Title: My son was abducted (repost with better explanation)

Question:
I appreciate everyone who commented on the 1st post about this. I've deleted that post because I now realize that the information I provided wasn't as good as I initially believed it to be. I could have done a much better job of explaining the situation. My apologies.

First, let me give the background of this situation. Then, I'll explain what it is I'm asking the group. The parts about Portugal are only for purposes of background information.

The background information:

My wife, son, and I were living in Lisbon, Portugal. I'm American and my son is American. My wife is from Kenya.

Myself and my wife's family have had problems with her for years. She has a history of violence on others and to herself. Following years of problems with my wife it was discovered in March 2015 that in addition to everything else my wife was stealing money from her mother, her sister, and me for at least 2 years.

Following this discovery I tried hard to get her to agree to a professional evaluation and treatment. She refused. This was far from the first time I'd tried.

At the time this all occurred I was working overseas in Saudi Arabia as a University Lecturer. I came home during a university vacation period. When my wife refused the evaluation I hired a lawyer in Portugal to handle our financial affairs there when I had to return to work in Saudi Arabia. He was also responsible for monitoring my son and ensuring his safety in coordination with my mother-in-law.

The lawyer also advised me that, due to Portuguese law, I could not file a court petition for involuntary treatment until such time as I returned to Portugal. My next break period was in September 2015.

In August I messaged my wife to let her know that I would be home in September. There was no reply, and she stopped answering my emails and phone calls. I sent the last message to her on August 29th, 2015.

On September 2nd, 2015 I was contacted by our landlady in Lisbon to inform me that my wife had left our accommodation (which we shared with the landlady), cancelled my lease on the way out the door, and informed the landlord that she wouldn't be returning. This occurred on August 29th, 2015. All indications are that my wife took our son to a foreign country, possibly Germany.

At this point in the timeline I hired a new lawyer in Portugal because my old lawyer wasn't doing his job effectively. For instance he never advised me to file a court petition to restrict her movements even though I'd informed him that there was a chance she might try to leave Portugal.

My new attorney immediately filed a charge for child kidnapping. The US Embassy in Lisbon assisted this with a personal request to the Portuguese Police to accept the charge, and they did.

The Portuguese Police investigated the matter for a few days, but then at a court hearing a Portuguese judge threw out the charge on the grounds that she had physical custody since I was working outside of Portugal at the time. The judge ordered us to refile it as a Hague Convention Complaint because she had taken the child without my permission to another country.

We haven't been able to proceed on the Hague Convention Complaint because when the abduction happened in September my employer in Saudi Arabia fired me. I don't have the funds to prepare the documents, and haven't been able to pay my lawyer since early September.

In addition to the court actions I contacted US Embassies in Lisbon, Berlin, and Madrid. Besides the initial help from the US Embassy nothing has happened with them. I was promised contacts from their legal attaches and FBI attaches, which never happened.

I contacted the FBI directly, who took an initial report, but did nothing more after that, and hasn't replied to follow-up emails.

I also contacted the office at the US Department of State responsible for helping with these matters. Other than a few phone calls and sending me some documents (which they later said I didn't need) has done nothing.

This is where I need help.

There are people in the US who have information about my wife and son, and where they are. I've tried to have these people questioned but the State Department instructs me to contact the local police, who reply that the State Department has to make the request.

What can I do about this?

Answer: The same thing you could do when you posted this before.  Get started on a divorce and custody petition with your wife.  That is your one and only option.


Title: [Ontario] My cousin got caught street racing and after my other cousin [who's car he was driving] said he stole the car so it wouldn't get impounded.

Question: So my cousin Bobby got caught driving more then 50 clicks over the speed limit and for street racing. Here in Ontario if this happens the cops will impound the car you were driving automatically for some time even if it wasn't yours. The car he was driving was owned by our other cousin Krystal and she told the cops he stole the car and didn't have permission to drive it. While he technically did take it when she was sleeping and didn't ask her they are family and she only said that I think so she wouldn't loose her car and have to pay the impound fee. I don't think it's fair that Bobby has to catch another charge from this but the cops don't care that they are family. If his lawyer knows about this can it get thrown out? I just wanna know because he's my bro and I wanna help him but I've never had a stolen car charge before and I can't talk to him because I'm on probation and am not allowed to the jail to see him.

Answer:
 > While he technically did take it when she was sleeping and didn't ask her they are family

Being family is irrelevant. She is in her right to report the car stolen. The car was stolen. Answer #2: >While he technically did take it when she was sleeping and didn't ask her

Yup. He stole the car.

>I don't think it's fair that Bobby has to catch another charge from this

Unfair that he cops a charge for stealing the car when he stole the car? No, that's the definition of fair.

What *would* be unfair would be if Krystal had her car impounded because her dickhead cousin stole her car and street-raced with it. (edit: and thank fuck he didn't crash it or total it)

>I can't talk to him because I'm on probation

JFC kid, if you're on probation yourself, stop fucking associating with criminals.


Title: Is my dad asking me to commit insurance fraud?

Question:
I’m under 21 but over 18. I live in the US and I recently got an aggravated DUI after hitting another car blackout drunk, and totaled the car in the crash. I have plead guilty in exchange for it to be brought down to a “regular” DUI and will be sentenced soon.

The issue is this: I have lived at my own apartment for two years and my name has obviously been on the lease the entire time. My father owned the car and I was listed as its driver on his insurance plan, and apparently I didn’t qualify to be insured under his policy unless I lived with him, and so he’s been telling the insurance company I lived with him the whole time. The company has contacted me and asked me to send an application for benefits (“no fault”), and my dad wants me to say on that form that I’ve lived with him, and says he can “prove it” to them because I’ve been getting mail at his house. He said that if they called and asked to redirect them to him and let him do the talking.

Is this not insurance fraud? This doesn’t seem ethical. I want to call my lawyer and ask, but the thing is, my dad is paying for my lawyer and I don’t know if they would still work with him if they knew what he was up to.

Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 The matter is whether OP is eligible for coverage under the terms of the insurance policy.    Her residency for purposes of tuition or taxes or mail delivery is irrelevant.

I read this as the OP being listed as a household member for the purposes of the insurance policy, with her father being the primary driver.

Neither of these are true.   OP lives in her own apartment, and sounds like she is the primary driver of the vehicle.  It's not even garaged at the address the insurance company was given.    All of those are important facts for the insurance company to determine risk and therefore premiums.

In my opinion, to claim that you are a household member and resident when you are not is insurance fraud if it affects your eligibility to be covered by the policy.

Ask your attorney, OP.   Even if she isn't representing you with the insurance company, she's probably familiar enough with insurance to give you good advice.     This is absolutely covered under the attorney's duty of confidentiality;   no matter who is paying the bill, your attorney absolutely cannot discuss this with your father without your permission.

In my opinion the most likely outcome if OP tells the truth is that the insurance company pays out on this claim then drops her father at the next renewal.

If OP and her father instead conspire to commit insurance fraud, the outcomes can be a lot worse.


Title: [DC] Three tenants on one lease, now month-to-month. I want to move out, but our landlord threw us a curveball...

Question:
I've been renting a row house with two roommates for the past few years. We all signed the same lease, which ended over a year ago, meaning we've been month-to-month since then.

Recently, I got a new job and wanted to reduce my commute time. So, in keeping with the terms of the lease, I gave our landlord 60 days notice that I want to move out (at the end of August).

The landlord told me I would need to find a subletter and pay a $500 fee, as stipulated in the lease. I wasn't sure if this was true (as I was month-to-month), but had a friend who wanted to move in anyway, so I was happy to arrange that.

About a week ago, however, the landlord notified my two roommates that she wants them to move out, as she will either be moving in herself or selling the place.

Now, because she wants everyone out, my prospective subletter of course won't be moving in. But I've already signed a lease at another place and am moving out at the end of August.

If my roommates don't move out until the end of September, am I on the hook for paying September rent?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 >as she will either be moving in herself or selling the place.

Which is it?

DC does not allow for landlords ending leases without cause, and while both the owner moving in and selling the place is considered valid cause, she first has to offer the tenants right of first refusal to buy if she is selling the place.

Anyways, I would contact the [DC tenant advocate](https://ota.dc.gov/service/ota-housing-assistance-and-community-service) to make sure your landlord is going through the right process for actually ending your lease.Answer #2: Did the landlord approve of the subletter you found and do you have any of it in writing? Answer #3: Tenants in DC have pretty strong protections from getting kicked out, check out the info below.  Also - she can't sell without getting your signed first right of refusal (look up DC TOPA).

https://ota.dc.gov/page/information-tenants


Title: Adult friend with abusive father

Question:
Location: Texas, USA

A young friend of mine is 19 and has been bouncing around from house to house since she was around 17 because of her father and brother abusing her. She's constantly worried he'll find her and force her to come back like he did when she'd run away as a young teen. I've let her know that as she's an adult, he now has very little legal control over her. That was a relief to her, but her big fear now is he'll find a way to change that. I know that an adult can take the actions to legally have "custody" so to speak and control over another adult if that adult is mentally disabled and unable to make their own decisions and care for themselves. That's where the problem is. Part of his abuse was convincing everyone she's crazy. He would talk to her friends behind her back to tell them she's crazy, talk to all the adults she might report to with a sob story about her manipulative nature and tendency to lie, even talk to the therapist he got her after each session and tell her "his" side of everything and how it "really" happened. He had her on tons of meds with tons of diagnoses and going to a bunch of doctors. He covered it up when her brother sexually abused her and told everyone she made it up/ asked him to do it. Bottom line, she's got a VERY small circle of people who believe that she's NOT completely unstable. Right now she's lives with her boyfriend and is safe. Her fear is that he's going to convince everyone that she's so unstable that she can't care for herself and needs him to still be her guardian even as an adult. Is this legally possible and if so what should she do? She currently has very little money as she's been on the run and does not have a license (her dad wouldn't let her get one - he told her years ago she was going blind and could never drive because of it and that one day she'd loose her vision entirely. She only discovered she isn't going blind a year ago after an eye doctors appointment as an adult).

