Title: Doctor fails to disclose side effects. Patient ends up in 72hr psych hold. [OH]

Question:
Asking for some help for a friend. Is there a case here? I feel like there is but really need some advice first. Shes ready and wants to peruse this.

I went with my friend to an orthopedic specialist at a well credited hospital for an arthritic problem in her hand. The doctor prescribed her oral steroid tablets as they were the least invasive solution to her problem. He told us about the oral steroid tablets, as well as 2 other methods to solving her hand issue - steroid injection shot or surgery, but he did not disclose anything else, including side effects.

Fast forward 1 week, she finishes the dospak of oral steroid tablets, and two days later, she suffers severe side effects - one of which is a major mental health status change i.e. she becomes suicidal. Having never had this issue before, and using common sense and finding research on the side effects, she calls the doctor and asks to confirm that this is just a bad reaction to what he's prescribed. As he is too busy to talk to her himself, his secretary tells her on his behalf via voicemail that it's “absolutely” not the meds, therefore it's not their problem and she should contact her pcp. So now she has a recorded message of her medical professional claiming that her mental health change is not from what they've given her. She talks to co workers and other medical professionals who tell her it’s the steroids and she needs to go to the ER for immediate attention. Having been in a medical profession herself, she goes to the ER thinking they have some sort of banana bag or IV solution to flush the meds out of her system. As having no experience with side effects like this before, we didn't know what to expect, therefore it comes to us as a suprise when she gets pink slipped and sent to a psychiatric ward for a 72 hour hold as is this is the state of Ohio's protocol when someone comes in with thoughts of self harm.

We disclosed all the information we could think of to the best of our knowledge to the hospital, clarifying that it was the side effects and they pink slipped her anyways. Other medical professionals since then have told her that it was the medication that caused the side effects, and any doctor should know that, as well as carefully disclose them. So now we are dealing with hospital bills and confused and hurt family members all because of what we feel is the fault of a rude and careless doctor and his secretary. Do we have a valid case here?

Answer:
 When she picked up the medicine at the pharmacy did it include printed information? Usually this will have side effect info.

I believe the onus would be on your friend to read that info, or ask the pharmacist about any side effects and reactions.

Also, malpractice is very fact specific, and I am unsure how their recorded statement that it was not the medicine would affect things. She should consult with a medmal attorney if she really wants to pursue this.Answer #2: Suicidal thoughts from steroids are insanely rare, especially 48 hours after ending such a short course. And regardless of whether it was caused by the steroids or not she was admittedly having suicidal thoughts so the pink slip was absolutely justifiedAnswer #3: Suicidal thoughts from steroids is an *incredibly* rare side effect.  To the point that the peer-reviewed website that I use to look up side-effects has it under the category **incidence not known** in the consumer section and **frequency not reported** in the professional section.

Those mood changes should have occurred before 48 hours had passed.  Did your friend tell the doctors and others she consulted with the time period between finishing the dose pack and the onset of those feelings?  Her pharmacist would have also told her the more common side effects and if she'd asked the rarer side effects as well.  They also provide an information packet with a steroid dose pack as well.  I just checked mine and it doesn't list suicidal thoughts as a side effect.  The only side effect I had was the munchies.

Being put under observation was justified for having suicidal thoughts.


Title: When can you forcibly deal with someone

Question: This is a hypothetical situation I came upon when watching a segment on ABC's What Would You Do. In short they have a man or woman actor/actress stealing a dollar from a homeless man. Is it within your right as a citizen to confront them by holding their wrist if they try to leave without returning it? For me (a guy), I feel as though this is okay to do to another man if I needed to, but I would be very hesitant on physically stopping a female thief. I realize it's only a dollar in this example, but I want to know my rights in case I ever witness a similar situation in the future. Let's pretend it was a stranger's iphone for example. Located in California by the way.

Answer:
 You're basically talking about a citizen's arrest.  A good primer on citizen's arrest in California is [here](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CFcQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fle.alcoda.org%2Fpublications%2Ffiles%2FCITIZENSARREST.pdf&ei=EcnJUOq6AYjdrAGplYCYDQ&usg=AFQjCNFGzxiq5W-ep0L3VMQCfAubg5unpA&bvm=bv.1355272958,d.aWM)

Generally speaking, if you have the right to arrest, you have the right to use the force necessary to effect that arrest.  Your level of force is determined by the arrestee's actions; if they're compliant, you can't start beating them.

Having said all that, citizen's arrests open up a world of hurt for the citizen; unless you know your law really, really well it can be very problematic.


Title: What force would be legally justified to defend yourself with if you didn't fear for your life?

Question:
Like if somebody's sitting there slapping you or something like that. I'm in the U.S. but this isn't really pertinent to any situation with me, I was just wondering about it. I did a Google search and couldn't really seem to find anything. If this varies widely by state, it'd be interesting to see the differences
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer:
 The general rule is:

"A *reasonable* amount of non-lethal force."


Title: [Update] Minor In Consumption- I'm[18M] in way over my head(Minnesota)

Question:
Well, I have to thank the previous help I had in my original post, as much as it went against what I was originally seeking. Those users are u/vasubaru and u/53045248437532743874.

Against my better judgement, I consulted an attorney to try and sort this whole mess out. The attorney took a very quick glance at the ticket, and essentially scoffed. I hadn't noticed during the stop, because I wasn't trying to let the night get to me, and I never really looked at it until I gave it to the attorney. I'm SO glad that I consulted him, because the attorney pointed out that I was marked down as the DRIVER. I'm absolutely floored, and if the minor doesn't ruin my future, a DUI at 18 sure as hell would. My attorney had contacted the prosecuting attorney about this and I'm awaiting contact back.

I'm curious about what to expect from this case? All of my nonwitness friends(my release with conditions states that I'm not allowed to unnecessarily contact witnesses, which I think is dumb considering they're my friends) say that it's possible to get the ticket thrown out, which I'm skeptical of considering they're all a bunch of freshman drunks. But can I at least look at a reduced fine, or an easier expungement within the next 3 years? Thank you so much to all of you guys who helped me with my last post, and an even larger thanks to those of you who insisted I consult an attorney.

Answer:
 Listen to your attorney and not your drunk friends who have no legal education or trainingAnswer #2: Pardon me if this sounds rude, but your twenty questions are best suited for your lawyer, now that you've got yourself one.

Best of luck to you.


Title: [MN] Pipes burst and it is our (tenants) fault. Landlord is refusing to file a claim on their insurance as well as use our security deposit to cover repair costs.

Question:
Before we left for winter break, a couple of my roommates and I had the bright idea to turn off the heat in order to save some money on the electric bill.  None of us have ever owned homes, nor have we ever left a property vacant in the winter for an extended period of time, so we didn't consider the (admittedly obvious) potential damages this could cause.

About a week later, one of our roommates returned to a very cold house and realized that the heat would not turn back on.  Turns out, some of the pipes had burst and the boiler needed to be replaced.

We haven't gotten the final bill, but management has told us that our security deposit ($3000 total) will not be enough to cover repairs. Also, they informed us that they will not use our security deposit to pay for the repairs.  They have also asked us all for our parents' homeowners insurance information as they do not want to file a claim on their own insurance.

Can the management company elect not to use our security deposit?  Does the management company have an obligation to file a claim on their insurance?

Answer:
 If the repair is your responsibility, the owner has no obligation to use his insurance unless the lease says otherwise.  Even if he did, the insurance might come after you for the damages resulting in possibly higher costs than just paying the cost directly.

We had a tenant cause a fire at one of our units.  The tenant was deemed responsible by the fire department.  We used insurance.  The insurance went after the tenant.


Title: (IA) A family member was killed when someone ran through a stop sign a T-boned him. The family wants justice, and I’ve been asked to help.

Question:
Someone very dear to me was driving, delivering mail on his rural mail route, when he was struck by another driver who ran a stop sign. He had the right of way (no stop sign) on a gravel road just outside of town when he was struck. The impact rolled his vehicle and ejected him from the truck, causing bodily harm that would eventually lead to his death 2 days later in the hospital. The other driver is perfectly fine, and my family is beyond upset at this horrific tragedy.

Everyone is telling his wife to lawyer up and sue everyone she can, but I want to help her make the right decisions based on knowledge, not emotions, since she has turned to me for help. The other driver more than likely has little to no money, so I’m worried that all this will do is ruin her life and cost a lot of legal fees for little or no return.

My questions are along the lines of: how do we know this is worth the time/trouble? What would make or break this case? Is this something that auto insurance companies get involved in, as far as a wrongful death lawsuit?

I’m lost guys. I don’t want to make this all about money. I just want to do what’s right and offer sound advice. Any direction would be helpful. Thank you.

Answer:
 >how do we know this is worth the time/trouble?

I'm sorry for your loss. It's a wrongful death suit. You're probably going to be able to easily get the limits of the driver's policy and whatever underinsured policy your friend had.

Honestly, I would suggest your friend get an attorney. Wrongful death suits are a morbid process. It's literally putting a price tag on someone's life. You're tallying up their "worth" in life. That's a hard pill to swallow for people that's grieving. It's a lot easier to let a lawyer handle how the sausage is made, so to speak. Answer #2: Yes, this is EXACTLY the thing that insurance companies get involved with. It's literally the whole point of having insurance. Even if the other driver has no money, his insurance company most likely has a few bucks.

Absolutely the family of the deceased family should be in contact with an attorney who specializes in wrongful deaths.Answer #3: > I don’t want to make this all about money.

I'm sorry for your loss, and of course money won't bring him back, but his widow and family deserve not to have to worry about bills during their grief. This is what insurance is for.


