Title: My sister was suspended because two other kids got caught with a weed brownie they stole out of her backpack. Riverside County, CA.

Question:
My sister is in middle school 15/16 yo. She does not use drugs. My family sees her as being smarter than the usual pack of peers (good grades, honor roll) and considering my family consists of recovered addicts she understands what could resul from drug use in general. Either way, she honestly told me she doesn’t and I believe her.

Basically, she was given a weed brownie from an older girl in high school, who happens to be her best friends older sister. She held it in her backpack and didn’t use it, she said it’s been there for 3 days because she doesn’t know where to keep it and didn’t want to get in trouble. The older sister mentioned to her that if it gets back to them or her she didn’t want any part of it, and if my sister did involve her she would “get her ass beat.” Either way she had it, and it was in her back pack. She let me know she was afraid to use it and I totally believe it because a couple weeks ago our younger cousin (a year younger than my sister)  had an extremely bad episode with taking a weed brownie, which was handled accordingly by her parents, but either way coming off of that, I think it’s safe to say my sister was pretty afraid as to what would happen to her after seeing our cousin freak out the way she did.

Come to today. She’s at school, she’s hanging around this younger boy that I have heard of a few times, he’s pretty much a knucklehead. Either way this kid steals the brownie out of her backpack, she told me she did NOT give it to him or anything. Later in the day, the boy gets caught in the boys locker room with the brownie, along with another kid. They pretty much called my sister in (without my parents being there or myself) and asked her questions, basically where she got it from, if she sold it to them etc. and seeing as she was kind of threatened by her best friends older sister, she didn’t tell. As of now they suspended her for three days, my mom says there reasoning is due to her providing them with it. The two other boys were suspended as well for using it and getting caught.

Is it really considered providing them with it if they stole it from her backpack?

The way I see it if it were a phone, belonging, or something else and they took it out of her backpack without knowing, it would be considered stealing. Can this be considered stealing?

I have no idea why this older sister gave her a pot brownie at all, IMO she should be held fully accountable and she shouldn’t have gave it to younger kids if she was so worried about not getting involved. If she threatened my sister, is there something we can do to let the school know it was the older girl while also keeping my sister safe?

Ultimately, I’d like to know is the school justified in suspending my sister?

She is a good student academically and has played on sports team, this suspension will only leave a bad mark for her.

Thanks in advance, any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 >Ultimately, I’d like to know is the school justified in suspending my sister?

Yes, certainly. If she didn't want the brownie, she should have thrown it in the trash. Instead she intentionally carried it around.


Title: What are the laws in regards to breaking a car window when an owner leaves their dog inside during hot weather? [California]

Question:
I saw a dog in a car, windows up in around 90 degree weather.  I stopped and waited 10 minutes when the owner came back.  I (using snap chat) filmed myself yelling at the owner.

Are their laws that would make it legal for me to break in the window without repercussions?

Answer:
 > Are their laws that would make it legal for me to break in the window without repercussions?

Not that I can find.

You'd fall back here(if charged or sued) on a "defense of necessity" - arguing that your violation was necessary to prevent something worse from happening. In order to prevail there, you'd have to win on the "necessary" part.  Was there any other option?  Did you call the police, or the fire department?  Did you check the door to see if it was locked?  Was the animal in **imminent** danger of dying, versus simply being uncomfortable?


Title: Dad is getting horribly screwed by child support in CO.....need some advice....

Question:
ok here I go. my dad was 3 boys and 1 girl. I am the first born son, my brothers born not too long after me. we are all over 21. my parents split around high school. a pretty shitty divorce came not too long after, there was some land and stuff so there was a lot of court bullshit for them, I dont really know any specifics. but my dad moved away and we stayed with mom and now dad had to pay child support to my mother. while they were split, he fathered a child with another woman. we didnt know at the time and actually found out about it after she was born. some years go by, i think she was about 8 or 9 at the time, her mother died and so my dad took custody of her because her grandmother was not able to.

He still has to pay child support, even though we are all over 21, they take his license away without any sort of notification when he misses payments, and he misses quite a few because business has been getting slow. but he still gets business, and his job requires him to use his truck, its absolutely necessary. but they keep taking away his license and now he might have to go to jail because of that. my sister is in middle school now, she lives with my dad but has been staying with my aunt for the summer, and is going to school here for the time being. they are making things incredibly hard on him and my sister, they are doing the complete opposite of what their name implies. plus my mother never receives any money from child support, even though I know my father is still giving them some money. she cant recall the last time she got any money from them.

we really dont what what the fuck to do. how is this legal? me and my brothers are all adults, and yet he still has to pay child support? he should be the one RECEIVING the fucking support for raising my awesome little sister. but he doesn't! they eat with food stamps, they have some people renting some rooms downstairs. if it wasnt for that I dont know what he would do. he even had an offer for a better job, better pay, less risk, better benefits, but it requires a license. and wouldnt you know it they took it again with out any sort of notification. so he missed out on that amazing job.

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

Answer:
 People still paying child support on their adult children are generally doing it because they never paid it when the children were kids. In other words: he's not supporting you now-- he's paying back what he should have been paying to support you when you were little, but didn't.

If the amount he was supposed to be paying when you were little was too high, he needed to go back to court and renegotiate it-- back then, not now.

The thing that's going to make life difficult is that it's a lot easier to try to prove that you shouldn't pay a certain amount before you pay it than it is to argue that you shouldn't have been asked for that amount years after you were supposed to pay it.Answer #2: Did your mother receive TANF or medicaid for you while you were a minor child? If so the child support is going to the state to pay back your welfare benefits.


Title: Ex's mom loaned out my stuff and it got destroyed

Question:
Hi all, so this is an odd situation. My ex's mom stole some expensive clothing from me before I moved out and took it out of state without my knowledge. When I went looking for it, I couldn't find it and freaked out.

Since this is Ren faire garb (costs roughly $280 for this particular piece) I made a post on the nationwide Ren worker page asking if anyone has seen it, complete with photos. Turns out she had loaned it to a friend of hers without my permission.

The person offered to mail it to me, but never did. While I did forget to give her my current address, she knows I am still in contact with my ex and knows that address, as she had lived with us for a time and could have sent it there. However, I'm not upset with her as she had no idea it belonged to me. My ex's mom claimed she bought it.

Said person had a house fire where my garment may have been burned to ash. I'm wondering what I can do to go after my ex's mom for the money it's worth so I can afford a replacement, as it was custom tailored to me since I have rather odd proportions and cannot comfortably wear the standard made garments of this type. Even if it's small claims court, I honestly just want to hold her accountable for taking my things without my permission and giving them out like she owns them.

Note: I live in Illinois. The ex's mom legally lives in Wisconsin but travels the country for the Ren faire. This happened while she was in Texas.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Do ya have receipts? If so ya could sue them in small claims. If not then I'm afraid there's not much ya can do.


Title: What to do if you accidentally kill somebody with one punch during a fight?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > I sell drugs so I know to never say a single word to the police

You think you are smart but you are dumber than you think, you just made an admission of guilt on the internet for everybody to read, also stop breaking the law asshole, don't you have any idea what that shit does to people?

>what if one does not have the money for a lawyer?

That is what public defenders are for.

>How much can a public defender do in a case like this?

A lot, they are lawyers went to law school have passed the bar exam and know a lot.

>No, I'm not planning anything.

If you were planning anything like this that wouldn't be manslaugher but first degree murder when the police found out that you planned to kill somebody just like that.

Again stop killing people by selling drugs.


Title: [USA-TX] My girlfriend is currently seeing a doctor that refuses to give her a copy of her medical records. Doesn't she have a right to these records?

Question:
From what I've read, she can file a human rights complaint through HIPAA. Is there anything else we can do or should know? Do doctors have the right to not release their medical records to their own patients? From online research, all I've found is that we are all entitled to copies of their medical records.

The clerk at the front desk claims that she can only receive them when the doctor was there. Though, she went today for another procedure with the doctor, and they still denied her.

- Thank you for all the advice. We greatly appreciate it! We will prepare for it and take action after the New year's weekend. Have a happy new year everyone.

Answer:
 It's HIPAA.

And yes, under HIPAA, she is allowed access to her medical records. Under HITECH, she is allowed to ask for electronic copies of them with minimal associated charges. She also can't just "ask for them", a HIPAA authorization with her signature is required, and some providers make you use their own form, some a general authorization will suffice, but you shouldn't try and draft this on your own; a HIPAA authorization has to have certain things in it.

If after filling out this form and waiting a certain amount of time (30 days is the norm) they *still* won't provide her records, she needs to let whoever is in charge of producing these documents that she will be filing a formal complaint with DHHS.Answer #2: [The Department of Health and Human Services would like to have a word with your office. - PDF](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/righttoaccessmemo.pdf)Answer #3: What was their reason for denial the second time?


Title: What legal ramifications would there be, if any, if someone charged for access to a private subreddit?

Question:
(i.e if I were to create a subreddit, could I legally charge a one-time fee for access to said subreddit?)

Location: United States

Answer:
 You would not be breaking a law; however reddit's User Agreement states that your account can be closed at any time for any reason.

I would imagine that this would end in at best a ban for the account, and at worst a full, permanent ban from the site.

Edit: Actually, no, in fact, the user agreement specifically bans:

>We grant you the right to access the reddit content in the manner described in this agreement. You may not otherwise make **unauthorized commercial use of**, reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, perform, or publicly display reddit content, except as permitted by the doctrine of fair use or as authorized in writing by us.