Answer:
 Court-ordered conservatorship would require that she be incompetent to care for herself. The usual criteria are situations like coma, dementia, ALS, profound learning or cognitive disabilities, and things like that. These criteria are generally evaluated by a qualified medical professional, not the court of public opinion.

If your friend is seriously concerned about this, she should get herself a professional counsellor or, ideally, a psychologist. Even if her father were able to find a doctor willing to risk their license testifying in favour of conservatorship of a functioning adult, her own doctor can do a lot to dispute that and show that she's perfectly capable of functioning on her own. Hopefully that gives her some peace of mind, and equally, hopefully that gives her a useful outlet for this stress in her life and help building effective coping strategies for enforcing boundaries with her father.

Beyond that, it sounds like that boundary should be "never contact me again, or I'm going to seek a restraining order." If he actually files for conservatorship - and he likely won't - then she should speak to an attorney.


Title: Please help me organize these crimes in descending order?

Question:
my probation officer wants me to list all the cited offenses I've ben involved with in the past in the order of which I think are worse and which aren't so bad, the list needs to have the worst one first and then the more minor ones after that. some of them were, causing a racket in an abandoned warehouse after dark with my best friend jason but we were just getting some frustration out after he broke up with his fiance, i couldn't find a outhouse so i urinated in front of a women's prison but i didn't realize that's what it was becuase i had gotten my wisdom teeth taken out a few hours before and was very disoriented, my wife and i fell asleep one time in someone else's car but it was the same model we had owned a few years before so we must have mistakined it for ours after we left a party one time, i got assaulted with a lawn furniture so i went back over there at night and destroyed their whole patio but in my opinion that was kind of just to prevent a similiar attack form happening again, and my brother in law owed me money so i didn't get him a birthday present one year and said we could call it even and he flipped out so i called the police and they charged me with misusing the emergency line but i thought i was in actual danger and we fought that one and i won but it didn't leave my record fr some reason.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: They want YOUR opinion, not the opinion of random internet people. This is probably so you consider who or what was affected by your actions. If people here just tell you, you aren't going to learn anything.


Title: Is it legal for my employer to deny my disability?

Question: A little background for clarity. I’ve been employed for 1.5 years, last year I started having seizures (feb 2018) and was off work on unpaid medical leave until sept 2018. At that point my LTD was denied because it was technically pre-existing since I had a previous episode before I was diagnosed. I was approved to go back to work, and have been working since. Well I had another seizure and I’m nervous informing my doctor and employer.  I fear that they will take me off work again, and I’ll be stuck being off work unpaid again. Are they still able to deny my LTD because it was technically pre-existing and my doctor already wrote me back to work? Is it illegal for me not to inform them that I had another seizure?

Answer:
 You aren't generally required to inform your bosses of medical conditions.  That changes if you work in a role where a seizure may cause serious damage or injury - i.e. forklift driver, surgeon, et cetera.

However, if you don't report, you don't get much protection.  They can fire you for absenteeism, or failure to complete work, or anything similar.  Reporting your issue and negotiating a reasonable accommodation may get you some protection against discipline or termination.


Title: North Carolina: employer retroactively cancelled health insurance after quitting

Question:
I voluntarily left my employer last month so my insurance should have ended in August. However, I got a call from my doc today notifying me of a hefty bill because, apparently after I left, my employer canceled my insurance effective about 3 months ago. I used it quite a bit during that time for a few doctor's visits and a minor procedure so I know for sure it was actually effective at the time. Now they're billing me for the difference which is in the thousands of dollars.

An initial Google search shows retroactive insurance cancelations by employers are against federal Healthcare laws. I want to confirm this is still the case as the articles I read were a couple years old. Assuming it is illegal, what would be the proper recourse to go after my employer?

Thanks

Answer:
 Do you have pay stubs showing deductions for health insurance? If so, save those.
IANAL, but along with federal laws every state regulates insurance differently. You can contact the [NC Department of Insurance](http://www.ncdoi.com/). They can further guide you and would be interested to know if any of their licensed agents have cancelled policies illegally.


Title: Ex Fiance and new bf tried to follow me home from work

Question:
(Mississippi)
We recently split up after she told me she had found somebody else. I was on the way home from work when I saw her car take my exit. They (her and her new thing) blew past me so I thought they were just taking the same highway. Then they  pulled over on the side of the road and waited for me to pass and started following me pulling infront of and beside me slamming there brakes while they were infront. I was actually fucking terrified. It was like they were trying to run me off the road. I sped up and took the next exit and they immediately turned around and started back following. This time they just tailed for a while .Then they started to speed up. I called the police and let them know what was happening and told them I was on the way to the police station.i did not file a police report I'm going back tomorrow to do so. I need to make sure this doesn't happen again. What do I do.

Answer:
 File a police report. There is nothing more you can do. Answer #2: If it happens again, do not pass them. You don't want to be in front of a crazy driver. Try to keep as much distance as possible between your cars. Call the police, describe the car and how they are terrorizing you.

And get a dashcam yesterday.Answer #3: >I did not file a police report I'm going back tomorrow to do soAnswer #4: In addition to filing a police report, you may want to consider applying for a restraining order.

That way, if this happens again (or something adjacent to this happens again), even if they technically don't break any laws (aside from the restraining order), the police you call will be much more empowered to do something.


Title: Possible medical neglect

Question: My mom went to an orthopedic specialist on Monday as a scheduled doctor's appointment. She had an MRI done. The next day she found out  her hip is broken and has necrosis on it. We've had suspicions that it had been broken possibly longer due to the swelling she already had for a few days. The doctor gave her the results and sent her home with pain medicine. This morning she could hardly walk so she went to the ER. They contacted the same orthopedic specialist and they confirmed it was broken. They gave her pain medicine and told her to wait until her scheduled appointment on Monday with the orthopedic specialist for scheduling. We're livid and are considering getting a lawyer for malpractice or neglect. But we don't want to jump the gun. Would this be considered neglect?

Answer: No.  It seems the fracture was not recent and necrosis takes a long time to develop.  There is no problem at all with your mother waiting until Monday.  On Monday they will discuss whether to wait and do therapy or schedule a hip replacement.  None of this is an emergency.


Title: Will releasing a ridiculous amount of ladybugs in my school net any sort of legal trouble?

Question:
Okay, this probably sounds like a joke. I swear it's not.

I'm a senior in high school. My school administration is absolutely horid, I hate the school, and I hate 80% of the people that go to my school. I'm in Virginia so you wouldn't think it's southern, but everyone there acts like rednecks or weebs and its just stupid. *anyway*

They just outlawed senior pranks in school this year, which naturally makes me want to do one even more. After some brainstorming I found [this](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00I0DOKNW/ref=psd_mlt_bc_B00I0DOKNW) on Amazon for a surprisingly low price. They had some with 36,000 and 72,000 ladybugs but I figured that'd be way overkill so 4,500 would be more than enough to wreak some havoc.

The idea is just to have them fly around and freak everyone out. I know this probably makes me sound like a total dick, but that's not what im here for. I'm wondering if there's any way my school can spin this (if I'm caught) to get me in actual legal trouble?

Edit: Damn. I'll look for other ideas. Thanks guys, you were surprisingly less insulting than I expected

Answer: Don't do this. Not only can you get in trouble, but this would make an absolutely terrible mess. There will legitimately be bugs flying around there for years or they will need to call in someone to exterminate them.


Title: Chicago: Landlord says they won't fix the a/c, unless I agree to an updated lease.

Question:
Posting for a friend who lives in Chicago, IL.

Her air conditioning stopped working on a very hot night. She contacted the landlords and asked them to have it fixed. They responded, "We will fix your a/c in exchange for your signing an update lease, ending in August, so we can immediately list the unit and start showing it to buyers." The rest of the email explains this by saying they spend too much money on repairs and so renting the unit isn't profitable enough anymore.

Is it legal to make repairs conditional like this? Are they allowed to pressure a tenant to sign a new lease? If not, what recourse does a tenant have?

Answer: I believe in Chicago there is a stipulation in the Landlord Tenant Ordinance that explains the requirements of the landlords to fix specific parts of the rental unit (after being sent something in writing) or the cost of getting it fixed yourself can be deducted from rent. I have gotten a few reluctant landlords moving by finding the relevant piece in the LTO and then sending them the request (to fix or otherwise have rent deducted) in writing along with the relevant language of the LTO (and usually linking the LTO). I am lucky enough to know a lawyer and in a few instances I have also cc’ed him and added “I have copied my lawyer on this email”. It has worked for me without that language as well.


Title: Parent’s business has water damage caused by neighbor’s customers’ behavior

Question:
My parents own their own small business and the building it resides in. In June they found a leak on the roof due to garbage being tossed onto it and blocking the gutter system. It had just rained relatively hard. Parents called their handyman and thought it was a small fix. But a few days later, they realized it was much more major, and it becomes this huge ordeal. The cost of repair keeps increasing and is currently about $10k estimated cost, e.g.,  the floors are being replaced in one of their main rooms. This cost is a big dent for them financially.

