quickly. My US results should have been placed on the physicians desk for review, and they never were. Also, Betty, failed to follow up as well. Again, I was apologized to profusely. Sheila arranged for me to meet with their in house doula Carrie, and offered her birth coaching/support to me free of charge. I met with Carrie once, she said she had a few patients this month, and that she would be in touch with me next month and from there on, including post partum. That was the last I saw of her. She never called again, and was certainly not there during my birth.

AND HERE IS WHERE IT GOES FROM BAD TO WORSE!

THURSDAY 09/25/2014

Water broke at home at 6:30pm. Spoke with midwife on call at OBGYN. Told to go to hospital to make sure.

Arrived at Hospital. I was given 2 nitrazine tests, first result was inconclusive, second result was positive. Given a very rough, angry internal exam by a nurse (Nurse A). Tried to lighten the mood, only to be told by nurse A that she, "doesn't like doing this." Was told to go home and check with my provider the next day. Small contractions all night.

FRIDAY 09/26/2014

Went to OBGYN to confirm I was indeed in labor. Had positive exam with Julie P.A. Was told to go home and walk, use breast pump every hour until labor progresses. Also told to go to Hospital at 3pm if not sooner.

09/26/2014 4:00 PM

Admitted to Labor and Delivery unit at North Fulton.

Unknown time

Labor not progressing, midwife nowhere to be found. Put on small dose of Pitocin. Nurses aware of my birth choices, stated that this small dose could be discontinued and water birth could progress.

Unknown time

Contractions increasing in intensity. Nurse B comes in and tells me she wants to help me have a water birth. To achieve that goal, she said she would have to lie about the time I went into labor and change the documentation to a later time. She said it was perfectly safe to do, and that it was just getting around hospital policy. She told me the new time she was documenting and told me not to say anything to anybody. Feeling scared, intimidated and in pain, I agreed.

Unknown time

Labor not progressing. Midwife Betty on call. Came in to say hello. Saw her for 3-5 minutes.

Unknown time

Labor not progressing. After another internal exam, it was determined by the nurses at hospital, NOT my midwife, that I only had a partial water break. Nurse explained to me that because I had contracted with  OBGYN, all procedures and medical decisions had to be made by the midwife (Betty) or the physician (Dr. Dumas.) Betty came in and completed the procedure to rupture my membrane the rest of the way. Total time Betty spent in my room, 5 minutes. This is the last I ever saw of my midwife.

Unknown time

Pitocin dosage increasing. I was given Fentanyl to control pain, which minimally worked. I got up to use the restroom. While sitting on the toilet having a huge contraction, Nurse A bursts in, yelling at me for getting out of bed. She grabs my arm very hard and tries to pull me off the toilet during my contraction. My mom screams for her to stop pulling at me, and tells her to let me finish with my contraction. I do so, and get to bed on my own.

Saturday 09/27/2014 1:00AM

Received 1st of 3 epidurals. The anesthesiologist said that in order for it to be effective, I must lay flat for a minimum of 20 minutes. Nurse A made me rotate on my right side, causing epidural to be ineffective.

Saturday 09/27/2014 3:14 PM

Dr. Dumas came in to examine me. Labor not progressing. He advised a C-section was the best option. I was told I would be prepped at 5pm for surgery to start at 6pm.

09/27/2014 5:00- 6:30pm

Received second of 3 epidurals. I was told by the anesthesiologist AGAIN that in order for it to be effective, I must lay flat for a minimum of 20 minutes. Nurse A made me rotate on my right side AGAIN, causing epidural to be ineffective.  Dilated full 10 cm. Pushing with Nurse C. C-section delayed until 8pm. Failed attempt at vaginal birth. Baby is rotated in such a way that he is effectively stuck in my birth canal. No US done, no attempt at external or internal rotation of the baby, and most importantly NO MIDWIFE.

09/27/2014 Unknown time

Received third epidural. I was told my baby's heart rate showing signs of stress. I was rotated again, this time on my stomach with my right leg held high up in a stirrup at an unnatural painful angle. I was left in this position unsupervised for HOURS.

09/27/2014 8PM

My sister came to the hospital to check on me. She found me in the same face down stirrup position hours later. Shaking, crying, and exhausted and in unreal pain, my clothes, hair and bedding was soaking wet from sweating/laboring.

 At this time, my sister demanded to know what was going on and why I was left in that state. That's when the nurses explained that my midwife went home at 3:30. She was not feeling well and didn't even bother to tell me or anyone else. The replacement midwife could not show up until 11:00pm. My doctor was not at the hospital and there was nothing the nurses could do because only the midwife or physician can order any medical interventions. I was left unsupervised, from 3:30 until 11:00PM! The nurses were very apologetic, telling me that my midwife, "has not been the same since the death of her son, and in their opinion she should not be practicing medicine. Nurses concern for me growing. They spoke in quick hushed tones outside my door.

