Title: Gave my old fake ID to a buddy and he got arrested, will it come back to me?

Question: I live in South Dakota and gave my old fake id to my friend who is 20. I’m 21 now. He got arrested tonight and is being charged with “display or possession of cancelled, fictitious, or fraudulently altered nondriver identification card”, as well as a minor. It has my name and face on the ID. Will anything come back to me for this?

Answer:
 Nobody can guess, but odds aren't good for you.

First, the police might run the name just to see if it's a real person, and want to question you about it. Second, your friend might throw you under a bus if they think it'll get them off the hook: distribution of fake ID is often a higher priority for the cops than possession or use. You might trust him, but you shouldn't trust him all the way into a cell block.

If the police speak with you, politely refuse to answer anything other than to confirm your name and to assert that you aren't answering questions without an attorney. Hire an attorney immediately if that happens.


Title: Facebook account hacked, advertisement created and emptied my bank account, over $4,800 within 15 days

Question: I just noticed my bank account was empty and had a $2,500 charge to my credit card, with more "owed" in my Facebook account. An ad for a cell phone scam or something with broken English racked up $400/day in about 13 days.  My bank said I shouldn't open a dispute until Facebook responds.  What are the chances of me getting my money back, including the overdraft fees?  I'm in Arizona, USA.  Apparently Facebook doesn't have a phone number I can call for this issue...

Answer:
 Hang on.. why dispute with the bank?

The money went through your credit card right?

You should try your credit card because there is a money back guarantee in your credit card.

The bank and the credit card company is likely different institutions. The bank can’t don anything about the transfer.

Go to the credit card company and tell them your circumstances. Not the bank.

Try thatAnswer #2: Facebook will not be the one reimbursing you for this. Contact your bank and open a fraud dispute. Whoever discouraged you to was wrong. You will probably need to get more information from Facebook, which your bank will request. But you want to get the fraud dispute started now because once it is started then they are obligated to follow pretty strict law in regards to how they deal with it and how fast they deal with it.Answer #3: The bank isn't giving you good advice. You should complain in writing to the bank, identifying exactly the fraudulent transactions and provide as much evidence as you can that they are fraudulent. A written dispute is necessary to invoke your rights under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (if it's an electronic transfer) or the Truth in Lending Act (if it's credit transaction). If you wait too long, you may lose important rights and have more difficulty getting your money back if the bank refuses to refund it.


Title: Kicking roommates out - how to give them written notice? (Virginia)

Question:
All names have been changed.

My boyfriend Abe and I live in a house with 7 people total right now. The house is owned by the K family, whom Abe knows personally. Abe acts as landlord by finding people to rent the rooms, collecting rent to send to the K family, repairing whatever necessary in the house, etc. This agreement is not in writing. We moved in about a year ago, before that a friend of ours who also knew the K family took care of the house but he moved out about 6 months ago. If Abe were to leave, the K family would sell the house.

The other roommates live here with no lease, no security deposits, nothing in writing and pay rent on a monthly basis.

One of our roommates, Kevin, has been living here a little longer than Abe and me. The entire time he has been here every single person has had complaints about him. He is very messy when it comes to the kitchen/bathrooms, never pays bills on time, and steals food. We talked to him about it many times and warned him that if he didn't improve we would ask him to move out, but tried to be patient with him as he is an old friend of Abe's.

A few months ago, Kevin's girlfriend Britney, who was living elsewhere, got into a fight with her roommate, who took out a restraining order against her. So Kevin asked if she could stay with us for a few days. After a week or so she asked if she could continue staying there until August, to which we said yes and asked her to start pitching in for utilities but no additional rent.

Since Britney moved in she has made a few efforts to clean but on the whole the place has been a lot messier and they continue to steal food. We have asked them many times to clean their bathroom, as they share it with two of the other roommates, but they are adamant they shouldn't have to do it.

Since they refused to clean up after themselves, and it is now August and Britney has not made any effort to look for other housing, we asked Kevin and Britney both to move out. We haven't given them written notice yet as we are able to be pretty flexible about the room and want to give them a reasonable amount of time to find somewhere else, but we told them 30 days roughly. However both Kevin and Britney have issues managing money which is the main problem with moving out. Britney in particular has lawyer fees since she assaulted her roommate, but she also hasn't been contributing to Kevin's rent at all even though she shares his room (and takes up a large portion of the common areas with her stuff since their room isn't big enough).

So basically we want to give them written notice to leave in 30 days but are concerned that even though they have agreed to move out, they won't find a place in time or be able to pay for it. I'd like to find out what exactly I need to include in the notice so that if they are still here by the end of that period we will be able to take some kind of legal action (and if it comes to that, what's the best approach?).

I'm wondering if we need to involve the K family as well or if we can give them notice by ourselves. Abe has already talked to the K family and they are fully supportive of our decision but I don't know if we need them to sign the notice as well. Here is what we are planning on giving them so far:

(Date)

(Kevin's full name and Britney's full name)

(Address)

Kevin and Britney,

Please take notice that I am ending your rental of the property located at (Address).

You have received this notice letter because you have a month-to-month tenancy and I would like to end the tenancy. You must move out within 30 days after receiving this notice.

Signed

(Abe's full name. Or K family?)

We are planning on printing this out and giving it to them in person. A few other questions I have:

Do I need to write separate notices for Kevin and Britney or can they both be on the same one?

Who needs to sign it? (Britney claims that in addition to giving them 90 days, we need every roommate in the house to sign but I don't think this is true)

To what extent does the K family need to be involved?

Do I need to provide a reason for ending their tenancy, or reference any specific laws? We live in Virginia.

Thanks so much if you've read all this and I appreciate any advice you could give!

Answer:
 The good news is that you understand there is a process here that must be followed and you can't just throw them and their stuff out onto the street. So Kudos for that. However the bad news is that you have no authority here to do anything. The K family, and maybe Kevin (depending on their arrangement) are the ones that have to give notice and then go to court to evict if she doesn't leave. The other roommates can't do squat. (except move out if the situation becomes totally unbearable)Answer #2: First and foremost, they must be served separately. Secondly, you have no authority to evict either of them, the K family has to.

The K family allowed Kevin to stay, who in turn, allowed Britney to stay. It must be dealt with by K family.


Title: [Houston, Texas, Harris County] I'm leaving this family tomorrow, hopefully for good. Would I be able to do this without any troubles?

Question:
Apologies in advance on formatting/wall of text. Whenever I mention they/them/their, I'm indicating my parents.

I am moving out tomorrow with no mention to my parents, while they are at work, as I no longer want anything to do with them ever again (long story, browse a few random posts on /r/raisedbynarcissists if you want a general idea of my reasoning). Can I take things that were gifted to me as a minor, and have no legal issues over ownership as I am an adult now?

I found an engagement ring when I was 11, and put up signs for people to call if they lost a ring. After some time passed I was allowed to take down the signs and keep the timg as my own. A year ago my father had the ring appraised ($1,800 recommended retail value) in his name, explaining he wasn't sure how things would work out if it was appraised in a minor's name. With this, can he claim the ring as his?

I ask this specifically because I am 99% sure they will claim everything I take as theirs and that I stole from them. I am sure of this because I sold a few old Xbox controllers for about $6, and they freaked out claiming I stole from them, and that I had to buy it back. I then walked back to the store and repurchased the controllers for about $20, they then went on claiming I could be tried for that and be put away for thievery.

Is there anything I should know about countersuing if they attempt to sue me?

I stayed out late one night and came home to find them filing a missing persons report with an officer in the driveway. Is there a way to prevent something like this happening tenfold after I leave for good? Something I can tell the police department so no alerts or warrants for my arrest are put out?

Is there anything I can do to deny them access to my legal papers such as Social Security info and other things, in order to prevent a form of identity theft or fraud they may cause to put me in jail/financial problems?

Can I disown my family and sever every tie with them?

Answer:
 You can take the things. Your parents can sue you for them. It is a little bit of a gray area and would be up to the judge to decide what to do with it. Regarding the ring: again, it would be up to a judge.

You have nothing to countersue for.

They car report you missing. If the police find you, explain that you moved out. That will solve the problem.

They already have all your info. There is nothing you can do. Sign up for a credit monitoring program if you are concerned.

By leaving and not contacting them you are severing ties.


Title: Do I have intellectual property rights here?

Question:
Hi legal advice, I'm posting from a alternate account as the username of my main identifies myself and the other party in question.

In choosing the username for my main account I had planned for it to be a brand name of sorts (I'm an artist trying to start freelancing) so thought long and hard and I made it something really unique to me. In coming up with this brand name I searched for any other instance of the (made up) name online, of which I could find none whatsoever. (This is back in April of this year, 2018)

Fast forward to now, I was just looking to see what came up when searching my username and there is now an online clothing shop that has taken my name. Doing a search around on the online shop suggests it was created around the start of November (looking through Facebook posts and date things were posted on google)

I don't really have any work online (none digital artist) and have been keeping most of it to myself until I had enough to start an online/irl shop of my own, and was waiting to set up the business until I had that ready (in hindsight I should've registered straight away)

So my question is, do I have intellectual property rights over the name and is there anything I can do about it?

I am based in the UK and the online clothing shop in question is us based.
Topic:
Intellectual Property

Answer: No, of course not. How crazy would it be if you could just show up at court and shut down an existing business because you claim they're using a name you just thought up first and never used?


