Title: Can i watch porn in my apartment? I provide my own router

Question:
This is the terms of use. Can i watch porn? I’m above legal age
“
INTERNET ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY. You agree that Internet service provided to your Premises or common area may only be used for lawful purposes and such use is subject to the following: (a) the Internet service may not be used to (1) send direct mailings, solicitations, bulk mail, spam or to use any other high
mailing function, (2) post any advertisement or commercial solicitation to any newsgroup, (3) engage in the illegal or unauthorized transfer of intellectual property, including but not limited to downloading or sharing music, movies, software, videogames, written works, instructions, data, and code, (4) send or intentionally receive any viruses, spyware, worms, Trojan horses or any other malicious computer software or code designed to damage or make use of any third party’s property, (5) send or receive obscene materials, (6) hack or engage in any other conduct related to unauthorized access of computers, servers, or systems, including without limitation facilitating denial of service attacks, (b) the Internet service is for personal use only and may not be used to install a web server or other Internet appliance, (c) the Internet service is only for the use by residents and guests and cannot be transferred or sold to a third party or external location outside of the Unit (d) you are solely responsible for installing, implementing and using computer security precautions such as closing unnecessary ports and using firewall technology (if you are found to be spreading a virus, whether intentionally or unintentionally, Owner or the ISP may suspend your account until the situation has been remedied) and taking appropriate steps to prevent unauthorized access to your computer system, files, and accounts, and to ensure that minors do not have access to harmful content, (e) you are solely responsible for implementing and using security measures, including but not limited to changing passwords on your accounts and wireless routers and establishing password protected access to your wireless systems, (f) if you exceed the total monthly bandwidth allocated to your Unit, then you may be charged at the then-current gigabyte overage charges as established by Owner from time to time. Advertised speeds are maximum speeds and actual performance may be less than the maximum. Routers, modems, and receivers are not provided by the Owner.”

Answer: You are fine, the porn that you watch probably does not qualify as "obscene" according to the law.Answer #2: Get a VPN(Virtual private network). that way no one knows what your doing and it can't be linked to you. I'm not sure if I can suggest any here? But they're like $2-10 per month.


Title: Do any of you work in California?

Question:
[According to this article](https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a27101447/kim-kardashian-studying-to-become-lawyer/):

> California is one of only four states in the country that allows prospective lawyers to do apprenticeships in lieu of law school.

Have any of you worked with an attorney who passed the bar this way instead of going to law school?

How difficult is it for a lay person to successfully complete an apprenticeship and be prepared for the bar exam?

Answer:
 I have never met another lawyer who did it this way. I've known lawyers who went to unaccredited schools and passed, but never without ever going to law school.

>How difficult is it for a lay person to successfully complete an apprenticeship and be prepared for the bar exam?

It would be incredibly difficult. It's difficult for someone who went to a good law school to pass the bar. It's even more difficult for someone who went to an unaccredited school. I can't imagine many people who do an apprenticeship pass the bar. And I really can't imagine they would be able to get a job.


Title: [California] Can a Small Claims defendant (corporation) send a "regular employee" attorney to represent them?

Question:
I'm taking a hospital to small claims court and the hospital's point person on the case is a representative in the "care department". I've done some sleuthing and have found out the representative is essentially in charge of hospital employee legal/compliance issues and liability. They are also an active member of the California bar and was previously a trial attorney for medical malpractice/compliance cases.

I absolutely expect this person to be the hospital's representative in my small claims court hearing. Is this allowed? Should I bring it up with the judge?

I'm a bit confused with the rules regarding attorney representation. 116.530 states no attorney can represent the parties in court, but 116.540 says a corporation may send a regular employee. The two seem to conflict in my situation.

Answer: To add to what others have said, the attorney could well be just preparing the court case and instructing another employee on how to handle it in court, which is fine. So unless the atty actually shows up for small claims court, you shouldn't raise it to the judge.


Title: I [16M] have been investing in cryptocurrency and have amassed a fund of about 5k. My mom needed a loan so i loaned it too her and now she denies i gave her a loan and won't pay back.

Answer: Location is not optional. In the US you're a minor and it wasn't your money to begin with.


Title: [PA] Divorce, Wife doesn't want lawyers

Question:
So wife wants divorce. She wants to do it without lawyers and says we can sit down and figure out all the split ourselves. We have 2 young kids, house 401k's etc. I am currently separated living in an apartment.
I have looked into the process and it seems kinda complex to do it ourselves. We are talking and are pretty civil and ok talking about stuff.

I just think we'll probably need some help since the process seems complex.

I know you can do the mediated route but is this the only option?Really trying not to escalate where we are paying a shit ton of money when we could work out most of the details between the two of us.

Answer:
 If I wanted to screw you, I'd ask that you not get a lawyer too.

Get an attorney.Answer #2: Honestly, the couple that can manage a divorce properly without attorneys should be getting along well enough to not need a divorce in the first place. Retirement, life insurance, custody and visitation, child support, college savings, mortgages- you guys have too much to screw up by doing this alone. Answer #3: Get. A. Lawyer. Answer #4: You need a lawyer.

To the extent that you and your ex agree on a lot of things, you can significantly reduce your legal bill by reducing the amount of time the lawyer has to spend working on your case.

But you still need a lawyer.


Title: Someone messaging me saying my name( persona) was Trademarked and I cant use it.

Question:
To be clear i'm not currently selling anything, but I was hoping to grow this profile on youtube over the years. I'm just curious what grounds they have and I have. The persona name is "HighTv". I take documentation of my medical/recreation Marijuana grows and put them online. This person also named "HighTv" on Instagram contacted me saying I couldn't use the name because its Trademarked. They had the ™ next to their name.

I found a 'word mark, service mark' on the [Us Patent and trademark office](https://www.uspto.gov/trademark) site that matches. I tried to do research and ended up with what i believe to be an incorrect analyst, could someone help correct it? Does this trademark protect all uses of the name "HighTv" or just uses of that black and white image?

Does a 'word mark' that is also a 'service mark' define a name for an organization(brand) or just a 'logotype'?

Does this person have a ™ next to their name because they haven't yet registered or are waiting to be confirmed by the USPTO, Is that how this works?  Thanks for any help guys I appreciate it!

Answer: They probably just want your username without paying you for it. Tell them to fork up some $$ if you want to sell it.


Title: Employer requires me to stay on-site off the clock.

Question:
So I work at a small amusement park with both an indoor and outdoor section (paid hourly). During the summer, I work in the outdoor area.

When weather gets bad (rain, thunder, etc), my boss will require all outdoor employees to come inside and clock out for a "break." We are required to stay at the job site off the clock for long periods of time. If the weather clears up, everyone will clock back in and head back outside. If the weather remains poor, after an hour (sometimes more) we will get sent home. My boss considers this time spent off the clock to be a "break."

I have two questions about this. First, is this practice legal? Second, if it is not legal, what can I do to stop it?

I appreciate any help. Thanks.

EDIT: I am in Maryland.
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer:
 That's textbook "engaged to wait" and should be paid.

http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/hoursworked/screenER77.aspAnswer #2: Yeah, that's certainly illegal. He can call it a break all he wants, but if it's unpaid and you're not free to leave, it's not a break. Call your state's DOL. Answer #3: Wildly illegal. He can dismiss you to go home or keep you around and pay you. Those are his only choices.


Title: [Ontario, Canada] Previous landlord didnt take my name off the gas bill, now I'm stuck with it

Question:
From May 2015 to April 2016 I lived in a house with some roommates. After we moved in, the landlord put the utilities into our names so that we could easily pay them (in hindsight, this was sketchy).

When the lease ended we all moved out and i was told that the gas utility would be transferred out of my name. However, just over a year later this does not seem to be the case. I've gotten several calls from the gas company about an ~$400 overdue bill that will soon be sent to collections. Apparently they've shut off gas service to the house so I would think that no one is living there.

Naturally I've tried to contact my landlord but her phone number is no longer in service and she hasn't responded to any of my emails.

What are my options here? I'd like to avoid paying this bill but I really don't want my credit score to be affected.

TL;DR Previous landlord has disappeared after she was supposed to take my name off the gas utility, now I'm stuck with a large bill.

Answer:
 You were responsible for taking your name off the account.

Answer #2: If your name is on the account, the only person who can make changes to it is you. If you didn't cancel your account, there's not a thing anyone else can do. Your landlord couldn't have removed your name if they had wanted to or tried.

If that were the case, you could just call up the utility companies of people you disliked and have their services cancelled to spite them, without then even knowing!


Title: [WA] Manager is stealing tips

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 I am guessing Domino's. :-)

The tips need to be paid, either through a pool or to the insider who earned it. Like drivers, they should be paid in cash, not used to back-fill the till.

And wtf kind of cash control fuckups do you have going on that you're losing $15 in a night? The only time I ever saw it that bad was when a driver would drop a $20 bill outside an apartment or something.


Title: My daughters threw a rager at my house and my house got searched. I may have had drugs in the house.

Question: I live in Utah and I went Camping last weekend and 3 of my wifes daughters threw a party with about 20 kids at our house without our knowing and her daughters were charged with underage drinking and the oldest was charged for possession of marijuana. Our house was searched and when I got home I noticed my Gun Box had been searched through.  I had a Weed Vape pen in there and it's still in there (maybe they didn't know what it was) But I'm not sure if there was anything else drug related that they had confiscated (I haven't looked in the safe for a while). My biggest concern is that my daughter said the officer told her "It looks like your parents do drugs also." and left. The sheriff has been over too my house twice since then and never charged me or brought it up. All I really want to know is do they usually wait this long to charge someone? what should I expect?

