Title: My mother was raped again.

Question:
I'm using a throwaway for this. And as per the rules, I live in Illinois with my mom.

I am a 19 year old United States citizen. My mother came illegally from Mexico when I was 4 years old, 15 years ago.

When we came here we moved in with my mom's sister and her husband. We lived with them until around the time that I turned 12.

While we lived there my mom was raped by her sister's husband. My brother is now 13 years old. I knew that things at home were odd while we lived there but I didn't find out about all of this stuff until we moved out.

We did take my uncle to court for child support a few years ago.
He's never paid and he's recently become ill. He doesn't have money to pay anyways. My mom thinks that it's not worth pursuing anymore because it'd make her sister's life difficult as well as her kids.

We moved out because my mom met a man who she got along with  great. They have been together for a very long time.

He is also an illegal immigrant. Later on as time went on I found out that they never got married because he is legally still married to ex-wife in Mexico.

Things were okay at first when we moved in with him but they quickly started to go downhill. Right as my mom was going to leave him she got pregnant. She chose to stay with him and endured emotional and mental abuse throughout her pregnancy for us, her kids.

My mom has been through a lot of difficult things and she keeps things bottled up and inside. She doesn't tell anyone not even me when something is wrong, I usually hear about this stuff years later.

Today my mom found texts on his phone that's he's been sending back and forth with another woman.

She broke down and told me that sometimes he rapes her and forces himself on her. That she's terrified of getting an STD and a whole bunch of other messed up shit.

She wants to leave him. She is tired of putting up with all of this but at the same time she feels trapped for the following reasons:

* she doesn't have any papers
*  she hasn't had a job since her pregnancy, she's been taking care of chores/ my brothers
* she has very little savings
* the house is his, we have nowhere to go
* as long as she's been in the US she's never learned English, it's very easy to live where we live without it

I was planning on moving out soon but it seems that things have changed and I have to be here for my mom now. I just don't know what to do.

She is always putting others in front of her but she is unable to think of herself first.

I want to be as supportive as I can be. If we get child support from him with my paycheck I will be able to pay for the bills but it will be tough for a long while.

What are some organizations that I can reach out to?

What are my next steps?

What can I do?

It seems like the whole world has been shitting on my mom and I want her to see that things can be very very different.

Answer:
 She should reach out to women's shelters in the area.  Look for domestic abuse shelters, or anything similar to that.  There are organizations out there that will help.  I am sorry I'm not more familiar with them to be able to find one in Illinois.

I would like to tell you about the [U-Visa](https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victims-human-trafficking-other-crimes/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status/victims-criminal-activity-u-nonimmigrant-status).  This visa was designed for undocumented individuals who are victims of a crime.  This is a way for them to become a lawful permanent resident.

One key requirement is that the victim is helpful to law enforcement in prosecuting the criminal.  That doesn't mean the victim needs to catch the perp, or collect evidence.  Being helpful can be any number of things.  I'd encourage you to have your mom contact the police.  I'd also suggest looking for immigration  help for the U-Visa.  Check with the nearest law school. Some have free or reduced cost legal clinics.  If not, they at least can provide referrals or suggestions of places to look.

I earnestly wish you and your mother the best.  I hope she gets to a safe place.Answer #2: Since you live in a large Hispanic community, there is likely a Spanish-speaking Legal Aid or similar type of service.  Help her look for assistance.  Legal Aid should be able to help her establish custody and child-support.

You should also find her a social service that can help her with emergency funds and find housing.  Most welfare agencies in Hispanic communities have bi-lingual employees that can assist her with finding the proper forms and filling them out.  She should straighten out her immigration status at some point.

Sorry you and your mom are dealing with this.  There is help out there - you'll need to spend some time googling tonight and making phone calls tomorrow.


Title: (Wisconsin - traffic): Cited for not having proof of insurance, realized later that I don't have insurance at all!

Question:
Today I was pulled over for going 15mph over the speed limit. When it came time to produce my proof of insurance, I told the officer that I was "damn near positive that I have auto insurance in my insurance package" and I was trying to find some paperwork to prove this.

After being unable to provide anything, I was cited for failure to provide proof and have to forfeit $10.

Here's the catch though, when I arrived home to get proof, I realized that I only have a renters insurance package being automatically debited to my bank account for the past few years, and this entire time I thought I had auto insurance. I haven't been pulled over by a LEO in quite some time so I does not surprise me that I haven't given this any thought over the years.

That being said, I went and opened a policy straight away to meet the legal requirements for Wisconsin. Question is, what happens now? I only got cited for failure to provide proof, when in reality I discovered I had none at all.

I'm thinking I should just pay the $10 dollar fine and continue life as normal, but part of me feels like I might get mailed a bigger citation? Or maybe I should just say something to the clerk of courts? What is the best course of action here? :)

Thanks.

Answer:
 You can pay the citation you were given.

Renter's insurance is ridiculously inexpensive compared to car insurance- that's a hard mistake to make.  But it's fixed now, so you're in good shape.


Title: Grocery wholesaler took 23 days to fulfill order while we ate a loss after having to buy more food from another supplier, can we do anything?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Did you have a purchase order guaranteeing a ship date?

Regardless, you have pretty good grounds to reverse the charges through your bank since you've reached out multiple times.


Title: [MT] husband terminated from his job for something his entire team told him to do

Question:
My husband was fired from his job as a driver for a beer distributor because a client called in that he was "giving away beer". The other drivers, including the person who trained him and the guy who fired him told him that broken cases were his to dispose of. Yesterday a case broke and he gave the remaining away, today he was fired on the spot for doing so.
Also last week he accidentally used his personal card to full up the company truck and that money is not included on his final check that was written today.
What is his legal recourse here?

Answer:
 Ooh, Montana, the one state with the exception to the at-will doctrine. How long had he been employed there, and does his employer have an official probationary period?  If he was within his probationary period (which is usually six months), he's still an at-will employee.  If he's past his probationary period it gets more complicated; the question would be whether he was fired for "good cause" or, if they told him to give away the beers in broken cases in writing, if that would constitute written policy. See [here](https://dli.mt.gov/resources/faq).Answer #2: IANAL. Montana’s employment laws are different but it seems that your husband was fired for cause. You use two different turns of phrase regarding the beer “giving away” and “dispose of”.... if broken cases of beer are meant to be disposed of, meaning destroyed or poured out, and your husband gave them away (to friends or clients), that could be violating company policy and/or local liquor laws. If he was violating a law by giving away alcohol he’d be hard pressed to fight the firing, regardless of what his coworkers told him.

The gas payment is a separate issue. I recommend your husband reach out again to the company for reimbursement. It could have been a simply paperwork mistake and not an intentional slight.


Title: [GA] Was issued a "too fast for conditions" citation after getting into a wreck. The online ticket portal won't let me pay and says that my appearance in court is required because I'm under 21?

Question: A few weeks back, I was merging on the highway during a storm, hydroplaned, and my car swerved into the far left lane and was T-boned. No one was injured thankfully, but I was issued a citation. After trying to pay it online to no avail, I called the courthouse (Albany) clerk's number who said that my appearance is required because I am under 21 (19). I live about five hours away and have school as well as work on the day of my court date. Is there anyway to get out of this, or do I just have to bite the bullet and make the trip back down there?

Answer:
 You can go or you can hire a lawyer to go for you. Those are your options. Answer #2: Court appearances are an order, not a request. Failure to appear will result in a warrant being issued for your arrest.

You can either make the trip back down yourself or hire an attorney to represent you. The court will not be swayed by the inconvenience.


Title: [TN] Friend made a derogatory statement about another online. He is being threatened with a libel suit. Is there a case?

Question:
There are 3 characters to this story: my friends Emily and Brett, and a guy named Chad (all pseudonyms, of course).  All of us attend the same university.

About a year and a half ago, Chad and Emily, who were at the time friends, spent a night at Emily's house.  That night, Chad groped Emily in her sleep.  Months later, Emily told her group of friends about the incident and we all supported her.  She brought a case against Chad with our university.  Chad's ultimate defense was that Emily was sleep-talking and responded in the affirmative when asked if he could touch her.  The university determined there was not enough evidence to convict Chad.

After this, our friend Brett commented on an article that Chad wrote on a small college news website. (Chad writes for multiple publications and could be seen as somewhat of a very minor "public figure.")  Brett said something along the lines of: "Hey Chad, remember when you assaulted someone and lied about it?"  This comment was unrelated to the article.

Chad's dad, a lawyer, immediately emailed Brett requesting a series of apologies; saying that if Brett did not comply he would sue Brett for libel.

In Tennessee, assault has 3 definitions.  One is "Intentionally or knowingly causes physical contact with another and a reasonable person would regard the contact as extremely offensive or provocative."  In this way, Emily, Brett, myself, and others firmly believe that under Tennessee law, Chad did, in fact, commit assault and lie about it.  (Not sure if it makes matters different, but the incident did happen in another state, where the definition of assault is different.)  We would all be willing to testify to our belief.

My question: does Chad's father have a case?  It seems to me that there is no way to prove that the statement is completely false.  Furthermore, could it be so one-sided that Brett could defend himself in court?  If Chad's dad's threats have significant weight, Brett will simply comply with the demands.

Thank you for any advice.

Answer: That certainly could be a viable libel suit.


Title: [Florida and Georgia] I was charged for a no show reservation at a hotel after I KNOW I cancelled the reservation well within the free cancellation period.

Question:
So in January I made reservations for a best western in Georgia for two nights in March using hotels.com.