Title: [MI] Arrested for being nude in public

Question:
Hi r/legaladvice, I'm an 18 year old with no criminal record and yesterday I was arrested for being completely naked on the street outside of my house while on acid (I told the police officers that I was but they did not charge me for it). I was issued an indecent exposure misdemeanor, and frankly I'm a bit lost as to what I should do and how likely I will go to jail. I'm supposed to start college in a week, and I'm extremely worried for the possible consequences. Should I for sure get an attorney to avoid being imprisoned, or is this something that I can resolve on my own? Thanks
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 Get a lawyer. You could face sex offender registration. If you can't afford a lawyer then get a public defender. In this case, no lawyer = harsher punishment. And no saying you wad on acid isnt a good idea.

That is comparable to a dui saying "but your honor I was drunk."


Title: [TX] Help, mom died 12 hours after we prepaid for Medicaid Planning. They only lowered amount by 50%.

Question:
Mom had a stroke. She was expected to rehab in a nursing home for (the maximum) 100 Medicare days, then maybe move to the Hospice wing, if needed. They advised us to contact a Medicaid Planning service. We paid the MP agency \~6k and asked what would happen if mom died soon. They said the amount would be adjusted, depending on amount of work done. Mom died less than 12 hours later, the agency was notified 18 hours later (including overnight), and the amount was adjusted to \~3k.

However, they were paid on Monday, mom died Tuesday, and the agency was notified shortly after that. We are being charged the total cost for a Qualified Income Trust (1k), Power of Attorney (475), assistant's 4 hours (400), and grand poobah's 3.5 hours (875). This hadn't made it to their attorney's office yet.

I understand the Power of Attorney charge (475) and the assistant's hours (400). I don't believe a Qualified Income Trust was produced, since they had had payment and partial data for less than a day. I also don't believe we should be charged for grand poobah's time. There was an initial consultation, where he created plans A and B. They must have used standardized boilerplate templates, because each of these took less than 10 minutes to produce.

For these reasons, I really believe the actual amount should be $1,375, and that's allowing $500 for 1.5 hours initial consultation plus 0.5 hours, just to try and "split the difference." Should I call and plead my case with quasi-attorney by phone, or take the cowardly non-attorney's's way out and just send in a check for half the amount billed, a *revised* revised amount?

Answer: If you send a check for half the amount without negotiating it first, they'll come after you for the other half. You can't just decide to only pay half. That's not how bills work.


Title: I’m under 16. My boss makes me work past 9 pm when it is illegal for someone under 16 to do so.

Question:
He says if I leave he will fire me. Some nights I work till 12:30. What do I do?
Topic:
Labor Law (Unions)

Answer: Could report it to the labor department and get him a nice fine.Answer #2: Are you sure it's illegal? What state are you in?


Title: [CA] I was handed a thirty day notice almost a week ago and my landlords have cut my power. I have a signed letter stating rent is current. Deputy came and the whole breaker box is disassembled for "repairs." So he couldn't prove intent of neglegence... Do I have any recourse?

Answer: Call an electrician for emergency repairs. Then have the bill go to your landlord. It is an emergency situation and your landlord is responsible for repairs. Give the man a bill.


Title: Can I get sued for replicating paid features of a website with a browser extension?

Question:
There's a website that's free to use but has some extra features that require a paid membership.

Let's say the site is something like Ebay and the membership allows you to filter certain types of listings out (for example, those without a photo, or a price, or from corporations, etc).

I want to create a browser extension that only uses the HTML (classes, titles, texts, etc, all client-side, no calls made to the server) to determine what needs to be hidden and what needs to stay visible so the end result is pretty much exactly the same as paying for that membership.

If for example you are searching for used smartphones and half the listings are from shops that sell expensive refurbished phones while you are interested in the random citizen who's unloading their phone because they got a new one the extension would allow you to hide the crap and only see the listings you actually want to see.

Can I get sued for distributing this extension?

If I ask for money for the extension instead of distributing it for free does the answer to the above change?

If I can't get sued but decide to contact the company and ask them if they want to buy the exclusive rights to my code (ie "blackmail" them to pay me so I don't release a product that hurts their bottom line) can I get sued?

Are there layers to this? Is there a law to rule them all?

FYI, I am currently in Europe but am interest in answers about both the US and Europe.

&#x200B;

PS: I know anyone can sue me for anything but let's ignore that for a minute.
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer:
 Hit up r/LegalAdviceUK as well.

All you are doing is web page manipulation from the clients side, like Adblocker. I don't recall them or anything else getting sued for simple html editing (like all the plugins for the Mechanical Turk from Amazon.)


Title: Need assurance that a class 2 felony won't ruin my goals.

Question:
Hi all,

So according to my local police I have been under investigation for months. They searched my house and found enough evidence to charge me with a class two felony possession (Illinois). That was the only charge i recieved because I sign a slip that basically gives my rights away. I have no criminal record. They had enough evidence to chrge me with distribution and take my car and everything but I was really compliant and didn't lie to them about anything. I found a lawyer who wants to charge me $5000 for the whole thing and he is pretty much guaranteeing that I won't go to jail and I will not have a criminal record. He said I will also be looking at around $3000 in fines and court fees.

Putting all that aside: I am in the middle of buying a house. And that is where my questions come in:
1. Can the court find out that I am in the middle of a house buying process?
2. If they do, can they increase my fees or god forbid take my house away?
3. I havent told my lawyer that I am buying a house because I know he will ask for more money, but is there a way he can find out?

Answer:
 > he is pretty much guaranteeing that I won't go to jail and I will not have a criminal record.

I would be very wary of any attorney who promises you exactly what you want to hear. The "no criminal record" thing I am especially skeptical of, especially since it sounds like you darn near confessed to everything.

I think you should considering putting this house buying process on hold until you deal with these serious criminal charges. You can't live in a house if you're incarcerated and mortgages don't pay themselves.


Title: [CONTINUED][NY] I moved out, she made insults. Should I pay what she's asking?

Question:
I finally moved out from the apartment and all my belongings were safe and sound. My transition to my new apartment went smoothly and I am happy with my new apartment. Before the move out period, however, she made some insults (I made some insults as well but I apologized at the end) and neglected her duty of keeping the common place clean. She left the place for the entire remaining time I was there. She left her cat and I am seriously allergic to any fur animals, which caused some heavy medical problems for me. Expensive/unnecessary medicine cost, constant coughing, allergic reactions, rashes, and more.

Now she's asking me about $500 for the extra week's stay, $150 for the labor for installation, and electricity bill that came when she said that previous one was the last one I had to pay, which I already did. I already paid for the door cost and the whole transportation for the door (Uber from Home Depot to the apartment). I was going to pay for all these originally, but with the insults that she made and the fact that she hasn't even apologized makes me not want to pay for any of additional charges that she's asking.

Now, none of these were written on the paper and I don't think I am legally required to make these payments. She still hasn't apologized and what not. Should I just move on with my life and not pay her a cent? Will I be in any legal troubles for not paying? My lease ended 7 days before I moved out as well so the additional stay is not included in the lease either.

She originally tried to rip me off by adding personal/unnecessary purchases onto the receipt and overstating the whole cost to me. She tried to charge me $500-$700 for the whole door replacement. Mind you, this was an interior door, not some fancy heavy metal door. The door cost was about $60 with all other necessary parts included.

For the whole door fiasco, she went from $700 then to $500 then $300 when she knew I wasn't going to pay for her ridiculously overpriced service. She tried to include uber trips that weren't discussed before into the bill that I had to pay as well etc. Keep in mind that each uber costs were all $77 plus...

Tl'dr: I want don't want to pay because she made some strong insults and has not yet apologized. Also the fact that she kept trying rip me off makes me not want to pay at all.

Link to the original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/6kdobc/xpost_from_rrelationships_my_roommate_21f_is/

Link to the heated post on /r/relationships
https://www.reddit.com/r/relationships/comments/6kdbt8/my_roommate_21f_is_charging_me_21m_ridiculously/

Answer:
 Have her provide an itemized receipt. Then make her an offer you feel is fair.

She can either accept the offer, or go to small claims. In small claims, you can point out that her incompetence is not your problem, and the judge can then decide.


Title: (Sea, Wa) Mechanics harrasing female delivery driver for auto parts store.

Question:
I'm posting for a friend. She is a delivery driver for a auto parts distributor, almost daily she is harassed. This harassment usually involves disparaging remarks based on gender and trade or comments of a sexual nature. In a few instances her employer has gone to shops that exhibited this problematic behavior and had a "talk" with them but little changes.

What to do?

Answer: An employer absolutely has the responsibility to take steps to stop harassing behaviour by their customers, once they've been informed. They've taken initial steps by visiting the sites and talking to the customers. There may be some more reasonable steps they can take - the limits of what is considered reasonable is not strongly defined, but firing customers if the behavior continues has been held to be reasonable.


Title: Can a employer or landlord insist that mail in ballots are filled out in front of them?

Question: Can a employer or landlord demand that you vote in front of them? Is it legal for them to fire or evict you if you don't vote the way they like?

Answer: No. Voting is done in private. Who the hell would demand that?


Title: Found out my friend is in a really shitty assisted household, and now we (me and other friends) want to help them.

Question:
My friend Tam lives in an assisted household in Indiana and it kind of sucks. They're constantly being assaulted and hazed and none of the caretakers do anything about it or make any attempts to defend them, so Tam really wants to leave somehow, understandably. Their situation is a bit difficult, though, as the only way they seem to be able to leave is through several, different convoluted methods, some which me and their other friends aren't exactly qualified to figure out how to do properly.

&#x200B;

So far it seems as if marriage is the easiest way out. Tam has a partner that they can easily marry, but they live in Georgia... So far we are thinking that we will collectively try to save up money so that Tam's partner can travel to Indiana or Tam to Georgia so that they can get married. We have done some research on how to get officially married, like the cost and the paperwork needed. We have also looked up the courthouses nearby where Tam lives and how the procedure of marriage works. One of us has a big house with empty rooms in a nearby state if they need a place to live.