09/27/2014 11:00 PM

Prepped for surgery. I requested that abusive Nurse A stay away from me. During the incision in surgery, I found out my left side was completely awake. I felt everything. I was told that I couldn't be given anything more because if would harm the baby, that I needed to, "hang in there" and as soon as the baby was out, the Anesthesiologist put me out using a Ketamine (a very hallucinogenic drug) When I awoke, Nurse A (the nurse I requested to stay away from me) was alone with me in a recovery bay. She leaned over me, got close to my face and said ,"I heard you didn't want me!" She then sneered at me, and said I will only be getting Tylenol from her from here out.

10/07/2014

Postpartum visit at OBGYN. The entire office somehow knew of my ordeal. I was given many hugs and told confidentially that I should document everything because my treatment was gross neglect. I was seen by another midwife Billy and a new midwife trainee. She suggested that I join a group for post traumatic stress disorder for women experiencing traumatic births.

In the end, my son Grayson was OK. So far (he is 10 months old) he is hitting all his developmental milestones. Thank goodness. The question then becomes was there an injury sustained? I believe it depends on how you define injury. I am NOT happy with how my birth went. It was awful. Horrifying. Scary. Traumatic. Worst day of my life is a huge understatement. My baby could have died during my hours of unsupervised labor. I could have died. I did not walk away from my birth feeling empowered or womanly. No one at my birth was a hero. I was misled, lied too, manipulated. I left my birth feeling broken, beaten down and cheated. I felt like no one there really cared about the most important thing: my child's safety and well-being. Just because my son is okay does not mean my birth was okay, or that I am okay. This is not something you just get over. I have nightmares about my birth. I think about it constantly. My body went into shock mode. I lost 40 pounds in under 3 months. I stopped producing milk for my son. I have constant hip pain from being left in the stirrup, and I have an unexplainable sensation of water dripping down my back from the many epidurals. I never even received a reason or apology from the midwife that abandoned my son and myself. At this point, a simple apology can't undo what I feel in my heart.

Answer:
 You can't find any lawyer because, as awful of an ordeal as that sounds, with no physical injury it would be incredibly hard to recover a reward big enough to justify hiring a lawyer, or for a lawyer to find worthwhile to work on contingency.  The hospital won't want to settle because you weren't injured, and they won't be that scared of ending up in front of a jury because the facts aren't that awful.Answer #2: I read the whole thing looking for damages.

Having a stressful birth is not damages. Having a not fun experience is not damages.

Keep looking for a lawyer who might want to do something with this, but I think you'll have a tough time finding one.


Title: Someone keeps letting their dog poop in my yard. What are some legal measures I can take to prevent this from happening?

Question: I currently live in a suburban PA neighborhood. My house is on the corner of the street and arguably has the biggest front yard in the neighborhood. Because the yard space between the house and the sidewalk is quite big, it seems that some people are confusing this as public property when it’s clearly not (or maybe they’re just rude). People are letting their dogs poop in my yard and it is unbearable now. There are numerous flies infesting my front yard from the 5 large dumps they’ve left almost directly next to my driveway in the past two days so this is clearly also becoming a health issue as well... I just came back from overseas so I haven’t directly seen the culprit do it but this is getting out of hand. My parents are too shy (Asian culture thing? They don’t like confrontation.) to do anything about it but I’m pissed that people are taking advantage of this situation. It’s been years since they’ve been doing this. What are some legal actions that I can take so that this no longer becomes an issue? It’s obvious that they’re trespassing onto private property but they don’t seem to care? Please give me some advice so my poor parents don’t have to suffer and clean up after dog poop that is not from our own dogs anymore. Thank you in advance! :)

Answer: Motion activated sprinkler. Sensor set up where they have to be on the property in order for it to go off. It’ll stop after a few days if it’s just one person. Answer #2: Put up signs saying that the grass has been treated chemically. That'll cause most people to keep their dogs off of it. It's also fairly cheap and doesn't involve permits.


Title: (CT) I keep finding cocaine bags in my college’s parking lot, what should I do?

Question: I keep finding cocaine in my college’s parking lot and I’m not sure what I should do. We have a campus police but I dont know if I should bring it to them. If I bring it to them and report it could I legally get in trouble? Should I just ignore it?