Title: Gave 45 days notice, but will be moving out in two weeks. Do I have to pay Dec rent if they get a new renter for Dec 1st?

Question:
Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Hi all!

My husband just accepted a job offer that means we will have to move to the other side of the city for. Our lease at our current place expired on Sept 30th, 2016, and we did not sign any paperwork to renew the lease. So we have been month to month since. Our lease required 45 day notice, so we gave notice today, meaning that we have to be out by December 25th. However my husband starts at his new job on November 28th, so we are looking to move out  by Thanksgiving Weekend. Because we will be out early, are we obligated to pay December's rent? If they find a new tenant on December 1st, will we still be obligated to pay December's rent?

Thank you in advance!

Answer:
 They can agree not to charge you for December if they want the place earlier. You don't have to give it up until  the end of December even though you won't be there.

They are not allowed to double dip and charge 2 different tenants for the same space for the same time period.

The money you are paying is for exclusive use of that space, if they move someone in you have every right to demand your money back


Title: [California] Can I booby trap my car?

Question: Car keeps getting broken into. Can I hide razors in certain places/handles of the interior of the car? Or will that open me up to damages/liability if the robber sues/dies?

Answer: No, you cannot do that, yes, it opens you to liability.


Title: [IL] Update on kid who kept coming into our yard, having MORE problems.

Question:
Hey everyone,

You might remember [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/37rgdl/il_kid_keeps_trying_to_enter_yard_parents_wont/).

He jumped the fence a few hours after I had posted it. Called the police and they came around, dealt with the kid and his parents. The parents were mad at **me** because I called the police because I "didn't want their kid to go swimming because we don't like fun." Whatever.

Well he still kept jumping and we kept calling, eventually the police told the parents if they didn't stop their kid that CPS would get involved and they were livid. They started harassing myself, my friend and whatever friends come to our house. They'll yell at us when we get home, bang on our door for like an hour at 6AM and all kinds of junk. We've called the police on them a few times but there's just nothing they're really doing for bothering us.

Now here I'm getting kinda angry. The other day I found a hot dog in our backyard and knew exactly what it was. A hotdogs soaked in antifreeze. Our neighbors are now trying to poison my dog because I called the police on them multiple times.

At this point I'm starting to get very stressed out because I have to search EVERY inch of my yard almost every time I let my dog out in fear that he'll find one of these hotdogs and eat it. I've called the police but they won't come do anything because my dog hasn't eaten one yet.

Christ please someone help me fight these neighbors from hell. :(

**Edit:** We have our old security cameras set up and running right now. I told an old Webcam I had and hooked it up to a laptop and left it running in the window that perfectly aims into their yard to see who is actually throwing the hotdogs. We purchased new cameras on Amazon and will be putting them up when they get here. My dog will be staying at a friends place, I'm hoping that if they see a few friends come over they'll throw a hotdog into the yard because we'll be outside with my dog. If we can get them on video we'll take that to the police as well.

Thanks everyone.

**Edit 2:** So it turns out the people next door rent, lovely neighbor across the street gave me the LL's email, address, phone, etc. Like every possible way to get ahold of him. Still not sure if I should but after today I most likely will.  Friends came over to pick up Gavin and just like we thought, they chucked another hotdog over the fence a few minutes after our friends came over. Got it on two separate tapes, we'll be going to the police tomorrow because we're just so tired :(

It's not the kid chucking the dogs, it's absolutely the parents.

**Thank you Reddit, once all of this is brought to the police and everything is dealt with I will absolutely update everyone :)**

Answer: **Question:** If a neighbor came to me and asked me what was up with all the police and I explained, found out the neighbors rented and then they gave me the LL's info because they're good friends can I call the LL and explain what's happening?Answer #2: report them to the Illinois EPA and the US EPA for illegally dumping antifreeze on your property.Answer #3: If only they put that much energy into raising their child.


Title: Advice about anonymously tipping the police about drink driver (US)

Question:
This is related to New Jersey.

Someone in my partner's family is an alcoholic; on christmas day he drank 4L of wine before jumping in the car to drive 30 mins home.

I mentioned it quietly but everyone in the family turned a blind eye and let him drive home, presumably because they didn't want a domestic incident.

I know this happens frequently, and I think he's driving drunk on a daily basis. My partner's family might be ok with this, but I'm not and don't want a death on my hands.

Is there a way I can call to tip off the police anonymously with assurance that he will not find out it was a tip off next time I know when he's jumping in the car?

Also, correct me if I'm wrong; but is it likely that him and his wife will be sued if he crashes or causes damage while drink driving?

Answer:
 You absolutely could do it anonymously. And we won't tell him who called it in even if you don't ask to be anonymous. Most people don't even ask, they just assume they were pulled over for a routine traffic stop and "just happened" to get a DUI out of it.

The information we'll need from you is why you think he's intoxicated - tell me you saw him drinking two or more drinks. As much information about the car as you can gather, color and make is a great start, model, year, and license plate or other identifying features such as it's got a giant Cowboys star on the back window is also very helpful. Where he started traveling from, and where you think he's going, and what direction he left from the party, will also help.

We do get anonymous reports all the time, but I can't do shit with a report of a black Chevy car on the "west side of town" driving drunk like I can if you give me all of the information I listed above.


Title: Can an attorney be simultaneously employed as a bail bondsmen?

Question: My boyfriend is a criminal defense attorney in the state of Washington and has been practicing for over 5 years. He paid his way through law school as a bail bondsmen. He loves practicing law and has a great future ahead of him, however he misses the adrenaline rush of his bail bondmen days. He has family members in the bail business, and they have offered to pay for his licensing so he can go on stake outs with them on occasion. He said there is no conflict of interest as long as he doesn’t assist with the recovery of anyone who is a client of his law firm. I looked into it myself, but haven’t found information for this kind of a situation. Is there a conflict of interest here? If a recovery operation went bad (for example if he took the wrong person into custody), would he be held to a higher legal standard due to his background? Could he be dis-barred? Any info/opinions/potential concerns would be most welcome, thank you.

Answer: He should call the Washington bar association and ask them.


Title: Are future employers required to accommodate my ESA? When should I disclose my ESA?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: ESA's are not protected in an employment context.Answer #2: ESA's are only currently protected with regards to housing, and even that has more than a few holes that allow them to be denied.


Title: Is it possible to get a divorce without giving half your money to your spouse? (California)

Question: My father wants a divorce (and all of us children want it too), but he hasn't filed one because he would have to give up half of what he has and my mother doesn't work. She will never initiate the divorce because of religious reasons. I honestly think it would be best if they split up. They have never been happy for their entire marriage and it has only gotten worse and worse.

Answer:
 The court doesn't view this as your father giving up half of **his** stuff.  They would be dividing up **their** stuff.  Do you see the difference?  Things earned and purchased while married are presumed to be jointly owned.  Thus when divorcing, people go through the process of splitting their stuff into his and her stuff.  Some things, such as inheritances or assets owned prior to marriage, can be excluded from this division.

It is incredibly unlikely that there is a way for your father to divorce  your mother and not give her anything.  His best course of action would be to speak to a divorce attorney and get their opinion on what a divorce would look like for him.  The devil is in the details, and his attorney would be best suited to comb through all of that and offer advice.


Title: Pulled over for traffic violation, dogs called in, weed and lsd confiscated.

Question: Driving in to town I was pulled over for a broken turn signal when I was asked to get out of the car. They then asked if I had any weed or drugs on me based off an empty cookies bag saw in my car *type of stash bag*. I asked if it was probable cause to search my vehicle and they told me it was not but then made me wait for the dogs to come in and they got me. I was reading up on Rodriguez vs United States and was wondering if I'm totally fucked or what are my options?

Answer: You hire an attorney and they will attempt to suppress the evidence.


Title: Textbooks destroyed

Question:
About $500 worth of my textbooks have been destroyed by the step brother's child of my boyfriend. They were rented textbooks, I'm pretty sure I will be forced to pay a fee since they are completely unusable and I need to repurchase the books since I'm mid-classes(paint+torn out pages+ cut up pages and cover). Can I take any legal action? I paid out of pocket for my books since I don't receive financial aid or assistance from anyone. Please help. I'm in California if that helps.
TL:DR Me: "hey guys just make yourselves at home we'll be back later."
Walk in the house later that day
Them: "oh yeah, we let her do some arts and crafts. We laid down some newspaper and we'll clean it up right now"
Queue my nervous breakdown and them refusing to pay for "a couple books" because it's "no big deal".

Topic:
Douche

Answer:
 Who was supposed to be supervising the child when this happened? That's who you could go after in small claims court. The legal theory would be negligent supervision of a minor. Answer #2: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1714.1

Parents are liable for the first 25,000 in damages caused by a child's willful misconduct.

How old is the child.


Title: Employer signed me up for an insurance I did not authorize.

Question:
So, I was in California for around a week. My boss called me during my trip and told me that if I wanted to receive benefits through our company that I needed to fill out some forms and pick a plan. I told him that I didn't currently need benefits as I am covered for another year. He told me that I didn't need to worry about it.

Fast forward to today. I received a letter from the MSC containing a benefits card and took a look at my paycheck to see that they are taking money out of my paycheck that I received today for benefits that I did not authorize. What the hell? I was kind of wondering what is the legality of all this. This just doesn't seem right. I'm working on getting it canceled, but so far jumping through all these hoops hasn't got me anywhere.

Answer: It could just be a payroll/HR error. It happens. Don't bother trying to cancel with the insurance company; that is your employer's job. Tell payroll/HR that you expect to be reimbursed in your next pay check.