Answer:
 >All I really want to know is do they usually wait this long to charge someone? what should I expect?

If charged, retain a lawyer.

Do not speak to the police unless your lawyer is present.


Title: Surgery gone bad

Question: I had surgery last year on my femur. The TL;DR is now I have a 6" plate and 9 screw in my leg. I had the same surgery three years ago on the other leg and it went fine. 4 months after the first surgery, they told me one of the screws was "going the wrong direction" and creating a lot of scar tissue, pain, and keeping me from bending leg. They took it out (surgery no. 2). Now this week they did x-rays and said another screw has broken off and the screw head is lodged between the bones of my knee. Significant pain, can't walk. Surgery no. 3 is scheduled in 24 hours. Do I have any recourse?

Answer: You need to consult with a medical malpractice attorney. Med-mal is outside the scope hereAnswer #2: Medical malpractice is too fact specific for us to really comment on, but you should be aware that a negative result doesn't automatically mean you have damages and recourse.


Title: Can my landlord tell me I cannot have any overnight guests (AK)? It was never in the original lease.

Question:
It was never in the lease. It is a new rule. He doesn't care if my two other roommates have girls spend the night in their rooms, but he doesn't want anyone sleeping on the couch.

I have a person over once or twice a month. They are never loud and also respectful. My other roommate will actually hangout with them when I go to bed.

Can he legally do this without us signing a new lease?

Answer:
 >Can my landlord tell me I cannot have any overnight guests?

Probably not if not so stated in the lease.

>but he doesn't want anyone sleeping on the couch.

Is the couch a shared space?  The landlord might reasonably be able to have a rule against people sleeping in shared spaces.Answer #2: Are you renting a room, or the whole unit? Did your lease specify whether it rolls into a month-to-month, automatically refreshes for the lease duration, or terminates completely?


Title: Did I mess up? Questions about reasonable doubt...

Question:
Virginia, USA

I was a juror for a criminal trial of a double homicide. There was little to none physical evidence. The biggest evidence against the defendant was that the victim named the defendant personally as he was dying.

One victim died almost instantly and the other was shot 3 times in the abdomen, with the bullets piercing through major arteries, so it's safe to say he was bleeding out. He died about 30-45 min after being shot. He was on the ground of a parking lot with many people surrounding him and the other victim when the police arrived on scene. Body cam footage showed him writhing in pain, trying to take his clothes off, and falling in and out of consciousness. Someone asked "who shot you, (defendants first name) who? The victim corrected the asker on the name (the defendants name rhymed with the name given by the questioner, so for example they said "who shot, you, Don who?" and the victim said "Jon, Jon (lastname)) and gave a full first and last name answer. He repeated this name later on in the ambulance. Shortly after saying the name the first time, he was out of consciousness and people were tapping his head to get him to wake up. There were occasions when the victim couldn't give his own name, but he did say how old he was.

The victim was also a drug dealer and was killed while selling drugs. 6 bags of marijuana were found in the car he was in, but postmortem toxicology didn't include marijuana in it's testing. Although it wasn't mentioned in the trial, I assumed it was possible that he was high at the time.

The only other evidence linking the defendant to the scene was an item in clothing in the car the victims were driving that had a small stain that contained the defendant's DNA. However, as evidenced by body cam footage of the first officer on the scene, all the doors to the cars were opened and about 5 bystanders were seen surrounding it, with one appearing to go into the backseat at one point. It's also unknown if the defendant had ever been in that car before, because it was known that the victims had been known to drive around in the car together. (whether or not they've sold drugs in it before was not mentioned.)

Every single jury member except for me decided that the defendant was guilty based on the fact that the victim named the defendant. I had doubts because of the lack of other physical evidence and no eyewitness testimonies despite there being about 20 random people at the scene. It was daylight when this occurred, and in a parking lot of an apartment complex. I had doubts about the victims testimony because I couldn't tell if he was actually lucid while he was bleeding out. I also thought there was a chance he was high, which could have caused him to misidentify the killer. It was also confusing because I don't know if the name was floated by someone and the victim happened to hear it and latched onto the name because of the state he was in? Like he could have possibly been confused.

Anyway, because the 11 other jurors were so sure, I feel like my doubt must have been unreasonable or I was "grasping at straws" as another juror said to me. I feel awful and I can't stop thinking about it. I can't help but think I messed up since I couldn't make up my mind. But now I'm questioning whether I was playing the devil's advocate too hard and somehow convinced myself that there wasn't proof beyond a reasonable doubt just because I can be stubborn sometimes. I don't know. Did I fuck up? Please help me get past this...
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 We can't guess whether your doubt was reasonable or not.  That's up to you.

I can tell you, based upon your summary, that there is very strong evidence that the defendant did it.  That doesn't mean there's enough, or that there's no reasonable doubt, but there *is* strong evidence.


Title: [MA] new car lemon law submitted, heard nothing from manufacturer

Question:
Hi all, first post on /r/legaladvice. Have questions about the new car lemon law process for Massachusetts.

New car purchased in April 2018. March 2019 something went wrong with the transmission, vehicle stranded roadside. Had it towed to the dealership with the factory warranty towing service. Vehicle diagnosed as needing a complete replacement transmission. Transmission has been on backorder this entire time and is still on backorder. After 1 month sitting at the dealership I looked up Massachusetts new car lemon law. Parts department at dealer and corporate customer service all confirm transmission is still not avaialble. Lemon law states the vehicle needs to be at the dealer for 15 business days before I can send 'final opportunity to repair' notice, and it has been well beyond 15 business days (a day the service department is open, 6 days a week at this dealer). The final opportunity to repair notice starts a 7 day count for them to complete the repair, and that has now passed.

I decided to go ahead and send them the final opportunity to repair notice. It was sent by email to my existing customer service case with corporate, also where the warranty booklet says to start any claim/dispute communications. I also mailed it to them physical copy as registered mail. That was now 8 business days ago (they have 7 to make the repair). I have only heard from the customer service 'resolutions' department telling me there is still no transmission available, although they have kindly "expedited" it for me... When I asked customer service about it they admitted not being familiar with lemon law procedures and that my attorney should be telling me what's next. As far as I can tell I shouldn't need an attorney for this.

I called corp. customer service yesterday and the agent confirmed that 'somebody in the dispute department has received my case'. They also confirmed receiving the final repair notice 8 days ago.

Do I need to do something to force them to proceed with the lemon law resolution, and how long might it take? As far as I can tell this is a straightforward case meeting all of the state law's requirements. Timelines are far exceeded and the part still isn't available, time for them to act? Time for me to act (and do what)?

Official Mass. lemon law page for reference: [https://www.mass.gov/guides/guide-to-new-car-lemon-law](https://www.mass.gov/guides/guide-to-new-car-lemon-law)

Technically my second post on /r/legaladvice \- original post on the same topic here from yesterday, seems like I didn't write it up correctly since it was downvoted. [https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/bhsssx/lemon\_law\_question/](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/bhsssx/lemon_law_question/)

(also, if somebody can tell me why I was downvoted, I'm not sure what I did wrong. I think I followed the posting rules of the sub?)

tl;dr new vehicle at dealership for repair longer than needed to meet lemon law, major part endlessly backordered, final repair notice submitted to manufacturer and time has passed for that as well, what should my next move be?

Answer: Lemon Law cases are not straightforward. The manufacturers have teams of attorneys on their side to deny your claim for all kinds of reasons. You most likely will need an attorney of your own to move forward with this. You can do some googling for lemon law attorneys near you or call your state bar for some contacts and get a (most likely) free consultation.


Title: I was at fault in an accident over a year ago. Other driver is suing. Would love advice. (TN)

Question:
First time poster here. I’ll try to be as thorough as possible.

I was in an accident in December 2017. I was found at fault. I was turning out of a shopping center going left, other vehicle was coming up in the turning lane & we collided. Very minor accident at a low speed. My car had to be towed, but the other driver drove away afterwards and told police she was not injured & did not require an ambulance.

I had liability only coverage through Nationwide at the time. I reported immediately & sent them pictures, police report, etc.

Fast forward to today, I receive a call from Nationwide stating that the other driver filed an injury claim & they’ve been trying to settle with her since and she’s refusing. In TN, you have a year to settle. Otherwise you have to get a lawyer and go to court to extend it or it expires. Nationwide confirmed she has retained an attorney and I will be served. She advised me to fax her the paperwork as soon as I’ve been served and it would be forwarded to the litigation Dept.

My question is what should I expect next? Will nationwide primarily deal with this or do I need to hire an attorney? I’m a single dad to two kids & have no extra funds for a legal battle.

Thanks for reading and I hope I didn’t miss anything, but feel free to ask anything if I did.

Answer: Your insurance company will provide an attorney to handle it.  Just follow their instructions and send them any paperwork you receive.  They may have need of a follow interview with you or other information, but they will handle all of the heavy lifting.


Title: I am an employee at a small company in IL, USA. I am not a lawyer but asked to draft/edit legal documents for the company.

Question:
I have taken legal courses in undergrad although my formal education is not in law and I do not have a JD or am licensed as a lawyer. At the very small company, my official title is not as a lawyer, and I do not represent myself as one at the company, my primary role and title is not legal related, but I am consistently asked to edit/draft and review legal documentation due to my higher level of legal knowledge than anyone else at the company.