Answer: How are you even sure it's cocaine? People don't tend to leave multiple bags of drugs laying around a parking lot. Answer #2: You can report it but don’t bring them empty cocaine bags. They don’t want them and you shouldn’t touch them for health purposes. Answer #3: Sounds like a pretty wild college. Leave it there. Call the non emergency line and have them pick it up.  Answer #4: Call the campus police and let them handle it from the start. Do not bring it to them, leave it in the parking lot and let them pick it up. Drugs in your possession (even to bring them to the cops) is bad.Answer #5: Mind ya businessAnswer #6: Tell them about it but DO NOT TOUCH THE BAGS. you don’t want to implicate yourself in any crime.


Title: [CAN,ON] Question about a separation agreement after spouse death.

Question:
Someone I know unfortunately had their Father die back in 2015, both the mother and father were on good terms, but decided to split in 2008 due to health situations, (It's very complicated, but considering the relationship was still very good- no animosity)

The mother is recieving survivor allowance through CPP, but in the separation agreement from 08, it's stated that she will not recieve any benefits from him. She says that had she known about what was written in the enormous agreement, and had the lawyer that the husband chose been honest and upfront, she would never sign that away considering the amount of things she DID sign away, again, since there was no animosity, it wasn't like "I'm taking half of everything", quite the contrary actually.

The question is, Since they never divorced and the spouse died before there was an opportunity to get back together, is the agreement still binding?

Thanks in advance for your help, if there needs to be any clarification, please let me know so that the right information can be relayed.

Answer:
 I am not a family or elder lawyer. You want to talk to one of those people before proceeding with this.

In my view, it's not a benefit from him, it's a benefit from the government because her legally-married spouse died. Whether they were on the outs or not isn't relevant.


Title: To take the offer or not? (LEGAL ADVICE PLEASE)

Question: My friend is being charged with 1st degree robbery and 3rd degree criminal possession of a weapon in NY. After speaking to his lawyer, she let me know that he faces a minimum of 7 years and maximum of 15 if convicted. He has an offer to take 3 1/2 years without trial. I asked his lawyer what evidence is being used against him and she said a "not so great video" (suspect had on a mask) and the fact that when police approached my friend 5 to 10 minutes after the reported robbery, he fled. Once captured no money, weapon, or mask was found. So should he take the offer or take his chances with a trial?

Answer:
 Legal advice: listen to his lawyer.  No other advice is worthwhile.

Except floss.  You should always floss.


Title: 3D Printing a gun in a very strict country

Question:
So, little backstory here:

I have a Ted Talk speech I have to present at my school in Singapore, and I decided to do it on technology. There is one particular section of my talk where I talk about 3D printing, and here comes the question.

Singapore has a policy with arms, and it is that **ANY** arms, including air guns, and etc,. There is a severe penalty for possession of "arms", but is the act of printing an "arm" *unlawful*?

Answer:
 Common sense says this isn't a sound idea.

Once printed, who owns the gun? You? But perhaps the most obvious question is *why*?

Imagine someone clearing security at an airport, and as they wait for their plane, they 3D print parts to a gun and assemble it. That doesn't sound good!

Another question you should ask yourself - *Why would you want to construct an object found to be illegal to possess by a certain country within that very country*?

Another point: You're essentially asking if it's okay to bring a firearm to a *school*, in a country that *doesn't even allow them to be owned without permision*.

Personally, if I wanted to 'wow' the crowd, I'd go for something complex yet 'soft', such as a rose or cartoon character.


Title: Kids social security cards and car title stolen at Comic Con Portland, OR

Question:
Sorry guys I know this is a long shot, and I know we are stupid.

 A few years ago I took my kids to Comic Con in Portland Oregon and our car was broken into. Everything was disheveled in the car and while I was pissed, I didn't really honestly think twice about it at that point in time.  Just a bunch of crap tossed in my car.

 At that point in time I didn't understand that my husband had been keeping important documents in a folder in the car.  It was only been recently that I realized that the folder that was ripped apart and torn up across our car contained both of my children's social security cards and our car title.  These are documents that we have not needed at all until recently.

I did not file a police report at the time. I just rolled my eyes and moved on.  I understand now that that was a dumb decision.

We are trying to sell the car now which is how this all came up. My question is primarily about the kids social security cards. How can I find out if in fact they were stolen and if in fact they have been used for anything?

Answer: Put a freeze on your children's credit and file a lost title request for replacement with dmv


Title: Festival forcing you to go "cashless"

Question:
Hello,

I am curious if a situation going on is legal or not. A festival I am attending in NYC, Electric Zoo, after I had purchased tickets informed eveyone of the "benefit" they we're bringing to go cashless. You are unable to use cash or cards to purchase food or drinks. You must preload your wristband with "EZ bucks" which conveniently cary a $1 "convenience fee" per $10 you load on it. Also any funds remaining on your wristband will be retuned to you at the end with a $5 fee being charged.