Title: If someone isn't read their Miranda rights but also isn't held in custody, can they still be questioned by a police officer with intention to find evidence?

Question:
Also somewhat unrelated, but is verbal consent enough for a polygraph examination?

Both of these questions are for New York, thanks so much

ANSWERED. This sub rocks, thanks for the rapid response!

Answer:
 The police can ask you questions without reading you your Miranda rights or taking you into custody.  You're also free to refuse.

Polygraphs can be given in a wide variety of circumstances.  Usually people are asked to sign paperwork first, but I'm not aware of any special law requiring written consent.  Generally speaking consent is consent, putting it in writing only makes it easier to prove.


Title: [Louisiana] Sister fired because of availability conflicts.

Question:
My sister was hired as a pastry chef at an opening restaurant. When she was hired, she gave her availability and stated she could not work Wednesdays and Sundays because of regular religious activities. This was not an issue for almost a month until today.

Her boss demanded she work this Wednesday and she explained that she couldn't because of prior commitments with her church.  The next day she was called in by the boss and fired without reason beyond "it isn't working out with you".

Is there any discrimination occurring here? I understand that employers may fire without reason, but given the circumstances before, is there any grounds for a lawsuit?

Answer:
 Nope. They can basically fire her for any non-discriminatory reason. And this isn't discrimination. Answer #2: Your sister wasn't *explicitly* fired for her church-going schedule, but you're reading between the lines, so let's assume that she was. Then:

> Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on religion. This includes refusing to accommodate an employee's sincerely held religious beliefs or practices **unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship** (more than a minimal burden on operation of the business).

[More.](https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/wysk/workplace_religious_accommodation.cfm)


Title: Sisters Boyfriend lives at parents house. Threatening to kill all of them. Abusing my sister and mother. Help me save my families life.

Question:
I need some desperate advice. I dont live at home, but my mom, sister, dad and all of my nieces and nephews are essentially being held hostage by my sisters boyfriend named Michael. He doesnt work. Hasn't payed any rent for the 7 years hes been living there. He hits my mother (that's the icing on the cake to get me mad), abusing the living hell out of my sister and has brain washed my family due to death threats. He is armed with a gun. My niece told me that he waved a loaded gun in her face and cocked it and told her to 'stop having so much fun in the bathtub'. Currently crying writing this just thinking about how terrible her childhood is. He completely trashed the house, and allows no one near him and wants everyone out of the way when he leaves.

Long story short. I. Me. Yes no one else. Need to get this man out of this house legally (although I'd love to do the illegal thing at this point, that fucking clown).  How do I proceed? Hes a convicted felon. African American. They're in Texas. I'm in Missouri.

Please help me save my families life.

Answer: You should call the police right now. 911.


Title: Wedding Thief

Question: I got married this weekend to my awesome wife. The day after the wedding we were goin through our box of cards. Once we finished we both realized we were missing a shit ton of cards. After contacting several of our friends and family and going over our guest list we realized we were missing roughly 45 cards. All filled with cash or checks. The reception hall has no cameras but several of our friends said they saw a sketchy woman hovering around the gift table, but all assumed she was just a guest. The venue was very apologetic and have a great reputation around the community and said they have no new staff members and have never had anything like this happen. What options do I have? :(

Answer:
 Call the police.

That's...  it... really.  That's who you call when you're robbed.

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this.  Stealing from you at your wedding is a whole new level of crappy beyond the usual crappy of getting robbed.  But the police are your only real hope.


Title: What are the potential legal implications of hosting Blackjack out of a residence dorm room?

Question:
My friends and I came up with an idea that we would purchase a table that consists of a roulette wheel/betting area and an area for blackjack. We thought that we could invest x amount of money and host it out of our door room to fellow students in the residence. Our goal is to make money but still add in that fun/adrenaline factor with our friends.

Our main concern is whether or not we could get in serious trouble by some sort of Gambling corporation about not having a license but instead of doing extensive research I thought I would come to reddit for help.

We are located in Ontario, Canada.

Answer:
 Arrested for multiple counts of illegal gambling and fined for operating without a business license off the top of my head. In addition to probable school suspension/expulsion.

But i mean you know this is highly illegal. So to answer your question yes this is highly illegal.Answer #2: That you are willing to admit that this is a profit driven enterprise and not mere recreational will be well received by the authorities when prosecuted. Just speeds up the trial. Answer #3: Yup, you can get in a ton of trouble with the law by not being properly licensed by whatever the equivalent of the gaming commission is in your province. If money is changing hands then it's a huge problem for you.

And that's not even touching on the violations of school policy. If you don't end up in prison you'll very likely end up expelled.Answer #4: Permanent removal from your dorm room and no you won’t be getting any money back. Nearly all university housing contracts have a standard clause prohibiting illegal activity and running a business in your dorm room. Then there’s the student conduct code violations that will be piled on top of that which may or may not lead to your suspension. BTW lawyers can give you advice during a student conduct hearing but they can’t speak for you. This is a bad idea if you like being a college student


Title: Bought a house. Police kicked down the door a few days prior to our possession. Who’s on the hook for damages?

Question:
So we bought a property (put in the offer a couple weeks ago, closed a week ago, possession today). We found the door to be heavily damaged and that it had been kicked in (deadbolt lock had scraped up the door frame and wall where it had been kicked through, door and knob were a wreck). Found out from a neighbor that police had been on site and made a couple arrests a few days ago.

My question is, if the police kicked in the door on a house we own but didn’t have possession of, who pays damages? Is there any way to get this fixed since this isn’t the way the house was when we bought it? Or are a few hundred dollars not worth pursuing?

Location: Alberta, Canada.

Answer:
 The police/city should be responsible for the damage. Go to your local government state what happened. They may give you a form to fill out. Usually though you’ll need to pay up front and get reimbursed. Also there may be a time frame. So don’t delay. Answer #2: Check your contract (reach out to your lawyer if required) because the contract MAY have specified that the sellers continue to be liable for damages until they vacate.

Otherwise, checking with the police to see if they will cover it.


Title: My SO is being sued by a university for a Perkins loan. Any previous paperwork or notifications were sent to an old address, so she wasn't aware of it until she was being served. What are the best actions to take to avoid a judgement?

Question: Location: Detroit

Answer: Pay off the loan


Title: Construction Material Being Stored Leaning Against my Apartment Bedroom (TX)

Question:
For about 4 months now construction has been going on just outside my apartment. I generally work from home so it has been a bit distracting, but I completely understand that it is reasonable for this work to take place during normal hours of the day. However, I've had a few issues arise that I have politely brought to my landlords attention several times and nothing has been done about them.

1) Construction workers have been congregating outside of my apartment as early as 5:30 AM which has woken me up multiple times.

2) The construction workers have been literally storing all of their lumber, tools, and other material leaning against the outside of my bedroom next to where my bed is (right next to a large bedroom window). So even though they have moved on to working on other parts of the complex. I will occasionally be awoken early in the morning or late in the evening by a piece of lumber being thrown against my wall or the clanging of metal.

I've already bought noise cancelling headphones, and tried sleeping with earplugs but as this is all occurring only a few feet away from my head separated by my bedroom window it is still extremely loud.

Is it unreasonable for me to ask for them to move their storage & meeting point somewhere else? If my landlord is still unresponsive to my requests what options do I have?

Thanks for taking the time to read and leave advice.

Answer: Apt Mgr Here: The manager is probably going crazy right now with the repairs and going 100mpr.  I would nicely talk and send a email to the LL after that I would contract the corporate office and talk to their  supervisor.  there should be some other place to store their equipment.


Title: Obamacare repeal and employer mandate

Question:
I work for a small city government in Ohio, I am currently classified as a part time employee.  They cap the hours that part time employees can work per week based on the Obamacare mandate and not wanting to have to give part timers health insurance. Before Obamacare part timers could work unlimited hours.  Now that it has been repealed I'm hoping to get more hours.

Can someone tell me where to find specific legal documentation that this mandate no longer exists?

Answer: Obamacare hasn't been repealed. Are you posting from an alternate universe?  Do you have a goatee?Answer #2: The repeal passed the house but hasn't passed the senate....Answer #3: Obamacare hasn't been repealed.  There is a potential replacement that is in committee with the Senate now.  If the mandate is repealed or eliminated, it'll be months, at a minimum, before that would take effect.


Title: Neighbor mowing yard without asking, any liability?

Question: Located in Louisiana USA. We don't live in an HOA. When we purchased our home one of our neighbors told us he takes care of a few of our neighbors yards for them. I said thanks but no thanks, my husband and I are able to do our own work (and don't want to pay a neighbor to do it.) This was about 8 months ago.  Yesterday he took it upon himself to edge, mow, and blow our front yard. It's not very big, but he also cut down one of my plants and part of another I had planted. Which he wouldn't know, because it's not his freaking yard. He's a retired guy who seems to have nothing better to do, but I'm not going to let this come bite me in the butt later if he hurts his back weed eating my yard. I think it's great he helps out the less able people in the neighborhood, one neighbor lost her husband last year and the other has trouble walking for example. Anyway, my main concern with this is if he were to hurt himself on our property while doing this, would he have any recourse if he continues to do it?

Answer:
 Don't worry about the liability; as long as you don't deliberately create hazards for him, your homeowners' insurance would cover claims.

You could sue him over damage to your property that he causes by mowing your lawn without permission, but I might just talk to the guy again first.  Answer #2: Not a lawyer, so cannot speak to legal issues.

However, my wife and I moved into a small close-knit community at the end of a dead-end street 13 years ago and had a similar experience.