The insurance company tells my parents they won’t cover it due to it not being a natural disaster.  The next door neighbor, which is inches away from our building is a local hotel and apparently has customers who just thrown stuff out of the window onto our roof.  Plus, it rains often where we live. My parents are very tidy people, so it’s not like they would’ve left garbage around if they knew it was there.

Is there anything my parents can do?

Answer: Sure. They can sue the hotel for the cost of repairs, lost business during repairs, etc. Will they win? Depends on the specific facts of the case and other factors.


Title: Cousin drove high. Ran a red at a slow speed. Hit someone who got a bruise on her leg from the car and a scrape on her hand from her fall. Ambulance took her to the hospital to see if her hand was broken. Not broken but she died from sepsis 48 hours later. Scrape was the only wound on her body.

Question: Location: Colorado. The cause of death was sepsis brought on by the scrape on her hand. Will my cousin be blamed for or charged for her death?

Answer:
 I've personally worked on a case where the defendant was charged and convicted of murder after he robbed an elderly victim, who fell and broke their hip during the robbery. The broken hip resulted in a clot that traveled to the brain and killed the victim almost a month later.

So yes, he could be charged and convicted. As others here have said, he needs a lawyer.Answer #2: It's possible.

Your cousin needs an attorney immediately, and shouldn't discuss what happened with anyone but his attorney.


Title: Neighbor expanding his property by moving divider fence onto our side.

Question: Here's an interesting situation. In my backyard, there is a fence separating my backyard and my neighbors. Recently, my neighbor hired some people to tear down the fence and build a new one. This time, he's constructing the new fence on our side, essentially expanding his own property and shrinking ours. I only know about this because the workers he hired came over to our house today and said that they're moving the fence onto our side. I told them to stop, but its likely to continue. What should I do?

Answer:
 Get a survey and have them stake the property line, they use wooden stakes with an orange flag (these are legal to move and are just a visible depiction of the property line).

It looks like Massachusetts has local and state level laws on fences.  I would check your areas ordinances on it and see if that gives you a way to fix this.  "City or county laws often dictate the height, location, and appearance of a fence."  I'd say your neighbor encroaching on your property is at least one violation.  Report him to your city/county code enforcement.

[https://statelaws.findlaw.com/massachusetts-law/property-line-and-fence-laws-in-massachusetts.html](https://statelaws.findlaw.com/massachusetts-law/property-line-and-fence-laws-in-massachusetts.html)

If you catch the workers out there again, tell them to leave.  If they refuse call the police on them for trespassing.  Most reputable fence contractors will stop work once they learn there is a boundary dispute.  They don't want to be pulled into it.Answer #2: Talk to your neighbor

If they refuse to take it down or claim that section of property, get a surveyor to reverify the boundary markers. Then speak to an attorney


Title: (USA-MA) I accidentally backed into my son. Should we get auto insurance involved?

Question:
Throwaway account because reasons...

Earlier this week I faced a parents' worst nightmare. I misjudged where my son was in the driveway and accidentally injured him with the car backing out. After an ER visit he'll be fine; he's got a broken leg, so he'll be out of commission for a while. Other than that, he's got superficial wounds.

Before we get started; I know I'm the worst parent ever and should have my kids taken away, locked up, and never see the light of day again. My grief and guilt are immeasurable. Our state's law enforcement and child protective services already investigated and cleared us of any wrongdoing, but I still feel terrible.

Now, we were recommended to make a claim against our auto or homeowners' insurance. My question is: Is that necessary? We aren't going to have a problem paying the medical bills. We spoke to the police and, as far as we know, this won't be reported as an accident.

Any advice is appreciated.
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer:
 The reason that you want to involve your insurance is because that protects you from any future complications that might arise.

Your sons broken leg may never fully heal, or there could be some medical complication. It's rare, but you never know. Sure, you can afford the costs now, but what if your son ends up having more serious injuries resulting from this?

The earlier you get your insurance involved the better. It's just for protection.Answer #2: The way your hospital codes the claim likely will trigger your health insurance company to get your auto insurance information.  If they think another carrier is responsible they will deny the claim and the hospital will bill you for the full charges.


Title: (PA) The in-laws want to put their newly paid off house in my husband's name to evade creditors. Help!

Question:
My mother and father in law have never been able to manage their money. They have burned bridges with just about everyone, including members of my family; borrowing money and never repaying their debts. My father in law is the main culprit, buying anything he pleases, but mother in law is not an innocent bystander. Both are 60+, have medical issues and refuse to get jobs. Father in law is on Social Security and can't make more than $1,000 a month to keep his benefits. He has had 4 vehicles repossessed in the past 8 years (most recently in April 2016), has declared bankruptcy several times, is $2,000+ behind on his electric bills and is behind on just about everything but the water bill. He is the type that has to have the brand new truck with all of the bells and whistles, motorcycle, the newest cell phone, etc. but can't find the money to fix his teeth... or pay the his utilities, obviously.

To keep the creditors away, and to not have to declare the property as an asset on any benefit applications, he want's to put the deed of his freshly paid off house in my husband's name. I am concerned that if he doesn't pay the property taxes or manages to put the house as collateral for something, that my husband would be liable. We want to help, but do not trust them. Is there any possible way to help without putting our family at risk?

Any advice is welcome and appreciated.

Answer:
 > I am concerned that if he doesn't pay the property taxes or manages to put the house as collateral for something

With what you've described, you don't need to know *how* they'll screw you to confidently say NO. You just know it will happen. They will screw you over.

Stay out of it


Title: [Miami] Do HOA or "condo law" regarding noise override county/city noise ordinances?

Question: Like the title states. I was curious if the HOA is somehow above the county/city noise ordinance? They've set there condo law that loud music is acceptable until 12am while city noise ordinances states that loud music at ANYTIME is unacceptable. I thought HOA couldn't overrule county/city law?

Answer:
 They cannot allow you to violate the law but they can make stricter rules as they see fit

Welcome to HOA land.


Title: Having Serious Juror's Remorse And Can't Sleep

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 Relax. The reasonable doubt standard isn't 100% or even 99%. It sounds like you did exactly what you were supposed to do. Answer #2: > but I found myself not 100%.

That's not the standard. The standard is beyond a reasonable doubt. Answer #3: Cool story.

But you don't seem to have a question.Answer #4: There is nothing that can be done about it. You should look into therapy if it is affecting your life that severely. Answer #5: If you were a juror in the US, you did exactly what you were supposed to do under the law. This shouldn’t be a huge moral quandary for you; if you followed the instructions of the court and evaluated the state’s case according to the “beyond a reasonable doubt standard”, then you can sleep well knowing you did your job as a juror rather well.


Title: NEW JERSEY landlord-tenant issue. i never signed a lease. what does this mean?

Question:
this is a very complicted issue i will try to distill as much as possible. i moved into this apartment in '17. my father was 50/50 owner. he sold out due to issues with his "partner" selling a superfund site. blah blah blah.

So basically, i never signed a lease. the landlord cannot produce a lease with my signature. he can only produce a copy of a lease that was written, with my brother and I on the lease, which was not signed, and brother is long gone. Currently I live in the place with my husband and a roommate (verbally approved by  scumlord).
 He is trying to raise my rent according to the lease which i never signed. ($600 to $975) out of nowhere -- and telling me my roommate has to leave. He has been calling the police every day to try to get my roommate out. The police seem bored by the whole thing.

I guess what I am asking is, what does it mean that I am living here and nobody has a copy of any lease with any signatures? Do we have any rights? Who do I call about this for help?

Answer: You are a month to month Tennant.  The landlord can make changes to the amount you pay in rent by giving you a 30 day notice.  He can end your agreement in the same timeframe.


Title: (Florida) Take out delivery man lied about my 16 year old niece not paying the full amount and she got arrested

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 1) Yes, The police are allowed to arrest a minor and question them. If she had actually requested a lawyer then questioning should have ceased, but they can certainly continue to hold her. I highly doubt she was interrogated for 6 hours over the great takeout caper.

2)The delay is questionable. They should make all reasonable efforts to notify the parent or guardian as soon as possible, but they do have their booking process to go through. In my mind it borders on unreasonable, but doesn't cross over. They have no obligation to lock up the home when they left, although it would have been nice.

3) You don't generally get arrested for filing a false report if you filed it in good faith, believing it to be true at the time. Unless he called it in because he had a grudge against the girl, that's probably not going to happen in this case. He most likely won't get deported either. The employer may get attention from ICE, but even that is pretty doubtful. Answer #2: Can someone explain on what grounds she was arrested? If the driver initially accepted the amount of money she gave him in exchange for the food and he then later claims it wasn't enough, wouldnt this be something more along the line of small claims?


Title: US-OK Inheritance from Trust, Executor won't pay out. May seek the nuclear option.

Question:
Background: my parents died in high school and left a trust with some money to be managed by my Aunt (my mom's sister) until my siblings and I each turned 25. When we turned 25, we are supposed to have our portion paid out to us. This is my throwaway account.

I turned 25 back in September and my Aunt has been giving me the runaround about getting my money out.

The paperwork I have from the court says she is supposed to act as a fiduciary regarding this trust. This is a substantial amount of money as well that is owed to me. It would be a significant help to my current situation in life.