Aside from being an absolutely terrible business practice, is this legal?

Thanks for any help!

Answer:
 It is. Your recourse is to choose not to go to the festival.Answer #2: Yup. Legal. Don't attend if you don't like the policy.Answer #3: Vote with your wallet.

Don't give money to this festival.


Title: Landlord making us move, won't pay for it (also health hazard). [UPDATE]

Question:
Hi everyone. I am reposting this since I didn't post it correctly before and it got removed. I had a previous question that this is an update for, hence the tag.

I live in Denver, Colorado and have a 12 month lease on an apartment.

Right after Thanksgiving a pipe developed a leak that filled our bathroom and part of a bedroom with about an 8th of an inch of water. It is now January 4th and they JUST fixed the leak yesterday. They cut open walls and just left them open, we had to cover them with sheeting and duct tape ourselves.

The complex has offered us a new unit in a different building for the same rent. That's fine, but we can't move until Feburary 9th, so we just have to breathe mold and not have a working bathroom for that time.

Also, they won't cover any of our moving expenses. Their response to being asked was basically "we don't do that" while acting like they're doing us the biggest favor in the world by letting us move to a new unit when THEY didn't do the maintenance to keep our current one up.

Help?

Answer:
 You can't move until February because of your actions or those of your landlords?

You should kindly instruct your landlord to read Colorado State Law 38-12-503.  Namely paragraph 4 that states:

>In response to the notice sent pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of this section, a landlord may, in the landlord's discretion, move a tenant to a comparable unit after paying the reasonable costs, actually incurred, incident to the move.

This is contingent on two things:

First, your apartment has to actually be uninhabitable.  To establish this contact your local code enforcement or building department.  They will send out inspectors and issue a violation.

Second, you have notified your landlord that the apartment is uninhabitable.  Make sure you have records of written communication to this effect.  If you don't, send your landlord a certified letter summarizing the situation.

Do not stop paying rent, you will have to sue him for damages later.


Title: If we know companies such as Apple are hiding billions of dollars in offshore bank accounts why doesn't the IRS take it or at least threaten the company with legal action unless the taxes are paid? [US]

Question:
Been curious about this for a while now.

>I am in Illinois in the US you nosy bot.
Topic:
Tax Law

Answer: Apple is complying with US tax law. Its money in offshore bank accounts isn't being "hidden" to avoid seizure to satisfy a judgment (they have plenty of money in the US that the IRS could seize more easily), nor is it being hidden to prevent the IRS from knowing it exists (likewise, if Apple executives ordered the intentional violation of US tax laws, the IRS could just arrest them). The money is there because Apple is not liable for tax on it as long as the money is overseas. The IRS can't just seize money because Apple has figured out a way to reduce the tax they legally owe below what people think they should owe.


Title: [Michigan] Is my landlord allowed to charge for 18 months of water/sewer bills after moving out even though no bills were charged, or mentioned, until this time?

Question:
My roommate and I recently moved out of an apartment after living there for 18 months. We scheduled a walk through of the apartment and were confident that we would get our full security deposit back when the complex mentioned no issues. Today, 2 weeks after moving out, we received a letter notifying us that we were being charged ~$750 for 18 months of water / sewer payments which they sub-meter to us. Is it legal for them to request this as a lump sum upon move out even though we were never billed for this during our stay? We certainly would rather have paid the $20+/mo charge rather than a lump sum of $750...
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Does your lease say you or your landlord would pay this? Who did you think was paying it?


Title: My new neighbors dog keeps attacking me and my animals

Question:
I say new, but my neighbors moved in 5 or 6 months ago. They brought 2 dogs with them and recently got a 3rd. The newest dog and the black lab are fine. It's the morbidly obese chihuahua (let's call him PD for problem dog) that's the problem.

Over the past few months there have been many instances where PD has charged over into our yard to attack (I say attack here but it really just seems like he wants to play with them, but gets a little too rough) either a human or one of our animals. We keep our dogs on a lead and stand out with them just in case there's birds of prey (they are very small dogs for the most part). But, the neighbor refuses to get a lead or even to leash PD even after being asked multiple times. The injuries this dog has caused haven't been too severe yet, with the worst being a few times when I got bit trying to get PD off of my dogs. I never seen this as too much of a problem until 2 weeks ago.

It was a particularly nice day, and on good days around this time of year I like to take out my cat. Shes a whopping 5 pounds and almost 16 human years old. I walk around in the grass with her just so she can get some exercise and be outside again (she used to be an outside cat). But on this day PD ran over and by the time I separated them he had ripped out some of her whiskers and bloodied her lip.