Every document I send, edit, and review, or any legal related work I perform I include a disclaimer that I am not a lawyer and my work is simply to help discussions with licensed attorneys, and that all my work should be reviewed by a licensed attorney.

My questions are:

Due to my status as an employee of the company, which makes me a party to the contracts and documents I edit, do I have the right to do so without it constituting unauthorized practice of law even when I clearly do not represent myself as a lawyer and ask the company to have my work reviewed by a licensed attorney? If my company chooses not to have my work reviewed by a licensed attorney and uses my legal edits and drafts without consulting one, and end up with damages due to it, would I be responsible even though I recommended that my work be reviewed by a licensed attorney?

Answer:
 Unless IL is very idiosyncratic in its definitions, none of those things is unauthorized practice of law.  You are not purporting to represent your company.  Here is an Illinois Bar article.

https://www.isba.org/sites/default/files/committees/upl/uplfaq.pdf

It is not uncommon for non-lawyers to draft contracts, review agreements etc. on behalf of their companies. Results vary, but there's nothing inherently wrong with it.

As to your liability if you get something wrong, think of it like crashing the company truck. In most circumstances, they just fire you.  If you crash it intentionally, or have 12 tequilas before you crash it, they may choose to do more.


Title: (New Jersey) Ticketed for driving without insurance

Question:
Last night, I was ticketed for driving without motor insurance. Of course, I have insurance, I just didn't have a valid card on me at the time

 What can I do about this? What should I be expecting to pay? Can I handle this before my court date?
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: In the state of New Jersey being cited for driving without insurance is going to require a mandatory court appearance.   Show up to court on time and WITH a valid insurance card showing you were insured on the date of the infraction and the prosecutor will drop the case.


Title: Illegal files on my dead hard drive recovery - California

Question:
So when I was in college, I was dumb and did a lot of file downloading. Music, movies, software etc. I mostly would collect things off of friend's hard drives after they downloaded them, but that's beside the point. I built up a pretty good collection of illegal files. This was all between 4 and 10 years ago. I've (mostly) matured since then, and other than the occasional pirated stream of a sporting event, I haven't touched any media sharing stuff in years.

My issue now lies on an old dead 1gb external hard drive. I stored basically everything I had at the time on it and it has long since kicked the bucket. I would be fine tossing it and be happy walking away from my dumb younger ideas on file sharing, but the only thing that I actually care about on there is a bunch of personal photos (nothing nsfw) from trips over the years. The drive has been dead for almost three years (maybe more, can't remember), and I've decided to actually try out a data recovery service to get my pictures back (I was thinking about Secure Data Recovery in LA).

Am I at risk here sending this hard drive in? There's no crazy shit like weird porn (or even regular porn I think) on there.  There are some pretty expensive softwares that were current a while ago. I think some cracked versions of Adobe CS6, and ArcGIS 9.3 were on there. Lots of music and low-grade rips of movies. I honestly can't even remember, the only thing I'm hopeful of recovering are my photos. I also realize that there's a good chance that I won't be able to recover anything if the drive is really toasted.

Thanks for any advice.
Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer:
 No, they aren't going to care about filesharing stuff.

If you don't have CP or terrorism plans or credit card fraud or anything like that on there you'll be fine.Answer #2: They aren't going to give two poops about any of that. The only two things they would care about are child pornography and maybe PII like SSNs, bank account info, etc if they found it. Answer #3: Other advice is good. The recovery company has ZERO ability to determine if an audio or video file on your HDD is legal or not, don't sweat it. Just recover it and move on.

Now, unless you have CP (pictures of your old underage girlfriend!!) or plans to blow up your school. If you do, then drill holes in it and dump it in the river.


Title: How do I convince my landlord that we need faster internet?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > Surely it's not that expensive to get a better package?

Offer to pay for faster internet.


Title: University is making me pay $10,000 for housing even though I withdrew from the university before the semester had even began.. Is this legal?

Question: I applied to this college a few months ago but they required a lot more documentation than my previous university and have outdated technology (I had to mail the documents one at a time) so it took a while for me to get accepted. I signed up for housing two weeks ago (4 roommates, semi shared rooms with one bathroom for all 4 people for $10,000 a year). A few days ago I decided to withdrawal from the university since the net price calculator online did not match even CLOSE to the actual cost of attendance (I was going to take a semester off to save money and start classes at a community College in the spring). But after cancelling my financial aid with the college and dropping classes, I got an email from the housing office saying that unless I could prove with legal documentation that I've: gotten married, given birth, am being deployed into the military, or have DIED, I cannot cancel my housing contract and will have to pay the full amount of $10,000 by July 24th.. The semester hasn't even begun yet and no one has move into their dorms. I signed a contract and they are saying they will be suing me for the $10,000 if it isn't paid in full by July 24th, but is this legal? Can they make me pay a fortune for a room that I won't even be getting the keys to or even living in?

Answer: If you signed a contract saying that you would, yes. You can try and work with them to see if they will let you out because of your circumstances, but they aren't obligated to.Answer #2: You signed a contract. You are obligated to it. Yes, it's legal.


Title: [FL, WI] Sons mother fled with my son when I have full custody granted from another state.

Question:
A little back story. Me and my sons mother split in late 2014, I moved to Wisconsin with our son and she stayed in Florida to pursue her lifestyle. Full custody was granted to me because my sons mother signed over her rights in the state of Wisconsin in April 2015. She was in porn after we had split and wanted to live the fast life or whatever.

Fast forward to March of this year and my father (who resides in Florida) wanted me to come work for him. I came with the intention of staying for about 6 or 7 months. His mother lives in Florida as well and I had verbally agreed to let her have visitation every other weekend. Well it's been 6 months and this Monday she asked to come to town and take him out to dinner. She said it wouldn't be more than 2 hrs. Well she sent me a text when we were supposed to meet up and informed me she wasn't going to return him and that she was taking me to court in Florida and I couldn't have him until everything was settled.

So, I contacted the Hillsborough county sheriffs department and had an officer come to my house to which I explained the situation. He said there is nothing I can do and to go file a Motion to domesticate a foreign custody decree (which I have submitted as of weds). Which is confusing to me seeing as I'm from Wisconsin. I contacted my clerk in the issuing county of my custody order and they told me to file a motion of contempt (which I also did).

I just want my son back, and I want to go home. I'm not sure what to do with this situation, and how this isn't illegal in some shape or form.

Update: Currently waiting for an Orange County Sheriff.
Update2: She's not home and apparently is leaving for the weekend.. (Deputy said that it's a civil matter and he can't enforce my custody order from another state, but he can go to the residence and ask her to return him to me)
Update 3 (9/13/16): I have been granted ex parte on an emergency petition for child pick up today and am going to go get him!

Answer: Get a  family lawyer now! The cops are confusing the issue here, what you were told would only be the case if you had some form of joint custody. Also you'd have to be living in Florida for 6 months to be under that court's jurisdiction. Get a lawyer and they will be able to explain to the cops that the mother has signed away her rights and is therefore a kidnapper.Answer #2: Do you know where they are?  Or is she just gone? Answer #3: If she signed over her rights then it is kidnapping. She has no rights to the child. Did you make it clear to the police that she had zero rights to the child? Answer #4: The cop is wrong. Florida has adopted the UCCJEA (Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act) and any custody order from another state has full force and effect. Since you've been in FL for 6 months, technically FL could decide that it is now the child's home state and accept jurisdiction over your son, but until that happens, your current order from Wisconsin is still in effect.


Title: Landlord cashed "same check" twice

Question:
Hi there, Pennsylvania resident. Here's my story:

- Write Check A ($193.75) to Landlord for Sept 2016 Utilities
- Landlord says he loses Check A
- Write him Check B ($193.75) for Sept 2016 Utilities (I did not and never canceled Check A)
- ~8 months later (May 2017) Landlord "finds" and cashes Check A without saying anything to me

Can I do anything here? He won't answer my calls. I don't live there anymore (moved out in Oct 2016).

My two arguments are:

1. He charged me twice for the EXACT same bill
2. He cashed the check 8 months later (banks typically only allow 6 months to cash a check)

Thank you so much for any help on this.

Answer:
 1. If he is not responding to your messages or refuses to return the cash to you, sue him in small claims court for the money.

2. No law says banks have to cancel or not honor checks after 6 months, it is usually just bank policy. The bank is not liable in any way.Answer #2: Small claims court. Is the check memo the same for A and B?Answer #3: > He won't answer my calls. I don't live there anymore

Start with a certified letter, with return receipt, outlining all of these facts.  In that letter give him a reasonable date by which to refund your money.

If he fails to do so take him to small claims court.

Include the $193.75, your filing fees, the cost of the letter, and your reasonable expenses to date.Answer #4: We once got police to arrest a landlord on a conversion charge as the landlord knew he had no legal right to negotiate the original check after cashing the second check. So you it may be worth calling police in your jurisdiction and acking. Answer #5: Send him another message or if you can reach his voicemail let him know if you do not hear a response in 7 days from today, I will be filling suit for the money+court costs.  At the same time send a certified letter saying the same thing. Try to keep it out of courts for now. But After that if he doesn't contact you file the suit for cost of the certified letter, amount he cashed the check for, and court costs.


Title: Lemon thrown into car near my house

Question:
(Virginia)

Today, I was grilling some pork chops when a man stormed into my backyard and asked me if I knew anything about anyone throwing lemons at cars. He said a lemon entered his car through a window near my house. I didn't see or hear anybody. A police officer asked me if I knew anything about it, and I told him I didn't. As far as I can see, however, from their perspective I'm the only suspect. Do I have anything to worry about?