I need the money to help me pay off a few things such as my last semester of college and some other debts and she has been absolutely stonewalling me.

I have made repeated attempts to visit her in person, calls, texts and it gets me nowhere. I have been cordial, I have been direct. I have not beat around the bush.

At first she would respond to me and tell me that her life has been busy or her life sucks and she has to do x or y, or is missing paperwork. I have repeatedly offered to assist her in doing any legwork to help this situation along.

This has gone on for a while. I was largely shut out of what was going on when it came to selling my old house and I have been ignored in the past several times when I have asked for an accounting of what all was done. It is unfortunate that I have learned the most about my situation from reading the court docket regarding my parents' trust.

The only paperwork I have is my copy of the trust paperwork and the submission to the court that the will and trust was being executed.

I am not afraid to seek legal help and a lawsuit (nuclear option) if it comes to it, but I really don't have the money for that and it would shred any possibility of having a relationship with my Aunt in the future.

I am not sure what to do at this point. My godfather suggested that I send a registered letter to her house and to her work and ask for an explanation. I feel like I should go back to my old hometown and request a copy of the records from the court to try and get all the information that I can.

Does anybody have any advice on what I could / should do at this point? I feel like I am stuck in the sense that my only move is to not move at all.

Thank you in advance for reading this and being willing to help.

Edit: if it wasn't clear from the title, I am in Oklahoma, USA.
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer:
 An estate attorney might be willing to work with you for a portion of money recovered. I would start making some calls. You could start with the attorney who prepared the documents if you know who that is. Answer #2: She most likely spent it all. Get a lawyerAnswer #3: Are you the first sibling to turn 25? Was your aunt also the executor of the estate? The trust and the estate are two different animals, but you mentioned "selling the house," so were the proceeds transferred to the estate?Answer #4: I know this isn't legal advice but when you do get the money, preferably before, you should post over at r/personalfinance for some guidance on which debts to tackle first. Answer #5: You need an attorney to start playing hardball for you pronto.

As other posters have pointed out, your aunt has likely stolen some or all of the money. If she has any assets it's possible you can recover some.

The bottom line is that you need an attorney to be very forceful about this as soon as possible.Answer #6: You need an attorney now because the harsh reality is that if you don't know where your share from the house selling went and you aren't getting your trust paid to you it's likely she's spent it and thinks if she gives you the run around eventually you'll get sick of it and give up.  Answer #7: This isn't a nuclear option.

It's your only option.


Title: Help re: paternity rights (CA, USA)

Question:
**edit: Thanks for the help guys! Got answers super quick and it was my first time on this subreddit. You guys are awesome.**

I'd normally use a throwaway but I'm on mobile so fuck it. Situation is my husband and I have always had an open relationship. Not looking for judgement here or someone to change my mind on it but that's just a fact of the situation. My husband and I haven't used any protection in over a year and we've been actively trying for a kid for five months without success. We were starting to think he had some infertility issues (he's fairly unhealthy).

Now in November I end up getting pregnant and my doctor places the conception date as October 28. Problem is I started sleeping with someone new on October 28. We used condoms properly and they didn't rip. I feel confident they worked. I slept with my husband the morning after without protection. Again, confident that the baby is my husband's.

However, he's understandably a little concerned it's not his. He says it won't change anything for him if that's the case, is ecstatic about having a child and will claim it as his own regardless. **His name will be going on the birth certificate.** However, he still wants a paternity test, just to establish genetic history for the child. And I'm 100% in support of getting one upon birth, even though I'm confident it's his.

Here's where the legal issue comes in. The guy I slept with that night caught feelings. And he thinks it may be his and is excited, wants a child, etc. In the event the child is biologically his, **does he have any legal rights? Can he get custody? Visitation? Can he take anything away from my husband?**

Answer:
 Your husband will be the presumptive father under California law. However, the other man would be able to go to court to establish parentage and get visitation rights if he is in fact the father. He will also have the responsibility of support if he is. Answer #2: If he is the father he will be able to petition the court for visitation and custody. You will likely retain at least 50% should that happen. I just want to say I think your marriage is cool rather than weird. You guys sound like a solid couple and I really hope the baby is his so there are no complications. He'll be a good dad either way.

EDIT: and a handy tip that lots of people do not know; you can get blood work done at a certain point of pregnancy that determines paternity. No amniocentesis, no risk to the baby, and you can get this sorted before little buddy arrives.


Title: My aunt fell for WFG and I need some help. (Crosspost from /r/AntiMLM)

Question:
Okay, so I'll start by saying that she is an incredibly naive person. Like, *incredibly* naive. Also, it was a friend of a very trusted friend of hers that got her into this mess. She also got scammed by a Persian, who, like her, just recently came from Iran to start up life here.

Anyways, all of that aside, here's the deal. She got baited into signing up to WFG. She signed some paper and gave her name, address, DoB, SIN, and Credit Card #. Yeah, I know, it sounds really awful, and it probably is. She said she's going to be changing her credit card # ASAP, but you can't change a SIN so that's what I need help with, because I'm just a teenager and have no idea how this stuff works.

There's a big catch here, though. Her "friend" who got her into this scam told her that she would be offered classes on business for signing up, which is obviously a lie. She was lied into signing up by someone who works for WFG, and I believe that holds grounds for some sort of lawsuit or whatever the correct term is.

What should she do to get out and take away all of the information that she gave them?

Her and my mother are also debating on tearing the signed document with her name on it to shreds, and I've been told they should write "Void" on it with black ink, strike through the signature, then do so. Would that work?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 1- location isn’t optional

2- WFG = world financial group? I don’t think most people are familiar with random acronyms for pyramid schemes

3- tearing up the contract is a stupid plan if that’s your evidence. Also, does it matter if you write “void” on something you’re then shredding?

4- your post isn’t clear at all on how she was “scammed”. Promises of business classes that aren’t happening with no details on it? What was the promised end product? What is now being delivered or not provided?

5- step one should be issuing a credit freeze on her accounts if she willingly gave out all her private and personal identification information. Step two should be getting an attorney. Answer #2: NEVER tear up or mark a contract that you've signed.  That contract indicates your exact rights and obligations, and will be the primary controlling document.  The other party does NOT have to give you another copy of a contract but you (generally) DO have to adhere to the contract terms.  So if you tear up a contract, you can get stuck not fully understanding all the terms and penalties but still being legally bound by them.

A corollary to this is ALWAYS keep a make a copy of EVERY important contract you sign.  If signing a lease for example, get a copy of it RIGHT THEN or if they say they'll send you one, take pictures of it.


Title: Do I need to pay for damaged carpets in old apartment?

Question:
I signed a 1 year lease in May 2018 on an apartment. I found a house and bought it in March 2018. At that time I found a young family to take over my lease. The new people inspected my apartment. I had the carpets cleaned by a company as I had 2 dogs that had accidents in the apartment. I also cleaned it thoroughly. They said everything looked good to them.

I added them onto the lease as roommates at the leasing office. They then took me off the lease. The leasing agent said I no longer had any responsibility for the apartment. I moved out to my house, they moved in.

So now it's 3 months later and I got a msg from the wife of the couple. She said I completely lied about getting the carpets cleaned and they are moving out of state and being charged $825 to replace the carpets because of damage. I told her she came over that same night the carpets were cleaned and saw that they were clean. I didn't lie about it. You could tell they were cleaned. They had the marks from the cleaner and looked great. She then says the stains came back afterwards. I know that pet stains are hard to get out but I didn't expect or intend for that to happen. I have no money right now but to calm her down I told her I could give her $400 next month. I don't know if that was right so I am asking here. I paid $100 security deposit and $350 pet deposit.  It's probably morally right to pay but do I have a legal obligation? Will the complex come after me?

**TL;DR** am I legally obligated to pay for damaged carpet in an apartment I moved out of and signed off the lease on?

Answer:
 I don't see how you're legally or morally obligated to pay for anything as you said this

> he leasing agent said I no longer had any responsibility for the apartment

I would pay this couple nothing. You moved out 3 months ago. They probably damaged to the carpet in that time and want you to take responsibility for it


Title: (AUS) i had access to an insta account(that has now been deleted) where several other and i where we kind of pretended to be a former teacher

Question:
The one that created it named the account thecultof(name of teacher) and some went around asking for peoples paypal and saying sexual things. The account was only up for a few days. The school has said they have contacted the police and have said this is fraud

What im asking is what will happen to me?
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer:
 If it goes to court and you're tried as an adult, the maximum penalty is 5 years imprisonment. If you're tried as a juvenile, you might be fined and placed on a good behaviour bond.

If it doesn't end up in court, which is the more probable scenario, you'll probably get a severe talking to from the police, a warning, and possibly a suspension from school.


Title: MD - I had a salt system and filter installed in May. I've just found out that the model installed is a decade old. What can I do?

Question:
The filter installed was a Hayward DE4800. I've had pretty bad water flow since it was first installed but after doing a total tear down and soaking the filter in TSP, the same degreaser that someone might use for auto parts, it's running better than it ever has. This indicates to me that it could have been a used product and they didn't even bother to properly clean it before repurposing it for my pool.

I was never informed verbally, in the proposal that I approved or in the invoice that I was getting used equipment. I was charged $500 for it (in the proposal, I have to find that invoice), nearly the same cost as as a new Hayward Perflex.