You cannot make commercial use of reddit's content (which is anything on the site) without written permission from reddit.

So, you would absolutely be, at best, copping a ban from the admins.


Title: My girlfriend was sexually assaulted by my best friends because I wouldn't buy them beer. What can we do?

Question:
A little backstory: (In California)

I played baseball for my local high school for four years. My coach made had the idea that if the team was like a family then we would play better, so that's how we acted with one another. Like brothers, we did everything together as group. Going to parties, staying at one another houses. Two of my best friends (we'll call them City and Country), were a grade below me and somewhat ran the show when coach wasn't around. They were also 18 at the time. When I graduated we all somewhat drifted apart cause I had school and a job. Also my girlfriend is two grades below me (she was 17 at the time), she still went to school with them. We had also decided to spend some time apart so I could focus on school.

What happened with me:

On a Friday I received a text from Snow at around 7:00 pm asking if I would buy them booze for some party they were throwing (I was 18, looking like 25 most shops don't card where I'm from). I told them I could't cause I was busy with schoolwork. Then Country texted asking the same thing. I replied with the same text that I had sent to Snow. They both didn't respond. Fast forward 16 hours and Snow texted again saying he saw I was home and schoolwork could late. I said no it can't,and I gotta go to work anyways. He responds with a "whatever man."  Then country texts immediately saying that they were having a party and needed the booze. I again sent the same text I sent to Snow. Country never responded so I kept doing my schoolwork. Then 10 minutes later, I get a text from another teammate asking the same thing, and I responded the same. I was pretty fed up at this point, and then Snow calls me. "Yo I'm with Country and we're outside your house, let's go get booze." I said "Dude I got a paper due by 12:00 pm and I have work at 12:00 am. I really can't man, sorry." While I was walking I made my way to my window to see sure enough there they were. Snow responds "That's bullshit man, we're bros." I say "I'm not leaving dude, you guys gotta let me do my work" They all respond with "whatever and you're a bitch" I just hung up and went about my day. I get off around 6:30 pm to see a text that my girlfriend is going to the party because they invited her, and she knew we were all like brothers. The party was also being held at one of her family friends house. We'll call the house/party owner Giant.

What happened with her:

They picked her up around 8:30. Snow, Country, Giant, and another teammate (we'll call him Whistle) were all in the truck. She felt intimidated because they made her sit in the back, in between Snow and Country. They started flirting with her, and she asked them to stop. They didn't, but some of her friends were supposed to be there, so a rides a ride in her eyes. They then stopped by our local Safeway and bought condoms, bragging about how they were going to use them all tonight. They then arrive at the party, and instead of walking in the front door, they went in the back door. They gave some excuse about the cooler being closer to the back. She didn't question, planning on ditching them once she got in. They walked in the house, then directly into Giant's little brothers room stating that no one had really shown up yet (which was true, only some of their current teammates were there). At this point she grew very uncomfortable, surrounded by 3 guys twice her size all drinking. They offered her beer and she declined. After about 5 minutes they started sitting closer to her and flirting with her more. She asked them to stop and they didn't. After a minute of flirting getting nowhere, they started rubbing her inner thigh, hips and back. At one point Country grabbed her hip so hard it left a bruise. She started having an anxiety attack (forgot to mention she suffers from high anxiety), and asked to go to the bathroom. At this point Giant stood up and blocked the door. Snow and Country continued feeling her up, so she stood up very aggressively and made her way to the door stating she had to pee. Giant then grabbed her around both of her wrists and said "Where do you think you're going?" She yelled trying to get someones attention "The bathroom, I HAVE to PEE" Giant then let her go to the bathroom. She stayed in there for about 10 minutes, then snuk her way to the other people there. She then asked Whistle to take her home. Whistle tried to get her to stay for a couple minutes, but then Snow, Giant and Country came out after realizing she wasn't returning to the room. The three sat down by her and tried talked to her, but she was in such shock she doesn't remember what they said. She stood up and told Whistle to take her home. The three backed away and let her go, as Whistle looked at them in disgust. She got halfway home and called me. I told Whistle to pull over and I'll take care of her, so I went and picked her up. I drove her home and she told me about what happened, and at the time Whistle confirmed everything that had happened.

I dropped her off at her house, where her mom called the police. The police came to their house and she told them everything. The cop questioned why she didn't leave sooner, and about the ways that she could have avoided the situation.  She was in complete shock, and broke down once the officer made it seem like it's all her fault. He finished his statement with her by saying "Boys will be boys." He stated the only action they can do is talking with the boys, and then depending on the evidence we'll see. The cops went over to the party and it had been disbanded. They followed up in the next couple days with the boys where they all told the same story. That nothing had happened and she was just saying it to get attention from me or her dad who isn't too involved. Whistle who had told me what happened was also questioned by the police where he then lied to the cop as well (Protecting his "bros"). The parents had a meeting in which they all attacked my girlfriend and her mom saying that she's a liar and a slut. The cops said we could open a case and go to trial, get restraining orders, or to move on. Her mom said the trial was off the table because she didn't want her daughter going through questioning. She also didn't support the restraining order idea because she felt there isn't enough evidence for them to be granted. My girlfriend was at a complete loss, and felt she was forced to just move on.

Now, if she sees one of them in public, it's an instant panic attack. She just turned 18 last month and is seriously considering opening a case, or at least restraining orders. She just isn't sure what to expect or how it will go, so we thought we'd come here for help. In our eyes, they only did what they did out of retaliation because I wouldn't buy them booze.

Thank you in advance, and this is a throwaway account just an fyi

Answer:
 If the victim wants to start taking legal action now that she is legally able to do so by herself, I would suggest looking for free legal counsel in your area - it is unlikely that an 18 year old can pay for an attorney.

This needs to be done right, so hiring a (or finding a free) lawyer that represents the victim is your best course of action.Answer #2: I would get new best friends. Answer #3: [RAINN](https://www.rainn.org/) is a national resource for sexual assault victims.  No matter her choices regarding pressing charges or not, She has been through something that is nearly indescribably painful.  If she's fine now, She may not be a year, or five years from now.  She needs the resource now.

Edit: On that note, She needs a victim advocate.  Talk to rainn, they can look up victim advocates in her area. You may also be looking at a complain on the officer. "boys will be boys" can easily be code for "I dont' want to deal with this. I see nothing that went wrong here." Answer #4: If she was sexually assaulted, she should file a police report against each individual assailant. The police will take it from there.Answer #5: IANAL but you might look into local nonprofit agencies that work with victims of sexual violence. They often provide free advocacy and counseling services. A survivor's advocate could work with your girlfriend to navigate the legal process.

The California Coalition Against Sexual Assault has a list of nonprofit agencies that provide services. http://www.calcasa.org/agencies/


Title: My best friend of 15 years took his life last night and I have to talk to the police soon.

Question:
Hey all,

I reside in the state of Wisconsin, and last night my best friend for the last decade and a half took his own life. I will be contacted by the police to go and talk to them about what happened leading up to his last night. Now, me and him would smoke from time to time. And the last time we smoked was about a month or so ago, and it’s in his phone me inviting him over. My question to you is will I get in trouble or will they use that to try and arrest me or press charges about that, or is his solely going to be about the events leading to his death? I’m terrified about doing this.

Answer:
 I've been the cop making this call to folks like you.

You are the deceased's close friend. They want to ask you about him. Did he show signs of mental illness? Was anything going on in his life that contributed to this?

Despite what others are alluding to here this is a coronial investigation, not a witch hunt. These cops are making sure your friend's death was a suicide and not something else. They will be looking to see if the system has failed him in any way - maybe a doc put him on bad meds, maybe a psych didn't handle his case well, etc.

If you're still concerned speak to a lawyer. Answer #2: I'm very sorry for your loss.

If you are worried about being arrested for anything, don't speak without an attorney present.  The police can lie to you about their intentions.

I want to believe they're not interested in anything but finding out what happened, but you just can't know for sure.


Question: My gas provider for my home that I rent wants to charge me for eight months of service that was billed to the wrong address. I am a college student and changed addresses last summer. When I moved, I went to their office and told them that I was moving and gave them my new address. We have had gas the entire eight months of living at this new address -- they even came by and tried to turn it off once because they had not received payment, so I called and explained that I had not received a bill yet and once again gave them my new address. Now our gas is off and they want me to pay for all of the service before they turn it back on, even though the fault is on them. I am sure some will ask why I didn't call and ask why I had not received a bill, but for the most part, it was not something I thought about when paying my other bills, and when I did remember the situation, I was just happy to be receiving free gas (I figured explaining the situation to them twice was enough). Should I be responsible for paying the months of missed billing, or is it their fault? I am in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Answer:
 > Should I be responsible for paying the months of missed billing

Yes, of course.  You got service, why wouldn't you pay for it?


Title: Adult Adoption

Question: Living in Ontario, Canada. We already went to the courthouse and they told us that they don't handle adoption of 18+ individuals. I know it's something that can be done, but where do I go? Do I need to speak to a lawyer to get the papers? Thanks.

Answer:
 “Unlike in other adoptions in Ontario, the adoptive parent does not need to use an adoption agency, and home study and adoption training is not required. An adoptive parent can apply directly to the Ontario Family Court for an adoption order.”