Naturally I was pissed and confronted the woman (PD's owner). She was a real bitch about the whole situation and refused to do anything about it. A friend of mine convinced me to let it go considering it wasn't really the dogs fault.

I'm a huge animal lover, so I dont want it to come to PD being put down but I also don't want to have to worry about my animals safety.

Is there anything I can do that would lead to her being forced to put the dog on a leash? Any help is greatly appreciated.

(P.S. my cat is fine now except for a few ungrown whiskers and a fat lip that wont go away)

Answer:
 Build a fence or around your property, or build a catio for your cat, or keep the cat indoors.

You don't have a legal remedy that will result *solely* in making them keep their animals secure within their property. You can call animal control, but whatever they decide must be done to solve the problem is out of your hands. If that irresponsible owner can't or won't make steps to correct the problem and as a result they lose their dogs, that's their fault.


Title: Is it illegal for the babysitter of a 22 month old to invite a friend over to inspect the infant’s genitals?

Question:
Please be kind as this is a very sensitive subject having to do with my little girl.

Quick background (happy to provide more context if needed just trying to keep it short and to the point)

WA State, USA — babysitter to my then 22 month old felt she saw “a very subtle abnormality” (her words) on my daughter’s genitals.

She then invited a friend of hers over, someone I’ve never met without my consent and without any medical education, experience or profession, had her inspect my daughter’s genitals.

Is this illegal? Can I press charges? And if so, can I press charges against BOTH of them?

Also — this isn’t speculative, it’s all written up in a police report

Thank you!

Answer:
 I can understand why you're affronted. That's extremely inappropriate. The right thing to do would have been to notify you, as a parent, and to let you make the call on what to do about it, if anything.

However, it's potentially not illegal, any more than you seeing your kid naked would have been. Someone in a parental or pseudoparental role, looking at their child as part of providing care, or even showing their child to someone else, isn't obviously within the scope of any of Washington's child abuse laws. They weren't using your kid for sexual gratification, and your child was not harmed by having someone provide an unprofessional and likely useless second opinion on a "subtle abnormality."

If you hired your sitter through an agency, report this to them. If your sitter is a neighbour's kid, then talking to their parents privately about appropriate and inappropriate ways to handle observations like this would be a good idea, so that your sitter's parents can rein this in. Otherwise, fire your sitter, be clear with them that you're firing them over this choice, and wait and see what comes of the police report.Answer #2: It is almost certainly not illegal unless it was done for the purpose of sexual gratification, which it apparently was not.


Title: I'm getting constant calls from a Payday loan company. They're owned by a Native American tribe. What legal recourse do I have?

Question:
I'm not sure how they got my information. I've certainly never borrowed money from them. But this company calls me several times a week on my personal line, and once or twice at my office, trying to lend me money at (I presume) outrageous interest rates. As you can imagine, the calls at work are the worst.

It doesn't seem to matter what I say. I've tried being nice. I've tried being verbally abusive. I've ever tried preaching the benefits of unionizing to the call center reps. I've even filed a complaint with the state AGs office. The calls continue.

I was investigating what legal avenues I might have to push back against them, and found this:

>[Company], is a sovereign enterprise, an economic development arm and instrumentality of, and wholly-owned and controlled by, the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, a federally-recognized sovereign American Indian Tribe. (the “Tribe”).

What does this mean for me, from a legal standpoint?

EDIT: I live in Indiana. Sorry, LocationBot.

Answer:
 Have you checked your credit report recently?Answer #2: When they call, tell them you're under 18.Answer #3: If this isn't a scam (there are a few PD loan ones) it could be someone put your number down on a payday loan application. At which point, well, some people have just said fuck it and gotten a new #.Answer #4: Ok so heres what happened: someone used your info to apply for a pay day loan through this company. Its not showing up on your credit report because pay-day loans dont go there. They use the same reports that banks use when opening a checking account.

Pull a copy of your consumer report through "ChexSystems". It will list all negative bank related info; overdrawn accounts, charged off checking accounts, bounced check history etc.

I would bet money on the fact that someone applied using your info  (and was hopefully denied) and the Tribe is just using the info to advertise to you for another loan.

source: Private Investigator specializing in ID Theft, in Texas. Answer #5: Not legal advice. For at least your mobile phone, get the Truecaller app and report/block the numbers as they call. Other people do so, as well, and it potentially reduces the number of calls. Unfortunately, it's not an option on work phone, but it may help at home at least.