&#x200B;

Right now we're wondering if we should try go through with this plan, or if we should find a different way to get them out of there. Currently we are trying to figure out the money issue, as all money goes through Tam's mother's account and then through one of their caretakers, meaning Tam can't really get their disability benefit money they need for this whole thing. Can anyone help out with this, at least give out some pointers? Like I said, none of us are particularly knowledgeable in American law.

Answer:
 If Tam isn't legally competent, marriage might not be possible. It is also worth noting that being a caregiver is a lot more tough than it seems and if Tam has any brain issues, well, the spouse may regret their choice. If they get busted for insurance fraud, spouse will definitely will regret it but it is unlikely.

Tam should have a social worker somewhere. If Tam was in inpatient rehab prior to assisted living, they could have resources for you through their social worker. Otherwise, getting a caseworker can vary state by state. I would seek them and report the facility.

Here is a list of places that oversee assisted living facilities to report the assault and hazing:
https://www.after55.com/blog/assisted-living-regulation-agencies-by-state/

If you have no other options to find a social worker:
http://www.helpstartshere.org/helpstartshere/?page_id=3677

My experience is helping with the medical side of long term disabled patients and coordinating assisted living was part of it. I only have a small piece of your big puzzle. I hope this helps and wish Tam better care.


Title: Parked partially in the red, $451 fine seems extreme - California

Question:
The other night I went to a friends house who lives a mile up the street from me.  Parking is pretty sparse in Newport Beach so it can be tough to come by.  I parked in a spot across from my friends house and my car was a little in the red, no big deal I thought I'm only staying an hour or two and I've never been ticketed for this before.  End up drinking a little more wine so I Uber home.  Walk to my car the next day and I find I had just been ticketed an hour earlier.  Seeing my car in the daylight, I could see I was more in the red than I thought.  Looks like about 3 - 4 ft of my 15ft car in the red, which I agree is bad and more than I would normally have allowed.

Now, I have no doubt that I'm guilty of having parked in the red bit I was completely blown away by the $451 price tag.  I've had one speeding ticket in my life for 83 in a 65 and it wasn't even as much as this parking ticket.  Per the ticket, the violation is "parked within 3' of HC access ramp (red)".  Pretty much its the section of the sidewalk that is blended to the street level so you can ride a bike or wheel chair I now suppose without having to go up a step, if I explained that well.

Newport Beach has an online citation system and I have the option to contest the ticket so I have a 2000 character appeal reason I can fill out.  They've also uploaded pictures the officer took of my car in the red.  Is there anything I can possibly say that could help me get a reduced fine?  I don't have much hope with the online appeal system but I've also got the option to appeal in person.  As with the online appeal, the in person appeal has a 21 day expiration.

Any advise on how I should approach this?

Edit:
Thanks for the advice, it is just as I feared.  Had no idea those ramps were handicap related but it makes sense.  Time to break the bank.

Answer:
 I don't think you have any hope of contesting it, based on what you've said.

Violations relating to handicap access are taken very seriously and fined accordingly.Answer #2: You can't park in any red. It might turn out to be [more than $451](http://cironline.org/reports/california-drives-traffic-fines-fees-earmarked-projects-5223). This is not unusual. I was traveling in CA and I had a similar ticket come close to $800.

> Is there anything I can possibly say that could help me get a reduced fine?

If the officer has a picture of your car in the red I don't see how, that's about as iron-clad as it can get.


Title: [CA]My former landlord withholding my security deposit and is deducting her time for cleaning the unit at $30/hr as well as charging us for mold testing/ damages that we did not cause.

Question:
Hello r/legaladvice! Hoping you can offer some wisdom as to how I can proceed in this situation.

On February 1st 2018 my three roommates and I moved into a small 3 bed 2 bath mobile home unit. It was our first house after living in our parents homes. Because we were new to the housing market and our monthly income is lower than the average renter (four 18/19 year olds making just above minimum wage) we decided to rent the house because rent was relatively cheap compared to housing in the surrounding towns. Our landlord was odd but didn't seem malicious and is a habitual marijuana user which we did not mind at the time.

August 2018 - after 6 months in the house we found a better house closer to our workplaces ready to move into on September 1st. We notified the landlord that we would be vacating the house (lease was month to month) as soon as the deal on the new house was signed. Previously there had been a spoken-word agreement between the landlady and one of my roommates that she would be flexible in the last month of our tenancy since the housing market in our area moves so quickly. However when the time came to move, since our notification was less than a month in advance, our landlady told us that we would need to pay rent for September as well. We reluctantly agreed as it would give us time to comfortably move our belongings to the new house and clean the old trailer. Since we were paying for the additional month, we intended to clean the house over the course of September.

9/21/18 - Our landlady did a walk through with one of us present. My roommates father tagged along to ensure that things went well. The house was in a state similar to when we moved in (as near as we could tell). The walk through went well and our landlady said that she hoped to return our entire $3,000 deposit to us(again spoken word).

If you'll remember in the first paragraph, I mentioned that among other things, our landlady came off as odd. The foremost example of this was in the texting(the medium by which we communicated most of the time). Walls of text, always run-on sentences, never easy to understand. We found communicating with her very difficult but manageable. After the walk-through that we thought went well, the texts started rolling in daily. Borderline harassment about the state of the house, all complaints that were not raised during the official walk-through.

9/29/18 - At this time we decided to fully involve my roommate's parents (we'll call him Ted) as we felt we were in over our head. Ted's parents went over the texts with us and our lease to determine what we were responsible for and how we could resolve this without issue. We found that our landlady's main complaints were the carpets and the windows so we rented a carpet cleaner and the 4 of us (me, Ted and his parents) went to the house to clean the carpets and windows. We felt we did a very good job and notified the landlady that we had addressed her concerns. We also notified our landlady that we would expect our security deposit with an itemized list of deductions 21 days after turning over the property (October 21st), as outlined in California law.

10/23/18 - we received a portfolio in the mail of what we expected to be our security deposit and list of deductions and receipts. Within the portfolio there are 25 sheets of paper with images of supposed mold damage and a *handwritten* list of the deductions from our deposit. No check was included in the packet.

Here's a summarized deductions breakdown:
$3000 deposit
-$296 for cleaning supplies
-$600 (billed for the time it took the landlady to clean the house after we moved out, 4 days, 5 hours a day, $30/hr)
-$525 for lost income due to the time she spent cleaning the house instead of renting it out
-$875 for a company to come and dehumidify the place and test for mold (we were not aware that the place had mold and would not have moved in had we known)

The remainder is $704. We did not receive a check for even this amount.

I am prepared to take my landlady to small claims court to get a fair amount back for my security deposit. I do not feel that after living in the house for 6 months we can be held responsible for the mold damage that she has found in the house. Furthermore if the house had mold when we moved in, we were exposing ourselves to poor living conditions without knowing it.

Before we moved in, our landlady did state that there had been a water leak under the house that she was airing out. The main bedroom (a room that Ted and I shared) smelled putrid for about 2 months after moving in. We raised this concern to the landlady but the smell was gone soon after we reported it.

In her handwritten disclosure of spending from our security deposit she states that when running the dehumidifier overnight, it collects over 5 gallons of water. If we have been moved out of the house for now over a month, how can we be held reasonably responsible for humid conditions in the house that contribute to the growth of mold?

Given the disregard for California rental law that our landlady is displaying(not returning security deposit past 21 days) paired with the degrading text message rants we received from her over the last few months, I am confident that a judge would agree that we are entitled to more at $704 of our deposit.

In our lease (also half handwritten) it states the following :
"Payment of attorney fees in a lawsuit. Should landlord bring an action to enforce any of the terms and provisions of this lease or to enforce any other rights under law and obtain a judgement in such action. Tenant agrees to pay Landlords reasonable, actual attorney fees and court litigation costs. In the event any portion of this agreement is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid."

Does this mean that if we were to take our landlady to court, we would also be responsible for her legal fees in addition to our own?

I could use any help or advice you have. If I can offer any more information or clarify anything, leave a comment and I'll make an edit as soon as I can.

Answer:
 NAL. Please sue! This sounds like an episode of Judge Judy, Judy would yell at the landlord for sure. The itemized list she provided is insane. She could have deducted whatever she paid a company to clean, but unless she’s a cleaning lady she can’t charge you for her time. She can definitely not deduct her time twice. Either lost wages or hourly wages for cleaning, both just desn’t fly at all.Answer #2: Hi! Not a lawyer but work in property management, in California.

You would take her to small claims to get the deposit back.  The only person with legal fees would be you, for filing.

The only charge I see from what’s listed, that could stick is the cleaning fee.  Depending on how messy, it could be up to $500.  Charging for her time lost is ridiculous, though.  She should have gotten a professional, especially if there were mold issues.

Since she sent you a list of itemized items, she’s given herself more time to send you a check.  Typically they have to send you your check with in 21 days of vacating.  With the estimates, she has 14 days from the completion of the time the repair is completed.

Please note that she MUST include receipts to you for anything over $125+ and come with your deposit.

When you moved in, did you receive a move in move out form?  When you did the walk through did she have you sign anything?

California is typically tenant friendly, so I can see you getting more of your deposit back, but not the whole thing, unless she violated the time lines, states.  If she does not have the deposit, it could be a waste of time, as winning is the easy part and collecting is the hard part.


Title: I think I was the target of a check scam what do I do?