From:

https://bordenfamilylaw.ca/practice-areas/stepparent-adoptionadult-adoption/

Did you go to the family court?


Title: Sleeping in a car, with push button start

Question:
I've seen a few recent posts about people getting DUIs when attempting to sleep off a night of drinking in their own car, and it seems like the biggest issue is of they have the means to turn on their car. Usually the recommendation is to not have your keys in a spot where you can turn on the car. This brings up my question, a lot of newer cars have push button starts so even if you lock your keys in the glove box or toss them in the trunk you can start your car.

How would this affect sleeping in your car after a night of drinking in attempts to be responsible?

Answer:
 It really depends on where you are. What the laws are and how they’re interpreted varies.

But, the safest bet is always just not to sleep it off in your car. Get an Uber and come back the next day.Answer #2: I'd say it's best to make other arrangements to get home e.g. a minicab or taxi, then come back later.


Title: (California) Can HR tell employees the reason why you were fired? Especially when the reason isn't true

Question:
I used to work for "ABC Company." While working there I met "Ted." Ted and I became fast friends. We worked on many of the same projects and shared several of the same hobbies. We started hanging out outside of work, and eventually I introduced Ted to my sister "Nancy." Nancy and Ted hit it off right away and pretty soon they were officially dating.

During the time that Ted and my sister dated, he gave me a laptop that he had won from a college drawing. I offered to pay for it, but he said there was no need because he had another laptop already and this was just extra. I was beyond grateful, as I had been thinking about buying a laptop at the time but didn't have the money.

Literally one week after Ted gave me the laptop, he and Nancy broke up. My sister quickly moved on with her life and began seeing someone else, while Ted stayed hung up on her and how to get her back. He kept trying to get me to spy on Nancy and find out who she was seeing, but I told him that it wasn't my business. She was an an adult and had her own life, as did I. Eventually he asked for the laptop back, and in the nicest way possible, I told him that it was my laptop now. I had started using it for work and personal bsusiness. Things went completely downhill afer that. He filed a police report stating that I had stolen his laptop and had me served. He also told HR at my workplace that I had stolen his laptop.

I was called into the HR Office to meet with the HR Manager, her assistant and my supervisor. They told me about the complaint Ted had made and asked for my side of the story, which I gave them. Two days later I was presented with termination paperwork that stated I was being let go for unlawful conduct outside work. The note on the paperwork read: "Keeping another employee's property." They tried to get me to sign it, but I refused to because the basis for which they fired me was completely false.

Needless to say, I no longer work at ABC Company. Ted never showed up for court, so the charge against me was dropped. I now work at another company, one that I am much happier at. It's been 3 months since this incident occurred. However, I have been told by some of my old co-workers that the HR Manager told them I was fired because I had stolen another employee's laptop.

Is this even legal? Not only did I NOT steal Ted's laptop (his integrity probably kicked in and that's why he didn't show up to court, who knows)... but is HR even allowed to disclose information to other employees as to why I was fired, even if I no longer work there? I'm so upset over this right now. My co-workers had texted me asking what really happened, because they were shocked to find out that I had stolen someone's laptop.

Do I have any legal recourse here?

Answer:
 >  but is HR even allowed to disclose information to other employees as to why I was fired, even if I no longer work there?

Yes.  There are no special laws preventing employers from discussing your employment or why you were fired.  So long as it's not defamatory (which means not just false, but knowingly false), then they can say whatever they want.


Title: [NJ] Landlord/Tenant Issue: Keeping Pets vs. Pets Visiting

Question:
So, I live in an apartment complex. Pets are allowed, but only with permission and at a $25 per month fee. I don't own any pets, so I don't pay the fee. My girlfriend has a dog, and she visits me maybe one weekend per month, and she'll bring the dog with her. Today I got a letter from the complex office, saying "It has been brought to our attention that you are keeping a dog in your apartment. We have also been informed that a female visitor of yours takes the dog into the courtyard, off-leash, and does not clean up after the dog when it defecates on the property. Please call me immediately to discuss this matter further" [Signature]

The off-leash part is probably correct. The clean-up issue is not. I'd like to know where I stand before I talk to the landlord. This is the wording of the lease regarding pets.

"No pets shall be kept in the apartment without the express written permission of the Landlord which may be withheld.  In the event a pet is allowed, there shall be an annual charge, payable in monthly installments for the same.  This charge shall be considered additional rent.  In the event the pet disturbs other Tenants or created a nuisance condition in the opinion of the Landlord, then the Landlord can withdraw permission and the Tenant agrees to remove the pet on 30-day notice and if the Tenant fails to do so, this shall be considered a breach of the lease by the Tenant, entitling the Landlord to possession and grounds for dispossess proceedings."

I don't own the dog, it isn't there regularly, and my girlfriend is paying to keep the dog at her own apartment in another state. It seems to come down to the meaning of the word "kept" in the lease. If this is anyone's area of expertise, I would love to know where I stand legally before I go in to meet with the landlord about this.

Answer:
 The lease states:

>"No pets shall be kept in the apartment without the express written permission of the Landlord which may be withheld

You state:

 >My girlfriend has a dog, and she visits me maybe one weekend per month,
>and she'll bring the dog with her

That's pretty clear cut to me. You are in breach of the lease.


Title: Ex-Fiance wants her stuff.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Your dad got a summons from the sherif to be in court. That summons is going to have a lot of relevant detail. Is he being asked to show up in criminal court, or civil court? Is he being charged with anything or sued for some amount of money?

You need to look more closely at that summons.Answer #2: Call back the sheriff's office and ask who they sent out.  Contact said person and ask for an affidavit stating that the ex said she had all of her stuff.  Go to court and tell the judge what happened.

Hopefully it will get tossed on first appearance, if not, you will need a lawyer.Answer #3: Did you get the name or badge number of the sheriff or deputy who came out the first time? Based on your description it sounds like he was from a different agency. There may be a report on file for that event, and if so they probably should have given you a report number. If there is a report, it probably contains the deputy's account of what happened, including her saying she had all her stuff. Call the sheriff's department and see if there's a report. If there is, you can probably pay a few bucks to get a copy of it. That will be very helpful at your dad's hearing.


Title: [Malaysia] My sister is threatened by her superior, so she lodged a police report. He decided to lodge a police report of his own, claiming my sister is lodging fake report. Should we be worried?

Question:
Hi guys, so my sister is working in a local company. Her superior ( I think assistant manager ) is a person who love to shout and claim to have "a background and influence". So, recently my sister is assigned to work under him, which he dislike. I don't know the exact event that trigger it but at one point he reprimand my sister for daring to cry while being threatened by him. He re-assure his threat by repeating, "Do you know who I am? Do you know my background?"

So, my sister lodge a police report alongside with one witness ( my aunt, who happened to work at same place ). Police ask him to go to police station and rip him a new one. This happened yesterday and obviously he is not happy.

Today, he go in office and ask 3 of my sister's colleagues ( I have no idea who) to see him and inform them that he had lodge a police report against my sister for filling fake police report, claiming that he got her email as evidence.

1. I have no idea what my sister wrote in her email but I kind of doubt there is anything that can prove he did not threatened her. But just in case I am wrong, is there even such possibility that this is legit evidence?
2. Do we need to start preparing for possibility of legal battle? What kind (sub-type?) of lawyer will we need in this case?

Many thanks in advance.

Answer:
 Hi there, I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong but I'm not aware of any Malaysian lawyers who post regularly on this sub. As such I suggest you contact some local law firms and see if then can provide you with more accurate advice.

That said if the Police have already reprimanded the man in question I doubt they'll look kindly upon his report. Other than that has your sister considered escalating her complaint with upper management at her company? I realize this is coming from a western business/HR perspective but his actions up to this point seem pretty unprofessional and management may cut him down a peg.

If that doesn't work your sister may need to consider looking for other employment because really it sounds like a pretty bad environment to be working in.


Title: Being kicked out of house legality?

Question:
I'm 20 and living with my parents. My dad said I'm being kicked out of the house. (I've done nothing illegal by the way.)

This was after an argument. He says he will drag me out of the house if I don't leave, and that the police will not be able to help me because I'm over 18.

Is there any recourse for me, or am I now homeless? (MA)

Answer:
 Your father is correct in that he does not need to give you a place to live, or support you in any way.

I'm presuming you do not have a lease.  In that case, he can kick you out for literally any reason.  If he wants you gone, you go.

In order to *force* you out, he'd likely need to serve you with notice, then file an eviction suit if you refuse to leave.  That, however, only delays the inevitable on your part.  And having an eviction(even the suit) on your record can make it difficult to rent in the future.Answer #2: He can't just drag you out. You are a legal tenant with a right to be there. He has to go through the legal process of serving you notice and then filing proper court papers. Then you can go to court and negotiate a leave date. Don't let it get to the point of an eviction, because you don't want that on your record.

Call the cops if he tries to just kick you out or remove any of your stuff. Tell him you need time to start looking for a place to live and then actually work on it.


Title: [USA NV] Legal guardian to my niece and nephews, someone used their social security numbers and I don’t know what to do

Question:
My mom and I got custody of my late sister’s kids, she was murdered by their father. We knew some shady stuff happened with their social security numbers before but aren’t 100% sure, they had bank accounts my mom opened with my sister when they were born. We went to the bank and the bank told us there was fraud and they are currently settling the accounts, they took her death certificate and said they would talk to us once things were sorted.