Title: ISP lied about coverage when buying my house

Question:
My parents are buying a house in Simpsonville, South Carolina. When making an offer they called Charter Internet service and confirmed, they are the only hard line service provided to the new house. (Excluding satellite and 4g). My parents set an installation fate for Wednesday as they close on Tuesday. Charter did a courtesy check today (Monday) and called my folks to alert them they don't have coverage and won't for 3 months. The hard line is run to the cul de sac, not the extra 200 yards to the house.  Is there any accountability for this lie? Or do we have to how they will start being nice?

Update:
Update: there is more information. The MLS for the house never mentioned internet even though the owner said there is internet. My parents already paid 1 month service and an installation fee. Now charter is trying to add on 12,000 dollars (after they "are being nice about the price") to install it. That is for labor, cable, hardware, and replacing the power pole on the property.

The cable on the pole needs to be x feet above ground and 2 feet below the power line. The power line is too low because the pole is short.

Answer:
 "Lied" is probably too strong of a term for what Charter said.  At best the ISP customer service person told you that the address of the house was inside of a geographic area where they would be willing to install equipment and infrastructure to provide service at some later date.  It's not likely that the CSR had information that said it was availabe then with no further installation required.

Consider yourself lucky if they don't make you pay for the 200 yards of cable and installation.Answer #2: You have no right to Charter Internet Service.  You haven't paid any money, they haven't provided any service. There's really nothing you can do.Answer #3: Call your local cable authority (usually at your county or city offices). Often the charter requires that all homes within X distance of Y have service available (this is what the country trades for the monopoly).


Title: Please Help - My parent was fired today saying her license is invalid.

Question:
The Department of Health in this state (Rhode Island) issued a certification to this particular person in the mid 90's. Now 20 years later, the hospital and state association is saying this individual never completed a required test for the certification and therefor was not "technically" licensed.

This person has been an employee for over 25 years in the position they are supposedly not licensed for and their "Licensing Status" is listed as "Active" on the Department of Health's website.

This person is being fired over this.

Caveats:

The test cannot just be taken because regulations require it to be taken within 5 years of passing the program. (this person passed the program from an authorized program.)

The hospital just got bought out by a for-profit entity, thus increasing my suspicion that it was motivated by bottom line (person was at highest pay scale) and because it is a public entity it was caught in an audit or risk assessment whereas before these would've been more lax.

My questions is, are there any legal stances that could be taken?

Friends, any and all advice or information would be greatly appreciated.

Additionally, this parent carried the health insurance for my sibling who has a serious medical condition. Without insurance I am afraid she will not be able to get the daily supplies she needs to manage her disease.
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer: Your parent needs to talk to their union rep.


Title: In a 2 party consent state, can a person rescind consent to being recording while it is in progress?

Question: I live in Oklahoma which is a one party state but I was wanting to know if in a 2 party state I get the person to agree to a recording if they can change their mind because they think it will end up hurting them later on.

Answer:
 They can rescind consent at any time.  That revocation is not retroactive(presuming you had valid and clear consent in the first place) but it would apply going forward.  You would either have to stop the conversation or stop recording.Answer #2: They can likely withdraw consent which would affect the ability to continue recording, but likely not affect the recording up to that point.

And, of course, they can exit the conversation.

If the question is can I make you delete a recording you made with my consent because I now think it may harm me, the answer is generally no.


Title: Postal Service Stole My Mail Contents - Any Recourse

Question:
Hello, I did not get insurance or anything, I mailed my friend about $100 worth of electronics (fit inside a regular envelope but was lumpy). I dropped it directly into a blue box. He received it and it had been torn from the bottom and contents taken. It went directly from me to the post office to him and it was stolen between the time I dropped it and he got it. Do I have any recourse or is the post office just allowed to steal whatever they want whenever they want?

For context I am in california.

Answer: You do not send electronics in a envelope. USPS has regulations about shipping which you violated. Envelopes go through automatic sorting machines that will rip apart uneven envelopes. Next time you want to ship electronics use a box. You can get priority mail boxes for free. I've been selling goods and shipping them UPS and USPS for many years.


Title: [OH] Fell at work and tore tendons requiring multiple surgeries, cannot start my nursing program. Do I have a case to sue?

Question:
Sorry this is all jumbled I'm very emotionally drained.

June 2018 I fell at work due to negligence (OSHA violation) and tore a tendon in my foot that wasn't scheduled for surgery until November (thanks workers comp). During that time I was in school also working toward getting admitted into a nursing program. I was on crutches for 6 weeks, walking boot for 8, didn't go back to work for nearly 9 months.

Life went on, but two months ago (a month after getting released for full duty) my doctor said my foot might still be damaged. I had an MRI Monday, and yesterday my doctor told me my tendon needs completely replaced. This surgery is more invasive than the last surgery, and it's estimated my full recovery time (to walking without a boot) will be 8-12 weeks, but he's leaning toward 12.