I'm told that pool equipment like this has about a ten year expected life, which this item could be approaching or even past. I sent a message to Hayward with the serial number. Hopefully they'll be able to tell me if it was previously registered with them and for how long.
Topic:
Consumer Law

Answer: Did you specifically have on your invoice/proposal that this was going to be new equipment? Did they claim it was new?


Title: Is it possible to win an adverse possession case against the city for a thin strip of property between my property line and the city right of way? ...in a case where the legal description of both, mistakenly left a 1'x100' strip of land between the two (that I've been maintaining for 20+ years).

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer: You cannot gain ownership of government land by adverse possession. Answer #2: There's a common law principle, "Nullum Tempus Occurit Regi" which translates as "Time does not run against the king." which prevents adverse possession claims against the State.


Title: Injured at work company denying me Workers Comp

Question:
So about a week ago I hurt my back moving a display in the store. I told my manager and he did not say or do anything. I have been unable to walk to make it to work and have visited my own doctor and Chiropractor.

I asked my manager that I would like to apply for workers comp and what the process of applying would be.

I was met with a response of, "If you got hurt at work you should have filled out the paperwork at that time."

According to VA Workers Comp laws I have 30 days to apply for Workers Comp after the injury.

Do I have any grounds?

Answer:
 Yes you have grounds.  Stop talking to your employer, he is protecting his own butt and if he will not provide you with the paperwork needed, you can do it without them.  Go here and file a claim:   [http://workcomp.virginia.gov/content/injured-workers](http://workcomp.virginia.gov/content/injured-workers)

Under helpful hints it says what to do if your employer is not cooperating.

Good luck!


Title: What do you do if you get left with a child you don't want to take care of?

Question: You hear about this sometimes with crazy family stories.  Like for example a young couple will say they can't babysit.  They get home to his 13 year old sister sitting on the doorstep while mom and dad are away for the weekend.  What would be their legal rights and responsibilities?

Answer: You could call CPS.  Or you could call the police and they can call CPS.


Title: My dumbass sister sued a woman for defamation because the woman said her husband was having an affair with my sister. My sister said she never met him. The woman filed for divorce 6 months ago. My sister just had the husband's baby. How bad did my idiot sister screw up? - MS

Answer:
 Your dumbass sister should drop the civil case before the defendant has more legal fees.  She can still be sued for the legal fees to date and perhaps for some punitive damages due to the frivolous and possibly malicious  nature of her lawsuit.Answer #2: Tell your sister to drop the lawsuit. Your sister could possibly have an alienation of affection suit brought against her if the ex-wife wanted to.

To succeed on an alienation claim, the plaintiff has to show that

* (1) the marriage entailed love between the spouses in some degree;
* (2) the spousal love was alienated and destroyed; and
* (3) the defendant's malicious conduct contributed to or caused the loss of affection. It is not necessary to show that the defendant set out to destroy the marital relationship, but only that he or she intentionally engaged in acts which would foreseeably impact the marriageAnswer #3: I'm a bot, *bleep*, *bloop*. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:

- [/r/bestoflegaladvice] [Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!](https://np.reddit.com/r/bestoflegaladvice/comments/5dky17/jerry_jerry_jerry/)

[](#footer)*^(If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads.) ^\([Info](/r/TotesMessenger) ^/ ^[Contact](/message/compose?to=/r/TotesMessenger))*

[](#bot)Answer #4: If I recall correctly if she's filed a suit, that might be sworn testimony on the tort itself, enter perjury charges if it is.Answer #5: If she's on the record swearing under oath that she never slept with or met the father, could that impact her ability to sue him for child support?


Title: Girlfriend is being impersonated on twitter, person is slandering her name/image by posting horribly racist, vile and hurtful things to 20+ thousand followers. They are also claiming to be 13 and posting porn of "themselves". Twitter has not done anything

Question:
We're in New York. We have contacted their support numerous times, even providing the correct legal identification to prove its my girlfriends identity. And yet the profile is still there and every day more and more people are seeing these horrible tweets. Its ruining her life and mental well being and I don't know what to do.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Is whoever running the fake profile pretending to be the victim in question or are they just pirating the pictures but maintaining an entirely different persona?

In any case, if they're using a picture that she took and are claiming it as theirs...file a DMCA complaint with them. Twitter actually has a form on their website for it [here](http://support.twitter.com/forms/dmca). Answer #2: On the underage thing, contact the police.

On the slander, though I doubt this is to 20,000 followers, if you know who the person is, collect all evidence you can, and contact an attorney.  If you don't, contact an attorney anyway, who can probably file a suit and subpoena Twitter to find out who it is.


Title: Wife injured at work, Doctor/insurance seem to be dragging their feet in treating her [TX]

Question:
My wife injured her arm at work a little over a week ago. She has had it in a sling, not working until yesterday (19 Dec 2018). Today (20 Dec 2018) she had an MRI done on her elbow but her doctor doesn't want to see her before the 28th to look at her and the MRI. Afaik, this MRI is the thing that decides if she needs surgery for a torn muscle or tendon in her elbow. I don't want my wife waiting around for the next 8 days with her injury when she has the MRI scan in hand. Is there anything I can do to force them to see her sooner? All of this is being paid for by workers comp.

Timeline details:
12/10 Date of injury
12/11 First doc visit, x-ray of lower arm, request for MRI
12/18 Follow up visit, MRI finally scheduled
12/20 MRI completed
12/28 Next scheduled appointment

Answer:
 Doctors and labs have wait times, you will not be able to force them to handle it more quickly

This is actually already on the fast end of things for an MRI, it's not uncommon to wait multiple weeks to go over resultsAnswer #2: 8 days between the initial scan and the follow up appointment is quite quick, actually, and more than reasonable.  Doctors do not always get scan results instantly, and many doctors split their time between seeing patients, reviewing results, and doing paperwork.  So there is no guarantee the doctor will be able to look at the results right away if they have additional patients booked or additional scans that need reviews first.  Your wife's injury is not emergent, so it's not reasonable to ask the doctor to bump her scan before others.

In addition, this is the holidays.  There are only 3-4 whole business days before her appointment, and the doctor may possibly have additional vacation scheduled during this time.


Title: Law firm is using trust funds illegally?, I am the bookkeeper MO

Question:
Hello,

I'm an Accountant in MO and have a client who runs a law firm with a few employees. In the past few months, I have noticed several transfers from their IOLTA account to their checking account to pay for payroll. However, there is not an associated invoice for these transfers. While it may be possible that they have performed work and earned these funds, there has not been an invoice near the amount of these transfers in several months. I did some quick searches and found that this may be illegal and may result in disbarment.

I only perform bookkeeping services for this client. I do not have any management authority, financial authority, or signing privileges. I only record the transactions and provide financial statements to management. I also do not have any contact with clients or other third parties. So far, they have also not used client funds to pay me for my services. Each irregular transfer has immediately paid their payroll in the same amount, so I am not being paid with illegal funds.

What do you recommend that I do?

Answer: As an attorney, I *urge* you to contact the authorities (https://www.moiolta.org/ and/or http://www.mobar.org/) even if anonymously.  Conduct like this is offensive and harmful to the legal profession, to the legal system, and to all professionals who self-govern under rules of ethics (including acocuntants).


Title: CA. legal advice please

Question: I was served divorce papers on Aug 14, 2017, by my abusive husband. Hiring a lawyer I asked on Aug 15th, 2017 that the lawyer obtain a restraining order against him, because I am scarred, my lawyer then advised me to move out of my house that has only my name on title, deed, and loan, and as of last week of Oct 12th or so my husband has stolen and damaged property and has changed the locks to my house that I have owned since 2002. We married in 2009 and moved into the house together around 2012, I was physically assaulted the night of Sept 29, 2012. Now I need police escorts to obtain clothes for my 7 year old son. My husband has blocked me from all of our joint accounts. I was unemployed when we married and I am unemployed now, I need to sell my house for a livelihood for my son and I. He abuses me still with phone calls and texts and will not leave the house claiming it is his. I cannot afford the work ethic the lawyer has displayed on this case. Not one of the legal tasks or the restraining order was done.

Answer:
 Damn.

Ok, you've got two issues here: one is the divorce, and the other is legal malpractice.  And they're both really urgent.

First of all, you have simply *got* to get a lawyer you can trust who will work for you.  If your lawyer is part of a law firm, make an appointment with any or all of the named partners of the firm, urgently, about how you hired a lawyer from their firm who didn't do his job, and you need legal work done on your behalf.

If that's not an option, or if it doesn't work, you will need a lawyer from another firm to take over your divorce case, and you may need them to work without a retainer until they can get you access to your marital property.  And you will need a lawyer (possibly the same other lawyer) to sue the fuck out of your previous lawyer and all the damage he has done to your divorce case.


Title: My brothers ex-girlfriend is making his live hell

Question:
BC, Canada

My brother (23) and his ex-girlfriend (23) have 2 kids together. They broke up around 6 months ago and my brother has been living in my aunts trailer while commuting to work (working every overtime shift he can get) ever since. He can’t find anywhere to rent anywhere near work and has been saving his pennies to put a down-payment on a condo. In the meantime, he’s been paying her rent (around $800/m) and taking the kids 2-3 days a week. The ex on the other hand has no job and basically does nothing but party when she doesn’t have the kids and play video-games when she does. She recently joined the military for whatever crazy reason and will be going to basic training next summer I believe. She has recently decided to try to get more money out of him now that she realized he’s about to put a down-payment on a condo. They didn’t legalize anything beforehand and he’s just been paying her rent. She wants to legalize everything and try to get more money from him, despite the fact he’s been doing nothing but helpful with the kids, fixed her car and paid for the parts multiple times (she never paid him back even though she said she would), and working constantly. My brother has talked to a lawyer in the past and all I know is they said she can get more than what he’s been paying, and he’ll also likely need to pay for half of daycare when she’s off doing her army thing. Here’s the part that really pisses me off. Apparently she wants ‘spousal support’ because she doesn’t have a job. How the fuck does that work? There’s absolutely no reason she can’t work and they split the cost of daycare.