I didn't have a snow blower and after a storm dumped a foot and a half I see our 75 year old neighbor our in our driveway with his giant snowblower. Turns out he was just happy to help and he removed the snow around most of the parked cars in the street, did the driveway of the rental next door, etc.

Him and his wife turned out to be the sweetest people on earth and we ended up helping each other with a ton of outdoor stuff. He had the good quality yard tools, but after his health deteriorated, he couldn't operate it as well. I then did the work for him and myself with his tools and everyone was happy.

So apart from any liability you may or may not have, my experience is that it may be worth cultivating a friendship with this person. He may truly just want to please you and be helpful!


Title: real state agency rented my parking lot without my knowledge or consent

Question:
So i own an apartment in an apartment complex  for 2 years now and there i own a parking lot with my number so that i don't have trouble parking in the holiday season  i had a few days off work and decided to spend them on the beach and when i  arrived i saw that my parking lot was occupied by another car and i thought i wasn't a big of a deal and didnt want to call a towing car company so i talked with the security guard and we left a note and parked somewhere else expecting to see it vacant today but the problem is that apparently, the real state agency that sold me the apartment and parking lot  and built the  whole place rented my parking lot he even showed the security guard a contract with the number of my parking lot so what should i do ? he can still use it the 2 days that are left in his contract should i sue the real state agency ? should i contact the Hoa since I'm guessing this happened to me they could be doing it to other people? sorry for spelling mistakes English is not my first language.
This is in Florida

Answer:
 Parking spot is the word you’re looking for. Parking lot is the entirety of all spaces. Answer #2: Question: If OP legally had the rights to the parking space, would OP be entitled to the rent the real estate agency collected?Answer #3: You bought a condo?

Or rented an apartment?Answer #4: First thing, check your contract with the agency for any language covering this.  Second, call them and see what they say.  Answer #5: WA state real estate agent here.  It's been over a decade since I've worked in the field, but I can tell you this situation with your management company is probably on very shaky legal ground.  You pay for this spot for what is called "right of possession" and by renting your space out, you are being denied this.  I have no idea how it works in FL, but I would be very surprised if it was much different.  Re-read your contract and look for any clause where the management reserves the right to rent your space out.  That's the only circumstance I can think of where what they are doing MIGHT be legal.  Even if it does contain such a clause, it still may not be legal.  Many attorneys offer free consultations and even ones who charge will usually charge less than their usual rate.  I would suggest you take advantage of this as your management company may be breaking the law by renting your space out.  Take pictures and keep a log of what days and vehicles have been occupying your space.  Good luck, OP.Answer #6: You need to read your contract and see exactly what it says about your parking space.


Title: I need help getting a dog back.

Question:
I have a friend (f) but let's call her ally, who got a dog from one of her close friends (m) but we'll call him billy. Ally got a dog as a puppy from billy almost 2 years ago after about 2 months into ally having her new puppy her mom said she didn't want the puppy at her house anymore. So ally went to her long term boyfriend who we'll call tom and asked tom if he can keep the dog at his place  he agreed. Well fast forward to now tom and ally broke up and tom kept the dog despite ally asking for the her dog back since the day they broke up he doesn't want to give the dog back. It's been over 3 months Is there any legal action ally can take to get her dog back? So far billy said he will provide a written statement and get it notarized that he gave her the dog. Also billy still has the parent dogs.

Edit: this is in Southern California
Edit: words also sorry for format on mobile
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Who has been paying for the dog's upkeep during this time? Who pays for food?  Vet bills?  Who has licensed the dog?

This all being said, in non-legal advice, Ally is being a massive twat here.  She's had someone keep her dog for two years because she got a dog she couldn't care for.  That's incredibly extensive.  The right thing to do is for Ally to move on and get a new dog...provided she can now house and care for the dog herself.


Title: Baby-mama duped me. Help!

Question:
(UK) Right, so not too long ago I ended up hooking up with this girl who assured me that she was on the birth control implant. We only hooked up once because shortly afterwards she told me that she wasn't on the implant or any other form of contraception. (Looking back I should have worn a condom and doubled up just in case but she never struck me as a liar, and regrettably I trusted her).

So anyways, after her telling me this we didn't speak for a few weeks. The next time I heard off of her was her telling me that she was pregnant. Immediately from the get go I told her that I didn't want a child, and that had I known she wasn't on contraception I would have used a condom. I told her that if she kept it she were to keep it, I would not be involved as this isn't what I wanted, I had plans to go to university and overall I felt like she had somewhat planned this following her intentional lie about her contraception. She agreed with me that she shouldn't keep it and arranged an abortion.

I went with her to the clinic as I didn't want her to go through it alone. Following the procedure she was upset and asked if I would stay with her for a while as she didn't want to go straight home. I spent a few hours with her until she was ready to go back.  We agreed to go our separate ways and didn't speak for several months until she popped up to me and said how she had lied about going through with the abortion and was actually still carrying my child.  Cut to now, and she has given birth to a boy. I stand by what I said to her and I don't want to be involved with anything. I started to pay money monthly towards things up until she said to me 'I'm waiting until after you graduate because I know you will have a well paid job and I will rinse you'. She is now with another guy, and is already pregnant with his child.

I know that many people will say that as I put it in her this is now my responsibility... But I really disagree with how the world all favours the woman, especially when their power is abused as in this example. I understand that I helped create this child but my entire choice on this matter was taken away from me the moment she lied to me about her contraception.

Where do I stand legally regarding giving her money/ putting money in an account only accessible by him when he is of age/ not having any involvement at all?

Answer: First of all, you absolutely need to have a paternity test done. Then you can figure out child support and/or parenting time. If the paternity test says that you are the father, you are legally responsible.Answer #2: These questions are so predicable. If this is your child you can be made to pay child support.


Title: Street Woman Abusing Children

Question: Yesterday at I was in downtown Seattle, WA on Pike Street and saw an Eastern European woman with two little girls and took their picture as part of a city-scene. As I took the picture, from a distance, she grabbed one of the girls and ran away with the other running behind. She returned and harassed me about "take picture of her children." I have had people get uncomfortable/curious about my street photography before and have always be understanding of people's wishes to not be photographed. This on the other hand felt weird cause of her focus on "her children."(I spent time in China where it is common for beggars to use stolen children). I refused to talk with her and walked away quickly. Later while review the photos I noticed that one of the girls is at least seven years old, old enough for school, while the other looked to be about three. All of their stuff is very new and doesn't look like someone that is starving. Is there an agency that I can turn the photos over to for investigation to check on the children to make sure they are not being abused or kept from going to school?

Answer: You want to call CPS because you saw a parent with well dressed children who didn't want a random stranger taking photos of them?


Title: I want to contact OSHA but my employer will know it was me. (North Carolina)

Question:
I work at a small retail store and our main problem is WAY too much spring shipment. Our back room is packed. Fire lanes are blocked, fire exit blocked, walk ways blocked, bathroom blocked, breakers blocked, you get the idea. The shelves are packed too, even if we could get through all the boxes we don't have anywhere to put the contents. Normally we would send stuff to our off-site but they're cutting ours. Our district manager visited recently and saw how bad it was, she contacted people so that we wouldn't get sent so much, but nothing to fix these safety concerns. I'm at the end of my rope and I want to call OSHA and file an anonymous conplaint. The problem is that it's a small store and I'm the only one voicing safety concerns. They will know it was me. I know they can't technically retaliate buuuuuuut I also know in reality they can cite whatever reason they want, or do other things like give me bad hours so my numbers drop and then fire me and give a bad reference.

TLDR: Is there any way to request an OSHA site inspection without the employer knowing a request was put in? Will they guess it anyways, or can it seem like a random check?
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 You're not really asking a legal question. The entire problem is that if OSHA shows up, your employer will suspect you called. There's nothing that can prevent that connection from being made. You could call the fire marshal, too, btw. Answer #2: You CAN submit an OSHA complaint anonymously. But, they are VERY unlikely to do an inspection if you do not attach your name to it. But, as you say, they'll connect the dots regardless and know it was you.

A better option will be going to the fire station and talking to the fire marshal. Talk to him about your retaliation concerns and see if he'd be willing to do "random" inspection walkthroughs of several stores near yours, including yours.

"Hello, I'm Jim the fire marshal, I'm doing random inspections of all the stores in this plaza today, can I talk to the MOD?"


Title: Girlfriend forgot 60 day notice for lease, but they didn't hold up part of the lease either. Options?

Question:
We're in Atlanta, GA. This is happening now. My girlfriend was paying for a 6 year lease on an apartment. She went back to school and paid off the rest of the months. Now it's two days away from the move out day, which she assumed would mean her lease would end. She's screwed now because I can't pay and she hasn't had a job since she's been back at school.

First of all, can we cut some sort of a deal with the apartment complex to somehow pay over time or not pay if they can get a new tenant by a certain time? Anything we can do other than put in a 30 day now that it's month to month and pay for this month?

Secondly, she was promised a washer and dryer which is in her leasing agreement. She communicated with the leasing office multiple times and they promised to come install them, but over the 6 months she never received a washer and dryer. Does that give us any leverage or is it too small of an issue to really matter?

Thanks
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 > First of all, can we cut some sort of a deal with the apartment complex to somehow pay over time or not pay if they can get a new tenant by a certain time?

You can ask.  But they're not required to give such a thing.

> Does that give us any leverage or is it too small of an issue to really matter?

Your girlfriend could have possibly broken the lease over this matter; but the remedy for doing that will take longer than simply paying another month and giving notice.