I was admitted to the program set to start August 20th~. The surgery will likely (as my doctor told me) make me unable to be fully functional until September or October depending on when surgery is approved for. This Means I cannot start my program, due to 12 hour clinic rotations, which means I'm 6 months behind on graduating as I'll have to wait until January to start.

Aside from being devastated over a year of my life will be wasted due to this issue, is there anything I can do to try to 'recoup' the wages I'm going to lose from being unable to start? I've read I can't sue if I've accepted workers comp but this feels different. I'm seeing red and I don't understand how it's fair to waste my life, drain my bank account (because im still fighting to get my last pay from the first surgery), and destroy my mental health.

Do I have a case at all?

Answer:
 This is difficult, but probably not. Workers Comp in Ohio is a 'sole remedy' or 'exclusive remedy' program - meaning that if your company covers you under their workers comp policy, and you are injured at work- even through their negligence - you are unable to sue them. Your sole remedy is workers comp.

If you want, I would still recommend a consultation with a workers comp or personal injury attorney. The first visit is usually free.


Title: Custody battle over son with his grandparents

Question:
(I know it's long, please bear with me as I thought it was important to include everything)

So I've also had a troubled past with my parents dating back to around when I turned 14. Being that they are deeply religious and strict I didn't have many freedoms. There was no video games, tv, going to parties and such. I wasn't even allowed to go to school dances! My dad would regularly get physical and sometimes downright abusive when he lost his temper.

I felt social repercussions of these rules. So I started acting out. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be the only one pulled out of sex ed class?

Fast forward to my 16th birthday. This is the earliest date my parents can legally drop me off at the homeless shelter. Literally the day after my birthday they drove me into the city and dumped me off at the Salvation Army. I didn't care. I was just happy to be out of that household. I applied and got a full time job at a restaurant nearby.

That's when I met her, we'll call her B. We hit it off almost immediately. We dated for almost a year and decided to get a place together (I needed to get out of the system). We were just turning 17 when she got pregnant.

We tried to raise him. We really did. And for being two teenagers we honestly did okay. But we were also kids ourselves and our relationship turned sour when he was around 3 to the point where we needed to break up.

Now my parents had been looking after him for the last couple months when it was super rocky between me and B. I moved back home and she got a new place. A couple months pass and me parents present me with an ultimatum. Either I sign over the complete rights to him, of they will stop caring for him and I'm completely out on my own with him. Being fresh off a breakup and only 19 years old with nothing to my name I was helpless. (They cited being able to take him across the border and putting him in school and such as their reasons that I should do it) Believing that it was the best thing for my son and trusting my parents, I put aside my pride and I signed my son over to them. I was 19 at the time. 19. So stupid.

It's been a little over 5 years and I live in the city around a half hour drive away from my parents. B has since moved to another province and had another kid with her new boyfriend. Shes been out of the picture. I go out and spend every Sunday with him. It's our day together so we usually hang out at my place or sometimes at my parents. I work two jobs so my weekends are the only time I can.

Now I asked them if I could take him to a birthday  party in a couple weeks that my current girlfriend (of 8 months) was hosting for her kids. Both her kids (she takes care of 2 on her own) and my son had expressed interest in meeting each other, but this hadn't happened yet due to him being at my parents and her living two hours away. My parents have met my new girlfriend and have admitted to liking her.

They said no. Now I've never given them or anybody a reason not to trust me. They said it's because the girlfriend and I were sleeping in the same bed together and they didn't want him to think that it's "ok" for non married couples to sleep under the same blanket. This infuriated me.  All I wanted to do is spend time with both my girlfriend and my son. I even offered to get a hotel room with him so we didn't have to stay at my girlfriends and I would sleep by myself. They still said no. "We don't have a guarantee that something might happen and you'll just decide stay there anyways." They later admitted it was more about control than it was a moral issue.

What do I do? Do I let them set this precedence so that they can dictate every part of the time I spend with him? I'm in a very different place than I was when I was cornered into signing those papers. I have my own place, a car, stable job and relationship. Granted I have a checkered past  (was arrested a couple times for theft and once for assault when I was under 18 but no criminal record) but shouldn't I still have some say as his biological dad? I've never abandoned him and have been a steady part of his life. Do I bankrupt myself put all that I have into getting a lawyer to try and get some rights back? I don't want my parents to do the same thing to him and try and shelter him from the world. People sleep together without bring married. That's part of society. He needs to figure out right from wrong himself and pretending things don't happen won't help.