We were told by a family friend that the children’s father was using their numbers to obtain credit. Is there a way we can get proof of this? On the annual credit reporting site we can’t pull it up because they’re under 18. What can we do to protect them and clean up this mess before they turn 18? Are we allowed to help them? We are worried that there’s something up because there was a bill in my niece’s name sent to my sister before. Should we go down to the social security office and ask for help? Who can we go to if we aren’t sure a crime has been done?

The father is already in prison, he had financial charges too, we just want to make sure everything is okay. The father had a history of claiming the kids and other people on his taxes as well.

Answer: Call the SS office. Report as suspected identity theft. And request new SSNs for the kids. Ex and I did that when we adopted the foster child we had been fostering for 20 months. The mom most likely wouldn’t even think of that due to her limitations.  It child’s father was quite shady and smart enough to think of it. The SS office gave us no trouble at all, applying for new SSN for our child.


Title: Special needs school tuition and insurance

Question:
I will try to keep this as simple as possible. Our child attends a private school for children with autism, where part of his tuition is covered by our health insurance because he receives ABA through the school. We are contracted to pay $10,000 base tuition and then about $20,000 for the ABA portion of his tuition. Our insurance pays far above the contracted amount, approximately $35,000 a year. My question is, is it within reason to request a change to our base tuition as payment to the school for our child is far above our contracted amount? And would there be any legal standing backing this request?
Thank you.

Answer:
 So the school is charging you $10,000 per year for educational services plus $20,000 for services covered by your insurance?  And your insurance policy covers up to an additional $15,000 in the category under which they are now paying $20,000?

Are you seeking to to reclassify educational expenses as covered medical expenses?  Because it would seem at first glance that there would be some legal standing backing calling that insurance fraud.


Title: My room-mates are moving out suddenly, leaving me with a lease I can not afford on my own, which I will be forced to break. How fucked am I?

Question:
Essentially this: I signed my first lease in November for 1 year, moving in with 3 other people who I naively thought I could trust. The lease was for $12,000, payable in monthly payments of $1,000. This was fine, as it was split between 4 people, my responsibility being only $250 a month, decently doable on my minimum wage income.

 Just yesterday with no warning or notice, I was confronted and told that they are all leaving before next month's rent is due, leaving me with just 2 or 3 days to figure out what to do. There's no possible way I can come up with the full $1,000 in that time, nevermind the $8,000 left on the lease agreement.

I've poured over my lease, and my situation basically goes against all of the stipulations and policies stated in it. I can't give 30-days prior notice of breaking the agreement or vacating, as I had no idea I'd be forced to do so until yesterday. I can't pay even a significant portion of the rent for the next month, even if I dumped everything I had into it, I'd come up short or starve.

Part of the reason they told me they were leaving was due to some of the issues the house has. The ceiling in the attic room, where one of them lives, sags and allows cold air to run through. The basement, where another lives, leaks heavily and has mold/mildew in the ceiling, as well as an uneven floor and holes in the ceiling that allow dust and insulation to fall. I'm not sure what exactly goes against my city's housing code, but if it's bad enough to make them leave, certainly there's something wrong with the place.

I guess I'm just wondering exactly how much legal trouble I'm in, and if there's any way to reconcile this situation that doesn't involve me losing everything I've worked for living in this new city for the past two years, in a matter of days. I'm in Columbus, Ohio, if that would help given any local laws. Any help is appreciated as I'm completely lost in what to do right now.

Answer:
 Are any of the others listed on The lease too, or just you?

Have you brought the conditions up to landlord and requested repairs?

Does the lease allow you to sublet, and can you find alternate roommates quickly?


Title: Neighbour dispute - Parking in front of EXTENDED driveway

Question:
Location: Ontario, Canada

municipality: City of Brampton

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Hey,

Minor issue I am having with our neighbour and was wondering is there is an legal standing that I have or what resources I can look at. I have checked municipal guidelines but cannot find anything concrete that says either one of us is 100% right. I have called the brampton parking enforcement but they are very busy at this time and after being on hold for a long time I hung up.

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Issue: We have extended our driveway a year ago (all within municipal guidelines on how much we can alter the yard etc) to allow both of our cars to park side by side. Our neighbour sometimes parks on the road in front of our venza (picture attached for visual representation with our car [https://imgur.com/a/wJhxsFS](https://imgur.com/a/wJhxsFS)) in front of the extended part of the driveway. One day we kindly asked if they could move forward a bit (not move or leave entirely) to allow our car to exit without moving the other first.

Their response was "no I wont".

Which I believe is fueled by a previous dispute that we had with them regarding them not cleaning up their garbage outside that was coming over to our property.

&#x200B;

My question is if there is some kind of standing we have to say they should or have to move, ie in event of an emergency or something and the car needs to be able to pull out.

&#x200B;

PS. neighbour is spelled correctly ;)

Answer: So you widened your paved driveway on your property, but did NOT have the dipped portion of the curb extended to match the new widened driveway?


Title: Landlords and credit checks

Question:
I have been living in my current house for over 3 years now and have just found out my landlord has been running a credit credit on me and my roommates every 6 months.

We have not been informed they were doing this and only noticed when checking out credit reports and seeing the hits.

Is there a legal requirement to notify us when running a credit report? Are they legally allowed to run as many credit reports as they'd like? Of course we authorized the initial credit check but it seems strange they are taking them 3 years into our lease.

Is this legal? It isn't a huge deal but I'd prefer to not have a credit hit every 6 months.

Answer:
 Have you asked them about it?Answer #2: FCRA section 604a (3a) (3) To a person which it has reason to believe—
(A) intends to use the information in connection with a credit transaction involving the consumer on whom the information is to be furnished and involving the extension of credit to, or review or collection of an account of, the consumer; or

So technically yes, but it is unusual.


Title: Am I being paid fairly?

Question:
in California.

I am at a new job, and have been told I will be paid a salary with a base of x dollars per hour, and because it is a salary, I may need to work longer than a normal work day because the work needs to be completed. On my paycheck I am credited for 7.5 hours a day (8:30-5 with a 1 hour lunch). The other day however, I was told that working hours are 8:30 to 6. So my questions are:
1) Am i being paid fairly? what I was told.
2) If I am not, what CA labor laws should I be looking in to
3) Not exactly legal, but what do you think is the best way to approach this topic at work?

Answer: Yes, it it perfectly legal and normal for you to work more than 40 hours per week and not paid overtime when you're salaried. Welcome to the working world.


Title: Impersonating a Law Enforcement Officer

Question:
My ex has been teasing the idea of impersonating a police officer for awhile now.  He's managed to get a carry/conceal pistol permit, and he has added a red & blue light bar to his dash - he says it's to get through traffic.

His ex-girlfriend and I talk and she shared with me sworn statements from her children that he told them that he's actively pulled people over.  When I took him to court over several additional issues, he took the light bar or of his car.

But a week ago he bought a repurposed police car and now the light bar is back in the dash.  My kids are very uncomfortable because they can't let themselves out of the back seat and he's been in several altercations while they were in the car, so they do not like not being able to let themselves out if it's an emergency... And I agree.

It's there anything I can do?  This is clearly illegal, but the ex-girlfriend reported it and the police told her there was nothing they could do unless they caught him using it.

Answer:
 The simple most effective way is report it to the police. You said he has them on the car. a friend of mine in high school had the light bars on his car and he got a citation and ordered to remove it and was never caught using it.Answer #2: Impersonating a police officer in NY  is a class E felony

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/190.26

https://abc7ny.com/news/long-island-man-accused-of-impersonating-a-cop/27278

https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/impersonating-a-police-officer.html

http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/eviolent_felonies.htm

http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/e_felonies.htm

Edit:

Go to police and say your scared for your child’s life start a paper trail. And say you want it documented in case something happens since the police dismissed the ex. You will not take the same your child will be protected and maybe a possible TRO.Answer #3: The police would love to set up a sting for him.....Answer #4: >This is clearly illegal, but the ex-girlfriend reported it and the police told her **there was nothing they could do unless they caught him using it.**

Private security officers throughout the US with their own unmarked CVPIs get pulled over all the time and asked to run their lights and make sure they don't have any sirens. Even having a CVPI with a spotlight is enough to get you stopped in some parts of the country with really bored cops - knowing that from experience in NY/NJ.

They just don't want to bother to go to his house and wake his ass up to make him go out to his car and explain it. Chances are he'll screw up and get busted eventually. Until then, go to the police yourself and tell them he's been impersonating a police officer while armed with a CCW.


Title: Idaho- SO was pulled over for missing headlight, does not own a licence.

Question: The police officer handed her a ticket with no fines, but a court date that was set for about 5 days from now. She was very polite to the officer and she did have insurance on the vehicle. Officer let her keep the car on the side of the street for two hours without towing it so one of her roomates could pick it up. He even drove her home and shook her hand when he dropped her off. A lot of my friends are giving all sorts of advice to her that ranges from $1000+ fines to small $150 fines, or even that there will be no fine, but the judge will ask her to get a license within a certain amount of time in order to avoid any fines. I have no clue what to do in this situation, and she is scared of a few days of jail time that she saw online as a possible repercussion. This is her first run-in with the police and she has no criminal record. Should she plead guilty to the charges, or should she hire a public defender? Any kind of help or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks you guys.