Answer:
 >Do I have anything to worry about?

Nope.

I hope the pork chops were good. Answer #2: Since we have established you have nothing to worry about, did you check for any whores that may have been in the area stealing lemons?Answer #3: > Do I have anything to worry about?

Someone might throw a Lemon at you in the near future.Answer #4: You may want to research your jurisdiction's lemon laws. Answer #5: Depends, is your neighbor [Cave Johnson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt6iTwVIiMM)?


Title: Age of Consent Traveling between from CT to MA

Question: She is 17 and I am just outside the romeo and juliet limit in CT, but there is none in massachussetts where I live. She is only 17,18 in a two months. I get gray information when I look up what we can do sexually. I can't entice her to travel for sex, but what if she comes to hang out, which we are going to do because I like her, and we happen to have sex. No age gaps for massachusetts.

Answer:
 no.  just no.

if anybody crosses state lines, that's the mann act. otherwise it's sexual assault of a minor.

just keep your pants on.


Title: I have took extra items given by a vending machine, am I considered to be a criminal?

Question:
Hi, I am a foreigner temporally living  California, please bear with my english.

Today, I have tried purchasing a bottle of water from a vending machine,  the machine was not responsive for about 10 seconds, and I have pushed the  button multiple times. Then it gave me 3 bottles of water. I thought that I have made 3 purchases so I took all of them. (this is quite common in my home country, and they are priced just $1.5 so I didn't bother to ask for return)

About two hours after, I checked my bank account, and found that I was charged only once. I was so worried and went back to the vending machine and called the customer service number on the machine. I reported the issue and said that I 'd like to pay for those two additional items, the customer service told me that they will have some one to take a look and enjoy the free water. However, the vending machine is in the airport and there should be surveillance, could I be prosecuted if someone watch the recording and reported to police? How bad it could result? The vending machine company should have the record of my report (they asked my name), could the record be helpful for the criminal defense?

Answer: You're totally fine! You did not intentionally steal, and your conversation with the staff ensures you'll be fine. You did the right thing, and you have nothing to worry about


Title: What more can I do to get this faux-homeless thug off the streets?

Question:
This happened in Louisiana but has carried onto Texas: This is about a childhood friend of mine, who I lived with for a couple months. He went to school (a drug free zone, like an idiot - which also makes his charge more harsh) with a pipe, grinder, both covered in marijuana residue. He was also found with a small knife (they dropped that charge because it was under and inch). He was arrested, booked, but his mom cried to the female secretary who called the judge and they let him out because his "diabetes and anxiety issues". When he got out, he was expelled from school - forced to go to a behavioral correction school. He cried to his mom that it was too scary, she got him moved into an online program because of "diabetes". However, instead of graduating (he was 18), he instead chose to lie to his mom about attending school for the next 7 months, it wasn't until she got a call from the school saying she had 5 pending cases of truancy that she realized he was lying. When she asked him for proof, like a transcript signed by the principal, he just bolted.

We found out he bolted because he didn't want to tell his mom the truth, he is addicted to hard drugs, AND because the court was sending him letters saying he owed them $950, on top of whatever else he will owe in the future. Because his mom caught him on a lie, and he downright refuses to get a job or education, he knew she wouldn't pay his court costs, so he ditched a meeting with his public defender, refused to reply to the court's letters and his court date came and went, he's now a fugitive.

He ran away to Texas, and I've already forwarded all information I have to the authorities. Including his newest exact location. His Facebook is full of public posts, entailing meth use, meth dealings, and he regularly posts about stealing from people's houses, cars in Texas to support his meth use or buy cigarettes or other drugs. He also has a Tumblr he uses to post Google Maps coordinates of his next "adventure", i.e. new town. Already reported this page to Louisiana authorities. On top of this, he's currently scamming people on GoFundMe (which I reported as well). AND he now has a dog, that he acquired after lurking for one in Craig's List, so that (he says) "people will feel more inclined to give me money instead of food now".

Since in Texas, all he's told is lies on top of more lies in order to con people out of money, bed, or their food. He tells people his mother kicked him out, yadayada. Once there, he does one thing or another. Gets kicked out, writes scathing post about the person even having the nerve to kick him out of their own house. In reality, the car he drives was actually stolen from his mom, and he fled because he doesn't want a job or education, just to be a bum and do drugs all day. Makes sense, right?

I've been trying my hardest to get this goon off the streets, because he once took LSD and beat his mom to a pulp; broke her nose, busted her eyes, nearly broke her jaw (bruised her jaw bone though) etc. He also had stolen $300 from someone, threatened him, which resulted in the guy being too scared to call the police. When he left his mom's house, he left her an extremely chilling voicemail, "How could you not let me live how I want to live, Mom? You don't want to let me live, then I won't let you live either. I'll make a bomb that can be activated by a trip wire, so when you walk in... I'll also have your dog roasted on an open flame for dinner." He actually has bomb making experience, scarily enough. And he regularly talks about driving around on the streets high on LSD, or letting drug dealers borrow his vehicle in exchange for meth. He starves the dog so that he even looks more "helpless". Brags about stealing from people who invite him to stay in their houses (he was beat on one occasion for this) and has now started a GoFundMe under false pretenses. He also alludes to (publicly) stealing people and store's property "into the night", so I suspect if there's been reported stolen property in the town he's residing in right now, it's probably due to him.

I've reported him about 10 times to notify where he's going, who he's staying with, sketchy posts about drugs or stealing, messages with his girlfriend. I'm really worried he will be a harm to others, *especially* if he knows he's a fugitive (thank god, only I know - but it is only a matter of time). He's only 3 hours from Louisiana and plans to come back as soon as his GoFundMe gets the money he wants. But then says he's running to another state. He's told me if he discovers he has a warrant or is in a situation that results in him going to jail, that he is not "going down easily". He then says if in prison, he is going to commit suicide.

It is fairly obvious to me prison might be the safest place for him, so he stops hurting himself and others, stealing, and more importantly gets off drugs and becomes forced to get a GED, at least.

My questions are: Is there anything more I can do to get him arrested finally? I have reported him so many times, yet he has not been arrested, or investigated (otherwise, I would know because he would tell anyone who listens). Why is that? He's only three hours away from Louisiana.

Answer: Get a job and a life and stop worrying about this guy.


Title: The hospital is trying to transfer my brain damaged brother. Jacksonville,FL

Question: My brother lives in Jacksonville,FL. I live Atlanta.  He was in a horrible car accident that has caused brain damage. I am the next of kin along with my elderly Aunt. Shortly after the accident they said they wouldnt know if the brain damage was permanent until a year or so. Then a case worker got in touch with me and stated that the brain damage was permanent and he was going to be stuck with the mentality of a two year old. She said he doesn't speak in full sentences and they have to keep him restrained bc he tries to put things in his mouth and take the feeding tube out off his stomach (he cant eat orally bc the food goes straight to his lungs). She was extremely curt and made me feel like he was dying now. Only certain live in facilities will take him bc they have to keep him restrained or he would have to be released to a family member eventually. Him living with my Aunt or I isnt an option. I live in a 1 bedroom and wouldnt be able to care for him. He cant live with my Aunt bc of her age. He has no insurance. I think he is about to get Medicade through the state. There is a new caseworker who the first thing she asked was could he live with one of us. This has already been discussed as not an option several times. Now she is pushing for a live in facility in Ocala. My Aunt called the place and turns out she left out that he is in restraints. They stated they dont take people in restraints. He is due for another brain scan to see how he is doing. He is still making progress mentally and when I talked to him tonight on the phone he spoke in full albeit slurred sentances so Im not sure how legit the "He is stuck forever as a two old is". My question is...is there anything we can do to keep him where he is until they are able to get him out off restraints or at least until after his brain scan?If they move him Im scared for his mental state bc he will be somewhere where no one will be able to visit him and he hates being alone as it is and it would tear my Aunt apart. Do we have to sign paper work to have him released? What if we refuse? Will they never look for a place again if we say no to this one?

Answer: Contact Medicaid in his State and ask for help getting him transferred into a nursing home that can help him.


Title: Legal action against neighbors (x-post from r/dogs)

Question: [AZ] Not sure if this is the place to be asking but I need advice. My boyfriend has 2 shih tzus. One is a boy (Gordo, 5yrs old) the other a girl (Mia, 7 months). Both of which have collars with contact information. A few months ago both dogs got out. Gordo was found that same day roaming the neighborhood.  Mia on the other hand was nowhere to be found. His family searched for her in the neighborhood and they listed her as lost on lost dog websites. Last night my boyfriends sister saw Mia outside a neighbors yard with some kids. She called for her and once she got a good look at her realized it was Mia. She picked up Mia and the kids asked her what she was doing. When she stated she was taking her dog back they said go ahead she's annoying anyway. When she asked them about her collar they went inside and brought it out. I am a pet stylist and today they brought Mia in for a groom. It was very apparent that while this family had her they completely neglected her. She was matted, she had poop stuck completely to her rear end, and her sanitary area had tangles with blood (from heat cycle) and urine. She also seems to have gained weight and we're worried she may be pregnant. I took pictures of her coat before I shaved her just in case. Her neighbors knew she had a home and they had the contact information yet they still kept her. Isn't that considered theft? Also what about the bad condition her coat was in is that not neglect? Is there any legal action we can take against the neighbors?

Answer:
 My advice:

Calm down.

Congratulations on finding your dog. Move on. Answer #2: First, you most likely cannot prove how long these neighbors had possession of the dog.