If anyone has any advice please respond!! Any help is appreciated. Thank you for reading :)

Answer:
 Your brother needs a lawyer.  Any formal arrangement will end up with him paying child support if she's the custodial parent.  And that may be more than the amount of her rent.  But it will also guarantee his rights to see his kids.

He should point out to his attorney how she spends her time.  Especially if he wants to be the custodial parent, in which case she'll owe him child support.  Spousal support is probably not gonna happen since she's voluntarily underemployed and also they're not married.

The court will spot a gold digger and be reasonable, but your brother needs an attorney to make that happen without giving the impression that he's just slinging mud for spite.


Title: Most dumb instinct i ever followed. I got in hit&run and went to jail. Court date next week!! Help!!

Question:
I just turned 19 three months ago and I just got my license a month ago. I was in a parking lot and I was getting an item on the passenger seat and i was dumb enough to hit a parked car. I was driving my friends car and I panicked. I didn't know too much on what i should do, i barely passed the written test so my instinct was to run away. There was a cop who saw it happen and he stopped me and I basically confessed and I went to jail holding cell for 12 hours. I never been in a jail or was never in trouble with law enforcement. I am a college student and I really don't want this in my permanent record. I live in the Bay Area, California and the cop said i will prob get a misdemeanor.

What should i do? Should i spend the little money i have left to get a real lawyer for 1-2k or get a free public attorney? What can I expect to happen to me? Will this be in my perm record? I heard you can do civil compromise with the victim and get charges dropped.

tldr: Hit a parked car, no one hurt, ran away because of stupid instincts and confusion. Got caught and went to jail for 12 hours. Court date next week.

Answer:
 > I am a college student and I really don't want this in my permanent record.

Then you shouldn't have run.


Title: Landlord passed away, left our rental property to his 7 children, and they want to sell the house and evict us

Question:
Omaha, Nebraska

Hello everyone,

Nebraskan here with a predicament. Our landlord, who was one of my three roommate's grandpas, passed away a week or so ago. When we signed our lease back in August, his daughter had power of attorney for him and signed for a fixed-period arrangement from August 1st, 2019 to July 31st, 2020 with the option to switch to a month-to-month lease after the end of the fixed-period. Now that he has passed away, his home was left to his seven children and they want to sell the property. We do however have a clause in our lease agreement that says:

"If the Premises is sold, the Tenant(s) is to be notified of the new Owner,
and if there is a new Manager, their contact details for repairs and maintenance shall be forwarded.
If the Premises is conveyed to another party, the new owner shall have the right to terminate this
Agreement.
The new owner shall have the right to terminate ONLY after providing at least 30 days' notice to the
Tenant(s)."

Even if they list the house, would only the new owner have the right to terminate the lease agreement? Does the termination clause only apply after the fixed-period term? Is there any way we can cement or lease term so we wouldn't have to move out before July 31st?

Any help appreciated as we just recently got fully moved in to the property.

Answer: Per the language you provided, you're correct that only your new landlord (the "new owner") can end your lease with 30 days notice. It does appear that your lease can be terminated prior to July 31st per this clause by the new owner.Answer #2: Unless there is a State law which says this type of clause is unenforceable (unlikely) then this is what you agreed to and they can terminate the tenancy with at least 30 days notice. But this isn't evicting you. Eviction is when they go to court to force you because you haven't left, and you don't want that to happen.


Title: Forces ASVAB Testing in Arizona High School

Question: Hello. I have some relatives in high school who are being forced to take the ASVAB test. They are being told that it is required by law that everyone take it. A couple websites on online told me that it isn't, which I expected as I graduated from the same high school a couple years ago and was not required to take it. Is there some new law that I don't know about requiring the ASVAB for all high school students? If there isn't, how would one refuse to take it if they didn't want to? The school administration will be pulling students who missed the testing day out of class the following days to take the test, so missing the day is not an option. It's the Scottsdale Unified School District in Arizona if that helps. Thank you in advance!

Answer:
 Just go in fill out your name and information.  Answer the first page and hand it in. It can be your nonviolent civil disobedience. Or malicious compliance.  You have to take it but it doesn't say you have to answer the questions correctly or at all. Answer #2: Generally speaking the school can mandate it. I am unsure if there has been successful ligation against mandating it. I cannot find any references online that would indicate it's not mandatory if the school chooses to force students.Answer #3: In Arizona, the parents have limited ability, unlike many other states, to get their kids to opt-out of taking standardized tests:

https://www.the74million.org/article/why-arizona-parents-are-legally-not-allowed-to-opt-their-kids-out-of-testing/

Thats said, I can not find where the ASVAB is considered a standardized test, like the PSSA.


Title: My Friend Is Being Held In A Mental Hospital Against His Will

Question:
So my friend is a pretty hardcore addict and he lives in a trailer out back of his parents property. I get a call from a random number the other day and low and behold, it's my friend calling from my city hospitals loony ward. He explains this situation to me and asks if I can get him any sort of information because his parents and the doctors refuse to answer questions about how long he will be there and why they are holding him against his will.

&#x200B;

So this whole situation started when his mom found xanax in his car. His parents know that he's a pot smoker and don't care, in fact his dad is a smoker, and they know that he has struggled with xanax in the past but they thought he was clean. So his parents confront him about this saying that he needs to go to the hospital for a detox. He wants no part of this so he leaves and drives off in his car to the gas station. His parents have his brother follow them, and his brother starts a physical confrontation. My friend bloodies his older brother up pretty bad, but being the barhead he is he decides to go in the gas station to pay for gas after the fight. His brother had keys to his car so he just got in it and drove it back home, leaving my friend to walk the three miles back.

&#x200B;

This is where things start to get pretty sketchy in my opinion. His parents had called the police and when he got back they immediately arrested him and took him to the hospital on his parents wishes. They did this despite the fact that they had no actual incriminating evidence against him, despite the fact that he is an adult with free agency, and without even talking to him to assess whether psychiatric help might be needed. I'm no lawyer, but this sound like a gross violation of his rights.

&#x200B;

He does not remember much of the first night in the hospital, so I suppose it's possible he could have signed something or said some suicidal stuff that would let them hold him, but he doesn't think so. So as of right now he is being held in the mental hospital against his will. We can debate the merits of him being there all day, but everyone deserves an advocate, and with his parents and the mental hospital unwilling to give him any information on his situation I have decided to play that role and try to get some information for him. I 'm thinking about trying to get a free consultation for general advice with an attorney, but I thought I'd come here first. I'm not a lawyer, but doesn't it seem like his rights were violated when the police arrested him and forced him to go to the hospital without any incriminating evidence or without even talking to him to assess whether or not he was unstable? He said the first thing they did was handcuff him.

Answer:
 He's not being charged with a crime, so he wasn't "arrested" and they don't need "incriminating evidence."

The burden to be held involuntarily at a mental hospital is to be a "danger to yourself or others."  If he's a hardcore addict then he could easily fit that definition, esp. if he can't remember stuff about how he got there or what happened after.Answer #2: Most who end up in mental institutions are there against their will. They always say that.

The hospital doesn't want them there anymore than he does, but since he's having issues they will keep him there.


Title: Inadvertently caused a car accident and am not legally responsible. I feel guilty and want to write them a check

Question:
Gunned it out of my driveway on super slippery day-I saw the car coming about 150 feet away and knew if I shot across street to neighbors driveway I could avoid having to back down my entire hill due to snow.

Mini van driver panicked-braked-spun completely around and ended up in snow bank off the road-there was some front end damage. I pulled back around and parked and saw if everyone ok-everyone in van was fine just shaken up.

‘Guy’ called the police and the sherif came and told me I didn’t need to provide him any info-that I wasn’t at fault because my car was not damaged.

Gave ‘guy’ my insurance info and then on Monday I called my insurance agency and told them what happened and she was baffled that I even asked about doing a claim w insurance when my car was not involved.

‘Guy’ texted me later that day and said he doesn’t have full coverage insurance and wants me to start a claim w insurance co.

What do I do at this point?

Answer: At this point there's nothing stopping him from filing a claim.


Title: My brother chipped his tooth on a piece of metal which was in a McDonalds chicken patty. What are we entitled to?

Question:
A small piece of metal was inside the meat patty completely concealed. He went to the counter and complained. An incident report was filed and his meal replaced. They also called up today to see if he wanted anything and he told them he will get back to them.

He is going to a dentist this week for a quote on his chipped tooth. He has kept the receipt and took a photo of the patty along with the metal. I imagine he is entitled to dental at the least but I always hear about cases where people are awarded substantial amunts of money for far less.

We dont have alot of money, dont know a lot on the subject and dont want to waste unessesary money on legal fees so any advice would be much appretiated.

Answer:
 The court system is not a lottery.  You should not be looking upon this as a way to get 'substantial amounts of money'.