Question:
So I applied for a job online and was told I got it and thaty boss needed me to help him with a donation to an orphanage (God I'm stupid). Well I received a check for $2xxx.xx and was told to keep part as my pay and deposit the rest into a Wells Fargo bank account. Now I've received two more checks for similar ammouts for the same reason.

Can I have Wells Fargo stop the money to the account and return it before the bank clears the potentially bad check. I have only done the one but cannot afford to owe 2 grand back if it's fake.

I'm freaking out and need some advice.

Edit: I am in Indiana.

Edit: for clarifying I didn't wire transfer it. It was deposited into a person's wells Fargo account in Texas. I still have all the info and receipts, and I called wells Fargo. What's the likelihood of getting that money back since it went into an account with them?

Update: So wells Fargo called back and tolde to file a police report and take it to them and my bank. They said they also can't refund the money. So now what are the chances my bank won't bone me on this?

Answer:
 It is definitely fake.  Call Wells Fargo ASAPAnswer #2: > So now what are the chances my bank won't bone me on this?

You're bank isn't boning you, you did that to yourself. If anyone ever wants YOU to pay them (read: send money to X) to work, it's totally a scam. You get paid to work, not the other way around. Answer #3: >**if** it's fake.

There is no "if". This is a classic fake check scam.


Title: Stepmom in South Carolina a legal guardian of the kids automatically?

Question:
A friend is getting married in South Carolina, and her new husband has 2 young children. My question is, will she automatically become a guardian and/or parent to those children, legally? Or does she have to take additional steps?

The birth mom is still in the picture but currently the birth father / my friend's husband has TEMPORARY full custody of the children until a later court date. It's expected that he will be awarded permanent full custody at that time. I'm not sure if that matters.

The girls absolutely adore their stepmom.

Is this an easy question to answer or very nuanced? Any help would be great, thanks!

Answer: Automatically, no. If something happened to the biodad, custody would go to the biomom. If the courts feel the biomom is unfit, then the stepmom can petition for custody.


Title: I got extra fees added to a speeding ticket and I can’t pay it now.

Question:
I was driving in another state, and I got pulled over for speeding. I was going to pay it off, but I ended up having to go to the hospital because I was coughing up blood. They kept me for a week before I was deemed well enough to leave. During that week the due date for my ticket payment passed and they added a $150 late fee.

The main thing that I am worried about is getting my license suspended. I have to drive a truck for my work and I’ll lose my job if they do suspend it.

I have tried to contact the sheriff’s office numerous times and cannot even talk to a person. I’ve left messages and e-mails to no avail. I can pay it off in a payment plan, or I can pay the ticket without the late fee, but I can’t even get a hold of anyone to work it out.

If anyone can give me guidance it would be much appreciated. Thank you

Answer:
 Don't contact the sheriffs office. You need to contact the court and speak to a clerk. Read your ticket and the contact info should be available on there. You need to do this ASAP or this will get worse. They will suspend your licence and almost always tack on reinstatement fees.
Speak to a clerk and explain, they may or may not waive the late fees. Also they may or may not accept a payment plan. The only way to be sure is to contact the COURT ASAP.


Title: [North East Coast, US] Buying a computer from a friend of a friend for suspiciously cheap, am I protected if it is faulty?

Question:
This will be a person to person sale. I'm only paying about $500 for a rig that could cost up to \~$1300 new. It is a year and a half old, and he says he just needs the money. I have never met him but the mutual friend of ours I am very close with and I trust says the seller is trustworthy.

&#x200B;

I am just wondering, in the case that it bricks in a week, what protections do I have, if any? Would I have a chance to win in court? I am unaware of precedent in this area.

Answer:
 Used goods are generally sold as-is, and it's incumbent on the buyer to ensure they're fit for use before purchasing them. Deliberate fraud can shift liability to the seller, but it's an uphill climb.

I don't think $500 two years in for a machine that was $1,300 new is an absurd level of depreciation, personally, but if you aren't comfortable with the risks, don't buy it.


Title: Hostile workplace and possible discrimination (Maryland)

Question:
So my wife is a G/CNA working in a nursing home. She started last year in June and has had constant issues since. Initially when she started she said the other CNA's were very hostile and would refuse to help her or explain how to do different procedures with different patients (primarily dementia patients). She informed the HR office (which consists of one women) but nothing ever came of it. There was also issues with other CNA's pushing work off onto my wife, who is quite and never stood up for herself, once again she took it to HR, but nothing happened. Finally one day she came home in tears because she had to stay over catching up her work and someone elses, so I sat with her and we called in to the company that owns the one my wife works at and filed a complaint.

Since then the primary issue has been the Administrator. According to me wife and others she has worked with, he refuses to look at her or talk to her (my wife). He never gives her directions by talking to her but instead tells someone else to tell her, even when my wife is in the same room.

Then in Oct 2014 my wife was taking care of a dementia patient, and the nurses had not marked that he was violent. The patient grabbed my wife's wrist and tore the ligaments. Because of that she was put on light duty. Now it seems like the Admin is trying to give her the absolute worst jobs he can to make her quit. He had her go outside in 0 degree weather and pickup cigarette butts with only rubber gloves. He has had her use a putty knife to scrape wax off of tile floors, and when she complained he told her to deal with it.

In addition he has made some offcolor remarks about Muslims to my wife's coworkers in the past, but she just brushed it off as jokes. Now I'm starting to think that he might be discriminating against my wife because we are Muslim.

I am considering going and talking to a lawyer, but I don't want it to affect my wife's workers comp case.

Any advice?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 If your question is "should my wife talk to a lawyer about a possible 'hostile-workplace' action," then the answer is this: sure, why not?  On these facts, there's a reasonable possibility you've got a valid claim.  And a lawyer seems like the logical next step.

The workers comp case should be entirely separate from that, so your wife talking to a lawyer about hostile-workplace shouldn't affect that.

Just remember that it's your wife here who has suffered the workers-comp injury and is the subject of the (possible) hostile-workplace claim.  Thus, she would be the one the lawyer would need to talk to, and she would be the lawyer's client.  What she wants to do will control what happens next.


Title: Debt Collector Won Judgment. Next Steps?

Question:
Hello, this is in Austin Texas.

A debt collector won a $1400.00 judgement against me for an unpaid debt I was a co signer of. I went to court, tried to explain that in the 2 years this debt has been out there that I have not heard once from the collector either by phone or mail. Well, the judgment was granted in favor of the debt collector and now I am paying this because I cannot rely on my ex roommate to get this paid. I am really worried that they are going to Levy my bank account and leave me broke. I do not have a lot of money. My question is, what are my next steps? I have called and emailed the debt collector and have not heard back, the judgment was decided a month ago. Would I be able to pay in installments through the collector? Any advise would be very helpful.

Answer:
 You'll have to ask the collector, we can't speak for them.  I can tell you that they would much rather be paid by you willingly than have to go through the hassle of filing for garnishments or other means of seizing your assets.

Call them, seriously.  It's really just that easy.  Offer to get on a payment plan and see what they throw at you.  For $50 a month you can probably make this go away.


Title: Dog walker dropped my dog and broke its leg. How do we approach liability?

Question:
Hi,

I have a very small dog breed (\~5lbs). We have a local company come by daily and take him for a walk. This company is a independent pet store in the area that has a team of dog walkers who take neighborhood dogs on walks together. We've used them for several months now with no complaints until today.

Today the dog walker was in our home getting ready for the walk. As I understand it, she picked up our dog and was trying to set him on a chair to put his harness on, when he squirmed and she dropped him. He landed awkwardly and hurt his leg. I came home and took him to the vet immediately. $500 worth of X-rays later, it's a completely broken leg and he's going to need surgery to fix it which will run around $5k.

We have no formal written agreement with this company. We arranged for their services only through text message and they started coming by. I have a text message from the company owner explaining the situation today where he says his walker dropped our dog. The owner texted later to ask how the dog was doing. I explained the situation with the need for surgery, although I didn't mention numbers. He just said "Let me know how I can help."

I wanted to ask about liability here and what I should do. I assume the best approach at first is just to ask directly about the bill and ask him to cover it. Is it common for dog walkers to have insurance for this scenario? Is this a situation where the company is liable for the injury? This is in California if it matters.

Thank you!

Answer:
 the dog walkers should have insurance for this very reason. get in contact with their insurance to have the medical bills paidAnswer #2: Yes, they should have insurance. The informality of your agreement doesn’t matter, you agreed upon a service and have a reasonable expectation against damages. I’d ask them for their insurance. If for some reason they shut down or otherwise deny liability you can try to take them to small claims court for the full cost.

Only defense I could imagine they might make is that it’s the dogs fault for squirming, in which case you just ask why they were trying to harness on him from a small elevated position rather than the floor.


Title: Can a teacher be fired for coming out as Pagan anywhere in the United States?

Question: If a teacher let's everyone know that he or she is Wiccan, let's say, in Austin Texas, can they be fired for it?

Answer:
 IANAL: Religion is a protected class. If "because they are Wiccan" is said, anywhere, your employer is generally in trouble.

However, this is often murky and difficult to prove if they don't say it outright. If you "come out" as a Wiccan, try to keep records of when your employer finds out. If they ask you to remove any religious jewelry (provided it's not a safety hazard or blatantly obscene), ask for those instructions in writing. If they fail to provide it, add the interaction (with time and date) to your notes. If they say or do anything that would be considered offensive (calling you names, etc.), log that in your notes. If you're documented for any reason, retain those documents.

Basically: papertrail, papertrail, papertrail.

Edit to mention: there are exclusions for ministries/religious schools.