> It was very apparent that while this family had her they completely neglected her.

Except for all you know, they found her that very day. I'm not saying that's likely, but only that you don't have proof of anything yet.

Second, you seem to be asking if these neighbors had a duty to you. Do they have a duty to return the dog to you? Maybe, I'm not sure. It likely depends on what your state law says. If you read [this](https://www.animallaw.info/article/detailed-discussion-legal-rights-and-duties-lost-pet-disputes), the finder of the dog may have a duty to return the dog to its original owner.

(Keep in mind that the link is for a very general overview. It is not specific to your state)

Do the neighbors have a duty to take good care of the dog? They might have the duty to take reasonable care of the dog. The same source I linked to says the finders will only be liable for intentional torts or gross negligence. I know you think that they neglected the dog, overfed her, didn't clean her properly, and may have allowed her to get pregnant. One, you don't know what the neighbors were actually responsible for. Two, that may still not rise to the level of *gross negligence*.

Nevertheless, you could consult with an attorney licensed in your state with knowledge of these issues.


Title: My dad was hit by a car

Question:
I'm 500 miles away from home as my brother called and briefly explained the situation. I know the police were promptly involved, pictures of the scene were collected for evidence. My 52 year old dad is in the hospital,  with no brain damage thankfully, but he is getting knee surgery. The accident took place in the parking lot of our apartment complex, my dad works as maintenance. The vehicle rammed through the wired fence separating the lot from another apartment property; police are saying that the driver was on medication and had a seizure. Can someone tell me the complications this brings? I know they are pinning it as an accident. My brother claims that the police are not doing a proper investigation, although I obviously don't know all the details... if this is actually the case, what can we do to achieve a proper resolve? What would be the best case for my dad? My older brother wants me to bring this to media attention, to post my dad with dead eyes, lying on the blood covered asphalt. I'm only 18 and he wants my help, is there anything more I can do? This is in California.
Topic:
Personal Injury

Answer: You should give the police and insurance space to do their job. Your brother doesn't know what a proper investigation involves.


Title: Served someone else's court summons to appear in court from a debt collector [Colorado]

Question:
Last night, as I leisurely was watching football, I got a kock on the door. I assumed that it was a solicitor, so I ignored it. The guy knocks two more times, so I answer. He asked "Is your name Jacob?". I reply that my name was in deed Jacob. Then he serves my some papers and tells me if I have any questions to call the number listed for the plaintiff.

It wasn't until after he left that I realized that the last name on the letter wasn't mine. The guy didn't do the due diligence to ask for my last name!

Today, I called, what I believe to be the associate lawyer's number, to be rerouted to a customer service representative who tells me they it would be like receiving someone else mail and to just ignore it.

Note, I live in an apartment building with over 20 apartment units, which is apart of a multiple serperate housing units. The address was correct but there was no valid apartment number. The number listed appeared to be the building number, which would have been the correct building, but you couldn't have directly associated my apartment with this information alone. I relayed this information to the CSR on the call.

My question is, is there anything else I should do? Anything I should be aware of on this matter before I consider it closed from my end?

FYI, my real name isn't actually Jacob, but you get the point.

Answer:
 The summons has the phone number of the judge. It would be nice to call the judge's clerk and explain what happened.

The process server that knocked on your door is going to swear that the defendant was served, even though he wasn't, and it could cost him losing the lawsuit.

You could also call the process server and inform them they messed up.


Title: Undocumented american citizen?

Question:
I was born at home in Florida, but my parents were anti-gov wackos and decided to never get me a birth certificate or social security number. I'm now 18 years old and going into my senior year of high school in Colorado, and I have been trying to get my documentation for years. I'm trying to apply for a delayed birth certificate from Florida, but they keep asking for more documents each time I send an application to them. The last application I sent said they could not grant me a birth certificate because my school transcripts don't state my place of birth. What makes it more difficult is that I was homeschooled until I started 6th grade, leading to a lack of school records prior to then. I got a passport by giving the passport office notarized birth affidavits and a letter from the doctor I saw the day after my birth, which was supplemental enough for me to get a passport card (which i use as an ID) and book. Anyway, I have been eager to work and drive for years and I cannot get this ball rolling. I'm always on the lookout for under the table work to make any money I can to support myself, but it would just be really nice to have actual options for work and be able to get my license and set up a bank account and function like a normal person in society.

TLDR; I was born in the US, but my parents were nutzo and never got me documented. I have a passport, but no SSN or birth certificate so I still can't get a job or get my life going at this point.

If anyone knows loopholes or anyone that could help me I would appreciate it so much.

Answer:
 A passport + a dated school ID with photograph (or accompanying transcript showing current enrollment if the ID is undated) is sufficient to obtain a social security number.

You don't really need a birth certificate at this stage if you have a valid US passport.Answer #2: Be sure to never let your passport expire. I realize it lasts for 10 years, but depending on when you got it, you need to do everything in your power to keep it current.Answer #3: Once you have tried all the normal channels for obtaining a birth certificate I recommend visiting the office of your local state legislator. Almost all of them provide some level of "constituent services" which includes nagging state officials where needed.Answer #4: If you were homeschooled in FL, the school board in the county you lived in may have records of your yearly portfolio evaluation, which should include your dob.  That is, unless your parents used an umbrella school, which should have all your basic info and attendance records.


Title: Neighbors are not honoring an easement deeded to our property in 1983

Question: My mother just passed two weeks ago on September Friday the 13th. I was deeded her home years prior to the passing Incase something like this happened unexpectedly. I’m looking to get the home around to sell, in preparation I wanted to be nice and inform her close neighbors of my choice. The neighbor directly behind us purchased a piece of land where a previous person lived and their home caught fire and burned down completely. Prior to it burning down, my mother took this gentlemen to court because he obstructed a 7.4 ft wide 143 ft long easement of ours which he thought he owned. This easement was deeded to the previous family who lived in our home in 1983 and all future heirs of the property and states this easement is usable “forever”. My mother won the previous court case regarding the easement and the gentleman had to remove a garage he built on it. This new purchaser of the land doesn’t want to acknowledge we own use of the easement at all even with the land surveys, deeds and prior documents from the court case showing me won lifetime use of it. How should I proceed so I can sell the home with use of the easement as it was intended?

Answer: Get a real property attorney to write him a sternly written demand letter. If that doesn’t work take him to court.


Title: Emancipation (possibly marriage) at 17

Question:
Hello everyone,

I will be moving out shortly, my family is kicking me out. I will be living with my girlfriend, working, and finishing up school. I will need to be emancipated so i can enroll in community college, continue working, be held financially liable. As the title says, i am 17. I wish i could wait a year to do this, it would be a lot easier, but oh well. How should i get emancipated? I am not interested in the armed forces, and i would rather not have to go to court to do it. I live in Virginia - in what states does marriage grant automatic emancipation? I understand marriage under the age of majority requires written consent, but that will be easier to manage than going to court. Neither of us feel the need or desire to marry right now, but we are very serious and intend to stick together, so if we need to marry now for me to be emancipated, we will do that.
What course should i take? What documents should i take with me as i move out? I have my birth certificate with my SSN and my drivers license. What else is neccesary for me to function independently? My parents are not going to work with me on this. I've been homeschooled, and i am halfway through my junior year. What infirmation do i need concerning school to eventually enroll elsewhere and finish my diploma? I cannot complete school at home obviously since im getting kicked out.

I know moving out is a very risky move right now in all regards, and i would not have it this way. I'm just thankful i have someone to live with and work through this with me. I would grestly appreciate all advise regarding emancipation and mu moving out in general.
Thanks so much
- Raymond P

Answer:
 I can't imagine a worse decision you could make.

Is there any chance at all you can tough out life at home for another year? Legally your parents can't throw you out until you turn 18.


Title: Giving a car to a opiate addict who could relapse.

Question: Could anyone give me some advice here, I have someone in my life that is very important to me who has no way to get to a methadone clinic, she's been an opiate addict for several years. I am about to buy a new car, I have a 13 year old SUV that is in pretty good shape, not worth much. Can I give it to her? How do I cover myself in case she relapses and gets into a bad accident? Would I be responsible if she does? The insurance on it is paid up until August of 2018. Do I need to cancel that, or can I keep it on the car even if I give it to her? Or would doing that make me responsible. If I get a signed bill of sale for like a dollar, does that resolve me of liability? Thanks.

Answer:
 > Can I give it to her?

Yes.

> How do I cover myself in case she relapses and gets into a bad accident?

By following your jurisdiction's process for transferring title, and notifying your vehicle registry or DMV yourself rather than relying on the buyer to do so.

> The insurance on it is paid up until August of 2018. Do I need to cancel that, or can I keep it on the car even if I give it to her?

You need to notify your insurer that you've sold the vehicle. If you want to insure your friend, you can - but expect to pay a significantly higher rate than you presently do. It's your friend's responsibility to see to it that they are insured, not yours.

Insuring your friend doesn't make you responsible for her, but it does mean that if she does something that makes her rates go up, the rates you pay to insure her will also go up.


Title: (Florida) Is it illegal accept sexual favors from a tenant?

Question: [removed]

Answer: It's illegal in all states, and she would have a case of sexual assault on her hands or that you "forced" her to do it, or any number of awful situations.  Just go through the eviction process.


Title: [NYC Employment Law] My last paycheck is being withheld until I give an exit interview.