Your brother should start by trying to get reimbursement from the company for his medical bills.  If that doesn't work, you can consider suing in small claims or regular civil court.  For the regular suit, you'll definetly want a lawyer.

This may or may not work for you monetarily; lawyers are expensive, and often you don't get back out of it what you want.  Do your math carefully.


Title: Ex left her car on my property

Question:
An ex-girlfriend parked her car on my property. This is in Virginia. The car has back taxes for the last 2 years that she's never paid on. I've asked her several times to come get her car and each time she said she's working on it.

It's been almost 2 years now since she's parked it. I'm getting ready to move in a few months and I haven't heard from her at all.

1. Do I own the vehicle after a certain amount of time?
2. What would happen if I contacted the city to have them come pick up the vehicle?

Answer:
 >  Do I own the vehicle after a certain amount of time?

No.

>  What would happen if I contacted the city to have them come pick up the vehicle?

You need to contact Virginia DOT and file the paperwork for an Abandoned Vehicle:

https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/#abandoned.asp


Title: 3-year start-up (market value: $4M) got blackmailed by business predator/investor, and faces dissolution. What should I do?

Question:
Hello, reddit!

We are one start-up focusing on healthcare IT with a market valuation of $4M. I am the sole founder and CEO. We have been in operation since Oct, 2012. We were doing great winning many awards and got good funding support.

Everything was fine until late last year we got an angel investor on board with an investment of $200K. He only had 5% of the company and yet was sitting on the board of the company. I am the sole founder of the company and has one seat on the board. There are 3 seats on the board in the operating agreement. But whenever I proposed the 3rd board member, he always vetoed it and said that the 3rd seat was to be saved for later (the operating agreement says that the founder has the right to propose candidates but the preferred share holder/this investor has to approve it).

During the 4th month since his investment, he asked me to hand over all company documents and he would like to have his people in charge of company finances and he also would like to get $250K as annual salaries. As the founder and CEO and Chairman of the board, my salary was $60K then. I did not agree as I sensed that he had exterior motives to seize control of the company. After we did not agree with each other, he filed petition to dissolve the company and he sets up a company as the receiver of the company. He also used his personal connection to work with Howard Bank to freeze our company bank account (which I fought hard to get our money back), and coerced our payroll company to add him as the new system admin (which I discovered and had him removed within the same day), and also sent numerous emails to harass company employees, telling them not to speak with me at all as I am fired by him and he is the new self-appointed CEO. He also reached out to our company key officers and tried to buy them to get them recognize him as the new CEO. He also acted like the new CEO and called for company meeting but no one from my company responded to the meeting. He was in rage, and called all other company creditors and members, claiming that he is the new CEO and I am fired. He also called our company landlord, asking them to change company office lock so that I can not enter to "threaten company properties". Several of our young employees got really confused by his emails and after getting his threatening phone calls, they all went home and refused to return to work. One employee with heart diseases immediately fell ill and got a fever and could not work any longer with us.

Due to his litigation, all of our funding raising activities (~$1M) had to stop as none of the investors would like to touch our company with the litigation, even though they all said that they very much would like to invest once we are clear from the litigation.

Our contracts with one large client was also paused because of the litigation and the state agency regulating the payment of the client would not give us green light.

It has been over 7 months and this 5% investor keeps filing new fraudulent lawsuits against our company. In the meanwhile, our company has to stop all operations just to fight this lawsuit, filing motion to dismiss constantly and spending lots of money on litigation. But all of our company cash reserve is coming to an end.
We just called the investor trying to settle outside court yesterday. He demanded $300K payment immediately and refused to put it in writing. He blackmailed us saying that if we do not buy him out by paying him $300K immediately without any written records from him, he would continue to file lawsuits against our company since he has lots of bank rolls. He aims to dissolve the company and sell the company for millions of dollars, as our company originally was worth $4M.

The company litigation lawyers called him a business predator and a person beyond reason, saying that he is equivalent to a drug dealer in terms of his ethics. The litigation lawyer says that the reason he invested in our company initially was to steal the company to take it over soon.

But we are running out of money and the company is insolvent already. We are facing immediately either bankruptcy or voluntary dissolution.

This is my first start-up company which I worked my ass off for three years. For the first 2.5 years, I did not take any salaries and instead invested lots of my own money into the business. With this litigation dragged along for 7 months, I did not have any income and my husband has been nagging me every single day to quit and just find a job.

Right now we can file a Federal compliant against this bastard for all the serious damages he has done to the company, but the business lawyer said that the damages are hard to quantify using numbers, and in the end, we may not get anything from him. Plus we will run up a huge legal bill for Federal and State litigation together.

Another option is to file company dissolution or bankruptcy. But I have zero experience about this and would appreciate experts to tell me the steps that I need to take to dissolve the company. I am still the CEO/Chairman of the board, and have over 90% of the company. (The bastard suing us has been terminated from the board but he refused to acknowledge it and self claimed that he is still on the board. )

TLDR: a bastard evil investor blackmailed our start-up, asking for immediate huge payments to buy him out, otherwise he will continue with the company litigation and file more until our company is dissolved. After 7 months of litigation, we are running out of cash and would like expert advice on how to dissolve the company as the company only board member and 90% holder of the company.

Thank you, reddit!

Answer: Yeah, this issue is too complex for reddit.  You need to get a Corporate Law attorney who can review all of your agreements and advise you correctly.


Title: New Landlord wants to charge me almost double for utilities that I do not use

Question:
A company bought the property that I rent an apartment in and sent out a letter saying that instead of paying exactly what we are using for utilities, apartments will now pay a flat fee based on the type of apartment they live in.

I live in an apartment that they assigned will now pay X amount. Their new fee is almost double what I have ever paid in nearly a year of living here based, which has always been based on my exact utility usage. They claim their amount is based on averages of each apartment type and is being enforced to prevent tenants from receiving unexpectedly high bills--though, if I have to pay their new utility fee, I will ALWAYS have high bills.

I still have a few months left on my lease and I have never signed anything with this new company. Is this even legal?

I have printed and shared my previous utility bills with management and they said they will get back to me but I want to be prepared with information in the case they try to force me to pay their ridiculous fee.

Thank you for any helpful information you can provide.

Answer:
 This is all going to come down to what your lease says about utilities.Answer #2: I once rented an apartment that I had two utility bills for: my own, and one to the property that was an average of the electricity used in the common areas — laundry room, outdoor lights, pool, sauna, gym, office, etc. whether we used that stuff or not.

It fluctuated monthly and we never knew exactly how much our rent would be because of it (was added to monthly rent). It sucked, and I found out after leaving they were in violation of our lease in forcing us to do that!!!

So! Take that lease and challenge them if you believe it’s a battle worth picking to fight! If you can afford to just pay it and suck it up until your lease is up, that might be a more peaceful route for you.


Title: [WA] Being sued for under $2k of medical debt that I actively tried to pay. Almost out of time to reply. Please help.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >I want to reply but I don't have the free cash to file a reply with the court ($250 I think! Wow!).

 Can you clarify?Answer #2: Washington courts have a few waiver system in place for people who are making less than 125% of the federal poverty level. Here are the forms https://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.contribute&formID=87


Title: (CO) Turning 18 before my court date.

Question: I'm 17 years old as of my citation today for speeding 56 in a 30, and I was handed a citation with a mandatory court summons and 6 points with the possibility of being reduced. I was given a 4 point speeding ticket as of almost a month ago and had paid it early to be dropped down to 2 points. My court date is set for July 20th, and I turn 18 on June 15th. My question is, will this court date be filed in juvenile court, and/or is there a possibility of the additional points being added to my license (at 18) will be my saving grace? Need some advice please lol

Answer: It will be in traffic court.


Title: In 4 years, the only response from my attorney has been "don't stir the pot" -- TN

Question:
Throwaway account for obvious reasons. I've never posted here before, so I apologize if there are any extraneous details.

In March 2011, the police came to my home and served a search warrant that claimed someone had been downloading child pornography to my home computer. I am a female, and at the time I was 28 years old. I own the house, but shared it with my 21 year old brother, his fiancee, and their infant son. My brother was immediately suspected.

I owned two computers -- my personal netbook for work and class, and a full-sized laptop that was used by anyone, including visitors.
On one of the rare occasions I had used the larger computer, I stumbled upon suspicious looking pictures (note, there was no nudity in these, just suspicious titles) and deleted them all. My brother denied knowing anything about it and helped me reformat the computer. Months later, the police served the search warrant where my personal property -- the two computers, an external hard drive, two cameras, and several thumb drives --was seized. None of the electronics taken belonged to my brother, and none of it was used by him or anyone else except for the full-sized laptop. The detective on the case began essentially threatening me to see if I would implicate my brother, so I contacted an attorney and paid him $25,000 to represent me through any police interviews or through an arraignment if charges were filed. Since then, I've heard nothing on the case from my attorney, or from the detectives. I have no idea if the case was dropped, or if the statute of limitations has expired.

My brother moved out and moved to a new city in 2012, and one of his friends from his old job moved in with him. I just found out last month that his friend, who had stayed with us just before the search warrant was executed, was arrested there and (I think) plead guilty to downloading and distributing child pornography. I contacted the attorney again because I have no idea whether his arrest was formally tied to the illegal downloads at my home, or if this is still an open case that I have to worry about. This time, the only response I received (a month after the initial email) was from his legal assistant, who said he advised "not to stir the pot." That is his exact words, and the only answer I have ever received in 4 years of inquiries.