Title: [US] [VA] Can I change passwords without getting repercussions from parents? (and other things) 18yrs old

Question:
My parents have usually been strict, but it's getting ridiculous at this point. Background is: my parents found a text log of me allowing an Internet stranger to sexually "control" me through texting, no pictures involved. They were ok with me being bi, but they really don't like this, and want to stop me from doing it ever again, inside or outside the house. The initial punishment was having a parent watch me while I used my computer for only homework, which was tough but I dealt with.

After this, however, they seemed to increase pressure and surveillance on me. They refuse to allow me to take off an attachment to my email account that sends them a copy of every email I receive, and mom got furious that I even suggested it (to be fair it was right after I got out of them watching me; she thought I was going to use the new freedom to "get back into it"). They frequently patrol my computer area and force me to let them see everything that I'm doing at the moment, since I'm often tabbing between a browser and a fullscreen game. Even if I tab between homework and a game, if my parents see *any* change in the glow of the screen on the wall behind me as they enter the room, or if they hear me typing a lot (from one floor up), they'll be suspicious and repeatedly ask if I'm being trustworthy and doing what they want. I have no option but to follow their wants, however, since they've made a couple of clearly given threats:

* If they catch me looking at porn of any kind or roleplaying with anyone, they'll sell my computer (more on the details of the computer below) and my phone, and I have to pay for the replacements.

* If I act unhappy, mopey, angry, or show some negative emotion toward being in this situation, they'll get me an apartment and kick me out, leaving the computer behind. Their reasoning is "if I don't like living in their house, I shouldn't deserve to live in it."

The psychological pressure has given me some serious anxiety right now, where even when I go to bed at my prescribed bedtime (9 o'clock on school nights), I'm still falling asleep alfway through school. I can go on about their helicoptering techniques, but this isn't the sub, and I'm told it's not severe enough to be classified as abuse yet.

My main questions are:

* Are my parents, as I still am financially dependent on them, allowed to force me to give them my passwords?

* If not, are they allowed to punish me for changing them? I've had most of the same passwords for years (I know, bad habit), and they know all of them. Considering the tension between us right now, there's a serious chance of repercussions if I do try to change my passwords, as they'll think I'm trying to sneak around them, instead of protect my privacy.

* As for the computer, it's a custom built desktop I build after my laptop died. They agreed to fund the first $1k, then when it came time to upgrade phones, I chose not to upgrade in exchange for them funding the last $400. Are they allowed to claim ownership and sell/destroy it? I don't think it's been termed a "gift", but it's often called my computer, even though they recently claimed ownership during this incident. (Note: recently I had to upgrade the power supply, and I paid for all of it, so I at least own that part. the old power supply has not been sold yet)

I'm pretty sure that my mom was actively searching my phone when she found the text log (picked up my phone and put in my passcode), and she has confessed to actively searching my phone after I hid in a bathroom and contacted an adult saying that I didn't feel safe going home. She went into the men's bathroom, saw through the stall that I was on my phone, and looked through it to find the log of me texting a teacher about how scared I was to go home (this instance was seperate and about a couple weeks after the first sexual text log was found). If you want, I'll talk about what my parents have been doing to figure out if it's abuse, but right now I want to know what legal rights I have. I also don't have much time to talk, since as I mentioned above, they actively listen for me typing.

I am 18 years old, male, and live in VA, USA.

Answer:
 they'll GET an apartment FOR you?! sounds dopeAnswer #2: You are at a personal crossroads. You are an adult. Your parents are telling you what kind of relationship they're willing to have with you. What kind of relationship are you willing to have with _them_?

It's not illegal for your parents to request all of this control, or illegal for you to give it. You can change your mind at any time, and renegotiate your relationship with your parents. Keep in mind that your parents' obligations to you are very limited, now, too - it may be that neither of you is willing to have the kind of relationship the other wants, in which case you will have to move out - possibly quite quickly.Answer #3: I mean, they don't have the right to force you to do anything. However, they also are not obligated to let you live with them. So, largely, that's the decision to you're dealing with. They can't kick you out and keep your property, but living on your own is hard.


Title: Apartment building requiring my dog's DNA

Question:
Our property management company is requiring all pet owners to submit swabs of DNA of their pets as there have been numbers accounts of people not cleaning up after their pets. We signed a pet addendum when we got our dog and it doesn't say anything about submitting the DNA or that they can request such a thing.

A few side notes. They have been trying to pull things like this for a while. Telling residents that per the contract they signed, we can't have more than 2 guests in the community areas. I read the lease and there was nothing. Asked them to show it to me and they said we will get back to you. They also don't report robberies on the premise. Our secured underground garage was broken into and over a dozen cars were burglarized. Management said nothing. We found out over a week after it happened when someone told us their car was broken into, which at that point I checked and sure enough they broke into our car too (we don't use our car that often). Huge fiasco trying to deal with police a week after the incident.

Tldr: property companies wants my dogs DNA. Language not in pet addendum. Is this invasion of privacy? They can't ask for my DNA, I assume my pet is in the same boat.

Thanks, all

Answer:
 > They can't ask for my DNA, I assume my pet is in the same boat.

No. You are person, your pet is a sofa.

Read your lease to see if they can make modifications to your lease during your term. If they can, they can modify for this purpose.

Realize, this is like asking for the serial number on a lawn mower. Answer #2: They can ask you for your DNA, you don't have to give it.  Unless it is in your lease you don't have to get your pet's either.  If you don't give it now they will probably make you do it to renew your lease.

>They can't ask for my DNA, I assume my pet is in the same boat.

And no, pets and people are treated very differently under the law.


Title: Wife may be being harassed or stalked on facebook.

Question:
This is a strange one, bear with me and I am sorry for the long message. We are in Indianapolis, IN.

One week ago, a friend of my wife received some messages from an online stranger regarding my wife. These messages claimed to be from an old coworker of my wife 2-4 years ago, and wanted to date my wife. Those messages escalated from wanting to meet my wife to claims of having taken pictures of my wife at work in addition to a picture of my wife at a public swimming pool. The person was making explicit comments about my wife's body and wanting to sexually assault my wife. The person asked my wife's friend if they were willing to get a good picture of my wife. My wife's friend showed screenshots of these messages to my wife, her friend was afraid the unknown person was planning to come and abduct and assault my wife.

My wife spoke to me about it, and we did not take any action. Four days later, the person sends my wife a message on facebook. The person just asks a general how are you type question. We know what the person said to my wife's friend only because her friend showed us, so the message made my wife's skin crawl. My wife asked who the person was, and the person did not respond until a day later with another general non-threatening message. At this point, I messaged the person through my wife's account telling him to leave my wife alone and not take any pictures. The person messaged back "I got a real nice pic of your wife's ass I don't need any help".

At this point, we were not sure what to do. My wife suggested I dangle a carrot in front of the person, and message him from another account. I do that, and after a while, the person starts talking about my wife in a very explicit sexual manner. He describes two pictures he has of my wife, one of her in a bikini and another when she was at work bent over putting something in her car. He describes that both times, he wanted to sexually assault her but knew that was inappropriate.

The person the next day, messaged my dummy account again, asking for help setting up a date. He was clear to say he is not interested in meeting her unless it is just a date, but he obviously hopes to "get with" my wife. He also shares with me a picture he has of my wife from her facebook. He also goes into detail about how he got the two pictures of my wife and what he does with them.

So, my questions about this are as follows:

1) All of the messages were on facebook messanger, do they monitor these weird messages?

2) The only message he sent my wife directly was general in nature, the only sexual and harassing messages were sent to her friend about my wife and the dummy account I created to try finding out who he is. He messaged my wife, I told him to stop. Does that constitute a crime?

3) Does this sound like a real thing? Is someone messing with us, or is there really some guy out there bordering on obsessed with my wife?

4) My wife does not know the person has continued messaging my dummy account, should I tell her? I do not want to stress her out considering the messages to her stopped immediately when asked. I realize that is not a legal question, but I am sincerely perplexed by this whole thing. I might take that one somewhere else.

My wife's friend said we should be calling the police, but we did not. The person has been clear in stating he is not looking to show up at our house or anything, he just wants to "date" my wife. She is obviously not interested, and he is not messaging her anything threatening.

Is there anything we can/should be doing from a legal standpoint?

Answer: Contact. The. Police.


Title: CPS Situation (MO)

Question:
Long story, I'll try to provide enough info without going into the stuff that doesn't relate to my specific question.

First, yes I have an attorney. However, I have trouble just letting him deal with things.

My baby died at the hands of the person who provided care while I was at work. A year later the prosecutor decided there was ongoing abuse, for which I did not seek medical care.

Simply not true. There was no sign anything was wrong (I don't believe there was abuse at all honestly), and we went to every scheduled doctor visit.

However, there was no one month check up. There is a gap between visits of 5 weeks. The doctor simply didn't schedule a visit at one month. I don't recall why or if a reason was given or a conversation had, possibly it was just an oversight because there were concerns and frequent returns for bloodwork in the first few weeks. I suspect it just kind of got lost in the shuffle and we ended up scheduling for the 2 month check up, no big deal. Except that now it's being looked at as some nefarious thing and I can't even remember it, let alone provide any kind of explanation.

How should I approach this? Do I spend energy and money trying to figure out what happened? Do I simply say "It just didn't get scheduled and I don't remember the circumstances"? Do I ignore it and focus on other evidence that I had no reason to believe extra medical attention was necessary?
Topic:
CPS and Dependency Law

Answer:
 Are you being charged with something here? If so you should get a lawyer, especially if you have other children that are at risk of being removed.Answer #2: OP does say they have a lawyer so... ask him?