A couple days later I made a different reservation at a different hotel where I could use points instead of paying cash. Right after I made the second reservation I went to hotels.com to cancel my first reservation at the best western. This all happened in the middle of January, and they said I could cancel for free anytime before 3/7 (two days prior to my reservation).

Now this is where it gets tricky and no one I've talked to believes me. I never got a cancellation confirmation email from hotels.com. I know I should've made sure I got one, but I didn't and didn't notice until a couple weeks ago when I saw this problem arise.

The problem is the best western charged my credit card a $97.66 no show charge for not cancelling my reservation.

So on 3/12 I called the best western I had the reservation at to try and fix the problem.  I was told to call back the next day when the hotels GM was available. OK no problem.

So I called them back midday 3/13 and lo and behold the GM was not available. So I talked with the front desk associate who was extremely rude, but that's besides the point.

She told me there was nothing she could do because she doesn't have authority to override the charge. So I ended the call with her and called the BW corporate number. The guy I spoke with opened up a ticket for my problem and told me someone would call or email me back withing 48 hours.

Well 5 days passed with no call or email so I decided to email the BW customer service email address a pretty lengthy email describing my problem in detail, with the ticket reference number. I got an email back saying my email was received and someone would get back to me soon.

I should add that at the end of the email I wrote something to the effect of "if no one from the company will help me resolve this issue that I would dispute the charge with my bank before my credit card bill comes due".

Well some more days passed so I decided to give the CS number another call. I was told that since hotels.com never reached out to BW to let them know I cancelled my reservation, I'd have to call hotels.com and try to work it out with them. I tell him I'll call them, but I still want to talk with a higher-up from BW to address this problem of the charge and lack of contact I've received from them.

Oi, OK sure why not, I've come this far.

So I give hotels.com a call and explain the situation to the best of my ability.  The person I spoke with said she didn't see anything that showed I actually cancelled my reservation. I told her that I cancelled it about two days after I made the reservation but never got a confirmation email. I told her I didn't notice I didn't get a confirmation email until just after I see the charge.

So she puts me on hold then comes back saying she called the hotel and they are refusing to offer me a refund. She apologized and offered me a $100 voucher for my next pre-paid reservation through hotels.com.

I told her I'd rather not accept because I don't see any needs for another hotel anytime in the future (voucher would be good for 1 year) and I was afraid if I accepted then the case would be shut as if I agreed to a settlement. She tells me I should be talking with BW to address the problem. I told her I did multiple times and have gotten nowhere.

So she puts me on hold again and after a few minutes a manager picks up, apologizes for my problems and says there is nothing they can do but offer me a now $150 voucher. They say they can't refund me because BW charged me, not hotels.com.  He says the voucher is the only thing that THEY can do, so I accept the voucher and the manager says he will file my complaint, whatever that means.

So now I've got a $150 voucher that I probably won't use, and still a $97.66 charge on my CC that will be due in the beginning of April that I can pay, but it will put a large strain on my finances for the rest of April.

So really I post this asking for advice on what else, if anything that I can do to remedy this.

Answer:
 So you're going to want to file a chargeback on your account.  I used to work in hotels, hotels.com is horrible.  While the CS agent at BW was probably rude, she wasn't lying.  We are pretty locked out of our own systems any time someone comes through a third party (not an employee of BW, but I'm assuming it's similar.)

They have a contract with hotels.com and can only do what hotels.com says.  The best way that this gets resolved is when the customer, calls hotels.com and then hotels.com calls BW to get it taken care of.  I see you tried that, but I can tell you that it is unlikely all that happened.  Third parties are the scum of the hotel industry.

Definitely file a chargeback, and try calling the BW hotel you "no showed" at again, and see if you can get a different manager.  At some point the system will completely lock them out, but keep trying!Answer #2: Don't use Hotels.com. They're terrible.

So, what happened is that Best Western got a reservation that was never canceled. They, justifiably, applied the no-show fees.

Hotels.com didn't do what they needed to do, so they offered you a voucher. Once you accepted that voucher they "made you whole". So, a lawsuit is really out of the question. You no longer have "damages".

My recommendation? See if you can sell the voucher for like $100 to cover the charge and never, ever book from anyone other than the hotel itself again. The hotel itself will usually match the deal that you get through any other website and sometimes they will give you a little something extra on top of it.


Title: If a person attacks me believing I'm a Muslim or something else is it still a hate crime even though I'm not?

Answer:
 >Hate crime

>a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence.

It's just a google dictionary thingy, but it shows that what is important is the motivation. So yes, even if they were wrong, the crime was still motivated by hatred against muslims.

This is a california law thingy, makes it even more explicit that it doesn't need to be correct, only perceived.

>Penal Code 422.55 PC – "Hate crime" defined. ("For purposes of this title, and for purposes of all other state law unless an explicit provision of law or the context clearly requires a different meaning, the following shall apply: (a) "Hate crime" means a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of one or more of the following actual or perceived characteristics of the victim: (1) Disability. (2) Gender. (3) Nationality. (4) Race or ethnicity. (5) Religion. (6) Sexual orientation. (7) Association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. (b) "Hate crime" includes, but is not limited to, a violation of Section 422.6.")


Title: What should I know for representing myself in a dui case?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > My alcohol percentage was a 2.9

No it wasn't, but the fact that you say that shows just how out of your league you are trying to do this yourself. Good luck!Answer #2: You're going to lose.  The amount of things you don't know about how to defend yourself is astronomical.  Even criminal defense attorneys hire other attorneys to represent them in court.Answer #3: OP, get down on bended knee tomorrow and ask, very meekly, and contritely, "Your Honor, I now believe I need an attorney and would respectfully request a continuance in order to obtain one."

Alternatively, "Your Honor, I am dead broke and can't afford an attorney and respectfully request a continuance and representation by a Public Defender."

With any luck, the Judge will take pity on you.Answer #4: You should know to have an attorney represent you because you could be going to jail.

There's likely no other advice to provide. Get ready to lose your license for a *very* long time. Get ready to lose your freedoms. Get ready to lose any chance at a decent career.


Title: Is it legal for a school to curve your grade, and you end up failing your program?

Question:
So I ended up getting a lot of 60-70 this past semester, and that gave me a D+ in 4 of my classes in which I got 60s.

Is it legal for them to curve like that? I thought I had passed my year, and today I end up receiving a letter saying I got kicked out of my program (pharmacy).

Answer:
 Pharmacist here.  OP, what do you think would happen if, of 100 people who had scripts filled at your pharmacy, you only filled 60-some of them correctly?  Pharmacy school is not a joke.  If you're getting 60s, curve or no curve, you're not striving for excellence.  If you're not striving for excellence, then you're saying you're okay with mediocrity.  Far too many people per year die of preventable medication errors to be okay with mediocrity, and if this is your mindset, you have no place in this profession.

You have no legal recourse.Answer #2: Sure.  Why wouldn't it be?


Title: [Florida] Cancer riddled mother, two adult children, online will - time is not on our side

Question:
My mother is 61, living in Florida. She has a house and land that she and the bank own (60k left), is 1.5 years away from retirement with a State job.

She has two adult children. My brother lives in NJ, and I live in VA.

I am here in Florida caring for her and she is about to undergo emergency surgery to amputate part of her tongue and possibly do more - we aren't 100% certain and won't be until we get sent to Shands hospital.

She wants to do a will which would allow for funeral/cremation expenses and give me 10% off the top of any life insurance, and then 50/50 the rest between my brother and I.

She would like for us to sell the house and land after she passes and split any profits for that as well 50/50.

She would also like to leave her paid off car to my daughter (age 16, nearly 17).

Will an online will kit from rocketlaw suffice?

Or would just writing it out long hand work?

This has been a very sudden turn of life events, and we've already been through this once. She gave me power of attorney last time and she nearly died twice then.

This time, we have come to terms with the fact that there is a high chance she won't make it and just need something written down so that things don't become super messy afterwards.

Answer:
 The best bet is to call a lawyer in to do a will. Lawyers that do this kind of work will do house calls (or hospital calls) in situations like this.

Things get messy quite often when will kits are used. They are great for some super simple situations, but the problem is you usually need legal advice to know if your is one of those situations.


Title: Landlord terminating my lease due to lack of payment after not informing me that my payments weren't going through [MA]

Question:
So, I moved into my apartment about 2 months ago. The leasing company has an online portal by which tenants can request maintenance & pay rent. I setup auto-pay for my rent through the portal shortly after moving in and since after the first payment was due I heard nothing from management, I assumed everything was setup properly.

Cut to today where I come home to a notice under my door that my lease is being terminated due to nonpayment. Furthermore, all payment from now on must come by money order or certified check. I'm good for the rent, but was never informed that my payments weren't going through. As of now, I don't know why the payments were not working. I may have input my bank info incorrectly. I can't find out because they have locked the payment section from my account.

I have tried calling the leasing office but they are closed for the day.

My current plan is to call as soon as the office opens tomorrow morning and then excuse myself from work and show up with the currently due rent, plus late fees, plus this month's rent in money order form. My main concern is that in the notice of termination states that paying off the current rent will not waive the notice or cease the eviction.

I'm hoping they will accept my explanation for the late payment, but if they still go forward and try to evict me, what are my legal rights? Again, I am willing and able to pay the rent, but I was not informed until today that the payments were not going through.

Answer:
 > I assumed everything was setup properly.

You didn't notice having extra money each month, in the exact amount of your rent?