I feel like he has done nothing on my case. All of the property, other than the computer used by the friend, should be returnable. I want my property returned and I want to know this whole nightmare is over, and most of all, I'd like an actual response from my attorney. Am I being unreasonable? Should I press him for more information, or at least a fuller explanation of his advice to leave it alone? I feel like I've been taken advantage of by this attorney because I can't even get a decent response to my inquiries.

Answer: I usually told clients not to "kick the beehive".  What *exactly* do you hope to get out of this?  4 year old electronics?  The diminished value isn't worth the risk that you resurrect the interest of a detective.   If you're not happy with his response, tell him and ask for more details. He works for you, don't be afraid to ask questions.Answer #2: I'd want to know what the $25,000 you paid the attorney went to. I know you're asking about resolution of the criminal case, but that's a lot of money. Do you have bills from the attorney showing what it was used for? You may be entitled to get some portion of it back. The attorney's lack of responsiveness to your inquiries may also put him in violation of bar rules.


Title: Defamation of character in a local political race?

Question:
My wife is running for a position in local government and has been hoofing it for most of her campaign.  Going door to door, fundraising etc.  She is on a team of 4, and there are 4 seats open, so she has a pretty good chance of making it.

She also works for the town in a part time position, which she doesn't get paid all that well, yet has brought a lot of services to the town.

Now her opponent just sent our a mailer with posts from her 2010 facebook page.  Nothing particularly damning, unless you don't realize that they are Office and movie quotes... but then at the bottom has a note.

Is this any way for a <town> employee to act?

Its very obvious that if these posts were taken seriously, its possible lose her job and lose the race.   I believe the intent to do her harm is clear.. does she have any way to win a defamation case?  I could really use some advice here.

Answer:
 > does she have any way to win a defamation case?

No.  They're free to have an opinion about your wife, and to communicate that.  Answer #2: She said them online, correct? The last part is just fluff, but it doesn't seem like there's really anything here.


Title: [NY] Walk-In Clinic :-(

Question:
WARNING: Don't read if squeamish about female parts.

I live in NYC.

Last Sunday I got my period and when putting in tampon, it malfunctioned... string came off. Right away I tried to get the tampon out for fear of TSS/other gross stuff happening. When I couldn't do it by myself, I went to a walk-in clinic since it was the evening and I didn't want to wait until the next day to see a real doc.

They were super nice and said they deal with this stuff a lot, no big. The PA was especially nice - she put in the speculum, took a quick look around (idk, 15-25 seconds?) and said there was no tampon. I was a little embarrassed, but she said "better safe than sorry!" and said I could just put in tampons like normal, etc etc. so I was satisfied.

My period was a bit more uncomfortable than normal, and I mentioned to a few people that I thought there might be a chance she was wrong and i still had a tampon in, but friends/fam assured me it would come out on its own if it were in there, and I wouldn't be able to wear another tampon if it were.

Fast forward to the next weekend, a long weekend on the other coast for a wedding, and things were BAD. I won't go into detail but it was one of the worst weekends I've had in a while due to the symptoms of bacterial vaginosis. It was supposed to be an amazing weekend in a beautiful area celebrating my friends wedding, but these symptoms were beyond miserable. I spent a lot of $$ on over the counter stuff, made a gynecologist apt for as soon as I got back to NY, and dealt with it... with a lot of tears, anxiety, freaking out inside (never dealt with vag issues before)

I told the gyn about the previous Sunday, saying I thought maybe the infection could have been due to me getting bacteria in there when trying to get the tampon out by myself, but the gyn took one look and told me the tampon was in there. I was PISSED. I know that even docs and PAs make mistakes, but she had ONE JOB, to look for a tampon in my vagina. I could have died from tss. The gynecologist mentioned she wished clinics did a more thorough job.

I'm taking the meds (which usually cause yeast infections, cool), and I read that bacterial vaginosus is very common, but i read stories about it coming back often, being kinda chronic, so I am still very upset and worried. Being someone who is active, social, with good hygiene, this situation has been DEVASTATING for me. And it all could have been prevented if someone did their job a week before

I have no idea what to do, am I able to sue the health clinic for this or get some kind of compensation?

Answer:
 Medical Malpractice is far beyond the scope of this sub. Check the NY state bar for MM attorneys. Many offer free first consultations. Answer #2: You'll need to speak with a medical malpractice lawyer. There's just no way that anyone here has both the required medical expertise *and* legal expertise to give you any sound advice after "talk to a medical malpractice lawyer."

The only other thing I can tell you is that mistakes don't always qualify as medical malpractice.Answer #3: This is neither legal nor medical advice. Just practical knowledge to allay your fears. The vagina is a "self cleansing" organ, for good reason, because all kinds of things get put in there. Not yours specifically, but generally speaking. So, if it ever happens again, be assured that your fingers trying to fish out a stray tampon would most likely not cause an infection. Also, try a different brand of tampon.

Answer #4: I would definitely make a complaint to the health clinic, so they are aware of what happened.


Title: Getting rid of illegal objects.

Question: So I recently found one of my (now dead, if that would alter it somehow) dad's knives is illegal to own in Pennsylvania. I was wondering if anyone here knew how I could safely and legally get rid of it? Thank you.

Answer: Dont take it to a police station.  The risk of getting someone on a power trip is WAY to high.  Just destroy it than deposes of the remains  in the trashAnswer #2: Bring it to the local police station. They offer amnesty turn ins for weapons for this exact situation


Title: Am I being scammed? And if so, what should I do to prepare?

Question:
Hi there! Recently I started taking up Dog sitting jobs in Pennsylvania. through Care.com. I got contacted, outside of the site, by a woman (let's call her Lori). Lori told me that she had two dogs that I needed to watch when she came to town on business (She said she was a contractor). She told me that she would pay my fee of $13/hour and that I needed to watch her dogs for three hours a day. Everything seemed really fine, and Lori and I talked about this around a month before she was supposed to get into town. She told me she was tacking on an extra $50 for pet supplies and that she gets it from a specific store.

Now the time has come when I was supposed to start dog-sitting. She told me on the 16th but she won't meet up with me yet. I got the check from a compnay in Illinois for three months worth of dog sitting. (Side question: Can people use comic sans as a font for checks, hahaha) She said we're meeting later this week but to tell her as soon as I deposit the check and take out the first weeks pay.

The whole thing seems terribly shady. What could happen to me if this turned out to be a scam? This is my first time dealing with this so I'm completely in the dark about finding a lawyer and such (I'm only 20). What should I do to prepare in case this is a scam?

Also! Forgot to mention; I contacted the company who the check was from, explaining the situation and asked if they could give me a confirmation that Lori was a real person with two real dogs.

Edit: I don't know what to flair this under ;-;

Answer:
 This sound like a very common scam.  "Lori" sends you the check, you cash it, and then either send her money or goods.  In a few days or weeks your bank informs you that check was no good and you are held responsible for the missing funds.  "Lori" is long gone by that point.

Have you deposited the check yet?  If not, don't.  If you have contact your bank ASAP and let them know the situation.

Here is a relevant article.  It's about babysitting but the principles are the same:  [Care.com and Scams: How to Avoid Babysitting Scams](https://www.care.com/a/carecom-and-scams-how-to-avoid-babysitting-scams-20150227143938)


Title: Wood Floor DAMAGED.. How bad does it look to you?

Question:
 I have been living 4 years in the same place. When I first came in the wood floor was brand new. But just when I'm about to leave and removed the carpets and furnitures... I just noticed this on the floor :

https://imgur.com/a/kZReQ

I ALWAYS took care of this place and used carpets, but it seems that chairs can do a disaster even with a thick carpet.

So how bad will I be in trouble for this?

Answer:
 Haven't got a clue.

General wear and tear usually isn't that bad.


Title: [San Francisco] Ex-GF and I were both primary tenants. I moved out until she did, then I planned to move in and be sole tenant - she cancelled lease

Question:
As some may know there's one hell of a housing crisis in SF.
I got a lease before the boom, and my apartment is at least $1000 below market rent.

My GF and I both lived there, and when we broke up I moved out temporarily. She has now left (I planned to move in) but she cancelled the lease.  She gave 30 days notice of moving out, wrote a statement (not witnessed or notarized etc) for me, saying I waive my half of the deposit and don't live there anymore and signed my name on it.

The manager has now accepted that as my signature, allowed her to move out and refunded the deposit, and filled the place. I was never contacted, I didn't sign anything, the lease was secured against my assets but we are both primary tenants.

The building manager left a voicemail to me saying it was filled "months ago" but my ex was there until the end of October. Not sure if that's relevant but she's definitely bending the truth.

Have I got any options? Thanks for looking!

Answer:
 If she forged your signature on a document, you need to report that forgery to the police.Answer #2: So she took your money and forged your signature? Contact the police and a lawyerAnswer #3: >She gave 30 days notice of moving out, wrote a statement (not witnessed or notarized etc) for me, saying I waive my half of the deposit and don't live there anymore and signed my name on it.

Go to the cops immediately. This is forgery. Then get a lawyer and sue her for the damages you received like the difference in rent, the costs of the lawyer etc. If she faked your signature on a legal document you should win this 100%

Your former building manager might be in the clear unless you can proof that he knew the signature was a forgery. He will simply claim that he acted in good faith and that he was also a victim of your ex's forgery. Did you explicitly talk to him about this arrangement? Did he know you were planning to move back in?Answer #4: Are you still living there? Have you been paying the rent in full per your lease?