I have zero expertise here but I’d probably focus on other information. Like I said no expertise but it makes the most sense to me.

Again though, get real legal counsel. I’m just a chick in the internet who happened to be browsing this sub. I have no basis for my opinion legally speaking.


Title: Trees on a neighbors property.

Question: Trees on a neighbors property are destroying my foundation, I confronted them about the situation, and offered to cut them down myself. They declined the offer saying " they like the shade." What are my legal options?

Answer:
 First thing to do is have an arborist come out and examine the situation.  If he determines that the roots are causing the damage, and that the roots can be safely removed without damaging the tree, have the roots cut out.

If the roots can't be removed without damaging the tree, then consult with an attorney because things will get messy if your neighbor is uncooperative.  You may have to sue him for trespass/nuisance or something else of the sort to recover your damages.  And you also want to make sure you're protected when you eventually have to have the roots cut out which will kill your neighbor's tree.


Title: I'd like to obtain an Irish citizenship as my birth father is from Ireland, but he gave his entire legal rights over to my mother years ago. Could a dual citizenship be possible?

Question:
My sisters and I haven't spoken to our very abusive, horrendous birth father in 16 years, and we don't wish to ever speak to him again. However, to get dual citizenship, you apparently have to have to parents' birth certificate, which we don't have obviously. My sisters and I don't even have his last name as our step dad legally adopted us.

Is there anything that I can do to have a dual citizenship without asking my birth father for his birth certificate? Also, would he legally even count as my father because he signed his rights away 16 years ago?

Anything helps, thank you!

Answer:
 I haven't checked but most western countries allow anyone to purchase anyone's birth certificates: they are public records.

And now I have

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/bdm/Certificates/faq/faq.html#question2

Now it's possible that you might not have all the information required, so you might need to go back a step and find out your father's birth parents  details. But this is something that genealogists do all the time.

Oh and the signing away rights? Irrelevant as far as this goes.


Title: My parents just got conned, lost 7k. There is no way to get the money back. What do I do next?

Question: (New York)I'll try to make this as short as possible. My parents made foolish mistakes, I won't go into the details of how the con went down. 3 (instant) money transfers were made to Mexico. There is no way to get the money back. We have the names of the people they sent the money to (if even were using their real names). I also have the number that they were making the calls from. I even possibly have the Facebooks of one of them. The three transfers totaled to 7k. What do we do now? I asked Western Union and they said to contact my local police department. What should I do after that? How can I go about making sure that the con artists get caught? Any advice helps, thanks for reading.

Answer: It's gone. There's likely no way for you to recoup your losses / see justice, as the people the money went to may very well have been mules. View it as a life lesson.


Title: [IL] Updated employment contract includes perpetual non-disparagement and waiver of trial by jury

Question:
Hello people who know more about this than I do. I've been with my company for about 6 years now and they're updating the terms of their work for hire and restrictive covenant contract. Basically there's a bunch of stuff that seems to be stock-standard. Things like a non-compete and non-solicit, intellectual property and copyright ownership, etc. These things have been on the books for almost every company in my industry (fintech) forever. The clauses that stood out to me as odd though are a non-disparagement clause and a waiver of trial by jury. The first bit states that during my employment and forever after, I will neither write nor speak in a negative light of the company or any entity affiliated with the company, and that should any issue arise as a result of this contract, I agree to have the case heard by a non-jury court in Chicago only. My question to you is, are these enforceable? Should I be afraid that if I vent to my girlfriend one night and they hear about it, they'll take me to court?

[UPDATE]

Heard back from HR. Overall, the spirit of the non-disparagement clause is to protect the company from more public aggression (like a dedicated blog or something), rather than an power grab to control all negative speech. They are particularly concerned about overt attacks. As for glassdoor and the like specifically, they view it as a marketing tool for recruiting as much as anything, but do monitor comments and welcome constructive "negative" feedback. Their hope though is that prior to such a tirade employees will discuss problems internally prior to posting or contract termination, and does provide various avenues to communicate these issues in various degrees of confidentiality.

On the whole, this is a reasoned and thoughtful approach and I feel better based on my interactions with HR. As to  the googling I did on my own, and the brief snippet of advice from illinoislaw.com said that for the most part this is all enforceable. People can and do waive rights they otherwise have all the time, and this isn't very different. But, IANAL, so the degree of difference might be a thing. Ultimately it's one I think I'm comfortable with.

Answer:
 IANAL: But I've not heard of a reason to believe perpetual non-disparagement clauses aren't enforceable. This gets tricky for things like whistleblowers as I believe if they report crimes they can technically be sued. I think you'd probably be ok to vent provided nobody recorded and you GF didn't tell on you.

Regardless, I'd speak with your boss/HR and see why it was added, and prepare a resume to get a new job.


Title: Housing trying to deny me and my service animal

Question:
I recently secured a place to live in Vancouver Washington. When I went to turn in my deposit, I brought my certified letter about my therapy animal. She refused to take my deposit saying she had to check with the owner of the property about my dog. Also asking me if he's had any training and what type of services he provides to me. This is all hella illegal right?? I'm making sure we signed something showing that she had intent to rent us the place. What are my options moving forward?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 > I brought my certified letter about my therapy animal.

Are you referring to an ESA? ESA's are not the same as service animals, although they do have the same protections under the FHA.

> Also asking me if he's had any training and what type of services he provides to me. This is all hella illegal right??

Not at all illegal, in fact those are specifically the only two questions people are allowed to ask someone about their service animal.

Since you have an ESA, all you need to provide is the recommendation from your therapist. Keep in mind with the ESA recommendation, while it does allow for pets in a case where there is a "no pets" policy it forces the landlord to allow **reasonable** accommodation in allowing the pet.Answer #2: It sounds like this is an ESA, correct?   Is this letter from a doctor currently treating you?  Also, ESAs can be not permitted if they cause a hardship to the landlord.  A standard hardship is regarding insurance and banned breeds.  Your dog is part pitbull correct?  This may cause some problems.Answer #3: Assuming the lady comes back within a reasonable amount of time after confirming with the owner you don't appear to have damages. She is allowed to ask what services the animal provides.Answer #4: Who is this certified letter from?

Is the rental owner bound by the FHA?


Title: [TX] City PD is posting a 'weekly blotter' of all the arrests they make and posting on FB for the world to see. Is this some sort of a violation of privacy?

Question: The disclaimer on the bottom of the page says "*If you find yourself in this blotter and your charge(s) is later dropped, feel free to contact us and we will remove your information" but by then, the damage will have already been done? Is this legal? This can easily tarnish the reputation of a public figure.

Answer:
 You really have never seen a police blotter before? Used to be just in the newspaper but facebook is getting more and more popular.Answer #2: It is legal. Arrests are public record. It is meant as a deterrent for everyone, including/especially public figures.

There are 3rd party sites that do this too, but they will only remove the pictures/information for a fee... and then the information pops up elsewhere.


Title: Got blackout drunk and sedated at a Maryland football game

Question: Hi guys, I'm an 18 year old from New Jersey who recently got himself into some trouble. I went to a Maryland vs. Penn State football game at Ravens stadium  last weekend and during the tailgate before the game I got blackout drunk and don't remember even leaving the tailgate. I don't fully know what happened or what I did but at some point during the game (I somehow made my way in) I ended up in some sort of altercation and tried to push my way past a staff member. I was handcuffed and taken out of the stadium to paramedics who sedated me and took me to the hospital. I woke up hours later with my parents in the room at the University hospital pediatric ward. From what my parents told me the tox screen showed only alcohol and my parents were never informed of me being charged with anything. I'm not looking for judgement on my actions, I know they were idiotic but I was wondering if you guys could help me find out what kind of legal trouble I might be facing because I'm currently shitting my pants in anticipation of what is to come.

Answer:
 How would we know?

Other then being in possession and consumption of alcohol, public intoxication, no one here knows what other laws you might have broken. Answer #2: If you committed any crimes, you can be charged with them, up until the statute of limitations in Maryland runs out for those crimes.  Maryland has no statutes of limitations for felonies, so if you committed a felony, the cops could charge you, say, 28 years from now, if they felt like it.

If you caused any damage or committed some oither tort, you can be sued by other people, up until the statute of limitations in Maryland runs out for that.  [Link.](http://research.lawyers.com/maryland/maryland-statutes-of-limitations.html)

Being blacked-out drunk is not a defense.  Avoid this in the future.


Title: A man sent me a explicit picture as part of a fucked up joke. Am I Paranoid or can I be considered to have been a part of something?

Question: I was on a Buffallo Bills fan forum a couple of days ago and a person who was making a montage for the bills 2014 season wanted to know if anyone who attended the Bills VS Patriots game at fox-borough this year took any video from the game. I was at the game so I figured sending him a quick 30 second video of the bills scoring was harmless. I sent him the video through Gmail and the next day, he emailed me back. The email was titled in the subject bar "Thanks man, Fuck Tom Brady". I opened up the email and it had a picture of a guy in #12 Patriots jersey (just someone who is a brady fan, the guy as obviously not actually Tom Brady) engaging in a sex act with a male that appeared to be young (could have been anywhere from 13-18. Photo also looked pretty old). It was captioned at the bottom of the photo "Brady Fucks Boys". I saw this and deleted the email right away. My question is that am I paranoid for thinking this could come back to me somehow? I've heard stories where Google has tipped off authorities over cases like this and Its got my mind going crazy as to if they can consider me as part of a crime, or is it someone who distributes things like this that are mostly gone after? (The location is western ny)

Answer: Even if it was illegal, nobody has time or interest in going after you. Don't sweat it.