Title: [US] My college is going to charge me $220 because I lost my keys

Question: I lost my keys the day before move out day. I had a key to my bedroom door, and a key to for the entrance to the suite. They are charging me 220 dollars to change both of the locks and replace me and my roommate's keys. How do I get around this? Thanks in advance!

Answer: You don't. I'm positive this fee was detailed in your lease/dorm contract.


Title: FHA Home purchased 6 months ago, now 30k in foundation problems. What can we do?

Question: Hello! I purchased a home in Tennessee less than 6 months ago (in August) and now we have found that we have a $27,000 foundation problem. Contractor said the foundation is actually caving in on itself and has been a problem Years in the making. We have a home warranty and home insurance that both said they won't cover it. We also had an inspector come out before purchase (due to FHA restrictions). He did note an outside foundation crack that we had fixed but made no mention of the foundation problems in the crawlspace. Do we have any options before our house caves in? Thanks for any and all responses!  **note- a friend recommend I check here, I am a first time Reddit user so apologies for any mistakes in posting!

Answer:
 You can ask the seller if they had prior work done on the foundation. It's possible that had prior work been done, the vendor had a warranty that applies, or you can go after the vendor for shoddy work.

Essentially, the seller is only liable if they knew the foundation was about to die and did not disclose it. Answer #2: What reasons are your home insurance giving for not covering it? Ask them to cite you where in the policy it says the foundation isn't covered. Also, read your entire policy carefully. It's possible that they do need to cover it.

Your home warranty doesn't apply to the actual home, but to the appliances/systems inside it.
Answer #3: You are probably out of luck on legal remedies.

1. Home inspectors generally have very limited liability and it would be difficult (and potentially) expensive to prove a level of negligence that would change that.

2. As other posters have pointed out, and you know, your homeowners insurance and home warranty are not going to help.

3. It is generally very difficult (and expensive) to prove that the former owner may have known something and that they have liability to paying for the damages. On an issue of this size, they will probably force you to take them to court before they would pay (if they even knew). The court battle could cost thousands.

My nonlegal suggestion is that you call your mortgage lender and discuss the issue. Their collateral will be worth less if it caves in and they may be willing to loan you the money to fix the issue. It's still out of your pocket, but since I assume you don't have the cash, another loan could be the only practical solution.


Title: AZ Landlord requiring us to vacate for house showings.

Question: Is this legal?  Our lease is up in 2 months and we have notified her we are going to be vacating.  The realtor wants multiple 2 hour sessions to show the house and is asking all 4 tenants and our 2 pets to be gone during the showings. Are we legally allowed to deny her request to vacate during the showing as long as we allow the realtor to show the property?

Answer: Does your lease say you have to be gone? If it doesn't tell them no you won't be leaving if you don't want to.


Title: Should I pay a retainer to a divorce attorney for trial?

Question:
Washington State, USA.

I have only one question: considering lack of assets, should I represent myself in my divorce trial or should I pay my lawyer a $10,000 retainer to represent me?

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Background:

Following our settlement conference a few days ago, my ex refused to settle even though both the mediating judge and my lawyer stated that I was offering more than what a court would order. I now have 1 week to decide whether I should pay the 10,000$ retainer for my lawyer to represent me during trial, or whether I should represent myself.

Some basic information:

\- We legally separated 10 months ago.

\- We were married 6 months, we were cohabiting 3.5 years (including 6 months of marriage).

\- We have 2 children, ages 6 and 3.

\- There are still some contentious elements to the parenting plan, but overall it is somewhat agreed upon and based on a previous parenting plan set up for the oldest child when we separated the first time.

\- She has been awarded primary childcare because I am a soldier and have been deployed for a good part of the kids' lifetimes. I have agreed to this.

\- She has not been working for the last 4 years or so. She has just started a new job (part time).

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The main issue is on settling a financial agreement. Because of her excessive spending, there's almost 0 communal property. There is no house, there's nothing. I already gave her 50% of my tax returns, and she has retained the vast majority of the furniture we had (our only communal property) which I paid for. Since we legally separated, I was court ordered to pay the following and have been doing so for the last 10 months:

\- Her rent

\- Her car payments

\- Her car insurance

\- Child support

\- Child care (73%)

\- Spousal support

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I have been supporting her for 10 months since we separated. During the settlement conference, I offered child support, 75% of reasonable childcare (she enrolled our youngest in the most expensive preschool in the area and expects me to foot the bill), and 6 months of car payment after which she must refinance. After her excessive demands, I agreed to:

\- Child support

\- Fixed amount of childcare for 1 year, 75% of reasonable childcare after that (as she requested)

\- 12 months spousal support (as she requested, I've been told a judge won't rule in favour of this)

\- 12 months car payments, after which she refinances the car in her name or she sells.

&#x200B;

She refused this and is demanding 18 months of car payments. There's 20,000$ left on the car and she's expecting me to pay the majority, if not all, of it.

My lawyer has said she cannot be certain what a judge would rule, but it's highly unlikely that he/she won't rule that I pay spousal support or 18 months of car payment. However, there is the likelihood that the judge would rule that I pay about 3,000$ for her legal fees (I previously paid a court mandated amount and she has since run a 7,000$ bill with her lawyer which she hasn't paid, he represented her in a limited capacity at the settlement conference). I cannot be sure about whether or not she will have representation if we go to trial.

Additionally, she's insisting on some changes on the already agreed-upon parenting plan that I'm willing to compromise on but not give in altogether. I currently have the children every weekend from Friday after school to Monday drop off. She wants to change this to every other weekend (I refuse), or Sunday drop off. I'm willing to drop off at 8 pm, but she will want earlier.

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There are other issues: history of domestic violence against me (there was an active restraining order for some time), and she still has not completed court-mandated anger management.

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So, taking into account all this information and considering we don't really have any shared assets: should I represent myself in my divorce trial or should I pay my lawyer a $10,000 retainer to represent me?

(In reality, this would cost me about 12.5k because I have to withdraw that money from my ROTH IRA since lack of savings due to her excessive spending).

Answer: Yes, you need an attorney.  With what she's angling for, you can't afford not to have one.  Her past behavior will probably count against her, especially if you appear rational, but laying all that out in court will look a lot better coming from a lawyer.  You'll be far less likely to be viewed as spiteful.


Title: Can video game achievments be used as an alibi?

Question: At least on Playstation, they have the time and date when unlocked. Could that be an alibi? Ex, this achievment was unlocked on Feb 26, 9:47 PM 2015, the same time the crime took place, proving I was at home playing videogames

Answer:
 > proving ~~I~~ **someone** was at home playing videogames

FTFY.

You can introduce it as evidence, but the existence of an achievement doesn't prove it was you playing.Answer #2: I haven't owned a PlayStation in a few years, but, if the trophy system works like Steam, then I don't think it would necessarily work by itself.

Right now I don't have household internet, so I keep Steam in Offline Mode.  I do have unlimited data and 10GB of high-speed tethering on mobile, though.  Once a week I tether my phone to update my computer.  If I switch Steam to Online Mode while tethered, any and all achievements I've earned while offline are awarded once I'm logged in, but the time and date for each achievement is the moment my account synced rather than when I actually earned the achievement.

It wouldn't be difficult at all to block the PlayStation from connecting until a specified time.  You could make it appear as if you just earned it as an attempted alibi.

However, if you're talking about an achievement that can only be earned in online play on dedicated servers, then that might work.  Of course, you could also request the relevant logs concerning your system/account, which is likely to be more solid evidence.


Title: Went to the hospital recently for excruciating pain, Dr at the ER told me “Your CT scan couldn’t have looked better” follow up next few days with primary care DR and she said I have liver lesions.

Question:
Hello, first time poster here.

Quick background info: I have ulcerative colitis, was diagnosed a few years back, it took me about 2 years of on again off again pain for someone to take me seriously as I was in my early twenties when the second flare up happened. A lot of Dr’s assumed because I was young and looked relatively healthy that I was simply after pain meds.
I moved from California to Virginia this past fall & am in the process of enrolling for healthcare. Recently I’ve been having severe cramps, loss of appetite, fever, chills, diarrhoea, weight loss, and overall very stressed / anxious feeling for the past 2-3 months. I had a weird suspicion it might be my ovaries as the worst of the pain occurred during my mensural cycle.
I went to a lady Dr, who gave me a breast & pelvic exam. She wanted me to follow up with a pelvic sonogram. She also prescribed me 2 zpack pills “as a precautionary measure “. I didn’t think anything of it and took them as prescribed.
I’ve never been more sick from an antibiotic before. I got strep throat, fever, aches, fatigue (sleeping easily 14hours a day), diarrhoea, constipation, and the cramping became ten times worse. The sonogram came up negative for anything.
The pain became so bad that I had to go to the ER. I assumed this was a flare up from my ulcerative colitis, except there was no blood in my stools. I explained all of this to the ER Dr. He barely listened and treated me like a pain pill addict.

A CT scan was ordered. He came back 3 hours later, with the same sympathetic stop wasting your time looking for pain pills expression as before, telling me my CT “couldn’t have been any better” “text book scan” and when I looked him dead in the eyes asking “Then why am in such horrible excruciating pain” he literally put his hands up, shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
The ER was supposed to book me a follow up with a GI as they are able to rush the appointments, I was excited to talk to an expert and get some real answers. Instead I found myself in a primary care DR’s office. I explained the whole story to her, when I was finished she asks me to wait a moment while she grabs the lab results from the blood work & CT. she comes back and gently explains to me I have legions on my liver and that I’ll need to book an appointment for an abdominal sonogram. Not having any idea what liver legions are, I made the mistake of assuming it was some type of ulcer / bleeding due to my colitis. I did ask why no one told me this information in the ER?? & how they treated me like an addict. She simply says sometimes they miss things in the moment as the emergency room can get pretty hectic & Dr’s are overworked.