Answer:
 This is in no way the type of ticket that she can fix by getting a license soon and the charge/fine by dropped. Driving without a license has a mandatory two day jail sentence in your state, so they don't let people hurry up and fix the problem. That's for things lile broken lights and occasional paperwork issues, not criminal charges for driving without a license.

She needs an attorney, period. If it is possible for her to get out of jail time and serious fines, it will be through having an attorney negotiate a plea deal. This isn't something to hope goes well because the police officer was nice to her. Once the was charged, it became out of the police officers hands and into the court's. They aren't going to care that the vehicle was insured or she was nice. They will want to know how she came to be driving without a license and what it will take for her to understand she is not above the law.


Title: Child support to out of country??

Question: There is no easy way to ask about this so pretty much I was working a job as a contractor in arizona for three months and dated this girl who was from mexico for 10 weeks of that. She said she was on the pill so we never used condoms. Yeah, so pregnant, says I'm the father. She is also back in mexico now. I'm a 1099 contractor and I have no idea how child support works for someone like me. Also around half of my jobs pay in cash and don't require a receipt, so I don't claim or admit to having that money to save on taxes. Is there any way to get out of child support? I'm going to be staying in cali for the next few months for work, can she make me take a blood test for paternity from mexico? My goal here is to not have to pay child support or to pay the absolute minimum.

Answer:
 Um... I'm just going to advise you follow the law here, which would mean:

1.  You stop accepting payment "under the table", report *all* your income, and pay your taxes.  Consult a tax attorney about paying back the taxes you didn't pay from previous years, too, see if you can avoid criminal charges by paying what you owe plus penalties now.

2.  Regarding child support, you don't have to help the woman out with things like your current address or anything, but you should show up at all court proceedings, be fully honest about your finances including the "under the table" money you're no longer evading taxes on, and comply with whatever child support orders come through.

3.  One way to minimize your child support is to be the parent with custody of the child.  But your attitude here makes you sound completely unfit to be a father.  If you want to be involved with the kid's life, you'd better start thinking about the kid as a human being and not sperm you're no longer using.


Title: Is this criminal on Facebook?

Question:
Someone messaged me very racist things on Facebook. This was after i disagreed with them on one of their posts. I was very nice in my disagreement and have screenshots of my response.  I screenshotted her racist messages and posted them to our neighborhood page for all to see what kind of person she is and sent them to their Employeer.

I haven’t contact her since and moved on with life. Today she messaged me saying I’m harassing her and that she will press criminal charges if I don’t remove the post.

This is in the United States

Answer: You posting this once and never taking action again is not harassment. Feel free to continue ignoring them.


Title: I've never borrowed money but now have a bank levy on my account [California]

Question: All my funds are now frozen and I received a message saying that I am being levied for over $11,000. I am 19 and have never borrowed money from anyone.

Answer:
 Is this a joint account? Are your parents on it? Have you checked your credit report (annualcreditreport.com)? Have you been in a car wreck? did you kick someone's dog?

We need a lot more information about what they say it's being frozen for.


Title: Are schools required to give out breakfast the same as they are lunch?

Question:
I'm in 11th currently, when I arrive at school via bus, I immediately have to wait outside for another bus that takes me to another school for my first period then brings me back once it's over. I'm not able to go into the building to get breakfast, and I doubt anyone else who has the classes, (which is a majority), are able to either.

I'm probably going to just head for breakfast because this morning I'm starving, but I'll probably just end up heading to my class at the other school and talk with my counselor about it once I get back.

This happened last year aswell, yet we were sometimes able to get breakfast and bring it to eat on the bus, risking missing it occasionally however.

I just want to know what I should do about this, I understand it's not particularly suiting for this subreddit, but I'd really appreciate the help. Thanks in advance <3.
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer:
 No, schools are not obligated to provide breakfast.  A lot of schools do (there are federal and state programs for funding this), they just do not have to.

Getting up 10 minutes earlier would give you time to pack a snack or eat something at home.


Title: Copyright Infringement

Question:
I live in Wisconsin and the company I'm dealing with is based in Ohio.

A friend asked me to take a photo of him for a party he was hosting with a company. I was told I would get recognition for the photo. I put my watermark on the photo and sent it to him

The company photoshopped out my watermark and they're currently using the photo as a part of their marketing campaign (without giving me any recognition).

I sent them an email on Friday, explaining the situation and gave them the options to lease my photo or add photo credit to the posters (taking down all posters without my recognition). They denied any responsibility.

After several emails, they finally said they are taking everything down and deleting Facebook posts. It's now Sunday night and nothing has changed. What are my options?
There is copyright data stored in the photo.
Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer: It's fairly unreasonable to expect most businesses to accomplish things on the weekend.  In your case, the guy who handles the facebook page may have not been in the office.  If you're just REALLY worked up about it, you could call back late Monday morning or early Monday afternoon to be a pain about it, but generally, things like this take a little time.  I would honestly wait a week, and then escalate to actual management at the company.  Give them a little rope to hang themselves with... if you complain to their supervisors tomorrow they can say "Oh, Bob was doing X, but was going to do that next."   If you call their supervisor after a week, then they don't have an excuse and some asses get chewed, at least, for leaving the company exposed for that long.


Title: [MN] My girlfriend wants to get a divorce (she has been separated from him for over a year).

Question: My girlfriend makes roughly twice as much as he does.  They did not have a prenuptial agreement.  However, he does not want a divorce.  What steps should she take first in pursuing the divorce?  What are the chances she would have to pay him alimony, or is that more of a case-by-case basis?

Answer:
 She should consult an attorney before she does anything to "prepare." Alimony is a case by case basis and really isn't awarded that often, only when the circumstances are so skewed that it'd be unconscionable to the lesser earning spouse. Answer #2: She needs to speak with a divorce attorney. It is too bad for her husband that he doesn't want a divorce, because all it takes is for one party to decide they don't want to be married any longer.

If her husband isn't amenable to a quick negotiated divorce, get ready for the potential for things to get ugly quickly. An attorney can advise her best on how to proceed.


Title: [NY] Met with lawyer, left him a check for the initial retainer. Didn't sign retainer agreement. Can I get my money back?

Question:
My dad's restaurant is facing a hefty fine. I used my city's bar legal referral service to find the right lawyer to tend to this matter. They referred me to a law firm in downtown Manhattan and I met up with them for the consultation. At the end of the consultation I left them a check for the initial retainer, but I didn't sign anything since it would be my dad who they'd be representing and he'd have to sign.

Later I received their Retainer Agreement via email. After reviewing their hourly rates and payment structure, it looks like their legal representation would cost us a lot more than the fine itself. We want to back out and therefore did not sign and return the Retainer Agreement.

Now my question is about the check I gave them for the initial retainer. I checked my bank account this morning and discovered that they've deposited the check. The Retainer Agreement includes this line: "Because accepting this representation will preclude us from accepting other employment, the entire Initial Retainer shall be fully earned when paid." But like I said, we didn't sign this agreement.

I haven't communicated back with them since they sent me the agreement. It is as simple as kindly telling them that we can't afford their service and asking for my money back? Or am I pretty much screwed?

Answer:
 >  "Because accepting this representation will preclude us from accepting other employment, the entire Initial Retainer shall be fully earned when paid."

That's horseshit. A lawyer's fee shall always be reasonable. Under the New York ethics rules, you should have been provided with a statement of client rights.

https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/5jd/lewis/forms/Statement%20of%20Client's%20Rights%20and%20Responsibilities.htm

Write the lawyer, fire him, and ask for the unused retainer, which should be 100% or the full amount less some reasonable admin fee (maybe an hour).


Title: [CA] Can I be punished by the superintendent of schools for posting a facebook april fools picture saying that 'school is cancelled because of snow'?

Question:
High school. What can I actually be charged with? I haven't been told what I'm really charged. I have a meeting with her soon.
I can provide a little more info if needed. But just curious about education law.

(used an old news report that said snow day school cancelled, changed the date to april 1st, spread way more than I was expecting, blaming me for losing money even though people just didnt come because of the conditions. sorry for quick write up and typos, I dont have a lot of time right now.)

(edit: was threatened with expulsion)
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer:
 Just to be clear, are you asking whether you can be expelled/suspended?  Or are you asking whether you can be charged with a _crime_?

The former isn't really a legal question.  As far as I know, school districts have policies about the range of penalties a principal has available for acts.  I suppose one legal issue would be whether the principal's reach extends to what is posted on social media.  To my knowledge, yes, you can be disciplined for what you say on social media, but that's really a local question.

As for the latter, about whether you can be charged with a crime?  I can't imagine how.


Title: Person living across street from school posted their own “no parking” sign on their fence and has left notes on cars that park in front of it.

Question:
As title states, person living across from my child’s elementary school has posted their own “no parking” sign on their gate leading to the walk to their front door. This is not in front of their garage, does not impede on them entering their property. This is a public street.

I do avoid parking in front of their house, but sometimes that is the only spot left to park at pick up or drop off. Late last week they left a note on my car stating I cannot park there. I was irritated so I stuck the note in their fence where the sign is affixed. The home owner came out and tried to tell me I cannot park in front of his house. I replied that it is a public street, they knew the school was across the street when they purchased the home (less than 2 years ago, we went to an open house, this is a new owner). He tried to argue and I said I didn’t have time to argue, and got in my car and left.

I have since seen other cars with notes on their car at pick up time, when they park in front of said persons house.