Title: Legal pros of reddit, I recently had a home-seller accept my offer on their home. However, I am still tied to my lease for another 5 months. What can I do to get out of the lease legally? I live in Missouri.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Pay to get out of the lease? Because buying a new home does not allow you to void a lease contract. Sorry.


Title: How are wages calculated for child support? [CA]

Question:
To complicate matters, I live in California, and she lives in Iowa.

I got papers for child support from her lawyer and the wages they say I’m making is way off from what I figure. They are taking my weekly wage and multiplying that by 52, but I’m figuring it based on pay periods. So I take my hourly pay, multiply by 80 to get one pay period, then double that for one month. Then I multiply that by 12 to get a year. The difference is almost a months pay.

Are they doing it the long way just to screw me over? What can I do to fight how much I’m having to pay? They are asking for literally half of my check. I can’t afford that and still help my father who I’m living with.

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: You're doing the calculation wrong. To get annual you need to multiply a biweekly pat period by 26, not 24. There are two months each year where you'll be paid three times.


Title: [IL] Uncle left my aunt, ran off with a crack whore, and now she cannot afford house payments, and wants the house in her name.

Question: So my Grandmother moved in with my aunt and uncle about 2 years ago, and about 6 months ago, she was diagnosed with some severe cancer. Well about a month ago, my uncle decided he would rather start doing meth with a crack whore and just abandoned them. My aunt cannot work, as taking care of my G-Ma is a full time job at this point, and is curious as to how she could get the house solely in her name so I could move in, and help her pay off the remaining 10k they owe on the house, and not have to worry about him turning around and selling it for more drug money etc. Any help or advice?

Answer: Your aunt needs to get a divorce and fight for the house in the property distribution.


Title: [CA] Rights for Other Mother or Step-Mother (Child Custody)

Question:
Hi. Not sure if you can help. Husband has a 6 year old with a woman that is basically a weekend mom. Due to her previous abuse, she was arrested for hitting my husband in front of their son, she has less than 20% time. She also leaves him alone at home and sleeps in the same bed as him so there are lots of concerns all around.

She recently has become a barrier in terms of school. I wanted to know what rights I have or what rights I COULD have as a parent in his life that lives with him 80% of time. Marriage is on the road map but there are some financial and timing restraints as of now. We try to keep her as far way from us as possible but she is disparaging me to not only our son but to the teachers and other parents at his school. Do I have any rights as to parenting since I am now with his father? Any advice would help. Thanks.

Answer: There is no such thing as "step-parent" rights. At most, your husband can give you (formally or informally) an extension of his own custody/parental authority, but unless she agrees to give up her rights and you subsequently adopt her, she and your husband are the sole "parents" regardless of whether you marry your husband or not.


Title: Legal Advice Needed ASAP!

Question: I live in New York and my mother in law gave me her house because she got sick and no longer lives there. I hired a friend who is a contractor to rebuild the entire house from bottom up earlier this year. The house was supposed to be finished in April and then July but it still is not finished and I moved out of my apartment with my family in July. So my family and I have been living in an unfinished house. Earlier this week, he called me saying that I owe him 60k for extras. I explained to him that I already overpaid him 35k based off my calculations including the extras. He keeps threatening me that he is going to pull the permits and walk off the job even though we have a contract. I explained to him that I will go over ever bill and every withdrawal to make sure that I am not underpaying him and he refuses and just wants the money. My new street is supposed to have a block party on Saturday but the contractor stated that if someone gets hurt on my property, he will sue me. So now I feel I have to cancel the block party because of these threats. I really don't know what to do from here. I don't even think I can afford a lawyer because I've literally spent all my money on building this house. What should I do?

Answer:
 > I  explained to him that I will go over ever bill and every withdrawal to make sure that I am not underpaying him and he refuses and just wants the money.

This is a sign of a scam. He needs to provide an itemized bill or GTFO. You, on the other hand, need to find your original contract. You may want to consider suing him, and reporting him to the NY AG and DA for fraud, if he has not delivered the paid for improvements.

> My new street is supposed to have a block party on Saturday but the contractor stated that if someone gets hurt on my property, he will sue me.

You can't successfully sue someone for damages that happened to a completely unrelated party. You do not need to cancel the party.

You should contact a lawyer for this, as your contractor may try to file a lien on your house for the supposed unpaid work.


Title: [TX] Told to resign or move locations?

Question:
Asking for a friend.

Friend worked at a popular sporting goods store (named after a town in Missouri) and the team lead had been sending him home early for no reason other than it was "too busy".

Apparently she was doing this without authorization from management and therefore he got in trouble.  Her word against his and she told management he was just leaving early vs her actually sending him home. Corporate got involved and finally they called him today and told him her and him cannot work in the same store so he must either relocate or resign.

She's a team lead so they're not making her move plus she's got a family here and family ties. He has a girlfriend and a baby so they said he could move easier than the other girl and would prefer him to switch stores...the closest being hours away so his only option was to resign.

Can he be denied unemployment due to resigning when he had no choice but to do So? They didn't make him sign anything just make him turn in his stuff. He put the conversation on speaker phone and I heard it all. They literally told him he can either transfer or resign, those are his only two options. He cant just transfer as his girlfriend has a very good job with the City and both of their families are here.

Answer:
 Yes, he will very likely be approved for unemployment. If he is denied he should appeal. He was made unemployed through no fault of his own.

He should have refused to resign though. If they wanted him to work elsewhere and he can't, they can fire him.


Title: Tenant's right vs. grandparent's right

Question:
Hello all. I'm really hoping for some advice of what my rights are in this situation. The situation is thus: my husband, my 3 year old daughter (L) and myself live in a rent house owned by my parents. There is no written agreement, only a verbal agreement 7 years ago when we moved in that we would pay the mortgage to my parents, who would pay the bank. The idea was that we would eventually buy it from them, but this has not happened yet.

Approximately 3 months ago, we had an extreme falling out with my parents (due to controlling behavior, emotional abuse/manipulation) They were physically abusive to me when I was a child, but it's only recently that I've realized they've never stopped treating me badly, though the hitting stopped.

(Please note: there is no legal record of me being abused by my parents. CPS never got involved. The cops were called for physical fights between my parents, but they never went anywhere because both claimed to be the abused party--with the marks to match their own twisted story. There may be a single report that I was picked up by my neck and thrown into a wall--but I am unsure if the cop even wrote it down, no charges were filed, and CPS was not contacted)

I had enough of their behavior and basically said they couldn't see me or my child. (as they continuously negate everything about my preferences for how to raise a child, and from what my child has said, they still have vicious verbal fights in front of her when I'm not around. I also worry that they will start physically abusing her as well, as she is getting to the age where it started for me.)

When they realized I was serious about this, they let themselves into my (locked) home, yelled at us for over an hour and basically refused to leave until we gave in to their demands-- access to L "2 times a week" or they would evict us.

My husband was uncomfortable with cutting them out of our lives entirely anyway, so we allowed this to happen. They demand unsupervised overnight visitation twice a week, and if this is not met, the threats of immediate eviction ensue. So this, I hate to admit, has been the status quo for the past 3 months.

Recently, my daughter has a slight rash/redness on her private area. My mother has decided this is a BIG DEAL, and throws the word neglect around. I worry she will push for full custody. I have a pediatrician appointment set in 5 days. But now my mother is saying that she is using prescription yeast medication on my child, though we have told her bluntly to NOT do it. From the wording of her text messages, she's going to do it anyway, and has before. She claims that L now has blisters on the area... which sounds more like a medication allergy than a yeast infection to me..

I've looked into tenant's rights in my state (LA) but it looks like they only need 5-10 days notice to evict us. I'm also concerned that the lack of a written lease may go badly for us, though we could get witnesses to state that we've lived here for 7 years and aren't squatters, and we have text messages from my parents requesting the 'house note' each month. We're currently attempting to buy another home, but this is by no means a quick process.

&#x200B;

Answer: Yeast medication is very hard on sensitive skin. And should never be used on someone before puberty unless it’s prescribed to them. If it’s causing your daughter blisters she could get scars and a pretty bad infection. I feel like your mother doesn’t give a shit what happens as long as she’s in control. Find a new place as fast as you can and good luck


Title: Is my doctor committing fraud and am I responsible? (Michigan)

Question:
Throwaway to protect my identity...

I used to have a prescription drug problem, mainly Vicodin. About 18 months ago I decided it was time to get clean. I learned about a drug called Suboxone that is really effective in helping through opiate withdrawals to help people get clean (and for anyone with a similar problem it has been a godsend.) Unfortunately Suboxone treatment is super expensive and I didn't have insurance. Doctors also need a special license to prescribe it so options are limited. I decided on a doctor that's an hour away but in a very poor city because the cost was much less. You have to see the doctor monthly, usually take a drug test, and your dosage is slowly lowered overtime. The appointment cost was $150/month on top of prescription cost.

Anyhow 12 months ago I received health insurance through my employer. My co-pay per office visit is $25. The doctor office said that I would still need to pay the $150 per appointment because they do not accept insurance for this specific type of visit. Apparently the insurance companies don't pay them enough. Also of note is they will not take credit or debit payments for this type of visit. I decided to also make them my primary doctor since I was there every month anyway and it was easy to have them fill simple things like birth control and antibiotics at the same time. So if I had my Suboxone and birth control refilled at the same visit I was charged $150 payable by cash only, and another $15 that I could pay however.