Question:
Hello all.  I was recently working as an independent contractor (cook) in Queens.  I left the job with a mild bit of disgruntlement between both of us but nothing crazy.  I e-mailed to ask them to mail my last check, but they replied saying they would not without an exit interview in person.  Is this legal?  I have no problem giving the interview but I really need the money.  Thanks!
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer:
 An independent contractor cook? I presume you are cooking their food on their equipment using their recipes when orders come up? There is no way you can properly be classified as an independent contractor.

I would immediately contract the NY Dept of Labor and file a complaint.

In the meantime, if you really need the money, I would just do the interview. Do not sign any forms agreeing not to sue them.


Title: [TX] Car towed two years ago and I haven't heard anything.

Question:
About two to three years ago I was living in an apartment with some friends while going to university. The vehicle I was using had some sort of transmission issue and couldn't make it further than a mile down the road so I ended up bumming rides for a while. After that, I managed to secure a car to use for commute but, due to only being allowed one parking spot at the student housing apartment, ended up parking my old vehicle on a nearby street. Several bad decisions and a few months later, I'm broke and not in the best mental health. I had simply forgotten about the old vehicle at this point because of the new vehicle is working well and negative association I suppose. To no surprise, the vehicle was gone. For some reason, I did not care one bit at the time, mostly because I could not get the funds to get it back even if my life depended on it. It's now two years later and I'm beginning to wonder what happened to the car. No one with a connection to the vehicle has ever received any notice about it. Im in a much better financial position now and wish to dig a little on the whereabouts of the vehicle. My question is, would it be more trouble than it's worth to search for vehicle now? Is it long gone? Would I be some how hit with a stack of fines after speaking to the city/tow companies? What legal trouble could I be in for not getting the car two years ago? I'm in Texas if that has any effect on the situation.

Edit: typo

Answer: It's probably been resold by your local police department.


Title: Can I make an official document before my child is born stating that I wish that child to be free of certain people?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 that document would only be expressing your desire. it wouldn't bind anyone. and wouldn't change anyone else's rights.

that said, a parents legal authority and control over her child is almost unlimited. things like grandparents rights are much weaker than you might think. especially if parent has custody and objects.

and Internet nightmare stories about CPS aside, it's unlikely that the authorities will interfere with you based on an estranged parents' claims.

my other advice: get off of social media.


Title: My sister is driving with no drivers license with my niece and nephew in the car.

Question:
My sister is driving with no drivers license (she never had one) with my niece and nephew in the car. I have talked to her several times about this. Shes not a terrible driver but shes stupid enough to think she wont ever get pulled over again. Does anyone know what would happen if she did get pulled over? With the kids in the car v.s just herself in the car?

Edit: we live in Missouri

Answer: They don't allow women to drive let alone get driver's license in Saudi Arabia. Fairly sure the punishment is a stoning.


Title: Recent privately bought cottage threatened to being teared down.

Question:
My family bought a cheap getaway spot in 2007 from a private seller located in Haliburton, ON, Canada. A few years later we had an altercation (which even became physical at one point) with a neighbour threatening to push us out of the property and force us to tear it down because of a road allowance the property was built on. We had no information regarding a road allowance before purchasing.

We just received a letter from barristers/solicitors/lawyers office, which claims they were instructed to contact us by the municipality where our cottage is located. They also claim the property encroaching on the unopened road allowance only recently came to the municipality's attention in 2011. Title insurance got involved, but no resolution was found. As such the municipality determined that the cottage can not remain and has to be torn down by November 1st. If we do not make plans to remove the property ourselves, the municipality will have it down and force us to pay for it.

The road allowance has no use at all. It is literally a hill full of trees and rocks. You can barely walk up it, and can definitely not take a vehicle on it. No one has ever attempted to use it, and it leads no where.

Now we must start planning immediately to have the cottage torn down and moved onto the other side of our property, which is entirely covered by trees and rocks.

I usually wouldn't get involved with my family's personal affairs, but this has been really stressing my mother out for the past few days. It will cost a lot of money, that we don't have to tear the cottage down and move it to a new area on our property. Because of this she just wants to tear it down and sell the property rather than rebuilding.

I'm not sure if coming to this subreddit will mend the situation at all, but I figured it was worth a shot. If you require any other info please let me know through the comments or private messages.

Answer: Lawyer. Your title insurance should get involved too even if they weren't helpful before. Keep calling.Answer #2: Make an appointment to take your lawyer and the township manager out to the property, see if you can get an elected councillor too, to view the road allowance, maybe it was improperly designated if it is as described. Otherwise, if you have to move the cottage, there are companies who do that. Answer #3: You should talk to the transportation/roads department and see if they would be willing to do a roadway vacation, basically getting rid of the road easement. A lawyer or land use consultant will be very helpful.


Title: [US -> Canada] I want to drive my mom to Canada so she can afford to get treated for her knifing abdominal pains.

Question:
I don't know what's wrong with her but we have no money. She is on workman's comp but the pieces of shit just STOP sending checks... So basically they just cut her income and stop sending checks for weeks at a time so she had no income and I, a college student, have to support her. Then the lawyer yells at them and they back pay. Right now we're in the no checks phase and she has many problems with her boyfriend I'm not going to get into that causes monetary stress.

She said that the state cut her public aid and link card so she has no health insurance or food. My mom never makes the right choices and I'm tired of listening to her bullshit and watching her fuck up her life cause she's a god damn idiot. I seriously think that she might die if she doesn't get treated so I'd very much like to go to Canada or something cause I know they have better healthcare but I don't know to what extent.

Answer:
 1.  That's not a solution.  She won't get free healthcare just by driving over the border.

2.  If she has knifing pains, she should go to the emergency room.

3.  If the state cut her aid, I'm guessing she didn't follow some rule or requirement (like filling out paperwork).  Can you help her with that?Answer #2: > I seriously think that she might die if she doesn't get treated so I'd very much like to go to Canada or something cause I know they have better healthcare but I don't know to what extent.

You have to be a citizen to get their healthcare benefits, which costs thousands of dollars in application fees and takes a ton of time to process. Plus you have to qualify.

You'd be better off finding a society of some kind pertaining to what is going on with your mom's health - i.e. if she has a certain condition, see if there's a foundation or society targeting treatment of that condition - and seeing about affordable resources for treatment.

She should also apply for Medicaid.


Title: I believe my employer is actively participating in language discrimination. What are my legal rights as far as not getting fired if I confront them about this?

Question:
I'm an assistant manager.  Had an employee tonight tell other employees "Not everyone speaks Spanish.  Stop speaking fu@king Spanish".  She said this in front of customers, who overheard her.  I gave her a write up and sent her home (I don't have the power to fire anyone).  Before she could get sent home, she quit since "she knew she would be fired anyway".

In taking witness statements and discussing this with employees and other AM's, I heard several stories about other times this has happened and the company has done nothing to stop it.  One of my other assistant managers was recently training others at a new store.  The trainees speak Spanish as their first language and he was teaching them in Spanish.  Our district manager walked past them when this was happening.  He later pulled the other manager aside and told him "When they ask you questions in Spanish, you need to answer them in English".  The other manager explained that since their primary language was Spanish and it was a difficult thing to explain, he spoke to them in their native tongue so the concept would not be lost in translation.  The DM told him he needed to communicate with them in English.

There is no aspect of our job that makes English necessary unless we are:
1. Speaking to a customer
2. Giving instructions to another staff member that is an English speaker
This was not the case in any of these situations.

I don't want to sue my job (I'm an English speaker with a smattering of Spanglish), I just want to protect my employees from this.  And I also want to protect the company from a lawsuit.

If I sit down with my superiors, is it legal for them to fire me if I discuss this with them in a completely educational, non-threatening way?  And if they do fire me, what can I do in response.  I live/work in CA.  Thank you in advance for any/all advice.

Answer:
 The anecdote from your assistant manager doesn't sound forceful to me at all. If English is the official primary communication language at your workplace, it makes sense for a district manager to ask staffers to switch to English, if only to give less fluent speakers a chance to use the language more often and become comfortable in speaking English about business related subjects.

Regardless, if you frequently hear employees speaking in their primary language, and do not already know of a ban on such things, I don't think the higher ups are really concerned about it.


Title: Is it legal to post custody papers on social media?

Question:
The custody papers are American and state why the children were taken away from one parent and given to the other. Is this in any way illegal? Thank you for your help.

Edit: USA, Mississippi

Answer: Posting custody records on social media is a brilliant strategy to have the decision reconsidered.


Title: GF passed the bar, need gift ideas from lawyers

Question: GF passed the bar exam, need some gift ideas, already got her an issue of esquire (lol) and the obligatory flowers. Any others that are silly or awesome?

Answer: The only correct answer is a lifetime supply of Bourbon.


Title: Driving Rented Car, Pulled Over, Expired Insurance, Criminal Summons

Question:
While I'm definitely going to a lawyer, I'd like to pick your brains over here.

I was driving a rental car and got stopped. The cop asked me to produce proof of insurance and I gave him the documents that were in the dashboard. The car's insurance had expired late last year.

I was hit with a criminal court summons. What do I do here? I'm looking online and the fees and punishment seem extremely strict (up to 15 days in prison). This is scary.

I'm in New York state.

Answer:
 Step 1: get a lawyer

Step 2: subpoena the rental company

Step -1: you should have provided documentation that the car was rented to the officer on scene. Without that, it doesn't matter what you say, the cop will think you're just trying to get out of a ticket.Answer #2: Generally you provide your own insurance to cover you driving a rental car.  Your own car insurance may cover it.  Many credit cards also offer coverage if you use them to pay for a rental.