On the way home I see on google what liver lesions are - abnormal cell growth in the liver aka CANCER?!
I freak the hell out, decide to sleep on this information and called the emergency room today to ask WTF. The kind hearted nurse is horrified, says it’s just terrible that the ER Dr’s treat everyone like a number and then he asks why I didn’t insist on the Dr double checking. I explain that I did several times, I even looked him dead in the eyes and said if there is nothing wrong with me then why am I in excruciating pain? The nurse then asks if the ER did any other tests after that, I said no they sent me home. He literally gasped and said so they sent you home in terrible pain with no answers... Are you speaking to a lawyer?

In summary:
I explained everything to the ER nurses and Dr’s; the exams, 2 zpack pills, fever, chills, diarrhoea, constipation, anxiety, loss appetite, fatigue, weight loss, cramping, bloating, nausea, & throwing up while in blinding pain located on my left side and middle of my stomach. Didn’t miss a detail. Even told them about the on again off again lower back pain. The blood work showed elevated white blood cell count along with a few other abnormalities, which the nurse initially presented as “all your labs are clean and normal”. Scanning the numbers I asked why my blood work is not normal (they list the normal range next to lab results), everything was slightly above or below normal range. She says “well I guess your white blood cells are a bit elevated, that could be anything”. AND WALKS AWAY.
Had my boyfriend with me the whole time, & he was appalled at how I was treated in the ER. They sent me home feeling ashamed of even seeking help, and turns out I may have cancer.

My question to you lovely folks- Should I be speaking to a lawyer? What type of case is this? Is it even worth trying to sue a hospital? How does that work?
Topic:
Medicine and Malpractice

Answer: No, you shouldn't be seeking a lawyer.  Nothing changed from when you went to the ER until the doctor.  You have no damages to sue for.


Title: [FLORIDA] How far can my wife and I move within the state from her baby daddy?

Question: She was served a parenting plan by the baby daddy for 50/50 and went to mediation and what was agreed on was he could have the child every other weekend but we've been doing the 50/50 by my wifes choice. We are looking to move to a different city thats appx. 52 miles from his city. Can we just move or do we need to file anything?

Answer: "Baby daddy"... Ugh.   What does the agreement say about it ? Is it filed with and ordered by the court?


Title: Could I get in trouble for letting a friend use my ID? (USA)

Question: If I let my friend use my state ID to get into a bar could I get in trouble if he gets caught?

Answer: Yeah.Answer #2: Of course


Title: If the police are executing a search warrant and find a locked container, are they obliged to use keys/lock combos made available to them?

Question:
(NJ) The title says everything. During a properly executed search, are there protections in place for locked containers where the owner offers to unlock or help unlock them? I'm thinking of a safe that has been bolted to the floor that would have to be drilled and thus destroy the safe and possibly damage the house.

I'm imagining the simplest possible scenario (no traps, not difficult to access, etc.) with a locked drawer or safe. What about in a car?

Thanks in advance.

Answer: The practical answer is "No", they are not obligated, but most often are willing to.  There are realistic scenarios where using the key or code might create a risk (they think you're stalling, they think it's booby trapped, etc) and if they made an argument like that in court as to why they tore open a safe, I have a hard time imagining the "victim" winning a lawsuit.


Title: Does just knowing someone that does something illegal mean you're guilty as well?

Question: I am just curious because I have bad anxiety and i know a lot of people and have a lot of friends. Anyways if say you know someone and they go out and do something illegal and you didn't know about and you weren't there and you in no way helped would you be guilty just because you knew them? For example i am a part of a role playing group with people from different states. If one of them (one of the individual people) were to do something illegal and got into trouble would i be guilty just because we were a part of the same role playing group and knew them? Like if I wasn't there, I didn't know about it and I didn't help. I'm just worried that being a part of a grouo means I'm also guilty for knowing the people and having a mutual group i am a part of and that I'd be responsible for other people's actions. I'm in the United States.

Answer:
 No.

Is this a vampire LARP?


Title: I may have inadvertently alerted myself to the FBI for something I did not do. What do I do? Am I worried over nothing?

Question:
Earlier today on /r/gentlemanboners I saw [this post](http://www.reddit.com/r/gentlemanboners/comments/2a1idc/geri_burgess/) of model Geri Burgess.  Out of curiosity I did a followup search for Geri Burgess and came across this [comment](http://www.reddit.com/r/Upskirt/comments/28sahz/geri_burgess/cil60i8) which led me to the first link provided in that comment.  I clicked on some of the pictures provided in that [link](http://peachy18.com/t/geri-burgess-zishy-428680.aspx) and one of them took me to a site that said my IP addresses had been sent to the FBI.  I close out pretty quickly, but I remember it saying something about me being under suspicion for child pornography and copyright infringement.  I don't understand, I was just browsing around and didn't intend to for any of this to happen.  I think it's possible that it might be a false alarm, but I don't know how to be sure.  Am I worried over nothing?  What should I do?  If it matters, I live in metro Atlanta, GA.
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer:
 The FBI does not notify people of their investigations through pop ups on your browser.

You have nothing to worry about at all (from this incident).


Title: Crazy GF terrorizing family

Question:
Don't know what to do in this situation so I thought I could ask you guys for help. One of my close family members (lets call him John) has a son with his GF (let's call her Mary). Mary doesn't work, she doesn't watch their son when John is at work. Often times another family member will go to the house and the kid is by himself just banging into stuff in a full diaper(hes 2). She doesn't change his diaper, doesn't clean, and treats John and her son like crap every waking moment.

He just called me balling. He never cries. It hurts. He says hes overwhelmed working all day cleaning watching the kid and taking abuse from her all day. He wants out, but doesn't want to leave his child with a neglectful abusive person like her. She threatens to take her son away if he leaves her or doesn't do as she says.

What is he able to do? Set up cameras (is that legal in Washington)? Call CPS? How would he prove this in a court?

Also possible she could be going out doing drugs and having an affair. Nobody knows what she does...

Thanks to any legal person that could give me any advice in this situation.

Topic:
CPS and Dependency Law

Answer:
 If the child is being abused, someone should make a CPS report. You can also do this.

They will investigate. Custody is an issue to be solved at a later date, but he should certainly contact an attorney.


Title: Arizona, Can I revoke a signed doc granting "the absolute and irrevocable rights to use my name"

Question:
I didn't catch this item in a recent agreement:

> I hereby give XXX, the absolute and irrevocable rights to use my name, quotes and/or photos and images, video and multimedia images, and/or for any purpose which may include, but not limited to educational studies, educational training and educational instruction.

Is this tenable; can I send them a certified letter revoking this?

Answer:
 This is similar language to what we have people sign when they are hired, but I've never had anyone sign this for an interview.

For employees this just means that if we run through the office filming people for an instructional video and say "here's Larry working on project XXX" that we can use that at a trade show, or on a website, or internally. And Larry can't stop us. (Larry will probably try, he's just like that, but he'll fail.)

But again, I can't imagine why you'd need this for an interviewee. Though perhaps I lack imagination.Answer #2: Did you receive something in return? Answer #3: Simply put I don't know, there is a lot of context missing here and depending on the situation you might want to talk to an attorney.


Title: Help enforcing trespass rights/easement issues (PA)

Question:
Thanks to all in advance for reading and responding!!

[Here is our little slice of Heaven.  .76 acres Zoned A-1. Pennsylvania](http://i.imgur.com/pSfInEr.jpg)

My wife bought a house in 2007 (green square in red property lines).  It is a land-locked property which included easement (dotted black line)rights across JB's (a tiny sliver) and CB's property to the main county road (solid black line).  Our deed also states that we own the property *after* the easement.  I also have a survey and a title search report from 1987, which researches the deeds all the way back to 1926 (appx).

When the Walkers (OWF) subdivided to RR, they includes an easement across the RR property to the OWF, ISAOA.  Then RR then subdivided to the owners of the property that would become my wife's.  Her deed acknowledges the OWF easement.  I am not entirely sure WHO is included in the OWF ISAOA.

Two weeks ago, two men approach me and tell me that one of them is planning to build a house (purple square), and he is going to demand easement rights to use Knight Lane.  I advised him that Knight Lane is private, according to the township, and he would have to get permission to come across our property to access his build site.

Four days ago, the same man, and the owner of the property to the north (MW) came to my house, *parked in my driveway* and proceeded to explore JB's property, thinking it was his own.   We argued for a few minutes, and I showed him my paperwork, as I had been researching this already.  He refused to leave, I called the police.  Make it short, the responding officer chalked it up to a civil issue and refused to trespass them from my property.  The cop actually left before they did.

First thing's first.  Knight Lane is a grassy farm lane, a reddog lane according to the deed (the green line indicates where the lane is impassable due to vegetation, etc.).  The only other easements in my wife's deed is for oil wells (besides the OWL/RR/ISAOA easement clause), but those lease agreements, according to the deed, are long expired.  They will have to expand the lane, clear trees, gravel/pave in order to get any kind of building equipment to his build site.  Knight lane is not wider than 10 feet with a 8 ' clearance.  It is also a steep grade, which will make a very treacherous path in the winter.  Any kind of lane maintenance in the winter will ultimately affect the condition of my property, as my gardens back right up to the unused part of Knight Lane, and I will have all kinds of debris in **my** backyard when they maintain the lane in the winter.  In addition , in the summer, the grass on Knight Lane reduces the amount of water that runs down the hill onto my foundation.  Graveling the lane will create a lot more water issues than we already have.