I'm willing to drop everything and fight to get him back or at least some rights. Do I have a chance? Any advice? Usually people turn to their parents in a scenario like this but unfortunately they're the very ones fighting me. They've got alot more money than I do and they're dirty enough to try and make me look unfit to parent in front of a court just so they can win. They want him raised (indoctrinated) into a devote Christian at any cost. I don't have a lot of support. Please. Help.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 What specifically happened when you signed over your son to them? Do they have guardianship, custody? Did they adopt him?Answer #2: What did you sign?  Adoption?  Custody?  Power of attorney?

What do you want to happen?  You can't force your parents to parent the way you want.  Are you willing and able to take custody of your son if they refuse to cooperate with your demands?


Title: Wife's son wants to live with us, questions about potential custody battle

Question:
Hello, right away I want to thank you for your time.

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We're looking to move my wife's son in with us full time, as the home life he has with his father has degenerated so badly that we're afraid it's becoming an emotionally abusive environment.

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My wife has equal custody of two children with her ex, the oldest of which turned 18 last year and is staying with us when he is on college breaks.  The younger son is 14 (15 in March), and wants to live with us full time as well.  Up to this point the kids have lived with their father in New York to go to school, and stay with us in Vermont on the weekends and Summer break.

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We've always left it up to the kids to decide where they want to live, and this has mostly been decided by their school and friends being in New York.  Recently the younger son has told us that he wants to live with us and go to school here, so my wife enrolled him to start in the Spring.  When the Ex found out he threatened legal action and a court date on Dec 31st of some sort, but this could be a bluff based on his history.  He can be an extremely emotionally volatile person, and with the older son leaving for college (and pushing back against his father), we're afraid that the younger son has been subjected to mental abuse.

&#x200B;

We really want to just keep her son here after the Christmas holiday, away from his father, which is what he (the son) wants, and just let him go to school here where he is fully enrolled at this point.  Is that a wise move though?  We want to play it smart, but also not subject her son to more emotional trauma than we need to by leaving him in the other environment.

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Should we consult a lawyer, or go to court and state the facts, including that the younger son wants to live with us full time?

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Again, thank you for the time and attention.

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Answer: I’m guessing her custody order is based in NY?  She can’t just keep the kid, in a separate state and enroll him in school without dads permission.  That’s going to look terrible for her when the court orders her to hand him back over and may even put her visitation in jeopardy.


Title: [TX] How do I dispute an ER bill for a misdiagnosis that led to me returning to the same hospital for additional treatment 7 days later? I'm 19 and have no idea how

Question:
At the beginning of September I had to go to the ER due to severe abdominal pain. When I was admitted 4 vials of blood were taken for testing. I spent hours there only to see the doctor for less than 2 minutes, and he didn't tell me he was the doctor, I had to ask a nurse afterwards who he was. He asked me maybe 3 or 4 questions without examining me, and left. I was told by a med student that I had been diagnosed with Gastritis and was told to go home. I asked for my blood test results and she said they were "negative". I asked for a copy of the results and she referred me to the nurse who said no blood tests were run with the blood they drew. I went home.

7 days later I had a pain attack even worst than the first, and went back to the same ER. The very same doctor was there, except this time he actually bothered to examine me and order tests. My blood was actually tested this time and I had an ultrasound that showed that I actually had gallstones and needed to have my gallbladder removed. I was medicated for my pain and sent home with 2 doctor referrals for surgery. In the event that I had a bad gallstone attack, wherein my gallstones got stuck in my bile duct, I actually could have needed emergency gallbladder removal surgery. My point is that, in the time between my first hospital trip and my second, my gallstones could have moved into my bile duct and I could have died without emergency surgery.

I have my bills now, one for $750 (trip 1) and one for $100 (trip 2) My family reached our deductible between the first and second ER trips. My stepmom was a nurse at this hospital a year and a half ago and she told me I should dispute the bill, but she didn't know how I would do that.

Because I was preoccupied with finding a surgeon and getting surgery, I haven't addressed my bills yet. I'm 3 weeks out of my surgery tomorrow. I started receiving collections calls yesterday.

If my medical bills are in collections already, is it too late to dispute my first ER bill?

**How do I dispute my ER bill?** I don't know the first thing about it. **Who do I contact? What do I need to say?**

Edit: I'd like to make clear that I'm not asking for your opinions on my hospital experience, or whether or not I should contact the hospital. I have bolded my questions.
Topic:
Healthcare Law including HIPAA

Answer:
 No they cannot negotiate with you because it was part of your deductible and therefore you would have an issue with your health insurance. Additionally, because you would have ultimately met the deductible when you had the surgery you would ultimately be out the same amount of money. So all of this is a moot point.

And for the record, "I could have died" is not a valid medical malpractice claim.