I live in California. I looked up the local city code and it states in part, “The purpose of this article is to permit such signs that will not, by their reason, size, location, construction, or manner of display, endanger the public safety, confuse, mislead, or obstruct the vision necessary for traffic safety, or otherwise endanger the public health, safety, and welfare...”.

My understanding is that he cannot post his own sign, and then harass people parking on a public street.

What would be my best course of action to get the city to have him remove the sign?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Just report it. I'm not sure why you or someone else hasn't already.Answer #2: Why do you want him to remove the sign?

I mean... if you are sure you can legally park there (I'll take your word for it), and he is deterring others from parking there.

Isn't he effectively providing you an almost-reserved parking spot?

If the sign is removed, then it's fair game for all.

It's pretty fair of you to want to give away this unfair advantage that you have for parking competition.  But, I'm not sure I'd put much effort into it.Answer #3: Call the non-emergency number for the police. They will probably send someone out to talk to the home owner and basically tell them, "get over  yourself"


Title: [Shower thoughts] What can I be charged with if I bagged sugar like cocaine and try to cross the border into the USA?

Question:
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 Surprisingly, you can actually get busted for selling fake drugs as real. There have been cases where people have been arrested and charged with LSD crimes for selling plain old blotter paper.

In terms of just bringing in bagged sugar, you're probably fine. If you try to make it seem all sketchy, label it as cocaine, etc. you may get in some trouble.Answer #2: If they could show your intent was to mess with them there might be a charge related to interfering with border control operations or something. But for the drug charges, which it seems you are more thinking about, no. If you don't have the product that is illegal (and you don't even believe it is which might get you an attempt charge), you can't be charged with the crime. The crime is bringing cocaine into the country, not bringing something that looks like cocaine.


Title: Threw a party. Misdemeanor for "noise loud enough to be heard from public way" - cuffed, put in the back of a cop car, and was not read any rights

Question:
A couple of my housemates and I threw a party, and we had invited a good amount of our friends. Word got out, lots of underaged students found out about it, but we had locked every entrance except for the one that had a sign that said "21+ only" and another on the back door that said "No entry or drinking under 21".

Things got out of hand with random people showing up, and the neighbors across the street called the cops on us. The cops showed up, and I approached them from the street. He asked if I lived here, I responded yes, and he told me to get in the back of the car as I was under arrest for a noise complaint. I complied, and he questioned my name, my housemate's names, and asked how I was involved in all of this. I complied, gave him all the requested information, and then said that this was my house and that I've been trying to break the party up, keep people quiet, and mitigate all noise.

He stated, "Are all your housemates home?" and I did not know if one of them was actually home or not from a friend's house - so I replied, "I do not know sir"

He then stated, "If I go to your front door, and all of your other three housemates do not come to the door, do you give me your permission to enter the home?"

I replied, "No sir, I do not give you permission to enter the home"

He then said, "You better hope they come to the door then"

He proceeded to go to the door, and in what felt like an eternity, I just sat in the back of the car and watched as each of my housemates were led to different cars in handcuffs.

I was not there to witness this, but they seemed to have entered the house in order to look for my housemates. They kicked all non-tenants out, found my housemates, handcuffed them, **did not read them their rights**, and led them to the back of various squad cars, where we were all each issued misdemeanors.

During that span, I believe they threatened to take us to jail, so the cops asked if they could lock up the house for us if we were to end up going to jail, and I believe one of my housemates complied, in which they decided to go into the house and do a final sweep.

Here's the kicker: they found an underaged girl who was drunk, passed out in a closet because her friends had ditched her when they had heard the cops were at our place. I had never seen the girl before, did not let her in (meaning she snuck in), and was not aware of the situation until the cop came back to the car and asked me about the girl.

She had to get hauled off in an ambulance (she also received an MIP), and so I don't know what the issues on liability are on that, despite the signs that clearly stated that underaged students were not welcome and the fact that people snuck into our house (through people opening the back door for others).

What a story. My fingers hurt. Any advice?

edit: Our next door neighbor (not the ones that called the cops on us) is a married couple, and they came over with their dog and hung out with us for a little bit and just chatted with us outside the garage. People claim that they were vouching for us when the cops were questioning my housemates and whatnot. Don't know if that is relevant or can help in some sort of testimony, but just wanted to through that out there.

edit2: /r/LocationBot, sorry about that! Location was in West Michigan.

Answer:
 > They kicked all non-tenants out, found my housemates, handcuffed them, did not read them their rights, and led them to the back of various squad cars, where we were all each issued misdemeanors.

You do not have to be informed of your rights if they aren't questioning you.  If all that happened is they were cuffed and ticketed, there was no issue.

> Any advice?

Pay your fine, and don't let underage kids drink in your house in the future.  Answer #2: you are responsible for the violations, giving alch. to a minor, and possibly other charges. the lack of rights being read was irrelevant as they weren't being interrogated. you have no real defense, you all are responsible for this.


Title: Insurance kicks in tomorrow, 7/1, but I may have broken my hip yesterday.

Question:
This might be a simple, quick question, but any advice will help.

I was on vacation, rented a moped, was dumb, and fell off while going about 20 mph. I feel sore but have a very large bruise on my left hip and I have trouble walking. Is it bruised or broken? I’m gonna need an X-ray but don’t currently have insurance, until tomorrow.

Basically, I turned 26 in February of the same year as my dad retired. He was told by HR that his plan wouldn’t change until August. He thought I was included and alas, I wasn’t. Yes I should have personally checked. I enrolled in May and my policy through school (I’m a teacher) begins tomorrow.

Is my injury considered a pre-existing condition, or am I not going to be covered tomorrow for the bills? I have my policy number already but don’t want to do anything stupid. Honestly, if I had to wait it out a few days and lie and said it happened on the 2nd or so, I’d be willing, since I’m pretty broke atm.

So is my injury going to be covered when my policy begins tomorrow?

Answer:
 I mean, if you tell them it happened before 7/1, there’s a good chance your insurance won’t cover it.Answer #2: First, if you are able to walk, your hip isn't broken. Rest and ice.

Second, nothing other than an ER is open today, Sunday 6/30. This is not an ER issue. So realistically, the soonest you can get in to a doctor's office would be Monday, 7/1. It is on that date that treatment will commence, and you state that you have insurance beginning then.


Title: [PA] A tree rooted on my property fell onto my neighbors property causing damage to one of their cars, and no damage to any of my property.

Question:
It has been raining and I’m guessing a gust of wind took it down, it’s uprooted. The tree was right on the edge of my property and fell onto a car so that the tree will need to be removed before the car can be towed. It fell in such a way where no damage was done to my property.

The neighbors claim they’ve called their auto and home insurance companies and that they want to talk to mine, which is all good, I submitted a claim. I guess the question is, what can I expect? What’s a worst case scenario? My thoughts are as much as it sucks for my neighbors, my property was not damaged so not my problem?

Thanks!

Answer: The fact that the tree didn't damage any of your property is irrelevant. Was the tree diseased or dying and you knew it was in danger of falling and you did nothing?  If so you're liable. But if the tree was healthy or ***it appeared to be healthy even if it wasn't***, then you weren't negligent, therefore you aren't liable. In the case of the latter, your insurance company will deny their claim and they'll have to file on their own insurance.


Title: We accidentally set our and our neighbors apartment on fire :(

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You might want to post over in /r/Insurance to get a better handle on what your insurance will or will not cover. Your neighbors damages definitely, I'm not so sure about yours.


Title: Could the president pardon everyone convicted of a specific crime?

Question: Could he say "all people convicted for marijuana possession are hereby pardoned" or does he have to name people individually?

Answer: Yes. Jimmy Carter did it for draft dodgers after Vietnam.


Title: [CA, US] Realtor tried to get us to commit mortgage fraud

Question:
Basically, our realtor tried to get a side contract for cash in place without telling our loan underwriter for some home repairs. It seemed shady, I googled it and what he was proposing is felony mortgage fraud.

I told him no, negotiated a seller's credit instead (which he described as "a headache"), and gave it to the underwriter for review.

According to my realtor, deals like that are common and he made it seem routine to commit fraud like that. Is there a way to report fraud such as this / what problems would he expect if I did so?

Answer:
 Yes, report it to the Bureau of Real Estate.  That's absolutely mortgage fraud.  And while mortgage fraud does happen a fair bit, so does smoking crack.  That doesn't change the legality of it.Answer #2: Do you have any of these recommendations in writing? If so, you could report them to the state attorney general. https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/loan-modification

If you don't have this in writing, you may not be able to successfully report anything.


Title: Blocked a car from leaving while police were on the way, Was given ticket for blocking car for waiting for police - even after the vehicle had ran into me with me ending up on hood.

Question:
So, long story time:

This guy in a truck was travelling down the same road as me, but he was cutting everyone off and speeding badly. Near a light ( He in the right hand lane, me in the left hand lane ) a car in his lane slows down to make a turn, and he ends up just cutting into my lane, forcing me off the road and for me to slam on my brakes so I don't hit him with the right side of my car as he veers into it. I a loud thump and the brakes sounded like they started to just grind on something. I honk and he just smiles from his mirror. At the light, I get out of my car and go  up to his, thinking he's got to be drunk or something and to ask him to pull over to possibly get info. He drives away, speeding off down the road. I get into my car, follow him, and at the next light finally catch up. I am on the phone with 911 at the time, trying to get police over, and within 20 seconds or less, he then speeds up, trying to hit me. I am able to jump up, just in time, so that I end up on his hood instead of under hit. He brakes hard, then speeds up again with me on the hood, and brakes hard again, trying to throw me off. He stopped after that time, I am able to safely get off his hood, and 911 tells me, don't move just wait for police... So I do.