Also, there is a privacy issue.  I invested over $8,000 and an entire summer to make the backyard my wife's oasis, and with neighbors living in a formerly very private and quite place, we fear our reasonable el expectation of privacy which we have enjoyed for 8+ years will be gone.

Do we have to allow access to the new builder if he has no permits or anything at this point in time?  What is my recourse to stop building?  If he intends to use the Lane, dies he have to post building permits at the end of the lane?

As for MW, how do I keep him away?  He is not a nice character, and I think his presence on my property will create an un-peaceful situation.  It is obviously shown on the property survey that MW does not own the land nor does he have the right to use my land as easement to the southern part of his property.  He has provided no documentation as to his right to easement to the back of his property, **which he is now planning to sell to the builder**.

I have posted no trespassing signs, and I have told the builder, twice, he is not welcome on my property, and MW once.

And, as for the cop, what can I show him, short of a court order, to compel him to enforce my property and security rights?  It was a situation of his word vs. mine, and one would think that the owner of the property is the default in this situation.  I don't get it.  Should I call the police again if they come back? ask for a supervisor if I am unhappy with the officer's solution?

Thanks, again, guys and gals!  If I have to get a lawyer, I will need a good referral.  Keep me in mind if you're in PA.
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 > And, as for the cop, what can I show him, short of a court order, to compel him to enforce my property and security rights?

Nothing.  You cannot compel the police to do anything.

Your best bet, right now, is to hire an attorney to review all the documents, determine who has rights to what, and to determine what legal action might be taken.  An injunction or other court order is more likely to be enforced by the police.


Title: Are drug driving convictions worth fighting? (UK)

Question:
Hi all,

I was recently arrested a few doors away from my house as I tested positive for cannabis on the swab. I also had cannabis on me and will be charged for possession also, but my main concern is the drug driving charge.

If anybody could answer the few questions I have I'd be very grateful:

1. I noticed that a lot of solicitors claim to have 90% and above success rates in keeping clients licenses from being revoked. Is this true or an exaggeration?

2. This is my first criminal offence and I've been quoted from 3k to 12k, what is a reasonable price to be paying for this type of case?

3. Can anybody recommend any good solicitors that are affordable to go with? My budget is 6k

4. Is a drug driving charge even worth fighting? I've been told that it's extremely difficult to keep your license after being charged.

5. Does anybody know of someone who has successfully avoided losing their license?

I rely heavily on my license and any answers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance !

Answer: Head over to /r/legaladviceUK for this one.


Title: Debt Collector continuing to call me and contact me after debt validation letter was sent, but no validation paperwork was sent back to me?

Question:
So about 25 days ago I got a letter from a debt collector saying I owe $XXXX from an account I've never heard of. I sent a debt validation letter immediately. Within the last 25 days since sending it, I've not received any paperwork back but they continuously call my phone, which I believe is a huge violation of the FDCPA.

What's my next step? I'm approaching the 30 day mark of no validation...I always see mixed information regarding consumers taking legal actions against collectors after the 30 day mark.

Any advice appreciated.

Answer: In your debt validation letter, did you use language to cease and desist contact by phone?Answer #2: Have you requested the validation through a letter sent through registered mail??Answer #3: Location?Answer #4: I forgot to add that debt collectors do not have to respond to a validation request within 30 days of receiving your request.


Title: Roommate admitted to urinated on my toothbrush, what can I do?

Question:
I live in California.

Edit; It was in an SMS Text format.

Answer:
 I would buy a new toothbrush if I were you. Answer #2: Why do we get a page of useless detail on all the special snowflake threads but the one thread with an actual hook has nothing?Answer #3: Get a new toothbrush.  Lock up said toothbrush.

Report him to the police, if you want.

Move out, if your lease allows it.Answer #4: Get a new toothbrush. Get a new roommate/living situation. I guess report it to the police if you want? It technically is some sort of... I'm not 100% sure exactly what offense would be committed here but I have to imagine it's illegal to nonconsensually pee on someone's toothbrush.


Title: Getting prepared for a legal furball around our previous residence (long)

Question:
This is an issue still in the early stages of developing, but *something* is going to happen and I want to be prepared. This is a bit long, but some context is necessary.

**Background**

My roommate (who we'll call J) has to move out of a bedroom he's been renting, as his landlord is selling the house and moving in with her soon-to-be husband (who we'll call P). P is also moving out of his house, which is in a very desirable area and which he owns outright. P wants to sell the house a couple of years down the line, but until then, he offers to let J stay there for a reduced rent in return for keeping it clean.

Now, this house is a piece of work. It was built in the 60s and has never been renovated. There are asbestos fibers in the walls, the foundation is uneven and slipping (you can actually see the wall starting to crack in several places), and the pipes are substandard at best. None of this bothers J, especially since he's getting it at substantially below market value. A couple of years pass, during which I move in to the spare bedroom (with P's approval). As a hobby, J has been documenting everything wrong with the house and the estimated cost to fix.

Late last year, P announced that he was going to sell the house, and mentioned something about letting J have first crack at it if he wants to buy. Now, there's no way J could afford it on his own, but we figure out that together, we may be able to scrape up enough. J put together an offer: the cost of the house *minus* $300k (which incredibly enough was the total cost of fixing everything that was wrong) for an as-is, no-hassle sale. He included all the documentation about what was wrong and how it should be fixed. At the same time, P got a realtor, who insisted that he could get more than market value with a few quick fixes. P decided to go that route, no hard feelings, and J and I rented a much nicer townhouse that doesn't slope downwards towards the back.

**What's Happening Now**

Yesterday, J talked to our old neighbor. *Apparently*, the new owner of the house is furious. The neighbor obviously only heard one side, but the owner claimed that the realtor told him the pipes had been replaced, foundation repaired, etc etc etc, but had straight up lied. Now the owner is digging through the house and finding more and more of the issues we had documented and presented to P and the realtor. We're not sure how much P knew about this, or what exactly the realtor told the new owner.

**Questions**

Do we have any responsibilities here? We still have all of the documentation of the issues (including pictures and even quotes from contractors to get things fixed). Should we provide this to anyone? Is there a chance we could get subpoenaed or something similar is there's a civil action? Any other advice?

Thanks!

Answer:
 No, you have no responsibilities.

You should keep the documentation, pictures, etc; there is a chance you or that info may be subpoenaed.  Until that happens, though, just stick in a folder somewhere just in case to cover your asses if something ever comes your way for it.  Otherwise, it shouldn't have anything to do with you.


Title: Parents clear out 17 yr old (days from turning 18) child's bank account; legal? (r/asklaw crosspost)

Question: Was wondering if there is any legal action to be taken against the parents of a 17 (18 on June 28th) girl whose parents cleared out her bank account after she had graduated from high school 1 year early and has been working for this past year, saved up $12,000 from paychecks, parents cleared out the minor's bank account to keep her from moving away. Girl is in Texas, wages she earned were Washington state, if that matters.

Answer:
 Not a TX lawyer, but define legal.

As in criminal, no. Prosecutors and the bank won't get involved.

Civil though she may still sue. Joint checking accounts come with a presumption that they have equal rights and ownership of the funds. This is mainly to protect banks and make their lives easier.

That said, a presumption can be rebutted by evidence. If she earned the money working and the parents never contributed to the account they wouldn't have a reasonable expectation of ownership.

All of that said she would need to talk to an attorney in whatever state she and the parents live in (Texas I believe). At $12,000 she has exceeded small claims limits, so she would need a lawyer moving forward.

This link may be helpful for you:

https://www.mysanantonio.com/life/life_columnists/paul_premack/article/Does-a-joint-account-grant-legal-rights-to-the-6820349.phpAnswer #2: OP she needs to find out if the bank account was a custodial or a joint account. (A custodial account means that they opened the account for the minor, a joint account means that they opened it with the minor). If it is a custodial account then that is theft and she has the legal ability to get the money back. If it’s a joint account then she is SOL in terms of the legal system.

See https://www.frostbank.com/personal/investments/education-funding/custodial-accountAnswer #3: Are the parents co-signers on the account?


Title: [Ohio] Girlfriend's mother is threatening legal action over use of car that she consigned for on the lease

Question:
My girlfriend [21] needed her mom to cosign on her car lease to get a car. Her mother has never paid a single penny on the lease and my girlfriend has paid everything for it and has the proof. Yesterday her mother violently attacked her and forcibly took the keys, threatening to call the police if she took the car.

I spoke with a local judge and asked for advice, he said to absolutely go file a police report. When we went to the police they were no help whatsoever. They forced my girlfriend to make a compromise with her mother. Mother is still threatening to call police if she uses the car for anything but work.

Girlfriend and her mother both show up as owners on the registration, so what kind of recourse do we have to solve this and make sure that my girlfriend isn't trapped there? She is, at least temporarily, going to live with my parents, and the long term solution will be to never go back to her mother's house.

Answer:
 What is she planning on saying to the cops? "My adult daughter is using a car that she partially owns and I don't like it." Mom can't tell daughter not to use the car, but mom could also show up with a key and drive off and there's nothing your GF can do to stop it.

Where agreement did the cops have her make? And what do you mean "forced?"Answer #2: Take a closer look at the title. If they're listed as "Jane Smith and Joan Smith" you don't have a lot of options, but if they're listed as "Jane Smith OR Joan Smith" you can go down to the DMV first thing Tuesday morning and get the car retitled solely in your girlfriend's name.