Title: [TX, San Antonio] Client's dog bit me, requiring emergency medical attention

Question:
This is sort of a followup to other posts I've made, and so far here's the progress I've made on this situation.

First/main question: Who pays my medical bill? My employer, the client, or their insurance?

Conclusion I've come to: Employer assumes no responsibility because I was an independent contractor and has no worker's compensation. The client's insurance doesn't cover the medical costs because I was at her house to perform a service (dog grooming) and not as a general visitor. I can't even get a decent lawyer, because with how low the bill is, it wouldn't be worth my time or money.

I received a letter in the mail today from collections. I don't want my credit score slammed from this BS. I worked hard enough to get it to where it's at now. But I'm not paying this shit. How can I still make the client pay? I don't want to go through the trouble and costs of taking her to court (plus we just moved far enough to where it'd be a very long drive). Can I just write her a strongly worded letter and try to get her to pay it herself? The bill is only about $690. I can't dispute it either, I called today and tried but they said I can really only dispute it if it was some type of wrongdoing, for example, if my identity was stolen and I never actually went to the hospital, or if I was charged for things I never had done.

Edit: I don't have health insurance either.

Answer:
 >  How can I still make the client pay?

You sue her. Why haven't you tried this yet?

> Can I just write her a strongly worded letter and try to get her to pay it herself?

Sure. And if she doesn't, you sue her.

> I called today and tried but they said I can really only dispute it if it was some type of wrongdoing, for example, if my identity was stolen and I never actually went to the hospital, or if I was charged for things I never had done.

Right. Why do you think your credit card company should pay for the dog bite?


Title: (TX) Recently fired for violating social media policy, denied unemployment.

Question:
I was fired recently, right before xmas for violating a social media policy. Now im being denied unemployement because i was fired. This is what got me fired. Pic below.

Basically the agreement says not to talk bad about the company, nor post any pics on the internet of cranes or basically anything about the company.

Can i be fired for this ? I know this is a right to work state and all, but im not sure. Mind you this company breaks all kinds of dot regulations for the drivers, and work hours are rediculous someone's

http://imgur.com/DjB3mdO

Answer:
 As an at-will employee, you can be fired at any time for any non-discriminatory reason, or even no reason at all.  Talking shit about your boss on Facebook is a perfectly legitimate reason to get fired.

You can appeal your unemployment denial if you want.  Otherwise, polish up your resume and start looking for another job.  Best of luck to you.


Title: Vet told my gf's sister that her cat did not have ringworm, it did and has now passed to gf's house, her family, her 4 pets, my house and me and likely my dog. Can I sue?

Question:
My girlfriend's sister adopted a kitten who had an odd dry patch under her skin. So, she brought the cat to the vet who told her that it was nothing to be worried about. It kept getting worse so she went back a second time only to be told the same thing and then finally a third time when she started seeing ringworm-like lesions on herself as well. So, the vet said oh it's probably ringworm.
By then, I and my girlfriend's family had interacted with the cat as well. My girlfriend now has ringworm, so does her cat and one of her 3 dogs, 2 of her sisters also have it, I have ringworm too and I'm sure that my dog will soon get it as well. I'm also sure that it's only a matter of time before the rest of her dogs get it too because it takes time for the spores to incubate and they have been exposed to them for a while now.
All this to say, could I have a case for malpractice against this vet?

Answer:
 Let me get this straight: Your vet never specifically told her the cat did not have ringworm, just that it was nothing to worry about?

I am not a lawyer, but I am a vet, so let me give you my perspective. There are almost an innumerable amount of conditions that can cause varying skin lesions, ranging from common to so rare you'll never see it in your lifetime. Most cannot be distinguished without tests such as skin scraping, hair pluckings, tape test, cultures etc. Were any tests discussed and accepted or declined? Did you request the vet to look further into it when you returned a second time?

I do not practice in the US, but I find it highly unlikely you would have any kind of case against the vet. Medicine is not a perfect science and sometimes illnesses get missed. You would have to prove that the actions of the vet fell far below what is expected for it to be considered malpractice, and with the evidence provided, this does not appear to be the case.Answer #2: No, there’s no way you can prove that they didn’t get ringworm after she was evaluated.  Maybe it was just a rash, then got ringworm before the third visit


Title: Getting out of my parents' grasps

Question:
Thanks in advance to anyone providing help!

I'm currently a 21 year old male living in the Bay Area (California). I've been fed up with my parents' criticism, berating, and abuse for my entire life and would love to move out now, especially as it's gotten worse recently. As some background, I pulled out of university this past semester after suffering from depression and anxiety. My parents' solution has been to simply control every aspect of my life, from when I'm allowed to socialize to when I sleep.

However, as much as they yell at me about how they hate my character and behavior, they refuse to actually let me move out. Instead, they've opted to try to, in their words, "ruin my life", such as trying to end my 4-yearlong relationship with my girlfriend by convincing her parents to hate me, get me fired from my job, etc. They're tiger parents to the extreme.

Is there any legal way for them to prevent me from moving out? I can't afford to get fired from my job so I don't know what to do. This job provides all of the money I'd need to survive by myself. Also, if I am legally allowed to move out, what am I allowed to bring with me from the house?

Thanks again for any advice!

P.S. I don't want to go to any extremes and call the cops on them if not necessary because I don't want to ruin their lives and get them in trouble as I am still where am I because of them.

Answer: You're allowed to move out as you're a legal adult. They're allowed to try to get you fired. You can bring gifts and your own possessions, and should make sure to bring your SSI card, ID/passport, and other key legal documents.


Title: Friend ( F38) gave car keys to my 14 year old and then my 14 year old totaled her car.

Question:
My “ friend/ previous colleague “ came up for the weekend to work for me and earn extra income. While we ( co-worker and myself) were out in my car working I get a call my 14 year old is at the ER and lucky to be alive.

My daughters friend overheard my friend offer her keys to my daughter and said just don’t get caught and if you do you lie.

My daughters friend gave her statement to police who apparently were already suspicious that my friend didn’t show any signs of being upset hearing her car was just totaled.

Police escorted her off my property and she was citated.

My daughter has a court date as well for driving without a license. What consequences will there be for my “ friend”?

Answer:
 Too many possible criminal offenses here to even consider.  Where are you? What was the friend "cited" for?  What were your daughters injuries?  Potential injuries from "at the ER and lucky to be alive" can be anywhere from no injuries to anything short of death.  Civil offenses are also dependant on location and details.Answer #2: This may be negligent entrustment. What state are you in?Answer #3: There's obviously some background drama here.   The "extra weekend income" is tantalizing but probably irrelevant.

At a minimum, OP's friend will face the citation she was given.   My guess is that it was for "negligent entrustment" or a similar vehicle code violation.    Some states make that a standalone criminal offense (Ohio comes to mind).

OP's friend's insurance might not cover the damage to her car because she entrusted it to a person she knew to be unlicensed and unqualified.   If OP's friend has "Personal Injury Protection" coverage, that is the element most likely to pay for the teenager's medical expenses regardless of negligence.Answer #4: Depending on your location, the friend *could* get contributing to the delinquency of a minor...but probably allowing an unlicensed driver to drive, loosing their insurance and insurance not covering the damageAnswer #5: Well, because the driver wasn't licensed, your friend's insurance will not cover any costs of any part of the accident. You friend will be financially liable for every part of the accident. She will then inevitably sue you for damages. Unclear if you'll be liable for your daughters actions give your friend knew it was illegal. In short, get a lawyer.Answer #6: Hi, you need to get a lawyer. Yes lawyers cost money but they do payment plans, also your state may have legal aid, Google it, if it does see if you can use their services.


Title: Canadian travelling to the U.S. without medical insurance. Any way to talk down an 80k private jet charge?

Question:
Essentially, my godparents travelled to Alaska with a tour group, who organized a biking activity. My godmother fell from her bike, hit her head (with helmet) and was flown to Seattle for treatment. She's okay now, but the flight from Alaska to Seattle was completed by a private jet, which is now billing them $80k. There is no way they can afford to pay this and they are looking into hiring a mediator. I'm wondering what they can expect the outcome to be, and what would be the best course of action from here?

Additional info: They had signed a waiver with the tour company before going on the bike trip; however, my godmother complained several times that the helmet was too small while told that the one she's wearing is the largest they had. They currently live in the province of Ontario, Canada

Edit: Thank you for the suggestions and advice everyone. I will pass these along and post an update when things are resolved

Answer:
 Why didn't they just fly to Vancouver!? This breaks my heart.

You might want to question how your goparents paid for their trip. Many credit cards will carry automatic travel insurance on them. Answer #2: You need to find more out about their insurance, especially where they live in Canada. Some does cover US accidents and things of that nature, see this http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ohip/travel.aspx

It looks like this insurance will pay for things in an emergency that are medically required. Answer #3: I'm not a lawyer, but I do live in Ontario.  I know it's too late for this situation, but OP, please learn from this that you should **always** have health insurance if you travel outside of Canada. Even if it's just for an afternoon of cross-border shopping  When I turned 18 this was the only rule my Dad asked me to follow.

That said; if your grandparents paid for their trip with a credit card they may have *some* coverage through that - they will need to look into it.Answer #4: Did they purchase traveler's insurance before going on this trip?Answer #5: I'd also point out it probably won't be productive to go after the tour company for the ill-fitting helmet, if that was your line of thinking. It would be hard to prove that it wouldn't have happened if the helmet had fit properly.


Title: I received a judgement against my landlord in Florida. The landlord lives in NH but banks at BOA. Can I send the writ to a BOA in Florida?