Now, police talk to everyone. Apparently the guy started to record everything after he tried to hit me, which just shows the part of me getting down off his hood and then standing there for roughly 3 minutes on the phone (with 911) while waiting for police. The police say that I am blocking traffic and that what he did was reasonable as he was "Just trying to get somewhere maybe". I tried to tell them that I was trying to get police over to get his information and to possible stop a potential breach of peace due to this guys driving in general.

The police let him go, and they give me the ticket for Blocking Traffic on the road.

I'm going to plead Not Guilty, but I'm wondering how to do this the right way... As when I do try to do the right thing, as clearly shown here, I can end up doing the wrong or a bad thing :/

I'll appreciate any help, thanks guys.

Answer: You chased this guy down and stood in front of his vehicle.  Both are illegal.  He may have *also* done something illegal, but that doesn't absolve you of your issues.


Title: [TX] Relative's car was hit by a stolen car in a police chase, totaled it. Lawyers say the guy doesn't have insurance (duh)

Question:
Around a week ago my relative was on the highway, got hit with a stolen car, spun 3 times and into a wall.  Car totaled.  The guy got out and ran from police before being apprehended.  She got a minor scratch and some whiplash.

The lawyers she's contacted said she doesn't have a good case, since the guy probably doesn't have money to get sued out of.  She's expressed hesitation to take on the city about it.

She started a gofundme to ask for reparations for her car, she's getting a little over 3k from her insurance company but her rate's going to go up since the other driver wasn't insured (no shit).  Her car was probably worth around 5 or 6k.

Does she have a legal leg to stand on?  Is there a better way to go about doing this?

Answer: She can make a claim with her insurance for an uninsured/underinsured motorist incident. The insurance company will then attempt to collect the debt.


Title: My new landlord threw out my exercise machine...

Question:
Ok, so I got a new landlord company at my place 4 months ago. I was keeping my standing machine in the exercise room as per the previous management.   New guys come in and decide to throw everything out in that room without telling anyone.  I'm thinking of putting in a small claim for the used cost of it 1,500$.

I tried to inform about it but the property manager was not there the times I went. My tag on it wasn't seen or had fallen off. Zero warning that this was happening no letter about that room being changed. I really thought the social worker who works down there knew about it, In fact, I know I told her a few times but she claims she had no idea.  Because I would have of simply moved it. I tried to track it down but it was crushed at the dump just two days later (when i found out)

I know it's probably slim but wondering if it's worth pursuing. Thanks guys.

Answer:
 Send them a request in writing stating your position:

* You had an agreement with the previous property manager to store your exercise machine in the room,
* That agreement presumably carried through the sale, as neither the old company nor the new company informed you that you needed to remove your property, and
* That they did not adequately notify you before throwing away your property.

Then give a clear remedy - you want the used value of $1,500 - and a deadline (I'd give 30 days) to either pay up or communicate further.

Don't threaten, don't rage at them, don't call them names. Stick to the facts, end with your proposed resolution, keep a copy of your letter for your own records, and then see what happens.

Either they'll pay up, or they'll negotiate, or they'll refuse. If they don't want to make this right - whether it's because they believe it's not their problem, or because they ignored you, or whatever else - _then_ take both companies to small claims jointly and let a judge determine which one of them owes you money. Expect to have to move, as well, unless you live in a jurisdiction with rent control: many landlords have a policy of not renewing leases for tenants who litigate against them.


Title: Domain company changing price after purchase

Question:
Dear Redditors,

I have purchased a web domain for under 10 USD at a major domain name website. After purchase the status of my domain went to pending. I reached out to the customer service, they were very helpful but also told me that the price was a mistake and the actual price of the domain was around 700 USD, they called it a top level domain.
I researched on their website and you can find more top level domains for the same lower price.

Now they want to give me a refund but I have already purchased this domain so it is mine. Right?
The issue is handed over to a specialist and they will e-mail me with the outcome in a few days.
What can I do here?

Answer:
 Did you receive a purchase receipt for the domain and the price you agreed?  You may be able to go to ICANN with that and assert the registrar will not unpark a domain you legally own.

Consider offering them a credit to return the domain or drop your dispute.  It's unlikely, if they really want it, that you'll get it for $10.  Might as well get something for your trouble.


Title: Someone torrenting porn on my IP address

Question:
I had a google fiber account in Provo, Utah, but I moved out in April of 2015. I let my roommates stay on my account, but they have all moved out since.

I just got an email from Google Fiber saying that someone has been downloading porn from Bittorrent. I just called Google and got my account cancelled, and that it was up to "Porn Bros" on whether they wanted to take legal action against me.

Should I be worried? Or is this just a scare tactic used to deter people away from torrenting?

The good thing is that I know that it wasn't child porn. The email I got said that it was a Piper Perri video that was downloaded.

Answer:
 Not a lawyer, but Google is known for sending DMCA notices from third parties that most ISPs won't. In all likelihood this is the last thing you'll hear about it, and you don't need to make a move unless you're served.

Also, congrats on making it out of Provo! My time there was not too enjoyable.Answer #2: We're you using an unsecured wifi?


Title: I believe I was fired because of my migraines but my employer based it on my performance.

Question:
Today I was terminated from my job I have had since December of last year. It was my first job out of college and I came in with no experience. For context my employer is a small family company so it was a team based work environment. In March I was involved in a car accident that left me with a concussion. From the concussion I have suffered sporadic migraines that have caused me to take sick days from work. 3 weeks ago I was at work and I left after two hours because I had another migraine. I tried my best to stay because I took a sick day the week before so I tried taking an excedrin but it did not help. As I was telling hr about my migraine he told me to talk to our office manager to see if it was ok. I explained to my office manager that I needed to go and he asked if I could just stay and lay down and maybe I would feel better but I explained to him that it wouldn’t. He said ok and let me go. The next day the HR and the office manager had a meeting with me explaining that they were displeased with my performance and brought up that I should have finished the almost complete work I was doing the day before. I explained to them that I couldn’t and they proceeded to tell me that I needed to be more “aggressive”.

From then on for the next two weeks I exerted myself and tried my best to get more tasks done. Also for context this is during Ramadan and I am trying my best with the lack of energy during the day. Now today they brought me in and told me they needed to let me go. I have no evidence of them telling me that I should have stayed a bit longer during my migraine but I know for sure that it was the reason I was let go. I was wondering if I have any chance at a case because I feel terribly mistreated. Thank you for your time.

Answer: They are allowed to fire you because of this.


Title: Roommate Takeover - I helped someone out but am now regretting it

Question:
   Hello,
My friend was in an abusive situation and I was also looking for a place to move to. I knew she was a little eccentric and had a lot of pets (6 cats and one dog) but she found a really cool house and since I had met the dog and cats and was ok with them, I decided to try it out.  I paid the full deposit and she paid the full rent. We went in separate visits to the landlord for this.

She said there was something on her record which would make her not pass a credit check so I just put the lease under my name. I added her name to the lease but they did not run her credit and she did not sign it. So I am pretty sure that means I have sole legal responsibility.

So we moved in, everything was fine at first. We needed to find a third roommate and we hadn't found anyone yet when I had to leave town for a week. While I was gone she found a good roommate and charged her more. So this subleaser roommate is paying $1250 and doesn't have to deal with any utilities.
The way I figure is that we would split the rest of the rent - each paying $975 plus utilities. (The total rent is 3200.) She seems to think she should get the extra money that the subleaser is paying to go toward her rent and that I should be paying a third.

Also since I was out of town she collected the rent and a $500 deposit From the subleaser - I asked if she had her sign anything and she never gave me a straight answer so I don't even know. I said I should probably hold half the deposit but she insisted she would be responsible for it. The second month before I had a chance to collect the rent from the subleaser - my roommate collected from her and paid me through venmo but she shorted me on her own rent and bills. She will not spell it out to me how she is figuring it out - she is very vague with her calculations.

She also got 2 more dogs without asking me and when i got mad about it as being inconsiderate she accused me of abusing her! I did knock on her door loud and I did yell at her because she kept sending me petty text messages about leaving the bathroom light on or stuff about the kitchen that I'm not even sure what she is referring to.  And I thought her audacity was uncalled for since she had no consideration about what I thought by bringing in two more dogs - So I did yell, but being abusive is quite an exaggeration. Since then - it has been a week and she has given me the silent treatment and will only communicate through text. The internet bill is in her name and I already paid it but she refuses to show it to me. I had no problem showing her the electric bill in my name.

Basically I am going to try a last time to get along and make it work before telling her to move - obviously she has too many animals - but I am not sure how to deal with her taking the rent from the other roommate - she has sent me texts saying that this apartment is her parttime job - leading me to believe she is trying to be some kind of manager or something.  Also when I texted that we have only been here two months and we have to get through a whole year she said, " I plan on staying here a lot longer than that." She is a freelancer but she is always home and I am pretty sure she isn't getting much work.
She plants things in the yard but honestly I feel that is her choice - she's not doing much cleaning.

I want to tell her that I will collect the rent from the subleaser from now on but I should probably also ask for the deposit too - I am dreading this conversation. I also don't want to freak the subleaser out.