Either way, your girlfriend can have a locksmith or the dealership change the locks, and she can keep it somewhere her mother can't access it.


Title: Room-mate maybe committing scholarship fraud (PA)

Question: Several months ago, my roommate asked a technologically savvy mutual friend of ours if he would help her forge her transcripts and write fake letters of recommendation for her scholarship applications. He did so, but I'm not sure if she actually ended up submitting those documents. She is now on several of the aforementioned scholarships to pay for her tuition. Should I contact her scholarships and let her know I suspect she lied? She wants to be a lawyer (ironically), and I've looked up the consequences for scholarship fraud. It would pretty much ruin her life, and I'm not sure what would happen to our mutual friend who helped her make the documents. My roommate and I are not really close, but I still feel kind of bad even though it's probably the right thing to do. And if I do turn her in, when should I do it? Am I supposed to wait until she takes the bar exam in several years or should I just do it now? I know everyone thinks all lawyers are liars anyway, so maybe she's just getting a head start on her career...but am I really supposed to allow this to continue if I know it's happening? There are kids out there who actually worked really hard for those scholarships and rightfully deserve them.

Answer: ...I would mind my business. But I'm also a terrible person.


Title: Massachusetts: Landlord broker is insisting I pay $2500 brokerage fee even though I signed no lease, and it was never indicated to me that I would have to pay a brokerage fee if I did not sign a lease, do I need to pay them?

Question:
The only reason why I'm asking this is because they did run a credit background check which I paid them $30 for. Thus, they have all my credit information and could easily submit this to a debt collector.

Here's the story: I went to check this place out, and took the tour. It seemed alright and the previous tenants had a dog, so I just assumed that pets were allowed. My roommate and I submitted our information to them for credit background checks, and those came out clean, so they said they would like to move forward in the application. They sent us an invoice of $2500, and we basically told them that we wanted to see a lease before we paid anything, but at no point in time did we agree that we would pay if we saw the lease, and they did not solicit or specify that transaction either. These guys took forever in getting this lease prepared and we found another place that allowed pets in the meantime, so we went with that, and told them that we weren't interested anymore when they finally got us the lease which didn't allow pets. Now, 7 days later, I get a reminder from them that I have to pay the $2500 invoice.

I have not contacted them in response to this reminder.

Do I have to pay the invoice?

Should I get legal representation prior to telling them that this was never solicited, nor did I sign anything requiring me to pay them for their invoice.

Thanks!

Answer:
 When you say it took them forever to prepare a lease, how long was it?

You’ve already told them you’ve found a separate place, what was their explanation for why you still owe $2500?

I don’t think you need a lawyer at this point. They still have to actually come after you for the money.


Title: [AZ] On STD leave as of 5/26, fired 6/20. Employer then termed ALL insurance policies retroactively (5/31) [x-post /r/insurance]

Question:
I [posted this before](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/6ki2m0/az_on_medical_leave_526_fired_620_health/) and was directed to the /r/insurance sub, back now with a strictly legal question (see bold text).

**TLDR:** [AZ] On STD leave as of 5/26, fired 6/20. Employer then termed ALL insurance policies retroactively (5/31).

.

**QUESTION:** My husband carries our health insurance and is on short term disability (last day worked 5/26). He is not eligible for FMLA (length of employment), so they're legally able to term his employment, which they did on 6/20. The company then sent in paperwork to term ALL insurances policies, including the STD policy, as of 5/31. He was still in the hospital on that date.

I'm under the impression [they can't do that](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/45/147.128). How do we get them to undo it? If **we want to consult with a lawyer about this issue before discussing it with the company, what type of attorney is appropriate?**

.

>**MORE BACKGROUND; LONG:** *On 6/1, I called HR to ask about applying for short term disability. They said he had coverage but the waiting period was 2 weeks. I asked HR whether they paid insurance premiums in his absence; they said we would repay them upon his return. He attempted to work with restrictions on 6/2 and was told to go home until he was 100% healed (fear of a workman's comp claim).*
>
>*HR signed the STD application on 6/8, and we have this paperwork. We also applied for state benefits, which required verification of his employment on paper; HR signed this as well, on 6/16.*
>
>*We have now received a notice from the STD insurance carrier that the policy was cancelled. Not only do we have a financial need for those benefits to continue, but I'm afraid this might mean we'll have to repay anything we've already collected. The health insurance provider said any medical care for the month of June may become our financial responsibility.*
>
>*On 6/30 I discovered our medical insurance had been retroactively cancelled when picking up an RX. I couldn't pick up the medication and also had to cancel a doctor's appointment I had that day. His former company was not answering office phone calls, likely due to the holiday weekend.*

.

Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it.

Answer:
 Ok I have no clue why no one has yet to post here in 14 hours with 75 frickin upvotes.

This is not an easy to to handle. First I would try talking with the insurance company. Inform them of the termination notice you received on 6/20.

IF they refuse to play ball then you will need to get a lawyer who specializes in insurance claims and disputes.

http://www.azbar.org/FindALawyer

This should be your first stop to finding the lawyer that fits your needs.Answer #2: Find an ERISA lawyer in your state.


Title: [NJ] preventative Tree law question

Question:
My recently purchased property has a tree hanging low over the driveway from the neighbor's property (40'+ tree, uncertain species) , with about 40% of it's branches over my property (trunk is right at the property line).

I believe that I am allowed to trim overhanging branches, but I am not sure, if it involves a substantial risk of damage to the tree, how that would be handled.

Is there any realistic legal or financial liability from contacting the property owners and ask them to arrange for the removal of the tree/ tree branches, and if they refuse / do not respond ( Foreclosure property), proceeding with trimming the tree essentially at the property line, even if it damages the tree permanently?

Answer:
 Contact a local arborist about trimming the tree. In general you can trim a tree that overhangs your property, but if you kill it you'll be responsible and fully mature trees are incredibly expensive. If you just start whacking off branches you will kill it and end up owing the owner major cash. Answer #2: Try contacting the property owners first to establish a friendly relationship. Explain the state of the tree, and ask whether they would agree to you trimming the branches on your side of the property or go 50/50. Most arborists dealing with property line issues require signatures from both parties in my experience. You could also review a survey to determine if the tree is fully on your side or not.

If the property owners refuse to pay for the tree trimming or consent to the trimming, then you can ask the arborist in question what their policies. They can review the state of the tree. Any imminent problems like rotting out can be identified and sent to the property owners, and go ahead from there. If you chop the tree back and it's on their property, however, they can try to recover fees from you.


Title: Friend committed robbery while drunk

Question:
Last night my friends and I went out to some bars. One of my friends got so drunk he ended up stealing a keg. As he was walking away with it he decided to run but didn’t even cross the street. He is being charged with “Assault with ready weapon.”
What is going to happen to him and what can be done to help him? Not sure if this would help but he’s a fourth year electrical engineering student and has been pretty responsible with his studies. Also this happened in California.

Edit: “Assault with ready weapon and robbery”
He didn’t have a weapon on him, I think the keg is being called a weapon.
Topic:
Alcohol Related Other than DUI

Answer:
 1. he needs a lawyer
2. he could go to jail, he could pay a fine.
3. nobody really cares about his studies at this point in the game
4. he needs a lawyer.


Title: Could SDNY / Fed Judge just take Hannity’s words that there was no transaction or whatsoever between him Cohen, and render there is no privileged information about Hannity (HI) on Cohen’s hard drive, and hence make HI either public or for further investigation?

Answer:
 No.

First, here's Hannity's statement:

"I've known Michael a long, long time. Let me be very clear to the media. Michael never represented me in any matter. I never retained him in the traditional sense as retaining a lawyer. I never received an invoice from Michael. I never paid legal fees to Michael. But I have occasionally had brief discussions with him about legal questions about which I wanted his input and perspective. And I assume that those conversations were attorney-client confidential."

Hannity is absolutely correct in his assumption: if he's talking to a lawyer about "legal questions" then those questions and the responses are almost certainly privileged.

Second, Judge Wood has already accepted that there was sufficient relationship to warrant attachment of the privilege, a production and review by Cohen's team, a search term review by the USAO, a follow up conference with the Court, and then assignment of a review by an independent special master or panel on privilege.  This, to me, along with the fact that Judge Wood hasn't even floated the idea that in camera review would be likely or useful, tells me that she's not going down the road of whether privilege attaches due to an attorney client relationship -- she's going down the road of deciding which documents are and aren't properly subject to the privilege (or WPP, for that matter) because of their content and authors.

This investigation is probably the most high profile investigation happening today, and perhaps one of the most high profile in history.  There is absolutely ZERO chance that a judge as experienced as Wood is going to take chances or play games with who said what about the relationship and privilege.


Title: [CA] Can my manager/property management raise my rent $600 more than it is? Month to month after staying here for 20 years

Question:
Edit: los Angeles specifically.

My manager said that the property management noticed we're paying $950 for a 2 bedroom and that since a 1 year old (grandson) moved in without notice, they're raising rent up to $1600. So that's the reason they want to raise it.

I'm pretty sure it's legal from what I tried finding, but is there at least a limit to the increase (can it be any amount they want?) or at least a month notice? Because they want it to start next month after telling us today, giving us less than 3 weeks.

Thanks everyone, just nervous!

Extra info: The building wasn't made before 1978. From what I read that can determine whether or not, but I was honestly a little confused reading it.