No problem until I started receiving my EOB's in the mail. Every other month or so I would see they charged both me and my insurance for the same Suboxone visit and would be double dipping. The $150 I pay is not any kind of deductible or co-pay, it covers the whole appt just like it did before I had insurance. It also wasn't related to things like my birth control refill as that would come separately. So I'd bring a copy of my EOB to the office asking what happened. They would take it from me, apologize, and promise to reverse it through my insurance and tell me I didn't need to do anything. The amounts charged to my insurance would be around $200 or so. Yesterday I received another EOB for my last appt and my insurance paid out a little over $2000. The services they were charged for were related to drug treatment but they were NOT services I've ever received.

I am pissed. This is not an accident as it keeps happening over and over. I logged into my insurance portal, went through all the EOBs, and all the ones that were to be reversed from the last 12 months are still showing as paid my insurer. I tried calling the doctor office and they gave me the run around and just said to print everything off and bring it to them, even though I told them that's what I've been doing this whole time and you haven't done anything.

This office caters to a very low income immigrant population. I'm worried they've been double dipping, over charging, and preying on the fact most patients speak very little to no English and aren't too familiar with American health insurance. I'm worried if I report this and call my insurer that I could be held responsible because I haven't informed them in the last 12 months even though I thought the office manager was taking care of it. I'm also worried about losing my awesome health insurance plan. I'm not sure if this is something I could be fired from my job for since my employer pays for 100% of our insurance cost.

What should I do??

TL;DR My physician has been wrongly charging my insurer for services for the past 12 months. When brought to their attention they claim they will correct it with insurer. Realized they never corrected it and our continuing to wrongly bill them for even more. Also worried they're exploiting their mainly low income immigrant patients. Worried I could be responsible for just now bringing this to my insurance company.

Answer:
 yes, it's fraud.

tell the insurance company about the situation, provide receipts if you have them, any evidence of communications (pointing out their mistake) that you have, switch doctors.

You have not done anything wrong. you have been scammed out of money you shouldn't have had to pay.


Question: Mom used my info to open 3 utility accounts without my consent, stopped paying and now they are in collections. Trying to just pay them off to get apartment. What is the best quickest method to pay and how?(Texas)

Answer:
 You can get your credit report free once a year. That will tell you who to pay, if you choose to do so.

A paid collections looks equally as bad as an open collection on a credit report. They're no different to creditors. By paying it, you're signing on for 7 years of bad credit. You should be disputing this debt. Try /r/personalfinance - they can tell you the impact of this decisionAnswer #2: Do not pay them off. If you do then you will still have a previous collection action showing on your credit report for several years. You need to file a report with the police for identity theft and then take that information to the utility companies. You may need to show proof that you were not residing where the utilities were used, but an affidavit may be enough when filing the report.


Title: Is access to national security secrets one of the perks removed with an impeachment & removal of a president?

Question: Back on November there was a kerfuffle because Biden had access to national security secrets as a former VP revoked because as President-Elect he was no longer considered a former VP, but since Trump wasn't conceding he wasn't granted access as President-Elect.  It occurs to me that Trump will have access to these secrets as a former President.  Assuming they successfully remove him (even after the fact) will he lose that access?

Answer: Access to classified information is given at the discretion of the President. Other than constitutional officers, *no one* has a right to access classified information. Former senior officials are often given continued access to classified information so that current officials can ask them for advice, but that can be revoked at any time.


Title: [Chicago IL]My gf was assaulted in her own home by a stranger and we recently found the assaulters name

Question: My gf[19] was assaulted by a man after telling him to leave her house. He was a friend of her friends friend (sorry if that’s confusing) and nobody she knows knew his name. She has pictures from after the incident but no eye witnesses except for his friend (her friends friend). Is there anything she can do other than report it to the cops and hope for them to (unlikely) do something? Thanks!

Answer:
 She can file a police report and give them all the information she has.

If there are other details, like the assaulter having access to her house, then she should change her locks and whatnot.


Title: Man trying to get a paternity test consent from a woman in another country and she is refusing.

Question:
Family lawyers of Reddit (or anyone that can help or advise.). I was in a relationship with a Spanish girl 5 years ago, I am in the UK, she became pregnant almost immediately or so I thought. When we went for a scan they said that she was 12 weeks pregnant but I had only known her for 9 weeks. Things soon started to fall apart between us but obviously I wanted to find out if I had a child and obviously to be there for it and support it. Despite several attempts by myself and family members to get her to agree to a paternity test she flat out refused and ultimately asked me to leave her alone. A lawyer at the time said you would be surprised how often this happens and we all assumed that there was a high chance that the child isn't mine. 5 years later, this week she gets in touch with me. Saying we need to speak about our daughter. I of course reply and ask if she is now willing to consent to the paternity test, she agrees initially. I start to organize it with her between the two countries. Then she starts to flip out, saying that I will doctor the results so that it is negative (not something I would ever do I just want an answer and to be there for my child if they are mine). She then starts the familiar insults and randomness of old. "Maybe it's better if we don't have proof." "She looks like you." "I will tell her you want nothing to do with her." I repeatedly ask her if she will consent to the paternity test to which I get a no, a maybe, you haven't asked about her or for more photos (a route I'm trying not to go down until I know and I think that she's trying to trap me emotionally) and then I ask one last time urging her to think about the child and not her pride and to drop the insults and negativity and I get no reply, it's been about 7 hours. Now yes it certainly looks like she's not sure if I'm the father, maybe knows that I'm not or has something else to hide. But ultimately I just want to know, what actions can I take, if any, as a potential father to get a paternity test agreed to or enforced. How would me being in the UK and mother and child in Spain make this more difficult?
Thank you in advance for your comments and help.

Answer:
 Yes you can petition the courts.  I also did want to let you know that the weeks pregnant goes off last period and not actual conception.  So 12 weeks pregnant is around 10 weeks from conception if you ovulated on time and periods aren't weird.

So you could definitely be the father but her refusing is more suspicious and definitely telling as if she was sure she wouldn't refuse.Answer #2: Assuming the courts in Spain work similar to the rest of the civilized world you can petition a court in Spain. Answer #3: Not legal advice - save those texts, emails of her denying the paternity test. Anyone who is willing to screw with their 5 year old's head about her father is someone you want back up for every communication you have.  13 years later, you may have contact with the child, you want to be able to show her that you asked for proof & her mother denied it.Answer #4: Thanks whoever gave me a down vote, not entirely sure what that is all about and it doesn't really help.


Title: Paypal is screwing me. Do I have any recourse?[FL]

Question:
So back in the middle of August I sold an electric upright bass on eBay to a man in Oakland. We agreed on a $650 sum for the instrument and the shipping. When the money cleared through Paypal I sent the item to him and everything was dandy. A week later he messages me asking for a refund because of the action of the instrument and "a missing screw". Since the instrument had to be disassembled for shipping, any action issues are a result of the assembly he performed, and there was no missing screw. I did not set the eBay listing to "No Refunds", however I informed him that there is no refund on the item and promptly created a ticket with eBay about it. eBay attempted to contact him for five days without answer, and the case was ruled in my favor that I was not obligated to refund him the money. At this point, end of August, everything was good and I forgot all about it.

Fast forward to middle of November and I log on to my paypal account for the first time in months and find that I have a negative $650 balance. Paypal had refunded him the money.

There are two emails on the Paypal account. One primary email, which in this case is defunct, to which I have not had access in years, and a secondary email which is my current working email. Paypal had made no attempt to contact me via my secondary email when attempting to contact me about the refund which had been issued in the middle of October. Apparently this gentleman had his credit card company reverse the payment.

The day I found out about this I created a ticket with Paypal disputing the issue and they gave me a case number. Flash forward a week of waiting on Paypal, I decide to call them and they automatically transferred my number to a collections company which informed me that they made a decision (they didnt inform me of this) and that my account balance is due.

Now this guy has the money and the instrument and I'm out both. What can I do here? I have screenshots and documentation of everything. Am I without recourse?

Answer:
 Really, PayPal didn't screw you over, they tried contacting you through the primary email and didn't get a response. Had you kept your email address current on PayPal you would have received the notification about this dispute and likely been able to fight it then, now it's too late. They have no way of knowing that your secondary email listed is actually your primary one.

If anyone screwed you over its the guy who just scammed you out of your bass and the money over what was probably complete bs :/


Title: Texas- Bought a car that was sold by someone who wasn't the legal owner

Question: Last Friday, ( May 5th, 2017) I bought a car from a private seller who said he was selling it for his wife on Craigslist. It was paid for in cash, I left with title, bill of sale, and a texas title application with his wife's signatures written where they needed to be. Monday, (May 8th, 2017) I went to the registration office to have it registered, and they tell me that according to the title, the person who was supposedly his wife, was actually the first owner of the vehicle, and that she had sold it to a dealership, who then sold it to an auction house, who then sold it to the guy I bought it from. But the auction house is the last listed owner of the vehicle. So, the guy who I bought from never put his name on the title, or registered it in his name, but sold it to me anyway. The guy I bought from had forged the first owner's signature to make it look like I was buying from her. My question today is 1. Was it illegal for him to sell it to me without him being the legal owner of the vehicle? 2. Can legal action be taken for him forging the first owner's signature? Also, I was able to get it registered but had to contact the auction house (last owner) to write it out that I bought from them instead of the guy. 3.Does that void any case against him?

Answer: It's called title skipping and its not legal.  If you met him on craigslist, he probably didn't give you his real name.  You could report him to the IRS if you had his information.  People who don't register cars in their name do so to avoid taxes/fees. I've ran in to this situation,  and couldn't get local pd to care enough to do anything about it.