Answer: You would send the writ to the registered agent in FL that is used by BoA.  You can contact BoA's writ and levy department and ask them for the correct mailing address.  BoA must respond to a writ from FL (irrespective of where the defendant, their customer, is located or has their BoA bank account), because BoA does business in FL, so the FL courts have jurisdiction.


Title: Family Court Seating

Question: I live in Plymouth MA and I am just wondering if I can stand next to my girlfriend when she goes for her custody battle or if it is only allowed for the plaintiff and defendant to be up in front of the judge.  I just want to give my full support and make her feel 100% comfortable.  Also, am I allowed to speak at all if she becomes too nervous?  I am not familiar at all with the family court rules at all

Answer:
 No. You are not a party to the action. You can sit in the back.

You cannot speak for her. You can be called at as a witness if you have first hand knowledge of somethingAnswer #2: I'm glad you want to be supportive, but this doesn't concern you. This is between her and her ex. Go and support her from the viewing gallery but don't get involved in this, you are legally irrelevant.

Does she have an attorney? If not that may be one area you could be of great assistance.


Title: Frivolous Baby Daddy Lawsuiy

Question: My 5 month old daughters father sued me when I was 8.5 months pregnant in Miami.  He has claimed "tortious interference" with a business associate caused damages of thousands. I messaged with a mutual acquaintance that I was pregnant with his child the acquaintance tried to mediate the situation and now apparently does not want to associate with my baby daddy any longer.  I did not lie about being pregnant with his child...however I have not filed a paternity petition in NYC where we live because I'm terrified he will take my child away from me somehow. I finally was served for the Miami lawsuit. I have no money (I am supporting a child on my own and we receive government benefits and welfare). What can I do in regards to the Miami lawsuit without having to pay an attorney in Florida???                                     (Numerous attorneys have said this is an abusive lawsuit and one mentioned 57105 frivolous lawsuit).

Answer:
 You either need to show up in person, make arrangements with the court to telecommute (use a computer to attend) if available, or hire a lawyer to show up on your behalf.

Your best outcome would be that you hire a lawyer to get the case dismissed and countersue for legal fees.


Title: [MN] Eight year old juvenile record is keeping me from working.

Question:
I have a job working with vulnerable adults in Minnesota. In order to do this job I need to pass a background check. I was called into HR yesterday and told that I could not work temporarily because something popped up on my record and they had to wait for more information. I went down to the DHS and they told me what they were waiting on.

According to their records, I had a report of committing sexual abuse in April of 2007, when I was 14 years old and that they were waiting on the records to review them. Everyone I've spoken to, HR woman and my parents, are surprised that they were able to get into juvenile records.

So I want to ask, what is the best way to address this so that I can go back to work? I've been approved for an apartment and I need the money.
Topic:
Background Checks and Expungements

Answer:
 > So I want to ask, what is the best way to address this so that I can go back to work?

Your narrative isn't clear on this point - are you disputing the accuracy of the records?  Or just that they had access to them?


Title: My girlfriend lost nearly her entire paycheck to taxes. (OH)

Question: My girlfriend works at University and recently did a summer program with a stipend. The university sent her a letter stating that since she's an employee of the university they would take the taxes out of her pay check. This letter wasn't sent until she had completed the program. no one else had to pay the tax because they weren't employees. The next pay check she received from the University was taken almost entirely for taxes and they let her know they would be taking more taxes out of her next pay check. She was left with 5 dollars after the taxes. Is this legal and is there anything she can do.

Answer:
 Are these the facts?

- She got a $1,000 check as a stipend
- The school didn't withhold taxes from that.
- The school then withheld taxes relating to the stipend on her next normal paycheck, so that that paycheck was subject to withholding for both the pay period and the prior stipend.

If the school didn't withhold from the stipend and should've, then they'd either have to withhold from a subsequent check or girlfriend would have to write them a check. It's the same result either way.

The school goofed and should feel bad, but she's no worse off than she would've been had withholding properly been applied.
Answer #2: You're both obviously confused about what her position is with the university, since you say she works for the university, but she isn't an employee.

Talk to HR and payroll and get their reasoning as to why she is suddenly being taxed. Then you can start finding out about the laws and how your girlfriend is seen by the school relationship wise.

I'm from Canada, and I worked for my college in a student job program. I was in an employment relationship with them and paid taxes on my income, typical of any job. If I was given a bursary by my college as part of a scholarship or whatever, we don't tax that. But you have to be doing academic related things to be able to call it a bursary, not work in the campus like I did. Obviously you're not Canadian, this is just an example.


Title: Best Friend in Maryland has Severely Abusive Husband (Emotional, Financial) and wants to leave. Has child(ren). What does she need to do?

Question:
My friend* has a severely abusive husband. He is emotionally abusive (yelling, screaming, demanding, controlling, manipulative), financially abusive (she's not allowed to know how much money they have, she has to ask before buying anything, he denies her access to their money), Controlling and Isolating (doesn't let her have friends, doesn't let her leave the home without permission, refuses to allow her to even clean her home without doing specific things with her children), Withholding (affection and financial).

She wants to leave. She's afraid to leave. She's afraid he will take custody of the child(ren). She doesn't know what to do. Or where to start.

She wants to know what she can do to prove his abuse. How to leave with her child(ren). How to keep from being sued for alimony (he doesn't allow her to work).

Help?

Answer:
 She should call a local domestic violence shelter for referrals of places that can help. Or call 211.

She can leave with the kids any time. She should hire an attorney asap or can local legal aid see if they are able to help.


Title: Does my dad still have to pay alimony if he directly pays for my sister's tuition?

Question:
tldr: Mom doesn't want to support herself financially, dad doesn't have enough to pay for both my sisters college and mom's demands. Dad pays the same if not more directly into my sisters education, hoping she gets the best education possible. Mom is mad she gets none of it.

My dad made a deal to my mother during the divorce, in which he continues to support her with about $4500 a month for 8 years, because he had a six figure job at the time.
However, he quit his job to start his own company, added to that, he remarried and is now supporting his own family. Although he's doing okay, he is certainly not well off.
My sister got the opportunity to attend her dream school, USC, which is about $50k tuition per year. Include housing, book costs and so on, it puts the monthly at some $5000 a month. My dad wanted to avoid loans as much as possible, while still letting her enjoy her college years, so he tries his best to pay for most of it. I couldn't attend a great university, so I decided to go to community college instead to save money, and I'm paying for most of it myself.

The problem now comes from my mother. She knows that my dad is paying my sisters tuition, but is angry that he doesn't give her any money. She would rather him give her all the money so she could rally it to my sister, because then my sister would 'love mom more for giving her the money than her dad'. Which makes no sense because the money originated from our dad in the first place. Sending it to my mom would also likely allow my mom to withhold some from my sister's education.
The reason why my dad is against this method is because mom is a narcissist. She spends for her image rather than for things like education. She refuses to get a simple job, or even a complex one, because she says she's a higher level human being, and says $100,000 is too little for her. Blows my mind how I'm related to her. She makes $0 currently. Also she is now part of an asian multilevel marketing scheme, having an almost cult-like following for the company and the higher ups. She literally calls them by 'Leader', and constantly brags about how many millions of dollars they make. And how soon all of us (the family) who doubt her will regret it when she's a multi millionaire.

She never used to be this crazy, at least in my younger self's mind, so I wonder if it's a clever front or something, to cover her worry. Yet I don't know how this would help in any case. But yeah for most of the shortcomings that come up, she will always blame our dad for not giving her money for it. And despite her complaints not bear any fruit for many years, she continues believing that she will still never have to support herself financially, and that she is already well off from the debt she stuck on my dad.

Answer:
 It is going to come down to what is court ordered.

If he is court ordered to pay the $4500/mo he needs to continue to pay that until the court allows him to stop.

If the college tuition is not court ordered he can't just decided to pay that instead of alimony.


Title: So I quoted a YouTube and linked a video that had to do with mass shootings. Police were called, searched room to no weapons, they were cool, was evicted from apartments.

Question:
As the title says within a group chat we were on the topic of a popular you tuber so I quoted a popular line from him that had to with mass shootings along with linking the video, the police was called on me. They pat me down and searched my room. Left within 15 minutes. Was given an eviction notice. Questions are what should I do and will this hinder my search for jobs in the future(currently uni freshman).

Edit: so it wasn’t an eviction, is was a notice to quit now that I look at it

Answer:
 It shouldn't affect job prospects, but good luck renting a decent appartment with an eviction on your record.Answer #2: There's some information missing here.

Do you live in a dorm or something?


Title: [NY] Can anyone ELI5 this mail and do i really have to close my business on that day to attend this?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 ELI5?

The man who makes sure your store is following the rules thinks you might be breaking them. He wants you to come to his office to talk about it.  He might try to give you a time out or take away your toys if you don't go when he wants you come.


Title: I am a camgirl, and I think a regular of mine is a minor. How do I handle this correctly?

Question:
I just tried to post this on mobile and my phone is wonky and submitted it IMMEDIATELY, so I deleted it and moved to PC. This is not spam.

I work for a popular cam site. I am new. It is a site where you are required to be 18 to view anything or be a model yourself. I suspect a regular of mine is a minor, based on his tweets once he followed my twitter. I did not realize this immediately.

Once I did come to suspect, I told him I wasn't sure he was an adult, and that until he could give some kind of proof I needed to cover my ass, and to please not take it personally. I said if he could somehow verify his age, we could go back to talking again. We had chatted occasionally via DMs, but I had never sent him lewd photos or sexual messages. I save those for my snapchat, which people pay for, and he had not. I didn't look through his twitter much at first, which I should have, but I assumed since he had an account on the site that he was an adult.