Answer:
 Good source to read: http://www.caltenantlaw.com/LARSO.htm

I'm going to assume you don't qualify for rent control laws: LL/property management must give you 60 days notice to increase your rent; because you have lived there longer than a year.


Title: My mother gave my sister 4K of my student loan

Question:
Hello,

I just found out that my mother co-signed on a student loan for me and she gave $4,000 of it to my sister. I am not sure which loan it is, but there are a few she co-signed. Unfortunately I have no proof other than what I was told. The only way I could prove it is by getting access to their bank accounts, which they would never let me have access to.

I cannot afford a lawyer, but I was wondering if there was anything I could do. I live in Texas. I confronted my sister about it, but she refuses to pay me back. I do not speak to my mother anymore because has continued to do things like this to me.

Is there anything I can do? Or are my options bleak?

Thanks.

Answer:
 The limit for small claims in TX is $10,000. Sue your mother for $4k + filing fees (somewhere between $70-200 for most states).

This assumes you can prove your mother took the money. This will burn whatever relationship you have with your mother. You should being printing any communication between you and your mother in which she mentions this $4k.Answer #2: This whole thing sounds strange. It's simply impossible for a "co-signer" to access your loan proceeds without (1) your cooperation or (2) getting a fake ID in your name, intercepting your mail, and forging your signature on the proceeds check.

There's no legal remedy for you at this point because you have so little information, and you don't even know if the little information you "were told" (by someone, somewhere) is true.

You need to gather a lot more information before you try to do anything, including:

1. The amount of the loan proceeds that was disbursed
2. The names of the people who the checks were payable to
3. Whether the checks were paid, and to who

Since you are the borrower, you have access to this information from the lender. Good luck.


Title: [NYC] I passed out in my bathtub due to over-drinking and flooded my and neighboring apartments. I do not have renter's insurance. Management company is now quoting 20k to repair floor and wall damages. Is there anything I can do?

Question:
I really fucked up this time. I feel so fucking stupid and horrible.

I passed out in my bathtub drunk around 11pm a few weeks ago before turning off the faucet. I woke around 2-3am to my building manager standing over me in my alcove apartment flooded in 2-3 inches of water. The water leaked into the apartment below me and to neighboring apartments as well. I was told in total 5 apartments were affected. Walls need to be repainted and wooden floors need to be replaced. I don't believe there were any other damages (electrical/structural).

I do not have renters insurance because I'm a dumb idiot. I'm a recent college grad and my parents are my guarantors. My building is owned and managed by a property management company.

Management called me today and quoted $20,000 for repairs. I'm at a complete loss. I admitted that I was at fault during an initial phone call and that I would pay for reasonable damages, but this number is way above and beyond what I had expected. I asked if I can get a contractor to come in and an independent appraisal. They said yes after some probing and told me they will email me the proposal that they've put together and the insurance certification (?) that will list all the necessary qualifications (there was some mention of needing to have $5mil in a bank account?). I have not received that email. And that if I do get someone, I would have to pay through their insurance company.

I have asked around a bit, and some have told me that I should try to talk to the insurance company directly as they might be more open to negotiations. ~~Other have suggested I speak with a lawyer as my incapacitation might relief me of some of the fault.~~ I am trying to find qualified contractors in the area to come in and do an appraisal, but I not sure where to start.

I am set to move before the end of the year 12/31.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: I understand voluntary intoxication is not a defense.

EDIT: I will absolutely pay for damages because it was definitely my own stupid fault, but wanted a second opinion about the quoted number / other things I can do.

Answer:
 I'm going to be honest with you man, only 20k in damages seems like you got off real lucky.Answer #2: > Other have suggested I speak with a lawyer as my incapacitation might relief me of some of the fault.

Ha. No. If you had a heart attack and passed out in the tub, you might get some relief. "Drunken idiocy" is not a defense, and trying to offer it as such is going to make the landlord/insurance company want to pull the lawsuit card out of the deck that much faster.

> I am trying to find qualified contractors in the area to come in and do an appraisal, but I not sure where to start.

General contractors that do rehabilitation. I'm guessing the mandate is that they have a 5M insurance policy or post a 5M surety bond, not that they have 5M in the bank.Answer #3: Is there an overflow tube in the tub? Does it work? Is one required by the local building code? If there is one, but it isn't working, that's probably the LL's responsibility. And you wouldn't necessarily know it wasn't working until it was too late. This is the only avenue for pushback leverage I can see.Answer #4: $20,000 is a lot of money.

But on the bright side you aren’t dead.Answer #5: This is why you have renter insurance

I didn’t even know there were still leases anywhere that didn’t mandate holding a current renter’s policy to maintain your lease Answer #6: Voluntary intoxication is not a defense.


Title: Union says they are they not accepting new dental patients. Severe tooth pain. No money.

Question: I work for the city of New York and my dental coverage is through my union. There are free dentistry services through the union but they are not accepting new patients until January. Is this legal not to accept new patients into the union when you are paying your dues?

Answer:
 https://www.freedentalcare.us/st/new_yorkAnswer #2: Nice, let me guess SSEU? That’s something you gotta bring up with your rep, or just walk upstairs to the actual union office if you’re having an emergency. They’re totes nice people and should help you figure it out.

On the other hand January isn’t far. If you’re not having an emergency that’s just the amount of time it takes to get in to see a dentist. Legit. Unless I had a real emergency, I couldn’t get an appointment with my dentist before January.


Title: Question About Donating to Own Nonprofit - California

Question:
Short Version: Would any issues arise if I were to donate money to a 501(c)3 nonprofit (roughly $18,000 over 1 year) then pay myself back that money as wages from the nonprofit? I would be the only employee of the nonprofit, working there full time, and the $18,000 would likely be the only or the majority of the revenue for the year.

Background: I am a recent law school graduate that is relying on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). I started a nonprofit right out of law school which I am working on full-time. I am supporting myself financially through a $45,000 grant from my school (which doesn't qualify me for PSLF). To qualify for PSLF, I have to be working as a paid employee at least 30 hours/week. At minimum wage in my state, 30 hours/week works out to about $18,000 per year, so I am considering donating that much to my nonprofit then paying it back to myself in wages.

I imagine there would be some legal obstacles to this plan?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: This is a question for an accountant. I would definitely consulting with one because on it's face it sounds like a kockamamie tax evasion scheme.


Title: What if a notice I'm being sued got lost in the mail?

Question:
I worked at a cellphone store in Texas. Due to a miscommunication between myself and a customer about his due date, his phone was shut off before he expected it. This resulted in a cow dying because he could not call the vet. He threatened to sue me personally for $4,000.

I'm assuming here that he would lose. However, he might win if I fail to show up to court or respond to a summons or something.

The thing is, I moved to New York shortly afterwards. I filled out paperwork to have my mail forwarded, but haven't received any forwarded mail for a month and a half.

What if I've been sued, but I don't receive the notice and never show up in court? Who do I call to find out if I've been sued?

Answer:
 You can contact the court of the jurisdiction he is likely to file and, heaven help us, they have digital records that can search by name to see if a case is filed. Or you can contact a lawyer in that jurisdiction if the clerk won't help.

That said, most mail service requires it be sent in a manner that proves receipt i.e. certified mail with return receipt & tracking.

> This resulted in a cow dying because he could not call the vet.

No. No. At best this resulted in vet not being notified as quickly as a cow owner would have liked that a cow was dying.

I don't care if you dropped kick the phone out of his hand as Betsy lie mooing in pain, no lack of phone call resulted in a cow dying. Thats not how that works at all. There may have been a delay in a cow receiving medical treatment, but only way a phone killed that cow is if the cow ate the phone.


Title: (AZ) Can I tell the leasing office I don't want them receiving packages?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 If you're talking about USPS you're not getting your packages dropped off at your door. If you tell the office not to receive your packages, then you'll get a ps 3849 telling you that you have a parcel too large for the mail box at the post office to pick up.

It's one of the downsides to apartment living.  You can rent a P.O. box for (slightly) faster delivery but would still have to go to the P.O during regular window hours for large packages.

Source: am postal worker.


Title: LLC minimum capital requirements

Question:
I'd like to start a small company based in Georgia, US to sell stuff online.

Initially, it would start with selling other goods (like a reseller), but I do have some design experience and would like to eventually sell my own products that I designed myself.  I wouldn't house my inventory (manufacture on demand or do Amazon storage), and I can maintain the business by myself (at least to start) from my home without needing to rent space or employ others.

These would be mostly plastic and other injection molded gadgets you might keep on your desk at work or as trinkets at home. Nothing you would consume, implant, or use in aviation.

My initial plan was to use a community maker space to prototype my products and then use Kickstarter to see if there is market demand (which would also help pay for tooling for each product).

Since that was my strategy, I had only planned to put $1500 in to start the LLC (that's really all I can put together right now).  But I see that if your initial capital requirements aren't "sufficient" and I'm sued for whatever reason, they could disregard the LLC and go after my personal assets.

I can't find anything that goes into more detail about the capital requirements and what "sufficient" means.

What does it mean specifically to have "sufficient" capitalization?  Is sufficient capital based on operating runway, absolute dollar amount, or liability of the market?

Answer:
 Are you sure an LLC is the proper choice for you?  Have you spoken with a certified public accountant to discuss the tax implications of your business structure?

If not

Step 1: Talk to a lawyer and a CPA.  You should develop a strong relationship with both professionals to the point that they can easily be emailed/texted whenever you have quick questions.  Your CPA/Lawyer will be your best advisers as you continue your venture.