I would start there.  I don't believe it's any different in New York.  It's on you to provide insurance or purchase it extra when you rent (which would be shown on your rental agreement).


Title: My neighbor battered me over a public parking space

Question:
Hello! I’m new to Reddit, and am asking for legal advice concerning a dispute with my neighbor. Essentially he claims that I cannot park in front of his house because its in front of his house. I cannot park in front of mine due to a fire lane and having 2 roomies with cars and only one driveway. I already wrote a letter to the neighbor which i have not sent yet, and I want to know if you guys think it’s a good idea. Do you think this person is worth trying to resolve the issue with in court. My neighbor has roughly 100 pounds on me, neck tattoos, and is a blue collar worker. I generally am afraid to park in my own neighborhood now and have been dealing with anxiety from it since the incident happened. I’m a 20 year old college student who lives in a neighborhood where the mean age is roughly 45+. They don’t appreciate me living there even though all I do is study. Furthermore, every neighbor generally has the same sentiment as the problem neighbor. I can’t post an image yet so I’m going to copy and paste the letter. Thank you for your help!

Hello,

This letter is an open invite to civil discussion over parking on the 600-700 block intersection of  Street from resident Tamei. It has come to my attention by the recent altercation that there is a dispute with parking in this area. Under Pennsylvania Statutes Title 75 Pa.C.S.A. Vehicles § 3353, resident Tamei is violating no parking law. Resident Tamei is offering to discuss this matter civilly, with no violence, yelling, or hostility. As resident Tamei is a full time Pharmacy Student, he requires a motor vehicle to commute to his daily classes as well as to drive to work. Furthermore, his compatriots / housemates also require their own vehicles to commute to school and go to work. The stated 600 block corner contains a few parking challenges. First and foremost, there are several driveways that impede the designated parking area directly adjacent to resident Tamei’s house. Furthermore, there are houses across the street who also need to park. Lastly, there is a fire hydrant blocking the closest possible spot other than the edge of the 700 block of Street. The residence of Mr. Tamei only has a single car parking space. There is no Pennsylvania law or statute that grants ownership to public parking spots outside of one’s residence, no matter how long they have lived there or what they feel entitled to. The parking spots directly adjacent to 702 Street are not private property and the residents within have no legal claim to them. Resident Tamei is sure a mutually beneficial agreement can be achieved with proper delegation.

	Unfortunately, the resident of 702 Dunster street has been peacefully asked by resident Tamei to solve this issue, but the 702 resident yelled profanities and threats. Included in these threats are, “I’m going to kick your fucking ass.” Furthermore, when resident Tamei tried to maintain delegation, the burley male resident of 702 laid his hands on resident Tamei with 2 witnesses present. The resident presiding in 702 Street aggressively walked toward resident Tamei while yelling profanities and pushed him, and screamed in his face. This bodily contact was initiated by the 702 resident and was blatantly and verbally denounced and by resident Tamei before and after the bodily contact. If further aggression and bodily contact is had at the civil delegation, resident Tamei will press Simple Assault / Battery charges under  to the fullest extent of Pennsylvania Law under Title 18 Ch. 27 § 2701. Resident Tamei will not hesitate to call the Allegheny County Police Department and an Attorney if such violent and aggressive behavior continues. This is not a threat, this is a confirmation that I know my rights as a citizen of the United States and of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and will act in my own self defense.

	I appreciate you taking the time to read this letter and look forward to resolving this issue peacefully. Please contact me at (000) 000-0000 to schedule a proper meetup time and place for delegation.

Thank you,

Clear Tamei

TLDR: I want to peacefully resolve a parking dispute that got me battered with a delegation letter, but my neighbor is scary and violent.
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 No, don't send a letter. In Pennsylvania you can park on any public street as long as it isn't marked "no parking" and as long as it's not subject to any municipal laws restricting parking. You don't automatically have a claim to the spot in front of your house.

Park there. If he threatens you or touches you, even if it's just a poke in the shoulder, call 911.Answer #2: When someone puts their hands on you, call the police.


Title: Found injured dog paid substantial vet bills..owners have been founf

Question:
Found a dog hit by car, no collar tags or chip. Femur was shattered euthanizing was an option. Amputation as well. Elected to pay 4k to save leg.

Can I demand payment before giving dog back? This is in Florida if it matters.

Answer:
 >Can I demand payment before giving dog back?

No.

You can try to sue them for the vet bills if they are not willing to pay them. They may have an argument that they would have elected for a less expensive option. But you cannot hold the dog as collateral.


Title: Ticket for 3 lbs marijuana w/intent to distribute

Question: My 27 yo son suffers from Crohns Disease and was moving from CO to IL. He had 3 lbs of marijuana which he smokes to help with the disease. He was pulled over in Kansas and issued a ticket (no arrest) for having 3 lbs of marijuana with intent to distribute. He has to go to court in June. Is there a way to keep my son from going to jail? He has a clean record.

Answer:
 He 100% needs a lawyer. No one is going to believe that 3lbs is for "personal use".Answer #2: If your son is telling you that he needs or got 3 pounds of marijuana from an actual medical dispensary.... he’s lying 100%.

This is the tip of the iceberg likely, get a lawyer.Answer #3: Three pounds is a boatload of pot. Your son may be dealing in addition to smoking.

For his sake, I hope the pot was all in a single container and that he didn't have baggies or a scale with him.Answer #4: I’m 100% for marijuana but I have to say that your son is 100% lying. 3lbs is a TON of weed. He’s selling. He needs a lawyer. This isn’t going away.  It doesn’t matter what diagnosis he has.Answer #5: There is only one answer here and that is criminal defense attorney. He's looking at jail time.Answer #6: He needs a criminal defense attorney.


Title: Someone took a picture of my girlfriend while she was working and posted it on yelp without her permission. (Hawaii)

Question: We’ve reported it and they still haven’t taken it down. What can we do?

Answer: Was she in a public place with no expectation of privacy? (For example, at work serving customers?)


Title: [MI] Let go during probationary period for having baby.

Question: Hey everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, and I'll gladly move this conversation elsewhere, but here we go. My wife started her job a few months ago and was obviously pregnant from the start, made no effort to hide it, and told her supervisor within the first week of starting. She was just informed today via email that specifically because she is pregnant and her due date is just (like a few weeks) within the deadline of the end of her probationary period, she would be let go when she has the baby. Her work says they will try to hire her back when 6-8 weeks after the baby is born, but they can't guarantee anything. This information that she was given today contradicts previous info she was given over the phone from HR which promised her that her job would be secure and that she would just be able to take an unpaid leave of absence for those 6-8 weeks. We are just both a little stressed out and uncertain right now, and any advice would help. Thanks!

Answer:
 They have no obligation to hold her job because she doesn't qualify for FMLA. They are telling her she will be let go for missing work, which is legal.   If you have this promise of holding her job in writing you may want to talk to a lawyer but it doesn't sound like you do.Answer #2: They can't fire her for being pregnant. However, it sounds like she requested time off after the baby was born. The company has no obligation to provide this time. She hasn't been there long enough to qualify for fmla.

I'm assuming that your wife is not prepared to continue working immediately after giving birth. If that is the case, the company can fire her when she isn't working anymore. Answer #3: Not legal advice - you might consider asking HR about alternatives to being let go. Not that you want to take those alternatives, but it could give you better information on the likelihood that the company would hire your wife back after 6-8 weeks.

Ex: would the company be willing to keep her on if she took a 4-week leave of absence and then 4 weeks of part-time work? What about returning full-time after 4 weeks? What about 2 weeks?

I'm not suggesting that 2 weeks is a reasonable timeline, but if HR says no to all of the above, I would consider that a sign that they are unlikely to hire her back after 6-8 weeks.

This is a bit like reading the tea leaves, but if HR is completely unwilling to work with you, consider that they are using this as a cowardly excuse for a termination.


Title: (OH) Had to pull a gun on my roommate, what do I do?

Question:
Long post ahead, this just happened this morning and I'm still a little shaken up.

Background:

So my roommate and I got into a (very petty) argument, he started angrily yelling at me so I told him to fuck off and just left to my room. This apparently triggered him and he started screaming, slamming on my door and yelling that he was going to "beat my skinny ass" (he has 50+ pounds on me and works out, so he definitely would and could). I was terrified, he's gotten mad before but never as bad as that. I got out my gun (AR-15, legally purchased and owned). He eventually came in after threatening to for several minutes. He saw I had a gun, and stops, but doesn't leave my room. I tell him to get out and he doesn't, we argue, eventually he backs out enough that I close the door in his face. I take my gun, some of my stuff, get in my car and head to work. They are moving out (unrelated to this, end of our lease, but partially what we were fighting about in the first place), and I talked to his fiancee, and said I'm not coming back till they are completely moved out because I don't feel safe being around him. But, all in all, he was

a) Forcing his way into my room

b) threatening to attack me

c) has attacked people in the past

d) refused to leave my room when I asked him to

As for whether or not I should have pulled a gun, he barged into my room screaming about hurting me, and I have no idea what he would have done if I hadn't been armed. I would certainly do it again because I'm safe at work and they're safe at home, and I don't know how this would have gone down without one. It's not the first time we've gotten into an argument, but the first time he's threatened violence and forced his way into my room, and the first time I was actually terrified of him. He's got a record, having gotten into a fight out in Indiana about 2 years ago where he pleaded out. No time, just fines and community service.