My question is this: I didn't put the state, because we may live in different states anyway. but could I be in legal trouble? Once I learned he may not be an adult, I stopped interaction. I'm scared I could still be in legal trouble. I actually never sent him and photos or videos directly either, or even suggestive messages, (we mostly chatted about our interests) but I'm scared that could be a problem. Do I need a lawyer? If so, what kind of lawyer? Is no longer interacting with him enough? Could I have even committed a crime if I never sent it to him directly but he chose to access it? Help. :/ I am VERY against adults being sexual with minors, and I do not want to go near that road myself.

Answer: Report him to the site that distributes your video, refuse all further sessions with him, block him on social media, lose his phone number if you have it, and move on. Severing all contact and doing what you can to remove him from your audience is the best you can do to protect yourself.


Title: [FL] Driving a car home from dealership

Question:
So, I haven't bought a car from a dealer before, so..

1) Can I legally drive it home without a tag

2) My loan says I need to maintain full insurance coverage on it. Is there any coverage for that one drive home, or would I be driving without it (and thus liabile if I wrecked it)?
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer:
 > Can I legally drive it home without a tag

You should be able to get a temporary tag from the dealer.

> Is there any coverage for that one drive home

You can activate coverage for the vehicle before you purchase it.  Call your insurance company, they do this all the time.Answer #2: 1) No. Either get a temporary registration tag from the dealership or leave it at the lot while you go to the DMV with the appropriate paperwork to get a permanent tag.

2) Call your insurance company and insure the vehicle before you drive it off of the lot.  At this point your insurance company can either fax the insurance tags to your dealer or email them to you.
Under no circumstances should you be driving that car off of the lot without insurance.
Either way you are going to need proof of insurance before you can get temporary or permanent registration.

You're purchasing from a dealer so they should be well versed in the proper procedure for helping you with the whole process.


Title: My mom's employer just stopped paying her- what can we do now?

Question:
I want to apologize if I'm not doing this right, I'm not one to usually post here and I'm not too sure what to do. I just came home for the summer from my university to find out my mom got a new job! Unfortunately, she has to work 3-4 jobs ahead to keep her head afloat. She found this job with a Freight company on Indeed.com, and contacted her two weeks later.

A woman representing the company explained to my mother that the company was located in London, and told my mother that she would be taking packages and distributing them out for the company. My mother signed a contract which she checked with a lawyer friend of ours, who said it was valid. The work came quick shortly after. Mom was in contact with them, and did her job as the contract stated.

Where it gets messy is that, May and June we had work coming, and she was expecting a paycheck for the two months together(as the contract stated of the first month). As July rolls around, the packages ceased and my mother's bank account didn't get the money. She attempted to call both the number on the website and the number of the woman she was in contact with, and they either hung up on her after she identified herself, or just hasn't answered any of her calls.

My mother is upset because of the validity of everything, and also the fact that this money was meant to pay back bills she owed. Can my mother take the company to small claims court? What could be her next step? Everything is recorded in texts and recorded phone calls, as well as the sight she used to receive and send out the packaging. I sincerely hope she wasn't scammed, since she gave out very little information. Any advice would be appreciated, thank you for reading.
Topic:
Contracts

Answer:
 She was almost certainly a mule for scammed products. These people are in the wind, and the company likely never existed beyond the website and a couple google voice numbers.

Freight companies and virtually any business shipping products has their own distribution and warehouse solution. It's unbelievably inefficient to ship products to a residential address and resend them.

Given that she may have given these people her banking information among other stuff, she needs to put a freeze on her credit and watch for fraud on her bank cards. Answer #2: > told my mother that she would be taking packages and distributing them out for the company.

This is almost certainly a scam. Your mother may/likely was helping launder money or illicit goods.Answer #3: Your mother was being used as a mule to redistribute merchandise purchased with stolen credit cards or possibly even drugs. That "lawyer friend" is incompetent. Not only does your mother most likely have no recourse but she may be in legal trouble due to her involvement.

EDIT- That same lawyer friend will probably not be a good choice for you Mother's soon needed criminal defense attorney.Answer #4: She was forwarding goods purchased with stolen credit cards. The police may want to question her. She should say nothing and get an attorney.


Title: [Virginia] Neighbor built tree house that looks in to my outdoor shower, will I get in trouble for showering if their kid sees me or someone else showering?

Question:
We have a ~10 foot privacy fence around our property followed by a ~6 foot privacy fence around our court yard. In the court yard is an outdoor shower that connects to an indoor bathroom.

It is generally very private and many people in the household and guests shower naked with no problem. It is impossible to see anyone in the shower even from outside just the court yard.

However, my neighbor just built a tree house for their kids this passed weekend that has a window with almost a perfect angle to the shower. It reaches above far above the 10 foot privacy fence and is as close as possible as it could be to the fence, probably like 50 feet away from the shower.

Can we get in trouble if kids see anyone showering naked? Do I have any legal recourse for them invading our privacy or is it up to me to just remove the shower?

Answer:
 You should call the zoning board. It's very possible that he's violating it by having a 10ft treehouse so close to the side of his lot.Answer #2: Have you tried talking to your neighbor?  You could explain that you don't want to expose their children to naked strangers and request that they board over, or put a sheet of frosted glass/acrylic in that window.  That might be the most amenable solution for all parties.Answer #3: You have a reasonable expectation of privacy in your own home.  You can not be charged for public nudity unless you were actively giving strip teases from your own front porch, and even then it'd be a hard legal precedent to prove. Answer #4: If the treehouse violates the zoning laws, please let your neighbor know first. If the city lets them know, it will most assuredly be with a fine.

"Hey, Neighbor, I had a guest over the other day who saw the treehouse and brought up the concern than it may violate zoning regulations. I looked into it and it seems it might. Just wanted to give you a heads up so that you could avoid any potentional issues."


Title: What happens to a mortgage after the owner dies?

Question:
My family and I live on some property owned by my grandmother who is eighty years old. She has a mortgage on the property for a significant sum. As she ages, we are all getting concerned about what we will do if she passes. No one has much in the way of savings or ability to pay off the whole mortgage at once. Payments wouldn't be a problem, but from what I've been reading the total amount is due if she passes.

My family has lived here for sixty years and would hate to lose it. Any advice on what I can do to prevent that? This is in Oregon if it matters.

Answer:
 Normally the mortgage follows the title.  So when she passes, the mortgage note would pass to the estate, then to the beneficiaries of the estate (however they take the property).

When she passes, one option is to contact the bank and figure out a way of refinancing the mortgage to add the new owner's information.  Or talk to the bank now and get things set up in advance.

An estate planning lawyer might be helpful in your situation, depending on the value of the estate.


Title: Completely blown off by a medical specialist

Question:
Wondering what my best action is here. I’ve had a minor yet persistent and bothersome medical issue for the last 2 months. I’ve done everything that each doctor told me to do in terms of management and follow up. So when it didn’t go away I scheduled to see an ENT specialist as I was told.

I gave my full history of the issue to the audiologist who was very thorough and empathetic. So I was feeling good that I would have a good experience.

Upon the doctor walking in he started asking me a few brief questions. He interrupted a lot and skipped over issues moving on down his series of questions. He never closed the door during the exam(which I didn’t realize until the end). He found a way to explain all the symptoms I was having as completely separate issues having nothing to do with his specialty. I asked him how could he explain the relief of certain issues with antibiotics and steroids to which his reply was “coincidence.” He also claimed my sudden issue was due to “the wild days of my youth.” (Im 32 and has no noise exposure). And he said at the end “sorry to leave you empty handed” and walked out.

I went back to my primary a week later who more thoroughly examined me and said she has no clue how he could have missed the issue as I very obviously have abnormalities on and behind my ear drums. And now have to go back to see ENT again.

What rights do I have to not pay his physician portion of the bill? I incurred costs of two more doctors visits because of his poor history intake and basically lack of a physical exam. I’m fine with paying my primary and a new ENT but I have an HSA and this doctor did absolutely nothing to care for me as a patient.

Also I’m a nurse and absolutely could not understand his explanation of my head test results. Again I got the impression he what he was saying was a mega stretch so he could say the problem I was having was unrelated to my ears.

I called the hospital pt advocate and have been bounced around several
Times without actually
Speaking to someone yet to file a complaint. And the bill has not yet come in the mail.

TLDR; doctor blew me off and I don’t want to pay the bill

Edit: saw ent in Wisconsin

Answer:
 >What rights do I have to not pay his physician portion of the bill?

You can contact his office, speak to the Office Manager, and request the bill be negated. However, they are not required to do so. Unfortunately, bad medical advice is still medical advice.


Title: What to do after getting robbed?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 > I know how cliche and insensible this is but her mother also had my girlfriends birth certificate

That's not insensitive of you, that's bizarre of the mother.

Put a [credit freeze](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_freeze) on her credit and make sure the police were notified.

> What the fuck do I do in a situation like this?

Give your GF good advice. That's all you can do.Answer #2: Wait, your gf's mom was carrying her daughters birth certificate on her??

What?Answer #3: Did she call the police?


Title: Question about doctor performing procedure on minor without parental consent [Kansas]

Question: [deleted]

Answer: That is an emergency. A broken bone constitutes an emergency. Answer #2: How was it not an emergency?


Title: I am 17 years old and my parents want to keep all of my belongings when I leave to move in with my dad. Are they allowed to do this?