Does anyone have any insight  on how I should handle this? This is in Sherman Oaks, California.

Hope this isn't too difficult to follow,

Thanks in advance.

Answer:
 The third roommate needs to know right away that you're the only person on the lease. You should get a written agreement of some type between you and this roommate (I'm assuming that your lease allows subletting). Tell the third roommate that only you can collect the rent from her.
As for your initial roommate, she sounds like she'll be a constant problem from here on. Personally, I'd evict her if your state allows it and find a new roommate. Remind her that she was not a manager of any type, that you did not ask her to manage the third roommate, and that she is not authorized to collect rent or any other money from any person in the house. At the very least put your agreement with her in writing. Spell out the money she connected and paid so far. Make the agreement month to month if possible.


Title: Can I sue Amtrak for negligence which led me to be kicked off a train in a different state at 1:30am? If so what is the process?

Question: Last July I was on my way back to NY from my grandmother's funeral in Florida. I boarded an Amtrak train with help from employees. They helped me bring my 10 pound, non-barking, hypoallergenic dog onto the train in her carrier. I settled into my seat and placed my dog on my lap, however a train worker (I believe the conductor) explained to me I had to keep my dog in the carrier. I complied and kept her in the carrier. Around 1:00am I woke up to a different conductor. He rudely told me that dogs weren't allowed on the train and I had to get off at the next stop in Savannah, Georgia. One of the train workers who initially helped me with my dog asked me to gather my bags. No one told me prior to boarding that my dog wasn’t allowed. 2 police officers were called in, but they repeatedly asked the conductor if he was sure he wanted me off the train. I pleaded my case and the officers offered to let me call customer service for confirmation onthe policy. A representative explained that I can't get a refund and everything was up to the conductor. The officers helped me off the train at 1:30am. I was left stranded in an unfamiliar state and had to spend over $1,000 to buy a flight back home. I checked the policy  afterwards and dogs are allowed in the Northeast (where I was going) but not in Georgia. But that was in no way shape or form apparent on the ticket. My big question is what about the fact that Amtrak employees misled me into boarding the train in the first place (including the previous conductor)? This is what ended up getting me kicked off (at 1:30am), and which caused me to spend $1,000 to get a same-day plane ride home. It just seemed excessively rude, unreasonable, and VERY discriminatory.

Answer: You can ask for a refund, but they probably aren't obligated to give you one. It's up to you to research and look into the rules, like you did afterwards. You should have done that beforehand.


Title: Transgender name change in New York State

Question:
I tried to get my name changed and the court fee is $210. Something I cannot afford. I applied for a fee waiver and the court denied it saying that

“Since a judicial proceeding is not necessary to affect a name change, because there is a common law right to change one’s name at will, it is improper to require the city or county to assume the costs of a petitioners name change”

I’m not sure how to proceed. I can’t afford the court fees and yet whenever I need to show my ID, people question my birth name and I have even been denied entrance to a bar one night.

I can’t find information on appealing the denial of the fee waiver. Can anyone suggest how I could proceed?

Answer: Use the bar money to save up for the name change? Maybe /r/personalfinance can help.Answer #2: I would contact these folks http://www.transgenderlegal.org/work_show.php?id=7


Title: (TX) Can my employees girlfriend sue my business for a personal problem they had at home?

Question:
I own a carpet cleaning company. I've had a certain employee for about a year. Recently he's been getting in a lot of arguments with his girlfriend. Yesterday one of their arguments ended in him leaving his home with their daughter.

Now I have the girlfriend threatening to file charges on me and my company because I'm employing him. She claims that I'm part of the problem of him taking his daughter as long as I keep employing him.

I feel like she's going to extreme measures, which I understand since she's a mother. I just want to make sure I'm safe. Should I be worried? Should I stop giving my worker jobs for now? Any advice will help, thanks!

Answer:
 She's trying to social engineer him out of a job to make her custody case look better.Answer #2: Stand by your employee, it's really important to him.

She's trying to get him fired.  No, she's not going to sue you, but she's trying to get him fired because she wants sole custody.  She's trying to make him look like a deadbeat who can't hold onto a job.

Be a good boss and a good person and stand by your employee through this hard time for him.Answer #3: She can't file charges.

99.99% chance she doesn't sue you. If 00.01% happens, get an attorney. She'll be laughed out of court.

> Should I stop giving my worker jobs for now?

I wouldn't. Answer #4: Theoretically, anyone can sue anybody else for virtually anything.

But she won't sue you. She has no damages and no case. Ignore her and don't worry about it unless you're actually sued. Can't imagine what that'd be for, though.Answer #5: Did she threaten this in writing? If so it would likely help your employee in court to have copies of her trying to get him fired.

No she has no cause of action against you for employing him. Answer #6: If you can, ask your employee about the judge for his custody case. A letter to the judge explaining what she is doing would be useful for him.


Title: I [25F] have a severe nut allergy. My neighbor [55F?] keeps putting out peanuts for the squirrels in our backyard. I've asked her politely several times to stop and she wont.

Question:
First of all I am posting here because I'm not sure where else to post to get some opinions on this. I'm pretty new to reddit so if you know where else to post please tell.

(Located in Ontario,Canada)
  I have had a  serious nut allergy my whole life. So serious in fact that I have been hospitalized in the past from contact. I carry a couple epipens wherever I go and am VERY careful with what I eat. I'm extra careful when I'm out and obviously let people know.

 I live in a building with a shared yard space that includes a nice seating area, fire pit and pond. My boyfriend and I will often sit down there in the summer and cook our dinner and have drinks. My neighbors ( who I have always be courteous and friendly with) also use the fire pit which is no problem, we will sometimes even sit together.

This spring I started noticing peanuts and peanut shells appearing literally everywhere in the yard, including on the arms of the chairs and on the table where we eat. My dog got a couple in his mouth and brushed up against me and I was covered in hives.

 At that point I wasn't too sure who did it and wasn't  upset because noone in our building knew I had an allergy since I just moved in with my bf last year. He has lived here for 4 years. My bf cleaned up the nuts and I just didn't eat my dinner there.

 A few days later I noticed my neighbor down there with a HUGE bag of peanuts. I politely approached her and explained I had a very serious allergy and we eat down there all the time. She was pretty defensive about it and said she wasn't the only one putting nuts out. I couldn't be sure she was the only one so no big deal I told her I would enform our other neighbors as well just to be safe. She also told me she just spent over $20 dollars on peanuts and HAD to use them...this coming from the woman who has asked us for money for groceries before. That ticked me off but I understood. I asked that when those bags were through she change over to sunflower seeds so she could still feed the squirrels as she enjoys. She (begrudgingly) agreed.

 About a month later I come home from work and see her down there again with a huge bag of peanuts. I again confront her and ask her to stop. She again says that other neighbors were also feeding them the nuts even though I have yet to see any of our other neighbors down there. I reiterated to her how severe my allergy was and how it's no issue with her personally, I even offered to supply an alternative to her to feed the squirrels with (sunflower seeds). She said she would make the switch.

 Since then I haven't seen a single nut or she'll down there (hallelujah) and last weekend she stopped to pet my dog and told me that she had completely stopped with the nuts and switched to seeds. I couldn't express my gratefulness enough and was happy she had listened to my pleas.

 Today I come home from grocery shopping and guess what? She has a huge bag of frickin peanuts again. Now I'm pissed. A bylaw recently passed, making feeding wildlife an offense. I walked down and explained this to her and said if she did not stop I would be forced to call them. She then shows me a broom and dust pan she's using to clean up the shells. Okay, but it's not the shells that are the issue it's the oils from the nuts that are contaminating literally everything down there that we use. As I'm saying this our landlord comes by to say hi. I tell him about the situation but he somehow thinks I'm joking!

 I was so pissed when I came inside I texted him and told him that if he doesn't stop her I will be forced to call bylaw until it's stopped otherwise I will have to move.
 We pay a lot of money to live here and to enjoy our outdoor space. I realize I don't own the property but neither does she. My landlord has asked her to stop and she says she will "try". I don't understand why this is such a hard thing for her to understand it is not a personal issue but a matter of my life and health.
   Am I being unreasonable with this? I'm not sure what else to do. I really hate starting shit with my neighbors but this has really been stressing me out. I get that this isn't her problem but I've explained with reason enough times it shouldn't be that hard to comply. What more can I really do?

tl;dr - My neighbor won't stop feeding the squirrels in our backyard peanuts even though I've explained I have a serious allergy to them

Answer:
 Does your peanut allergy prevent you from providing your location? Answer #2: Might I suggest not living in a shared space if you face severe allergies? There is no law forcing neighbors to accommodate your allergy. Sorry. Answer #3: At this point it seems your only recourse is to call the people who enforce this new bylaw. You should probably photograph the neighbor feeding the wildlife for evidence. However, if they refuse to act, you're pretty much up the creek. While your allergy is regrettable, it's incumbent upon you to take reasonable measures to avoid peanuts and not your neighbors' responsibility. Answer #4: "shared yard space"
Sorry, but others dont need to accommodate your allergy.  You need to accommodate your allergy.

They have a right to use the shared space and eat peanuts there.
If it is against the rules for her to feed the squirrels, video tape, take pictures, and send to the landlord or HOA.
You may be able to get her to stop feeding the squirrels, but she could still sit out there and eat peanuts.