My neighbors called the police, who showed up after I left. I heard about it from the fiance, who said they'll be "keeping an eye on us", whatever that means. But I'm worried that since I'm the one with the gun, and his fiancee was there and says she'll take his side (no surprise to me, she is vehemently anti-gun and furious that I would ever pull one, regardless of what my roommate was doing). So I'm worried that even though he was blatantly the aggressor, I'm the one who pulled the gun and he's got his fiancee on his side so they'll make me out to be the bad guy, and I wasn't there when the police showed up.

At the moment it looks like they're just going to move out, hopefully without stealing/destroying any of my shit, but who knows what they could do. I think we both want to move on and forget about the other, but he's fucking pissed and I have no idea what he might do legally or physically. How can I protect myself? Do I need to contact the police? Do I need to contact a lawyer? Should I just wait it out and see if anything comes of it? I have no idea what to do, I've never been in a situation like this. I've had a gun in my apartment for over 3 years and owned guns for almost 10, and I've never felt like I needed to pull it out in self defense.

Answer: Don't call the police. Don't talk to them. If they want to talk to you, get a lawyer. Even if you're justified in pulling a gun on him, you may have to hash that out after they charge you with something, so it's best not to chance it. Just document and secure your stuff. Keep contact at a minimum. I imagine both of you will probably just want to calm down and forget it happened.


Title: Reddit, am I being blackmailed?

Question:
First post, so pardon me if I mess anything up.

I'm a 17 year old male. For a while now I have been getting beer from my sister with my buddy so him and I could just lounge around and have some fun while playing video games. Well, it turns out that his mom discovered that my sister had been buying alcohol for us and is now threatening us with going to the police if we don't go to a meeting to discuss it.

For related reasons, I can't have my sister going to this meeting and don't wish to get her involved any further.

So here's my question, is what she's doing considered blackmail? If she calls the police am I able to use that to an advantage at all?

It may be helpful to you lawyers of Reddit to state that I live in the United States and that she discovered our drinking through my buddy and I's text messages.
Topic:
Alcohol Related Other than DUI

Answer: No, requesting to have a meeting with you about this wouldn't rise to the level of extortion/blackmail.


Title: (California) what can I do if landlord didn't pay water bill?

Question:
I hate renting. I'd rather own. Despite that for the last 6 months my wife, my daughter and I have rented a unit from an attorney. We've always paid our rent on time(usually a few days early, actually) and haven't asked for anything crazy. I've complained about the carpet in one bedroom stinking (the woman that showed us {not the landlord} said it was replaced just 2 months prior. Which I know what a lie because I remodel rentals for a living and that style hasn't been in stock in nearly 10 years.) Other than that we've only wanted our swamp cooler fixed, cooling in our area is required to be provided by the land lord. He was very hostile about it. Anyway, today my wife got home and we had a notice on our door from water company. Said owner needed to contact them and provide current phone number, and said do not mail in payment, to hand deliver or drop in drop box. An ways the notice said he has until tomorrow to do everything asked on the notice or service will be shut off.
What can I do if service is shut off? The dude is an eviction attorney so we are nervous about trying to withhold any rent if it's not paid.
What options will I have? My wife texted him a picture of the notice but we haven't heard anything back.

Answer:
 According to [Civil Code § 1941.1 and § 1941.3](http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-tenant-rights-withhold-rent-repair-deduct.html), functioning plumbing is required for the unit to be considered livable. Your landlord is expecting to (a) pay the bill to have the issue remedied or (b) place you in an equivalent rental until the issue is remedied.

If the landlord is an attorney, they know you're not required to live in an uninhabitable home.


Title: My mom is trying to force me to take medication I don't need

Question: I've just turned 18 this month, and where I live the legal age for medical responsibility is 16. I've been off of my antidepressants since July (almost 8 months) but my mother is trying to force me to start taking them again, even though my doctor said it's really up to me to take if I feel like I need them, which I haven't for a very long time. My mental health is actually quite good, my grades are better than ever, and I haven't needed to see a psychiatrist since August. She is threatening to kick me out if I don't start taking them, but I'm still in high school and can't afford to move out right now. Is there anything I can legally do if she does try to kick me out, or does she have any legal grounds to stand on since I'm 18? I'm scared the medication is going to make things worse because that's what will happen if I take them and don't need them.

Answer: She cannot literally force you to take medicine as that would be assault. However as an adult she no longer has to provide housing and can have you removed as a tenant by following the process to remove a tenant.


Title: My mother is holding onto my adult Austin brother for money. What are my options?

Question:
It's been a long couple months but here is the gist of my personal hell. October 10th I get a text from my dad saying he was being aressted. I'm of course freaking out and trying to get the story but he was on his way to jail when I texted back. Bailing my 60 year old father out of jail was something I never thought I'd have to do.

The story Mom told the cops was that they were sleeping head to foot 2 weeks prior and he kicked her in the head when she pulled the blankets. I wasn't sure to laugh or cry when I was told the story. My dad went to jail over this ridiculousness! Then he had a protective order put against him protecting Mom. He went next door to my sisters house when Mom started texting him saying he should meet her. He didn't respond so she called the cops saying he was at her house with a gun. 5 cop cars roll up on my sisters house and I felt the cold fear of losing my dad. They talked with us then left realizing that he wasn't violating the order.

The court date happens and the charges were never filed by my mother so it was dropped. This would have been a victory but then we find out she has filed a restraining order against him and taken my autistic adult brother with her placing him on the restraining order as well. The reason she has latched onto my brother is for 2 reasons. He's the only child that can't understand her emotional manipulation and he has some money from our Native American tribe.

Before she took him my dad handled the money and gave her some to drive him places and buy him what he needed/wanted. She wants all the money and to keep my brother away from my dad. We tried to reach a "deal" the first court date but she kept demanding more and offering little time with my brother. The court date was then rescheduled to December 7th, this passed Friday. During this time she has my brother in a battered women's shelter. We keep trying to offer her to let him visit home but it's always refused. She sends her lawyer, which I have no idea how she's paying for, over to try and negotiate for money for my brother. My dad flat out says there is no negotiating unless the order is dropped so she drops the order.

Then the lawyer tries to discuss money with my dad but he says that I'm the one handling my brothers money now. It was a role I offered because of a few reasons. my dad changed his number and was having an amazing break from my mothers psychotic text messages, I am pretty money conscious, and my mother had previously wanted me to be in charge of his money. I agreed to give her $300 a month from his money and cover his other expenses as they came up. This agreement isn't legally binding just some basic kindness.

It's now been 3 days and  I'm losing my fucking mind. She sends barely coherent texts at all hours of the day & night. She refuses to answer basic questions. Demands things like for me to buy a cart full of stuff she layawayed at Walmart. She says her car needs fixing and wants "my husband", as she refers to my dad in every text, to fix it. I offer to pay for a mechanic and she say "no thanks." Then I get messages saying I need to pray, I'm an atheist and she knows this. That if we arrange a picnic with the family she'll come with my brother, it's fucking December!

I honestly have no idea how my dad was able to deal with her for 27 years because it's been 3 days and I want to strangle her. I'm hoping to get to see my brother soon but she won't tell me where they are staying right now. The lawyer only said she's in a housing program.

What are my options legally to get my brother back home? If I just pick him up and drive him home am I "kidnapping"? He's a 24 year old adult but is mentally about 7 due to his autism. There isn't any custody agreement or conservatorship in place expect one thing that lets my dad handle his bank accounts and money.

TL;DR Mom has taken my autistic brother and I am her sole communication to get money for him.

Answer: She sounds like she might have dementia. Answer #2: Get a guardianship first and then pick him up. She may call the police, so you need to have something to show them.


Title: False Imprisonment question

Question: If a business has a sign up designating particular spots as for their customers only, what steps can take to legally enforce that? This afternoon, I saw a business owner block a violator in and not let them out for several minutes. Is that within their legal rights?

Answer: No. That is not legal. You can post sufficient signage, and then if someone who is not a customer comes into that space, they're trespassing. You can ask them to leave, or call the police. You can't just imprison them. That is not a valid use of shopkeeper's privilege.


Title: Landlord printed the wrong name in the lease and is asking me to re-sign, I don't want to ask a day off to compromise his business hour

Question: My apartment manager's business hour and my work hours overlap entirely. I already asked a day off three times within one month to try to finish the move-in process. The first time was to submit an application in person. The second time was supposed to be signing the lease. However, he called one hour before the appointment time and told me his computer was down (I made this appointment three days earlier, he had three days to print the lease but chose to do it at the last minute). The third time I signed the lease (This time I made the appointment one week earlier,  he still printed the lease after I arrived the appointment). He emailed today and asked me to come back tomorrow because he printed my name wrong in one of the pages. I feel like he is not trading me fairly because my a recent college grad. I have tried to make an appointment with him outside of his business hour or to sign an electronic version. He refused every time without even negotiating it. This email today really me made me mad. He gave me essentially 4 hours to ask a day off. WTF! I do not want to leave work anymore, I already asked too many days off this month.  I still want to live here, what should I do?

Answer:
 Why in the world do you have to take an entire day out? Just ask if you can come in a half hour late and meet the LL first thing in the morning.

Or just refuse to sign until he just leaves a copy for you. Answer #2: This is the landlord's problem. He made the mistake. He needs to solve it on his time, not yours. Tell him you will be glad to sign it but you can't leave work. If he can't meet you when you are free, he can mail you a copy and you can sign it and mail it back. You can even do that by email if you have a scanner. I've had a tenant for 2 years who I've never met in person - all done by email.