Question: I will lay out the full story here. I am 17 , and I'll be turning 18 in June. My parents have recently grounded me because my dumbass decided to hit a friend's juul in the bathroom and a teacher caught me. Before I get into that, I'll back it up to July of this year. In late July, I came home high. I knew I was way too high before I even walked in the door, and I realize it was stupid to even smoke that night. I shouldn't have ever even smoked as much as I did knowing how my parents are, but I did it anyway. Well, after that night, my parents decided to drug test me because they knew I was under the influence of something the night before. They found out I had been smoking weed, and they took everything I had. Which I fully understand, I made a mistake, I deserved to be grounded for it. I plan to never smoke weed as long as I live here, maybe when I turn 18 but I'm not sure. They took all my electronics and my car, and left me with some books to read. All I could do for about 3 or 4 weeks was read books and go to work. Over the course of about 3 months, I slowly got my things back. Then, starting this last week, I was finally fully ungrounded and allowed to go places. Now the story is almost all caught up with my current position. Yesterday was the day when I got in trouble for the Juul thing, which I realize how stupid it is to even try it at school. But I got home from school and my parents went crazy. Not so much my mom but more my step-dad. He said to give him my phone and my keys, and that because I hadn't learned my lesson they're going to take everything I have and that I'm grounded until I'm 18 (which is 9 months away). I was extremely mad that my stupid mistake at school is now going to cost me my entire senior year, and I tried to talk to my parents about how dumb my mistake was, but my step dad didn't let me talk. He basically yelled at me the whole time saying that I keep messing up and I never learn and how my mom never punishes me enough so now it's his turn. I explained to him that I want to just move in with my Dad, and that I've wanted to for around a year now. He was all for it, saying "Go right ahead, get the hell out of my house I don't want you here. Call him up and see what he says. We'll even make the arrangements for it." So after the whole argument thing that happened, I walked to work (I work at a local store that's not too far from my house.) Once I got to work, I emailed my dad to explain the situation and brought up the idea that I'd like to move in with him, and I would be willing to pay him each month as I know he is tight on money. He said he will consider it, and that I should give it a week or so at my mom's house to see what happens. Today, when I brought up to my mom that I'd like to move in with my dad, she asked how I was going to get to school. I told her I would use my car (which I worked for and payed for, along with all of my other belongings that they took), and she said "If you go to your dad's you're not going to get your car back." Now my basic question is, are they legally allowed to do that if I want to move out of my mom's and move in with my dad? Everything that they took, including my Playstation, TV, phone, computer, car, etc, I payed for all of it with my own money. I had planned to just hold out until I turn 18 to move out, but then all of this happened just yesterday and I really just want to leave. My step dad hates me, my mom doesn't do anything she just goes along with whatever my step dad says. I understand that I have made some really stupid mistakes, I completely do realize that. I usually try not to do anything simply because of the way that my parents are, but I screwed up too much this time and now they're trying to make my life hell for the next 9 months.

Answer: Your parents are allowed to parent you. That includes disciplining you. I don't know what "juul" is but I am assuming it is illegal in general, or illegal for a minor, or not allowed on school grounds. But, they are perfectly allowed to discipline you for poor behavior. That includes taking away your non-essential belongings including your car and electronics. They have to return them when you turn 18, but until then, they have no obligation to do so.


Title: How far does attorney client privilege go?

Question: Say, hypothetically, someone was planning to commit suicide. They want to burden their family as least as possible so they seek advice of an estate attorney. Would the lawyer be obligated to inform someone (who?) of the client’s intent?

Answer:
 Privilege protects statements made to an attorney for the purpose of legal advice. It does not protect statements not related to seeking legal advice, or statements where the client is asking for how to commit a crime.

An attorney's ethical duty of confidentiality, which is a separate but related concept, protects more statements. But an attorney may be compelled to disclose *confidential* information that is not *privileged*, because privilege is an evidentiary rule.

A threat to commit suicide, however, is not something an attorney would have a duty to disclose. However, it is also unlikely to be protected by privilege.


Title: I totalled my friends car and got a DUI.

Question:
I'm in Atlanta, GA. His insurance is not covering any of his costs to replace the car. I feel incredibly bad and take all responsibility, I only want to make things right. I don't have enough money right now to buy him a car. Is there anything I can do? Should I suggest he sue me? Would I be able to make payments after getting sued?
Topic:
DUI

Answer:
 Hey, I just want to say you made a terrible mistake, and that sucks, but your attitude here seems to be one of an honest, contrite, heart.  That's a lot better than many other posters here in a similar situation.

Maybe this is your rock bottom and you can use this lousy event to thank God it wasn't much worse, and start rebuilding your life.Answer #2: You don't have to go that far - you can make a contract out of court to repay him x amount of dollars a month. If you break it, then he can sue you.

I find it odd if he had insurance on the car that it won't pay him to replace the car. Did he let you drive it? Did he have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage or comprehensive/collision insurance? Do you have insurance, either auto or homeowner's/renter's?


Title: [Canada, Nova Scotia] Is incorporation the best defence against a money grabbing future ex-wife/single mom/family member?

Question:
Situational example: A guy at the moment does not have any significant financial assets. His family however does, and he's able to access this on a regular basis.  He fathers a child with a younger woman.  She doesn't have any significant assets.

When his parents pass, the guy and his siblings will come into possession of said assets.  The guy expects the woman to make a play for those assets at that time.  The guy has no problem with supporting his child, however he has no interest in supporting the girl's new boyfriend who's a bum in his opinion.

To protect those assets from her or anyone else, which mainly consist of rental properties, I'm wondering if placing them all within a corporation would be the best way? With the guy and his two siblings named as directors of the corporation?

Answer:
 The courts aren't stupid and can impute an income from the assets to the man for the purposes of child support.Answer #2: > The guy has no problem with supporting his child, however he has no interest in supporting the girl's new boyfriend who's a bum in his opinion.

A court will order the man to pay *child* support, not "child's mom's boyfriend" support.

its up to the mom how she uses the money. Some people see that as child support going to support a lazy ex or a lazy ex's new fling. These people generally severely underestimate the costs of raising a child.


Title: Fayetteville, AR: Landlord won't renew lease and has given notice for us to vacate premises by the 28.

Question: Using a throwaway for privacy reasons. I just got word from my roommate that she received a notice stating that our landlord would not be renewing our lease and that we would have to vacate our apartment on June 28. I believe this is retaliation because I filed a complaint with the corporate office of the property management company that she works for. Would it be wise to try in fight her in court or would it be better move to just move?

Answer: You're in the wrong state for that. Just move and be glad she gave you more than 10 days.


Title: Public school teacher in CA. Can I refuse to discuss a student with police?

Question: I'm not even certain what the process would look like. But if I were contacted/confronted by officers about investigating one of my students, do I have any protections for denying to speak with them? Would I be given time to contact a lawyer?

Answer: Backing up a bit, you're a mandated reporter, correct? Is this something that falls under that umbrella, or not? Do you teach at a charter school?


Title: got in trouble at work for using the restroom

Question:
i work at a bar, and a few nights ago i got in trouble for being missing. i was in the restroom in a stall for approx. 15 min and she said she looked in there but i guess she didnt look too hard because i did not move and we have like 5 stalls. i have an illness and take a medication that makes me need to use the restroom for longer. i doubt my work knows about it bc i normally hide it pretty well.

my boss at first was going to send me home but after i argued and explained that she could ask the bathroom attendent to confirm i was there, she let me stay. however she put another girl in my section and everyone originally in my section made approx $60 less. the girl who got in my section is actually kind of management, so she always gets preferential treatment. we had a big event and i think she was looking for an excuse to jump in our section.

the $60 isnt a huge deal but she threatened to write me up and it definitely feels like i will be punished in one way or another. this place is tricky in that when they want to get you to quit they just ensure you show up and make no money. you never actually get fired. i need this job and im a little panicky about how im going to make a living from now on esp if they just string me along while i spend my time there making nothing.

it just seems really unfair and im very upset. this place for the most part is pretty upstanding but they dont give a crap about their workers. they do the bare minimum to stay within the law. but theyve done a couple of shady things in the past i believe is illegal. since i feel like i will be fired, if i could get them in trouble and maybe get some money i would take that option.

this might have zero possibility of happening but i would love to hear since i know nothing of employement law. this is in ma. do i have an options except to just quit knowing whats coming?

Answer:
 > since i feel like i will be fired, if i could get them in trouble and maybe get some money i would take that option.

Yeah, move on bottomfeeder. You got in trouble for taking a long shit. It happens. Welcome to the real world. You won't get rich from this. In fact, blackmail is a crime and will easily get you in more trouble than they will for yelling at some long-shitter and a few labor violations.


Title: I gave my employees check to his dad who works in the building

Question:
I'm a supervisor and give out my employees paychecks every Thursday. I have a young employee [m] whose dad[d] works with us as well. M normally doesn't come in Thursday because I offer days off throughout the week so normally I give his check to his dad. It's just what happens.

Well Monday M called in to tell me he got in a fight with his dad and is staying at a friend's and doesn't know when he can come in. I told him I understand, there will most likely be disciplinary action but I still want him here. Come Thursday (yesterday) his dad asked for his check like normal and I gave it to him. The moment after he left I realized i.may have made a mistake.

What should I do? I want to make this right but I don't want to get in too much trouble. If I have to get fired I will though. I feel terrible

Answer:
 Call the younger employee and ask if he got his check.  Stop payment with accounting and the bank if he did not.  Reissue the check.  Fire the dad if he stole his sons money.

Get on top of this and own up to it to upper management and you have a better chance of less punishment.


Title: Lawyers of Reddit, is it illegal in Colorado for a former employer to give you a false negative reference? Isn't that defamation?

Answer: It all depends on what they said. They are allowed to have an opinion on say your job performance being poor but cant lie and say you were caught smoking crack in the back room