Step 2: Go from there


Title: Advice on buying a business USA

Question:
I'm considering buying a local game store (Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons, card games...nerd paradise).  How should such a process run, legally? What research should I do, what disclosures?

I'm guessing some kind of assets disclosure  ( inventory, last 5 years of taxes for the business, accounting books).

I'm interested because I love games and game stores. I also love the idea of running a small business. I like organizing, keeping records, and customer service. Experience running a business is next to nil.

What is a reasonable way to establish the value of a small business with existing inventory and regular customers?

Also, there are a lot of unknowns. Owner casually expressed an interest to sell. I'm just starting the thought process.

Location is North Carolina

Answer: This is outside the scope of internet help.  Before you make a big capital purchase like a business, you should consult a lawyer.  A lawyer who deals with commercial transactions.  Additionally, you can hire a certified public accountant to do a valuation of the business, including auditing their financial records.


Title: [CA] Neighbor poisoning rodents that die on our property, posing threat to pets. Any legal options to make them stop?

Question:
We’ve been finding lots of dead rodents in our yard, which we believe are coming from our neighbor’s, who we think uses poison on them. If our dogs find them before we do, they are inclined to try eating them, which could result in secondary poisoning. It’s a big yard with lots of garden, so it would be nearly impossible for us to find 100% of the bodies before dogs can sniff them out. Keeping the dogs confined/supervised at all times doesn’t seem fair in this situation, given a reasonable expectation of safety on our private property.

I’m planning to contact the neighbors and ask them if they are using poison, and if so, request that they stop. However we don’t have a very friendly relationship... So I’m wondering, is there is any legal basis to compel them to stop, and what their liability might be if our dogs did get sick or die (e.g. they pay vet bill)?

Edit: A relevant point to add is that some of the property in question is shared between us and the neighbors through an easement (see comments below). I don't know exact details of the agreement and it's a long story (happy to share in comments if it helps) but in general, does this give us more of a legal say in whether poison gets used?

Edit: Update - Got a copy of the Easement Agreement, it's quite long with a lot going on. If any details from it would help answer the question or someone knows what I should be looking for that would be relevant, let me know! Also, I appreciate everyone who is taking the time to respond and all the good advice.

Answer: No, they are entitled to deal with extermination on their own property.


Title: Insurance Company not paying out judgement?

Question: I recently won a personal injury case against an insurance company and since the judgement they have gone dark. I have a lawyer that is managing everything for me but I was wondering what we can do if they choose to just ignore us? They haven't filed an appeal (and I'm doubtful that they will) but they also haven't payed out.

Answer: You actually sued the insurance company? Or you sued somebody who had a policy with them?


Title: Working remotely in the USA for a UK-Based LLC. Employer is trying to cut my month's salary for defamation.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Remind them that the UK has a reciprocity agreement to collect legal judgments from USA courts and that if they breach your employment contract by not paying the agreed upon salary you will sue them.


Title: Is This Illegal? 18M had sex with 4 girls that were 16-17 at a party.

Question: Happened in Indiana. I wasn't drunk or anything. I'm just a guy and who says no to 4 cute girls. Today (the party was last night) my friend said I could get a roac charge or something like that and I'm a little freaked out.

Answer:
 I feel like you kinda don't really think you would get in trouble with the the law just wanted to brag about a 5way

Up topAnswer #2: Mmmmm, easy answer they were legal. More complicated answer, hope you didn't take pictures, and hope they weren't drunk. Answer #3: Location is extremely important here.


Title: [CA] Girl backed up into my car intentionally, called cops, didn't get insurance

Question:
I went over to my friend's house last night as his girlfriend at the time called and threatened to come over to his house and break his car. I went over to make sure my friend was safe and to make sure nothing happened. I was parked behind her and stayed in my car the entire time. My friend went up to her truck, talked for a minute or two, and he comes back to my car and informs me that she is threatening to back up into my car if I don't leave. I didn't want to leave because their relationship is rocky and my friend didn't feel safe being alone with her. She backed into my car roughly at 5mph. I called the police and gave them the names and DOBs of all 3 of us. Mid call she gets out of her car, walks over to my car, opens my door, and tells me that I have to leave. Finally police arrive, handcuff her and put her in the back of a car. They get statements from my friend and I, last I remember she denied to give a statement. They asked if I wanted to press charges, and I told them no. During this whole ordeal, I stayed in my car until the police asked me to leave my car. I didn't get a chance to get her insurance as after the ordeal, the police escorted her to her car and told her to leave. I told the police beforehand that I didn't get a chance to get her insurance information, and the officer responded telling me that because this was intentional and not an accident, insurance most likely won't cover it and if I wanted her to pay for damages, I would have to go to court. The damage on my car seemed minimal, only the license plate and license frame was bent, but I have been told that even at 5mph, plastic clips within the body can break and lead to larger issues. At this point, my question is, how would I go about getting her information and carry on with asking her for reimbursement for my repairs.

I have a case number, dash cam footage, and my friend was recording audio while he was at her car in which you can hear her telling my friend that she is going to back up into my car if I do not leave.

Edit: she is a green card holder if this makes any difference.

Answer: File a claim with your own insurance company and let them go after her.


Title: Asshole business "reserves" half the parking lot with right to tow..

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 does the business lease state anything about parking spaces or guaranteed parking?

your quarrel should be with the landlord, not the other business.Answer #2: They likely didn't just randomly reserve the spots.  This is probably reflected in the rental agreement they have with the landlord.

You need to talk to your landlord about this.Answer #3: What does your lease say about parking? What does your landlord say? "Asshole" may be paying extra money to reserve those spaces.Answer #4: I started reading this like you were the owner or manager and then saw that you're not. Your employer doesn't owe you parking. If you park in a reserved space you can expect to be towed.


Title: Is it illegal to write "hourly employees who do not fill out their timesheets in new system will not be paid" in and of itself?

Question:
As in question.  A friends company recently switched timesheets software.  They sent out an email with the quoted line.

I think I've read that telling employees they will be disciplined for sharing salaries is illegal in itself, for NLRB reasons, and I wondered if this had similar restiction.

I know that they do have to actually pay for all hours worked.  And that an employee must tell them how many hours they worked somehow.

I assumed that even if he gave his manager a hand written note saying " I worked X,Y, AND Z" they would have to pay, but could do appropriate discipline.

I was curious if anyone knew if there had been a ruling on saying that quoted line, and it is or is not legal to say.

Thanks for any info.

Answer:
 What state? Generally, not until they actually do it. Tell your friend to contact their DOL for a Wage Claim if he doesn’t get paid appropriately. Answer #2: May vary by jurisdiction, but I wouldn't expect it so. A threat to break the law is not the same as breaking the law.

There are certain threats that are illegal, but that's because those specific types of threats have been made illegal.


Title: Property management company trying to charge me for 8 month old utility bill.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You only have a problem if you do not want to get evicted.

> landlord may require a tenant to pay a utility or service charge

the utility or service charge is referring to a late fee ie. If they expect you to pay the bill before the late fee kicks in they have to give you thirty days drop time. In other words you do not have to pay a late fee, You do have to pay for your past utility bill. Hopefully your landlord will let you make payments.


Title: Update/More questions for Rental lease said to give notice before we get pet. Gave notice, got pet, and now they are telling us not to (Ontario, Canada)

Question:
Hi /r/legaladvice. Thanks for all your helpful advice with my last post, found [here](http://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/30jsqe/ontario_canada_rental_lease_said_to_give_notice/).

Things escalated like some people suggested they might but I'm not sure of the legality of it all.

Today the landlords came by and brought a realtor. They did give us notice and I knew they wanted to sell the house when we move out (end of August) so we didn't think anything of it.

When they were done their walkthrough, they told us they want to list it to sell it NOW and that they are giving us their 60 days notice. They also expressed their disappointment in us getting a dog and claimed we broke the lease (was not in the lease and such clauses are unlawful).  It really seems like we are being punished for getting a dog. She is going home to get the notice and is dropping it off in our mailbox tonight so I guess that would mean we would have to be out in 2 months as April 1 is tomorrow.

They are also saying they will charge us to steam clean the carpet and do other cleaning but it really isn't more than normal wear and tear, its a 6 year old house so the carpet isn't in mint condition obviously.

Anynways not sure what to do, this seems illegal but I don't know enough to refute it. Also, if we are going to refute it, do we need to do something TONIGHT as it is the last day of the month?

EDIT: We rent month-to-month, we were on a lease but after 1 year continued month-to-month.

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it.

Answer:
 IANAL

Here's the website of the body that oversees landlord tenant issues in Ontario.
http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/

If I were you, I'd be reading up on that site, so you know your rights. For today and in future (in Ontario at least.)

**This page** of the site will be of interest today.
http://www.ltb.gov.on.ca/en/Key_Information/STEL02_111483.html

And specifically, the answer to this question on that page:
**Can a tenant be evicted if the landlord sells the house and the purchaser wants to move in?**

[ed: do note the 'AND']

From my reading of it just now, it appears your landlord cannot [legally] evict you solely because the property is listed *for* sale, but only in the particular case that it **has** sold and the new owners have a legitimate reason to be requesting you vacate.

[Just so you know, the legislation and oversight varies from province to province. I used to live in Ontario. I rented there for decades. Now in BC. Completely different ballgame, so reading up on the rules of the province or state in which you next intend to rent is prudent imv]

Best of luck to you.

[edit to add:
DO also call the LTB (Landlord and Tenant Board) as soon as you get the notice and check with them regarding what you should/can do if the notice is not legal.]